Chapter 95 Loyalty and Righteousness
"Why do you want to follow him back to Pingjiang Prefecture?"

Facing Lin Fangda's doubts, Liu Xunyi smiled bitterly and whispered, "This is a long story. I will tell you slowly after I have settled my grievances with Feng Tianba. Now, please help me find an open space so that Feng Tianba and I can have a fight." After that, Liu Xunyi looked around and said, "After all, this is the main gate of the Xianwang Mansion. It is unbecoming to make trouble here."

Lin Fangda nodded as if he understood, and said in a hurry: "Come with me, there are many places in the mansion for you to mess around..."

"No need!" Before Lin Fangda finished speaking, Feng Tianba suddenly waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "The Xianwang Mansion is deep and big, I'm afraid it's easy to get in but hard to get out. Liu Xunyi, do you dare to fight with me outside the city?"

Lin Fangda frowned and said in a cold voice: "Why does Xunyi need to run so far to fight with you? I can beat you to a pulp with just three or two moves. Besides, what do you think of my Xianwang Mansion? What do you mean by easy entry but difficult exit? If I want to deal with you, I can just capture you directly, why would I need to use the trick of 'luring someone into a trap'?"

"Liu Xunyi, do you dare to come with me?" Feng Tianba ignored Lin Fangda's sarcasm and asked Liu Xunyi directly.

"you……"

"Brother," Liu Xunyi advised, "Just be patient, I will let him go." After that, Liu Xunyi took out a bundle from his arms, handed it to Lin Fangda, and explained, "This is what I brought back from the Jade Dragon Palace in Tianshan. Please give it to Lord Luo for me, and tell him that 'Liu Xunyi has fulfilled his mission.'"

"I'll keep the things for you, but you have to hand them over to the mansion master in person tonight." General Lin Fang took the bag and said quickly, "I'll bring some people with you to prevent this kid from cheating."

"Brother, don't forget the strict order of Lord Luo. Before I hand this item over to Lord Luo, you can only wait for me in the Xianwang Mansion, but you can't go out to find me. If you leave with me, wouldn't that be disobeying orders?"

"You are here now, so why not go out now?"

"Brother is right. I'm already here, so why not wait a little longer?" Liu Xunyi said with a smile, "I will definitely come back within two hours to drink and chat with you."

Lin Fangda glanced at Lin Fangda cautiously and whispered, "Then...you must be careful. Come back as soon as you see anything wrong. As long as he enters the city, he won't dare to act wildly."

"Brother, don't worry."

Luo River is ten miles south of the city. Now that winter has arrived, there is no green at the banks of the Luo River. The frozen soil is barren and covered with dead grass. There is a thin layer of ice crystals on the surface of the river. What's interesting is that you can still see the gurgling water of fish under the ice.

"You should know that you are no match for me." Liu Xunyi followed Feng Tianba to the river and kindly reminded him, "Why do you want to suffer more?"

Feng Tianba faced Luoshui, with his back to Liu Xunyi. He slowly drew his sword without saying a word. The sunlight reflected between the blade and the ice surface, both of which were glowing with a faint cold light.

"If we can't win, then we don't fight. What's the point of the court raising troops?" Feng Tianba said without looking back. "The Mongolian iron hooves have traveled thousands of miles, and their combat power is far superior to that of our Song Dynasty's army. But can we just watch our country fall and our families perish just because we can't win? The Yue Family Army in the past was fearless and dared to fight to the death with the strong enemy. Only then could they defeat those tigers and wolves head-on. It was easy to shake the mountains, but it was difficult to shake the Yue Family Army. Now it is easy to kill me, Feng Tianba, but it is difficult to make me retreat without a fight!"

Listening quietly to Feng Tianba's heartfelt words, Liu Xunyi suddenly felt both admiration and sympathy for him. He admired his loyalty and integrity, and sympathized with his misfortune of being born at the wrong time and his insignificance.

"In my eyes, the affairs of the court are never divided into big or small. In the past, I was fighting enemies on the battlefield in the north. Yesterday, I was training troops in the camp of Quanzhou. Today, I am investigating a case in the government office of Pingjiang Prefecture. For me, it is all my duty." Feng Tianba turned around slowly, stared at Liu Xunyi solemnly, and said word by word, "Since it is my duty, I will fulfill my duties faithfully and without delay!"

Liu Xunyi nodded vaguely and said, "I know that no matter how I persuade you, you will not give up. No matter how much I explain, you will not believe that Master Zhou's death has nothing to do with me. In this case, let's follow the agreement we made in Huodu. As long as you can beat me, I will let you do whatever you want."

"Stop talking nonsense and watch the moves!"

Before he finished speaking, Feng Tianba had already leaped into the air, swung his sword from top to bottom, and chopped at Liu Xunyi's head with incredible speed and fierce momentum, and the power contained in it was also considerable.

Liu Xunyi shook his head and sighed at Feng Tianba's sudden attack. He turned his wrist and held the sword horizontally above his head. With a crisp "clang" sound, Feng Tianba's sword hit Liu Xunyi's scabbard heavily and bounced off instantly.

Feng Tianba flew backwards, flipped several times in the air, and after landing, without waiting to steady himself, he let out another loud shout and rushed towards Liu Xunyi with his knife raised again.

"Keng! Keng! Keng!"

Facing Feng Tianba's wave after wave of fierce attacks, Liu Xunyi didn't even move his feet, nor did he draw his sword. With just his swift and flexible defense, he was able to neutralize Feng Tianba's attacks one by one, and firmly block them two feet away. No matter how hard Feng Tianba tried, he could not get close to him.

"Liu Xunyi, what do you mean by this?" Feng Tianba asked angrily, "Do you look down on me?"

"You can't even force my sword out, how can you catch me?"

Liu Xunyi knew very well that Feng Tianba had a strong temper and no amount of nice words could change his mind. Instead of trying to persuade him earnestly, it would be better to take a high-level approach and dampen his arrogance.

Being ridiculed by Liu Xunyi, Feng Tianba roared in anger, and his moves were faster and fiercer. Even if Feng Tianba used all his skills, he was still nothing to be afraid of in front of Liu Xunyi. The difference between their martial arts was really huge.

Feng Tianba relied on ferocity when he attacked, and every move was a fearless and brutal move. His fighting style, which was learned from the battlefields of thousands of people, was indeed brave and invincible, but in fact, there were not many skills to speak of. It was enough to deal with ordinary soldiers, but when he faced a real master, his flaws would be seen through at a glance. Therefore, in terms of the exquisiteness of martial arts, Feng Tianba was not worth mentioning at all.

Liu Xunyi was completely different. Although his moves were not as powerful as Feng Tianba's, they were stable and varied. Each move was smooth and easy. No matter how violent the storm, I would remain unmoved.

When the two men fought, Liu Xunyi's fighting style was quite ingenious in that he used little force to achieve a great effect.

"The sword comes out like a fierce tiger, and the sword moves like a flying phoenix." Liu Xunyi tilted the sword to block Feng Tianba's blade. The scabbard was slashed out along the blade. When it reached the tip of the blade, Liu Xunyi suddenly lifted the scabbard upwards, and used Feng Tianba's own strength to bounce the steel knife away. Then he withdrew his elbow, erected the scabbard, and pushed forward again. The tail of the sword stabbed Feng Tianba's lower abdomen fiercely.

Feng Tianba let out a wail, covered his stomach with his hands and took several steps back. He suddenly felt his stomach churning, making him miserable. He opened his mouth and retched repeatedly, but not even saliva came out.

"If I had unsheathed my sword just now, you would have been dead." Liu Xunyi put away his sword and stood up, saying calmly, "Feng Tianba, this kind of competition is not suitable for you. Compared to the martial arts world, you are more suitable for the battlefield. I advise you to go back to Quanzhou to lead the troops!"

"Come again!"

"Keng!"

"puff!"

Feng Tianba rushed forward again with his sword in his hand, but this time Liu Xunyi showed him no mercy. He swung his scabbard and knocked his sword away. He quickly raised his leg and kicked forward, hitting Feng Tianba's lower abdomen with great force. He flew several meters away and fell to his knees on the ground. Then he let out a "wow" and vomited a mouthful of bile and gastric juice mixed with blood.

At this moment, Feng Tianba felt as if his whole body was falling apart, his internal organs were burning, and he was in excruciating pain, especially in his lower abdomen, which felt as if his liver and intestines were torn apart. He had waves of piercing pain, and beads of sweat the size of beans instantly filled his forehead.

"Cough cough..." Feng Tianba used his knife to support himself on the ground and coughed violently a few times. He turned around angrily and punched the ice surface, then immersed his head directly into the ice hole. Under the impact of the freezing cold river water, his mind became a little clearer and the pain in his abdomen was slightly relieved.

"I still say that. I respect you as a man and will not kill you." Liu Xunyi said sternly, "Listen to me, the court is definitely wasting your talent by making you the head of the yamen. You have been on the battlefield for a long time, and you must be acquainted with the generals in the court. You can ask them to transfer you back to the camp, even if you can't go back to the Quanzhou camp, you can go somewhere else. With your courage and ability, sooner or later you will be able to sit on the position of the governor."

"If I secretly find a familiar elder to transfer me back to the army... then what's the difference between me and people like Lu Tingxiang and Li Ji who are secretly colluding?" Feng Tianba panted heavily and said intermittently, "One is one, two is two. Although I, Feng Tianba, don't have much ability, I am an honest man and don't do shady things. I would rather die than do such despicable things as forming a clique for personal gain and colluding with superiors and subordinates..."

"you……"

"No need to say more. Since I've already been defeated by you, I won't force you to go back with me." Without waiting for Liu Xunyi to speak, Feng Tianba suddenly waved his hand, stood up unsteadily, stretched his muscles a little, and said loudly, "But I will definitely get to the bottom of Mr. Zhou's death. If one day I find out that you are the murderer, once the evidence is conclusive, even if I can't beat you, I will definitely send people to arrest you. In short, I will never let you go unpunished."

"I also hope that you can clear my name as soon as possible." Liu Xunyi said seriously.

Feng Tianba stared at Liu Xunyi with complicated eyes. After a moment of silence, he slowly said, "Let's put things in perspective. Anyway, you saved my life in Huodu, so... thank you!"

After saying that, Feng Tianba resolutely turned around and walked away without even saying goodbye.

Liu Xunyi looked at Feng Tianba's back as he walked away. After a long time, he let out a thought-provoking sigh.

"Brother Liu, why are you so sad? Do you want me to help you deal with that ignorant little captain?"

Just as Liu Xunyi was composure and preparing to rush back to Prince Xian's Mansion, a teasing voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Hearing the sound, Liu Xunyi's body trembled violently, and he turned around quickly, a rare look of panic instantly appearing in his eyes.

"Qin Wei, why are you here?"

The person who came was Liu Xunyi's close friend, Qin Wei, the young guard of the Tianji Pavilion in the East Palace.

……

(End of this chapter)