"You're being reckless..." Fang Li hastily withdrew his hand, seeing that he had hurt Ye Fan. "However... Your Excellency, you absolutely cannot show your face again on the way back to the Fang family!"
Then Fang Li rambled on and on.
The gist of it was that certain individuals in the imperial court were unwilling to see the envoy, Ye Fan, return to the country this time.
This would infringe upon their interests.
Therefore, they had dispatched numerous forces, sharpening their knives along the way.
Since the emperor was occupied with other matters and not in the palace, the Fang family, as the emperor's most trusted subordinate, naturally bore the responsibility of protection.
"Is that so..." Ye Fan nodded in realization after listening. "Then I must trouble all of you during this period."
Hearing that someone intended to assassinate him, Ye Fan's spirits immediately lifted!
Assassination was good!
Even if he couldn't defeat the infernal system, he could at least make it expend some energy!
And even if he couldn't do that, just annoying the infernal system would be great!
In any case, anything that made the infernal system unhappy was a good thing!
So Ye Fan played along, pretending to be the envoy.
"Your Excellency, please rest. We will go and stand guard outside," Fang Li said, then led several cultivators away.
After leaving the room, Fang Li immediately made arrangements.
"Zhang San, Li Si, you two go ahead to Qian Fang to scout. Report any anomalies immediately."
"If you encounter a small group of assassins, eliminate them directly. If there are many, be sure to conceal your tracks."
"Wang Wu, go and contact our brothers in other directions to gather!"
...
Inside the room.
"I didn't expect it to be people from Da Ling..." Liang Rujing murmured.
To be honest, she was quite surprised.
She had initially thought the person crushed by the temple earlier was just an unfortunate passerby, but who knew they were a spy from the Da Ling country!
What surprised her even more was that Ye Fan seemed to have admitted it?
Just as she was about to ask Ye Fan why he did it, she suddenly stopped.
Wait a minute...
With Ye Fan's strength, these individuals would naturally be no match for him.
It was obvious that he was doing this deliberately.
Could it be...
Did Ye Fan have some ulterior motive?
Thinking carefully, why did Ye Fan suddenly go to the library to read?
He encountered a spy from Da Ling right after finding a clue about the country?
Wasn't all of this too coincidental?
I remember Sister Ziyun mentioning when we were drinking that Ye Fan possessed divination abilities.
If that's the case...
Perhaps Ye Fan had calculated all of this!
And now Ye Fan is pretending to be a spy from Da Ling, isn't he trying to infiltrate Da Ling from within and dismantle it from the inside?
So that's how it is!
I understand!!!
The thought of being involved in Ye Fan's grand plan sent a thrill of excitement through Liang Rujing!
"What are you giggling about?" Ye Fan asked curiously, seeing Liang Rujing chuckling to herself.
"Nothing, hehe," Liang Rujing replied with a look of "I understand everything." "Don't worry, I will cooperate with you properly!"
Ye Fan stared blankly at his own mouth.
The few idiots outside, and the one beside him, both seemed a bit off...
What a bizarre mess this all was...
...
A few days later, the rest of the Fang family members arrived.
A total of fifty people.
As for their cultivation levels, Ye Fan was not sure.
The flying boat was very fast.
Two months later, they arrived near the border.
And the first batch of assassins appeared!
Perhaps the enemy was too strong, or perhaps Fang Li's men were too weak.
After losing about ten people, Fang Li's side finally dealt with the first batch of assassins.
Throughout the entire process, the system remained silent.
Only after the fallen cultivators from both sides tumbled from the sky did dots of faint light, visible only to Ye Fan, converge towards his chest.
And this first batch of assassins was merely the beginning.
Two hours later, the second batch arrived.
Not only were there more of them, but their strength was also considerably greater!
This battle lasted for over an hour.
Fang Li's side suffered another loss of over twenty people.
"This won't do!" Fang Li gritted his teeth after the battle ended. "The assassins will only get more numerous from now on, but we only have twenty people left..."
"Senior Brother, how about this!" Zhang San stepped forward and said. "I'll take fifteen brothers to draw the attention of the other assassins. You and the remaining five junior brothers will escort the envoy through another route!"
"But if you do that..." Fang Li hesitated. "You will die!"
"We're going to die eventually anyway if we continue, aren't we?" This time, it wasn't just Zhang San; all the cultivators looked excited. "As long as we can successfully escort Your Excellency back, what does it matter if we die?!"
"Senior Brother, let us go!"
"Yes, Senior Brother, after all, the envoy's safety is the most important!"
"Time is running out, Senior Brother, give the order quickly!"
...
At this moment, the cultivators eagerly requested to undertake the mission of drawing aggro as a suicide squad, their tone and expressions filled with utmost sincerity.
While Fang Li was hesitating, more assassins arrived!
Over a hundred of them!
Their strength was all superior to theirs!
Fang Li and the others' faces turned pale instantly!
It was a sure death situation!
It wouldn't matter if he died, but the envoy absolutely could not die here!
"Senior Brother, the envoy is entrusted to you!" Zhang San roared and charged towards the assassins.
Upon reaching them, Zhang San did not attack but frantically circulated the true qi within his body!
Instantly.
"Boom—!"
Zhang San's body exploded into countless fragments, and a powerful surge of true qi swept towards the enemy!
He knew he was no match for them, so he chose to self-destruct!
The other cultivators followed in Zhang San's footsteps, charging forward one after another!
"Rumble—!"
Explosions sounded continuously!
These cultivators sacrificed their lives one after another!
Although they knew this might not have a significant effect, it would at least buy Fang Li and the envoy a little time.
Even if it was only a little bit...
After all, this was the only thing they could do now!
Such a scene...
It almost moved Ye Fan to tears...
Actually, what he wanted to say was that you don't need to do this at all!
If you had just stayed put, the infernal system would have only used those assassins for charging.
Now, you're charging it for the infernal system yourselves!
Damn it...
Watching Zhang San and the others turn into faint light and merge into his chest after their deaths, Ye Fan felt a deep sense of powerlessness...
The fact was, Zhang San and the others' plan was quite successful.
It successfully bought Fang Li a few seconds...
"Your Excellency, it is my incompetence!"
Fang Li apologized and flew towards the assassins.
Watching his fellow disciples die one by one before his eyes, Fang Li's eyes were already red!
As things stood, the mission to protect the envoy was definitely impossible to complete.
Death was the only outcome!
However, he couldn't bother with that anymore.
He had done his best anyway!
What Fang Li wanted to do now was to reunite with his junior disciples.
Even if he died, he would take a piece out of the enemy before he did!