Obtaining Top Art on Family's Extermination Night

’No wonder she didn’t argue back just now... So she really did run into danger.’

Fang Lingxin realized she’d let the cat out of the bag and instinctively lowered her head again.

But then a thought struck her. ’Why should I?’

’We’re friends, and Fang Shuwen isn’t some elder of mine. Why should I have to bow my head to him?’

With that thought, she immediately lifted her head. But the moment her eyes met Fang Shuwen’s, her bravado vanished, as if crushed by some invisible force, and she instinctively lowered her head once more.

Fang Shuwen felt he had a million things to say, but he didn’t know where to begin.

In the end, he asked resignedly:

"Tell me everything, from the beginning."

Fang Lingxin obliged. The story wasn’t complicated.

The young woman had felt suffocated at home, so she left a letter and ran away. She thought that once she stepped out the door, the world would be her oyster, a place of limitless freedom.

But reality was a harsh teacher. Not long after leaving Guangning City, she ran into a life-or-death crisis.

She was surrounded by a gang of highwaymen.

She was a pretty girl with large, lovely eyes. Some of the men wanted to take her back to their mountain stronghold to be the chieftain’s wife; others wanted to sell her for a profit.

Fang Lingxin knew some Martial Arts, but she was woefully inexperienced in the ways of the Jianghu and had never been in a real fight.

She managed to take down two of them by catching them off guard, but she was too soft-hearted and pulled her punches. Once they surrounded her, she was completely overwhelmed.

Worse, they threw a handful of lime powder in her face, blinding her.

Just as she was about to fall into their clutches, the young man with the weapon on his back happened to pass by.

With a few quick fists and feet, without even touching the weapon on his back, he routed the bandits. Some lay dead, the rest fled, and soon they had all scattered.

Seeing that her eyes had been burned by the lime powder, he then helped treat her injuries.

Recalling it now, Fang Lingxin still felt a wave of survivor’s relief.

"If it wasn’t for him, I’m afraid I’d be dead."

’And that’s only because you ran away from home in the first place!’

Fang Shuwen was speechless for a moment. ’How can this girl be so dense?’

’Back when my own Martial Arts were still unaccomplished, I never even dreamed of leaving the city.’

’She, on the other hand, has gall in spades.’

"And then?"

Fang Shuwen asked.

"After that, I wanted to repay his kindness. I mean, he saved my life.

"Besides, I didn’t want to go home. His Martial Arts are better than mine, and he has so much experience in the Jianghu. I decided to follow him so I could see what this Jianghu is really like."

Fang Lingxin explained the situation from beginning to end.

"You’ve said all this, but you never mentioned the man’s name..."

"Oh, he’s called Lin Fan."

Fang Lingxin said with a smile,

"It’s a very ordinary name. The ’Fan’ in it literally means ’ordinary.’"

Fang Shuwen felt like he was going to give himself an internal injury from holding back his retort.

He’d already felt there was something off about that young man’s eyes, that he was no simple character. Now, hearing that name... In his experience, was there anyone named ’Fan’ who was ever truly ordinary?

And that mysterious weapon on his back probably wasn’t anything simple, either.

After all, who would bother to wrap an ordinary weapon in white cloth?

Looking at the blissfully unaware Fang Lingxin smiling before him, Fang Shuwen was truly at a loss for words.

After a long moment, he sighed.

"So, when do you plan on going home?"

"Huh?"

Fang Lingxin froze, instinctively shaking her head. She didn’t want to go home.

She still wanted to properly experience the Jianghu.

But facing Fang Shuwen, she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Her eyes darted about as she tried to think of an excuse, but before she could, Fang Shuwen spoke.

"After we’re done in Pojun City. Once our business there is concluded, I will personally escort you home."

"What?"

Fang Lingxin couldn’t help but let out another cry of surprise.

"Bro... Brother Fang, you don’t have to do that.

"You’re so busy, you must have much more important things to do..."

"It’s no trouble."

Fang Shuwen waved his hand dismissively.

"I promised this young lady I would go to Pojun City to find her brother. After we find him, I’ll have nothing else to attend to.

"So I’ll be free to take you home then."

"But I don’t want to go back..."

Fang Lingxin’s eyes reddened slightly.

Fang Shuwen paused. ’Am I being too harsh?’ he suddenly wondered.

’This is the best way to protect her, of course.’

’But it’s also a form of imprisonment.’

He glanced instinctively at Shui Qianrou. That little girl was only ten, and she already couldn’t stand being confined by the Celestial Water Palace.

Fang Lingxin, on the other hand, was already sixteen or seventeen.

’After all these years, this was probably her first time ever leaving Guangning City, wasn’t it?’ 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The thought made Fang Shuwen’s heart soften.

After a moment’s hesitation, Fang Shuwen spoke in a gentler tone.

"Miss Fang, you must understand, the Jianghu is a perilous place, far more than you imagine.

"Running away so recklessly, you can’t guarantee your own safety. Your parents must be worried sick about you, day and night.

"I remember... you had an older brother, who was separated from your family in an accident.

"Your parents have never gotten over it.

"Now that you’re older, you should be able to understand their sorrow.

"And yet you still run away from home so recklessly. How do you think that makes them feel?"

His words struck Fang Lingxin like a physical blow.

For years, all she had felt was wronged—that she couldn’t leave her parents’ side, that she couldn’t learn more advanced Martial Arts, and that she was eventually confined to her home like a prisoner.

But she had forgotten... her parents probably couldn’t bear the pain of losing another child.

Now, with Fang Shuwen laying the truth so bare, her simmering unease boiled over. She felt her breath catch in her throat and couldn’t stop herself from bolting upright.