This Is What a Villain Is Like

She was, after all, a genuine expert of the Seventh Realm, the Dharma Realm. In the eyes of ordinary people, there was no difference between her and an Immortal who lived as long as the heavens.

There were almost no poisons in this world that could affect her, let alone a mere unusual herb growing in the remote mountains and fields.

Yet this man before her, Lin Fan, knew her current condition with just a single glance.

"You don’t need to know what it is, miss. You only need to know that your current physical condition is the result of accidentally consuming it..."

Lin Fan’s expression remained calm as he continued, "Once my injuries have healed a bit, I can help you neutralize the medicinal properties of this plant."

"The condition is that you treat me and help me recover from my injuries. During this time, you must also hide me to prevent the lackeys of the Prime Minister’s Mansion from finding me."

The woman’s slender brows furrowed as she began to weigh the pros and cons of Lin Fan’s words.

If she could avoid it, she really didn’t want to offend the Prime Minister’s Mansion. There was always the risk of being seen as his accomplice.

"If you are worried about the consequences, miss, I can guarantee—I swear on my Dao Heart—that even if I am exposed and captured by the Prime Minister’s Mansion, I will not reveal anything about you."

Lin Fan seemed to know what the woman was worried about and made his promise in a solemn voice.

"Your current injuries require Medicinal Herbs with the Yang Flame Attribute to suppress them. Qingshui Village is too small to gather so many herbs in a short time, so they must be procured from a city. But the Prime Minister’s Mansion is not stupid; they will surely have people patrolling all the shops and apothecaries."

"I will prescribe several medicines for you later. Taking them on schedule will help you recover your cultivation faster. As for the issue with the chill, you will have to find a way to suppress it yourself. I will help you as much as I can, but that is all." The woman did not hesitate for long before agreeing to Lin Fan’s request.

For her, the temptation of an unknown, unusual herb was simply too great.

In order to write the *Hundred Herbs Scripture Collection*, she had traveled to nearly every corner of the Nine Provinces Land, tasting all manner of strange herbs and wondrous flowers.

With that said, her figure departed from the dilapidated house.

"It’s a deal. I will never forget your life-saving grace, miss."

Lin Fan let out a long sigh of relief. The tension in his heart gradually eased.

With this mysterious woman hiding him, he shouldn’t have to worry about the lackeys from the Prime Minister’s Mansion finding him for a while.

Once he recovered some of his cultivation, he would leave this place immediately, not lingering for a moment longer.

Although the mute girl didn’t quite understand the conversation between Lin Fan and the Medical Immortal Sister, she knew the woman would treat him, and a happy smile immediately appeared on her face.

Lin Fan looked at her small, thin figure, feeling a little grateful, but mostly guilty. ’If the lackeys of the Prime Minister’s Mansion find out she saved me, what will happen to her?’

But with his current strength, he couldn’t possibly take her with him while on the run. To him, the mute girl was just a burden...

’I hope it never comes to that,’ he thought to himself.

That night, after swallowing the medicinal soup the mysterious woman had Mute Girl Xiaoya deliver, Lin Fan felt he had recovered a fair amount of his cultivation.

Although his meridians still ached unbearably, it was much better than during the day. He was already able to get out of bed and walk, sense the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, and begin recovering more quickly.

He immediately sat cross-legged and began to circulate his Cultivation Technique. Wisps of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi surged toward him, and a divine light glittered in his eyes.

But before long, Lin Fan heard the sound of someone knocking on the main door outside the house, which was then forcefully pushed open.

Several men barged in, cursing and swearing, as the little mute girl rushed forward anxiously to block them.

"Xiaoya, girl, did you see someone by the river?"

"Second Brother, why are you being polite with a little mute? Just go straight in and search! The girl has been acting all secretive these past two days. Anyone who didn’t know better would think she’d found some kind of treasure..."

"I heard that Wang Erma already went to the County Captain to claim credit. The whole area’s been in an uproar these past few days. Even big shots from the provincial capital have come down personally to issue wanted posters in all the major cities. They’d rather arrest the wrong person than let anyone slip by."

"If we’re the ones who find him, we’ll be set for life."

...

Hearing the conversation outside, Lin Fan, who was sitting cross-legged inside the house, felt his expression change instantly. His face turned incredibly grim.

He hadn’t expected to be exposed so quickly. It seemed Mute Girl Xiaoya’s strange behavior over the past few days had been noticed after all.

He scrambled to his feet at once. Though his body was wracked with unbearable pain, he could only grit his teeth and endure it. Pushing open a nearby window, he transformed into a blur and sped away into the distance.

The sound of falling tiles was exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

"Someone’s in the backyard...!"

The men who had barged into the house quickly understood and rushed over, but they only managed to see a blurry figure disappear into the vast darkness of the night after a few swift movements.

"We were a step too late..."

"Who knew the guy could still move? Didn’t the wanted poster say he was too seriously injured to even budge?"

The men’s faces were instantly filled with frustration and regret.

Behind them, Mute Girl Xiaoya stared blankly at the scene, not understanding what had just happened.

Soon enough, however, the men turned their attention back to Mute Girl Xiaoya.

One of them said with malicious intent, "But it doesn’t matter. Haven’t we caught his accomplice? This little girl has some nerve, daring to shelter an assassin wanted by the Prime Minister’s Mansion."

"What does this little girl know? Her mind hasn’t been right since she was a child. She was probably deceived by that assassin."

"Forget it. Let’s just wait for the people from the Prime Minister’s Mansion to deal with her. The little girl is pitiful, really. She kindly saved the assassin only to be implicated. Offending the Prime Minister’s Mansion never ends well."

...

「The next morning, outside Qingshui Village.」

A Flying Ship, as ornate as a pavilion with carved beams and painted rafters, descended from the heavens. Shrouded in clouds and mist and veiled by a rosy glow, it landed with a RUMBLE, kicking up a cloud of dust.

A group of black-clad, sword-wielding guards with fierce expressions and domineering auras surrounded a noble and handsome young man in wide-sleeved white robes, walking forward at a slow pace.

Behind the Flying Ship, steam and mist billowed. Many Knights clad in armor, their vitality shockingly potent, followed on the backs of Fierce Beasts. Their ferocity was astounding, as if they had clawed their way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

The County Captain responsible for Qingshui Village was already waiting there with a large number of Attendants.

Behind him was a huge, dense crowd of villagers from Qingshui Village, all looking terrified and uneasy.

"Who was it that took down the wanted poster?"

A tall Knight riding a Fierce Beast that resembled a Celestial Wolf came forward. Beneath his fully armored face, his eyes were chillingly cold.

He swept his gaze over the County Captain of Qingshui Village. His powerful aura was so oppressive that everyone’s blood roiled, and they felt an overwhelming urge to kowtow and prostrate themselves.

"Reporting to you, my lord, it was this man..."

The County Captain’s face was pale as he hurriedly explained the whole story from beginning to end.

Beside him, a pockmarked middle-aged man looked terrified, unable to even speak clearly at the moment.

Mute Girl Xiaoya, her face pale with terror, was being held on the ground by a group of Attendants. She couldn’t even lift her head and was trembling uncontrollably.

"You’re saying the assassin escaped at the critical moment..."

"And this young girl saved him?"

The Knight’s gaze was ice-cold as he demanded, "If you dare to hide a single word, you know the consequences."

"Every word is true. I dare not hide anything," the pockmarked middle-aged man said, his voice trembling.

"Young Master, it seems we’ve arrived too late. The assassin, Lin Fan, has likely already fled deep into the mountains..."

The Knight rode his Fierce Beast over to Jiang Lan’s side and reported respectfully.

Jiang Lan nodded slightly. He wasn’t particularly surprised. In fact, he had been a little astonished yesterday when he heard the report that someone knew the whereabouts of the assassin, Lin Fan.

’Logically speaking, how could Lin Fan’s whereabouts be revealed to me so easily?’

However, acting on the principle of leaving no stone unturned, he had still made the trip himself, especially since the two locations weren’t far apart.

Judging from the current situation, Lin Fan was quite sharp, managing to escape just before they arrived.

"Young Master, how should we deal with the mute girl? She knew Lin Fan was an assassin, yet she still dared to save him. Without her care, Lin Fan probably wouldn’t have been able to recover so quickly..." the Knight by his side asked respectfully.

Jiang Lan waved his hand dismissively and walked over, stopping in front of the constantly trembling girl.