“I said, what did I say?” Si Xia looked puzzled. “Could it be… I wasn’t clear enough, or perhaps your ears have a problem? Let me clarify… I intend to dominate the Independent State, and you all have only two options: submit or die. Choose for yourselves.”
Upon hearing Si Xia’s words, the people present burst into laughter. The leader of the Martial Arts Union Guild had lost his mind, speaking such absurdities here – a flight of fancy!
“What are you basing this on?” the head of the mainline clan asked with a mocking smile.
However, Si Xia didn’t answer; he simply shifted his gaze to Yi Shuihan. “Yi Shuihan, what do you think? Will you help me?”
“What do you think?” Yi Shuihan asked Si Xia.
“I think…” Si Xia’s lips curled slightly. “You should be very willing to help me.”
Before Yi Shuihan could reply, Si Xia suddenly shook his head and said, “Don’t rush to answer me… Yi Shuihan, I know about your situation… and I know the truth that you don’t. Do you really believe that girl was sent by the collateral branch to assassinate you?”
“What do you mean?” Yi Shuihan’s eyes flashed with cold light.
“Want to know the truth? Well, how about helping me first? As an exchange, I’ll tell you the truth,” Si Xia smiled.
Before Yi Shuihan could respond, Si Xia continued, “By the way, I hope you take my words seriously. Maybe you think you can torture the truth out of me, but I may not be able to defeat you, but I’m a madman. If you don’t agree, you’ll never know the truth. How about that?”
As Si Xia’s words fell, Yi Shuihan fell into silence.
After a long while, Yi Shuihan nodded and said, “Fine, if your truth is indeed significantly different from what I know, I’ll help you.”
“Good, Yi Shuihan, your word is your bond. I trust you,” Si Xia nodded. “Do you really think that girl wanted to poison you and then fell in love with you, leading to your mother accidentally consuming poisoned food?”
“What are you implying?” Yi Shuihan furrowed his brow.
“Heh, the truth is, that girl never loved you from the start… She was just a highly trained assassin from childhood, devoid of emotions, brainwashed to obey orders… You know, that girl had nothing to do with the collateral branch. It was all part of a scheme by the mainline clan.”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Jiang Ying shouted angrily.
However, the collateral branch members were strangely silent. They had no part in this, but Yi Shuihan had been fixated on them. It turned out to be a design by the mainline clan…
“Chief Jiang Ying, don’t get agitated. Allow me to explain slowly,” Si Xia said with a smile.
“He’s here to sow discord, kill him!” Some of the mainline clan’s strongmen moved to attack Si Xia.
However, Yi Shuihan instantly stood by Si Xia’s side, forcing the attackers back. “Back off!”
“Isn’t it interesting… back then, the mainline clan discovered Yi Shuihan and was impressed by his martial arts prowess. If they could get Yi Shuihan’s assistance, returning to the Independent State would be like adding wings to a tiger. Unfortunately, Yi Shuihan didn’t buy into their plan and had no dealings with the mainline clan… Soon, the mainline clan devised a plan, which was to shift the blame by using a top-tier female assassin who was as beautiful as a flower to frame the collateral branch. The assassin followed the plan, pretending to have a chance encounter with Yi Shuihan. At that time, Yi Shuihan was just beginning to experience love, and he couldn’t escape from the hands of this perfectly trained female assassin. Afterward, Yi Shuihan brought the assassin home… and then the assassin poisoned his mother.”