After the mind-reading and gossip-eating incident, officials in the imperial city were demoted one a

"Kill!" The assassins charged forward, swords and knives in hand.

"Everyone be careful!" Ye Jingyang shouted, drawing his sword and engaging the assassins in battle.

A long lock was thrown out and hooked onto the carriage in the middle. The carriage was pulled and shook violently, and Ye Yaoyao and the others felt dizzy again.

"What should we do? The carriage is not safe," Mu Youxi said fearfully.

[Why are there still martial arts practitioners here? System, are they here to kill me?] Ye Yaoyao kept looking out the window at the situation outside.

Those people outside are bounty hunters, mostly daredevils. You and your siblings are all in, but the price for killing you is the highest.

"Then I cannot stay in the carriage."

Ye Yaoyao moved towards the outside of the carriage, when she suddenly felt her arm tighten; it was Ye Xiyao who had grabbed her tightly.

"Little sister, there are too many people outside trying to kill us. If we want to go out, let's go out together!"

Mu Youqi and Wei Youyou were also in the carriage. The assassins were there to kill the siblings, and innocent people should not be implicated.

"Okay!" Seeing Ye Xiyao's determined eyes, Ye Yaoyao nodded. They couldn't let others be implicated.

"No, it's too dangerous for you to go out." Mu Youxi stopped the two.

“Youqi, the people outside who want to kill us siblings are all of us. If we stay here, we will all die.”

"Don't worry, my brother has arranged for reinforcements. We'll go out and draw the assassins away; nothing will happen."

Ye Yaoyao nimbly got out of the carriage, and Ye Xiyao pulled Mu Youxi's hand away and also got out of the carriage.

Ye Yaoyao stepped out of the carriage. Fu Ling, with her sharp eyes, saw this, swiftly dispatched an assassin with her sword, and approached Ye Yaoyao.

"Fu Ling, you're injured." Ye Yaoyao looked at her clothes, which were covered in blood, with concern.

“Miss, it’s just a minor injury, mostly from other people’s blood. It’s dangerous for you to come out like this. Stay behind me, and I’ll protect you.”

Fu Ling gripped her sword tightly, looking around warily as she replied.

"Sister, be careful."

As soon as Ye Xiyao got out of the carriage, Ye Yaoyao immediately pulled her down and made her squat down.

"Little sister, don't run around." Seeing the swords drawn before them, Ye Xiyao held her hand tightly.

"Okay!" That's impossible, Ye Yaoyao agreed verbally, but she had other plans in mind.

Ye Yaoyao looked around. Ye Jingyang had injuries on his face and was surrounded by the most enemies. Wei Shaohan and the others were dealing with two or three at a time.

"No, Second Brother can't hold on much longer. I have to lure them here."

Upon hearing Ye Yaoyao's thoughts, Ye Jingyang panicked and killed the two men with all his might.

After Liu Langyue and Fu Ya fought together and killed the enemy, they ran towards them.

"Why did you two come out?"

"Cousin, please protect my sister."

Ye Yaoyao broke free from Ye Xiyao and ran to the side, which, as expected, attracted most of the assassins to chase after her.

"Little sister." Ye Xiyao wanted to step forward, but Fu Ya stopped her.

"I am Ye Yaoyao, come and kill me!"

Ye Yaoyao stood still, calculated the distance, and threw out a handful of poison powder.

"This young woman also has poison powder, everyone be careful."

The people in front fell to the ground and couldn't get up, while the people behind retreated. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ye Yaoyao turned around and quickly ran into the woods.

"Little sister."

Ye Jingyang had four assassins with him, who were extremely anxious and unable to spare any attention. They could only watch helplessly as Ye Yaoyao ran away.

A group of people chased after them. Granny Li and Fu Ling leaped up and fended off the pursuers. Ye Yaoyao ran aimlessly forward, throwing poison powder at any assassins who caught up with her.

[The handsome man had Granny Li following me everywhere; turns out she knows martial arts!]

[Host, they were retired secret guards.]

【Wow! Impressive!】

There were quite a few assassins chasing Ye Li'an, and his protectors fell one by one. Ye Li'an dodged nimbly, managing to avoid a fatal blow each time. Three assassins attacked him.

Ye Li'an calmly backed away, then raised his hand from behind his back. The assassin who was close to him was caught off guard and collapsed to the ground upon smelling the powder.

Sensing movement behind him, Ye Li'an reached for his waist.

"Watch out, crouch down!"

Xin Chuli's voice came, and a broken sword flew towards him. Ye Li'an dodged to the side, and the broken sword pierced the chest of the man in black behind him.

"Stay close behind me, I'll protect you."

Xin Chuli stood in front, her expression serious as she confronted the assassin.

Ye Li'an's eyes flickered slightly as he followed closely behind Xin Chuli.

"Ah Li, thank you!"

"Stop talking nonsense, watch out!"

Xin Chuli loudly reminded her that she hadn't noticed Ye Li'an usually called her Miss Xin, but this was the first time Ah Li had called her that.

Xin Chuli wielded a long sword, her moves ruthless, while Ye Li'an's medicinal powder was precise; the two worked together seamlessly, deflecting wave after wave of attacks.

With the last assassin falling, peace finally returned to the surroundings.

"Go back and check on how the others are doing."

Xin Chuli looked at him thoughtfully.

"What's wrong?" Ye Lian asked, puzzled by her expression.

"You don't know martial arts, but you're very agile."

"I can……"

"Ye Li'an is here. Kill him quickly and claim the reward."

Upon hearing the shout, Xin Chuli frowned, brandished her longsword, and instantly entered battle mode.

"Why are there still more? Who wants to kill you?"

Ye Li'an quickly moved closer to Xin Chuli's back, not answering her question, but whispering, "It seems we'll have to fight side by side again."

As soon as they finished speaking, five burly men rushed out and surrounded them.

"Why are you talking about people from the martial arts world? Have you got the wrong people?"

Xin Chuli frowned, her gaze sweeping warily over the group of burly men.

"That's right, young lady, the person we're going to kill is him. If you don't interfere, we won't kill you."

One of the burly men was holding several portraits in his hand, and he checked them over.

"Bounty hunter? Who's going to spend so much? It's just an imperial examination, why would they need to hire an assassin?"

Ye Yaoyao told her that the path to becoming the top scholar was blocked by others, and that Ye Li'an was in danger before the imperial examination.

Xin Chuli bumped her head against Ye Lian'an and asked:

"Even my two top scholars didn't have such a bumpy road as you. You haven't even passed yet, and assassins are already chasing after you. What's so different about this year's imperial examination?"

Ye Li'an, knowing that there was more than one person behind the scenes who hired the killer, calmly said, "No matter who's behind it, since we're here, don't expect to succeed easily."

The burly men exchanged glances, and one of them shouted, "Girl, if you don't leave, we'll make our move."

After saying that, the men brandished their weapons and charged over.

"Wait! I have a question to ask," Xin Chuli called out hurriedly, holding out a hand to signal them to stop.

"Okay, I'll give you one more chance."

"How much is the bounty for killing him?"

Ye Li'an glanced at her indifferently.

"Ten thousand taels."

"Only ten thousand taels? His family has a lot of money. If you split ten thousand taels among yourselves, that's only two thousand taels per person. Is it worth taking on this mission?"

Xin Chuli understood the rules of the martial arts world: a bounty hunter could earn enough to live off a single mission for several years.

Having just expended some energy, Xin Chuli wanted to stall for time.