"..." Pan Jiao fell silent. She hadn't expected Xiaoyao to explain it this way, and even less expected Hei Xue to say such a thing. From the way they spoke, it seemed the two weren't as simple as siblings.

"You don't seem to be siblings," Pan Jiao asked.

"How are we not? I'm his sister—blood siblings with different fathers and mothers," Hei Xue said with a smile.

"Oh, I see, different fathers and mothers... wait..." Pan Jiao started nodding, but then realized something was wrong. What did it mean to be blood siblings with different fathers and mothers?

"Stop teasing her. We're not blood siblings—we're just temporarily borrowing this identity as a cover. When traveling outside, it's better to be careful," Xiaoyao said. "We're both people who roam the martial world. You should understand."

"I see. I knew your identities weren't that simple. Your swordsmanship is very advanced—even I would have difficulty breaking through your sword techniques," Pan Jiao said. Her words had two meanings: first, Xiaoyao's swordsmanship was advanced, so he definitely wasn't an ordinary scholar; and second, while she would have difficulty breaking through his techniques, that didn't mean she couldn't defeat him.

"Average, average," Xiaoyao replied with a smile.

"Is it the Supreme Sword Arts?" Pan Jiao asked again. Xiaoyao's swordsmanship made people think it was the Supreme Sword Arts, but it was also somewhat different.

"Yes," Xiaoyao nodded, not offering much explanation. Should he tell others that his Supreme Sword Arts had actually integrated his own style, which was why it looked similar but was somewhat different?

"It seems you've studied the Supreme Sword Arts extensively. How about we exchange pointers?" Pan Jiao said. She was also a practitioner of the Supreme Sword Arts.

"We're not familiar with each other," Xiaoyao directly refused Pan Jiao's suggestion.

"..."

Pan Jiao was somewhat speechless. Xiaoyao's refusal was too straightforward—she felt completely ignored. Since childhood, whether looks of envy or jealousy, she had seen countless such gazes and was tired of them. Now suddenly someone was ignoring her—this had never happened before.

But she wouldn't get angry over this, nor would she pay special attention to Xiaoyao. After all, someone at her level had seen all kinds of people and wouldn't notice Xiaoyao just because he was special.

There was another point: Xiaoyao's age was also much younger than hers—at least three or four years younger. How could she care about the behavior of this young man?

"Hehe, it's just talking," Pan Jiao said with a smile.

"Then let's only talk about romance," Xiaoyao replied.

"..."

"Pfft..." Hei Xue laughed. "Only talk about romance? You want to discuss romance with a young lady—do you think she's that casual?"

"Anyway, there's nothing else good to talk about. Romance is fine—no need to think so much," Xiaoyao said with a smile. Pan Jiao's purpose in coming here was somewhat impure to begin with, and since they weren't familiar, it would be strange if Xiaoyao didn't brush her off.

"..."

Pan Jiao looked at Xiaoyao. She couldn't quite see through him. She had originally thought Xiaoyao was just a relatively ordinary passerby. Even if his identity was somewhat different, to her, he was still very ordinary. But now he seemed very extraordinary.

However, she didn't show this and just smiled while chatting with Xiaoyao, actually discussing some romantic matters. Of course, nothing restricted—just casual chat to pass the time...

After chatting like this, the results came in from over there. After Zhao Boxuan confirmed there was nothing, he began looking at Pan Jiao. He didn't think Li Yihun and his group had played any tricks, because they simply didn't know. Pan Jiao was still the most suspicious.

Yang Xiu had only been here briefly, and he had followed right after, with no time to do anything. She could be ruled out.

"Think again—is there anything you've overlooked?" Zhao Boxuan asked Li Yihun. Although he felt Pan Jiao was most suspicious, things had to be done step by step. He'd question Li Yihun's group first.

"Everything should be here. What exactly are you looking for?" Li Yihun and his group weren't very certain. They had taken whatever caught their fancy at the time, not anything too conspicuous. Maybe they had forgotten something.

"You don't need to know that!" Zhao Boxuan immediately said. He naturally wouldn't reveal this matter. If they knew the value of this item, the situation might become complicated.

"Then we don't know either. All our people are here, and all our things are here too. You can search us," Li Yihun said. Although being searched made this pampered young master very unhappy, in the current situation, the best way to clear suspicion was still a body search.

"Search them!" Zhao Boxuan said. This time his group also included a woman, so it was convenient enough.

Soon, even body searches were conducted, but they still didn't find that item. Although the item wasn't large, it wasn't small either. It was impossible to miss it through carelessness. This could only mean they either truly didn't have it, or they had hidden it in advance.

But they didn't know about this matter, so hiding it in advance should be impossible. This meant they truly didn't have it—whether they had lost it themselves or someone with ulterior motives had taken it was unclear.

"Did any of you lose anything, or give anything to others?" Zhao Boxuan frowned and asked. Theoretically, they had been monitored and pursued the entire way. Everyone they had contacted had been found, and they were almost certain they hadn't lost anything or given anything to others.

However, "almost certain" still wasn't "certain." Asking now was safer.

"This might have happened, or might not have. We can't be sure—after all, we were being chased by you," Li Yihun shook his head. He couldn't guarantee this. Losing a small item while fleeing was quite normal.

"..." Zhao Boxuan fell silent for a moment, looking at Li Yihun for a long time. "You're also a clever person, but I hope you won't play any tricks. This matter is beyond what you can handle."

"I've told you everything you want to know. If you're suspicious, there's nothing I can do about it," Li Yihun expressed helplessness—this was also a form of protest.

"Pan Jiao, tell the truth. Do you have the item or not?" Zhao Boxuan ignored Li Yihun and asked Pan Jiao directly.

"No, of course not. If I had taken it, how could I appear before you all? Wouldn't that be like a sheep entering a tiger's den?" Pan Jiao immediately replied.

"..." Zhao Boxuan was silent for a moment. Although the logic was sound, Pan Jiao might still be playing games. He suspected Pan Jiao, and he believed Yang Xiu on the scene shared this suspicion.

"Don't believe me? Then come search me," Pan Jiao immediately said, standing up.

"Search!"

Although Zhao Boxuan felt the possibility of the item being on Pan Jiao was very low—more likely she had hidden it somewhere—this didn't rule out her playing games with truth and falsehood. They still needed to check.

The result was that Pan Jiao indeed didn't have it on her. They also knew that getting Pan Jiao to reveal where the item was would be basically impossible, if she had indeed hidden it.

Therefore, Zhao Boxuan straightforwardly ordered a search—they would dig three feet into the ground if necessary to find it. With his command, Pan Jiao seemed to show a barely detectable smile, whether from satisfaction or mockery was unclear.

Then she wanted to follow along and see how Zhao Boxuan would search. Just at this moment, something happened that immediately ruined her good mood.

"Um, Miss Pan Jiao, you forgot your item," Xiaoyao said at this moment, immediately attracting everyone's attention and making Pan Jiao's expression change drastically.

"You..." Pan Jiao immediately blocked Xiaoyao's view, not letting everyone see what Xiaoyao was referring to. However, in this situation, Zhao Boxuan would definitely come over to check, and it would eventually be discovered.

"How did you discover it? Do you know what you're doing?" Pan Jiao sighed, looking at Xiaoyao with some helplessness. Her originally perfect plan had been ruined by him.

"I discovered it when you placed it with me, but since you were here, I didn't say anything. Now that you're leaving, I naturally have to return it to you. As for what I'm doing, this is naturally the good deed of returning lost property," Xiaoyao said with a smile.

"So the item is here. Pan Jiao, oh Pan Jiao, you're indeed very clever, placing it in someone else's hands. You just didn't expect that person wouldn't know the value of this item," Zhao Boxuan laughed. After seeing the item in Xiaoyao's hands, he smiled. It really took no effort at all.

The item in Xiaoyao's hands was exactly what he wanted to find. Compared to other items, this thing was relatively ordinary—just a short flute made of green jade, very exquisite, but compared to others, it was truly common goods.

"I calculated everything except that you're an idiot. Do you know how valuable this item is? Even if you discovered it, you shouldn't have brought it out. You should have negotiated with me—I would have given you the best terms," Pan Jiao said angrily. She could no longer express the anger in her heart and was trying her best to suppress it.

"I know this item is very valuable—otherwise you wouldn't make such a big commotion. I also know this is exactly what you're looking for, otherwise you wouldn't have placed it with me," Xiaoyao shook his head.

"If you knew, why did you bring it out?" Pan Jiao immediately asked.

"Why couldn't I bring it out? I'm just passing through. No matter how valuable your item is, it's not mine—what does it have to do with me? If I kept this item, you would give me benefits, but you'd also bring me trouble. For me, benefits can be accepted, but trouble cannot," Xiaoyao shrugged.

"That's because you don't know the specific value of this item. If I told you this item is like a nation's imperial seal that can command the world, would you still not want it?" After Pan Jiao finished speaking, she immediately added, "This nation is equivalent to the Azure Dragon Empire, or even larger."

(End of Chapter)