In this world, Shen Lian still admires the paintings of the master painter Mr. Hokusai like in the movies.

After learning that Mr. Hokusai was actually a woman named Zhou Miaoxuan, she subconsciously turned her appreciation for the paintings into admiration for Mr. Hokusai himself, which triggered a plot similar to that of "Blade Master II: Shura Battlefield".

In the original movie, Hokusai was put on the killing list by the East Factory because he satirized current affairs in his paintings.

Shen Lian and his colleague Ling Yunkai were ordered to carry out the mission and go to Hokusai's residence to kill Hokusai.

After discovering that Hokusai was a young and beautiful woman, Ling Yunkai became lustful and wanted to rape Hokusai, but was stopped by Shen Lian. Ling Yunkai thus keenly realized that the two knew each other, so he wrote down in the Book of Impermanence the crime of Shen Lian colluding with the rebels. Shen Lian was immediately horrified and wanted to snatch the Book of Impermanence from Ling Yunkai. The two fought in Hokusai's residence.

In the end, Shen Lian accidentally killed Ling Yunkai, and Hokusai took the opportunity to escape.

Afterwards, Shen Lian fabricated the scene to cover up the fact that he killed his colleague, but he was caught by Ding Baiying and others. Eventually, he had to get deeper and deeper into trouble and completely became a pawn in the hands of Prince Xin Zhu Youjian.

In this world, the plot changes a bit, but overall not much.

Shen Lian still likes Hokusai, and Hokusai is still the confidante of Prince Xin Zhu Youjian.

However, the person who came forward to threaten Shen Lian changed from Ding Baiying to the time traveler Zhao Lihe.

The subsequent plot is not much different from the movie. At most, the plan becomes more smooth. Without those accidents and coincidences, everything goes smoothly according to Zhao Lihe's plan.

It was not until Prince Xin Zhu Youjian ascended the throne and turned against Zhao Lihe that the fate of the main characters in the play changed.

The most important thing for Shen Lian was the change in Hokusai's fate.

In the original drama, facing the pursuit of officers and soldiers, Shen Lian cut off the suspension bridge, allowing Hokusai to escape alone, while he stayed behind to fight with Lu Wenzhao, Ding Baiying and others to stop the pursuing officers and soldiers.

But in this world, Hokusai failed to escape, and instead fell off a cliff with several officers and soldiers.

Therefore, compared to Shen Lian in the original drama, Shen Lian in this world feels more guilty and more painful.

When facing Zhou Miaotong, the sister of Mr. Hokusai Zhou Miaoxuan, he did not have the love between men and women in his heart as in the original drama. All he had was guilt towards the Zhou sisters and a sense of compensation towards Zhou Miaotong for not being able to save Zhou Miaoxuan.

Looking at the face in front of him that looked similar to Hokusai, Shen Lian was a little dazed.

After coming to his senses, Shen Lian suddenly said softly: "Miao Tong, when I have saved up enough money, I will redeem you."

Zhou Miaotong was slightly startled, and couldn't help laughing: "Master Shen, with your little salary, you can redeem me?"

Zhou Miaotong shook her head with amusement, stood up, and said softly with her back to Shen Lian: "Besides, this is the Jiaofangsi. No one can leave without the documents from the Ministry of Justice..."

"You can get out." Shen Lian suddenly said softly, "I have asked Lord Chen from the Ministry of Justice to add your name to the list of pardons for the Jiaofang Bureau."

“…”

Zhou Miaotong was stunned when she heard this, and couldn't help but turn around and look at Shen Lian.

Shen Lian stood up silently, glanced at Zhou Miaotong who seemed to be hesitant to speak, then turned and left.

At this moment, Shen Lian paused, turned his head suddenly and looked at the wall, as if he had discovered something unusual.

Zhou Miaotong was startled when she saw this: "Why..."

"Shh!"

Shen Lian rudely interrupted Zhou Miaotong and asked her to be silent. Then he took a few quick steps, put his ear against the wall, listened quietly to the sounds next door for a while, then turned around, pulled Zhou Miaotong over, and whispered in her ear.

"Does the Miss Hanyu you mentioned like to receive two guests at a time?"

“…How is that possible!”

Zhou Miaotong frowned slightly and said softly, "Sister Hanyu is a new girl from the Jiaofang Bureau. She is twelve years old and a virgin. Before tonight, she was a prostitute who only sold her art but not her body. But an official took a fancy to her and spent a lot of money to order her flower tea. That's why he persuaded Mama Qian to let her dress up and receive customers tonight."

"I see."

Shen Lian nodded thoughtfully.

According to this, there should be only two people in Miss Hanyu's boudoir.

Then why could he hear the breathing of three people?

Shen Lian remained expressionless on the surface, but he was secretly alert, and quietly pressed the hilt of the knife at his waist with his right hand.

At the same time, the soothing and steady piano music next door suddenly became passionate.

The tranquility and elegance in the piano music instantly transformed into the sound of war and iron horses.

Zhou Miaotong couldn't help but wonder, "How did it change from "Pingsha Luoyan" to "Ten Sides of Ambush"?

Shen Lian was stunned when he heard this, then his face darkened and he quickly pushed the door open and walked out.

Zhou Miaotong stood there and listened carefully for a while, and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Sister Hanyu is really capable!"

"Bang--"

Shen Lian kicked open the door of the next room, and with a glance, he saw a girl in a lavender dress dancing in the room.

In front of the girl, a tall and handsome man in a blue shirt sat upright behind a desk, playing the piano gracefully, his fingers playing this passionate and sharp music slowly but actually quickly.

In the corner behind him, there was a fat official who was in dishevel and tied up, with a red cloth stuffed in his mouth, whimpering and shouting in fear.

When the girl saw Shen Lian rushing into the room, she froze, screamed, and hid behind the screen.

The man in green had a warm smile on his face. He looked at Shen Lian while playing the piano.

As for the fat man who was tied up, he shouted even louder and looked at the savior who broke into the room with hope on his face.

Such a strange yet harmonious scene made Shen Lian's hair stand on end, and he couldn't help but draw out the Embroidered Spring Sword engraved with cloud patterns.

Seeing Shen Lian drawing his sword, the man in green sighed, smoothed the strings of the zither with both hands, and the passionate music suddenly stopped.

"Master Shen, don't be anxious. I will talk to you after I finish playing this song."

After saying this, the man in green plucked the strings of the zither again and started playing music as if no one was around.

Shen Lian's expression was solemn, his eyes fixed on the face of the man in green and his bones-white fingers on the strings.

"Are you the Skeleton Demon Hand, Fu Qingyun?"

“…”

Lin Zhongtian's face darkened, he snorted lightly, and exerted slight force with his right index finger.

With a clanging sound, the strings of the zither broke and turned into a stream of light that shot towards Shen Lian.

Shen Lian only felt a flash of white light before his eyes and subconsciously turned his head. The string of the zither instantly brushed his cheek and went straight into the wooden wall behind him like a sharp arrow.

The strings penetrate three inches into the wood.

A trace of pain came from my cheek.

Shen Lian reached out and touched it, feeling a chill in his heart.

It was just a guitar string, but it actually scratched his cheek and pierced through the wall in an instant.

If he had not been able to dodge such a powerful force, he would probably have died on the spot!

Shen Lian did not dare to be careless. He shouted loudly and rushed towards Lin Zhongtian waving his Embroidered Spring Sword.

Lin Zhongtian sneered, and his bone-white right hand turned into a white shadow, plucking all the remaining strings on the piano.

“Swish, swish, swish—”

In an instant, streaks of light cut through the air in the room and shot towards Shen Lian like lightning.

Shen Lian had anticipated this and kicked the wooden bench in front of him.

The long bench rolled forward and blocked Shen Lian.

“Knock knock knock—”

A series of sounds of strings sinking into the wooden bench were heard. Most of the strings that were shooting towards the vital points were blocked, and only a small number of strings passed through the gaps in the rolling bench and sank into Shen Lian's limbs.

Shen Lian groaned, his body stiffened, and he felt a dull pain in all his limbs.

Lin Zhongtian smiled slightly and plucked the last string amid the shrill sound of the piano.

In an instant, a stream of light swung out like a silk thread, cutting the rolling bench in the air into two halves, and then the remaining force continued to slash towards Shen Lian.

Shen Lian was horrified. He gritted his teeth, held the knife with both hands, and slashed at the white light fiercely.

“Sizzle—”

The metal clashed, and the sharp Xiuchun sword cut the strings into two pieces.

The broken strings shot out from both sides of the blade like crossbow arrows. One pierced Shen Lian's shoulder, and the other brushed past his ear and sank into the wooden wall behind him.

“Tick-tock——”

Dark red blood flowed down his earlobe and dripped onto his shoulder.

Shen Lian looked solemn, holding the knife in both hands, with the tip of the knife pointing at Lin Zhongtian in front of him.

The man in front of him was a powerful opponent he had never encountered in his life, and he absolutely could not afford to be careless!