Chapter 118: Betrayal

Inside the Hundred Deer Pavilion, the doors and windows were tightly closed, and the floor was in disarray.

A thick smell of Chinese medicine hung in the air. A sliver of sunlight penetrated from the crack of the door, illuminating the dust motes floating in the air.

Chen Ji lowered his head, looking at the wooden box in his hand. The ginseng was hastily stuffed together, a tangled, seemingly worthless mess. But the restless icy flow within his body proved that these ginseng roots were genuine.

He looked up at Jin Zhu: "Sir, do all cultivation paths require ginseng?"

"No, they don't!"

Jin Zhu patiently explained: "Half of the cultivation paths within the Si Li Jian, the department I belong to, don't need ginseng. But the cultivation path I've found for you does."

Chen Ji closed the small wooden box, holding it in his arms. He casually asked: "How can you be sure that I can embark on a cultivation path, sir? If I don't have the talent for it, won't it be a waste of your efforts?"

Jin Zhu chuckled: "After Meng Ji interrogated you the first time, he wrote in his secret report to the inner minister that you have the talent and must use first-grade Meng. Put your heart at ease, you were born for this."

Chen Ji suddenly understood.

So Jin Zhu had been watching him since that time. No wonder the other party came to visit Tai Ping Medical Hall the first time after Yun Yang and Jiao Tu were imprisoned.

Just then, a secret agent pushed open the door, and the afternoon sunlight suddenly flooded into the Hundred Deer Pavilion.

Jin Zhu's face changed, "Are you trying to die? Why did you come in at this time?"

The black-clothed spy knelt on one knee: "Sir, there's a message from the inner prison. That Si Cao from the Jing Chao has spoken. He says he has intelligence about the Liu family and the Jing Wang Fu and wants to tell you face to face."

Jin Zhu's expression was serious: "Let's go to the inner prison immediately."

Chen Ji looked at Jin Zhu: "Sir, you haven't slept all night, have you? Don't you need to rest a bit?"

Jin Zhu said to him seriously: "The cultivation paths given by the inner minister are always given in layers. Only by becoming one of the top three zodiac positions can one obtain the complete cultivation path. In the future, you'll eat meat and I'll drink soup. As long as there's an opportunity for merit, neither of us can miss it."

"Chen Ji, the Liu family and the Jing Wang Fu are the ladder for you to ascend."

Inside the shaking carriage, a copper lamp furnace warmed the air, as if bathing in warm water.

Chen Ji hadn't slept all night and finally couldn't bear it anymore. He leaned against the carriage wall and dozed off.

He had a dream.

He dreamed that his identity as a Jing Chao spy was exposed, and he was fleeing for his life.

On the escape route, just as he was about to blend into a merchant caravan and escape through Chong Li Pass, Qing Long Gate, he was shot through the chest by a Tian Ma on the city wall.

In the twilight, beneath the majestic Chong Li Pass, Jin Zhu knelt by his corpse, weeping bitterly, begging him not to die!

"Wake up! We're almost there!"

"Wake up!"

Chen Ji slowly opened his eyes. He subconsciously touched his chest; there was no scar there.

Jin Zhu sat opposite him, smiling: "Had a nightmare?"

Chen Ji gave a soft sound of acknowledgment.

Jin Zhu teased: "It's not embarrassing to have nightmares. The first time I learned to kill, I trembled all over. You're not like me, you seem to be born to do this job."

Chen Ji lifted the curtain, letting the cold air from outside the window pour in, suddenly feeling awake: "How old were you when you killed for the first time, sir?"

"Ten years old!"

Jin Zhu's eyes were deep: "Like me, Yun Yang, Jiao Tu, Tian Ma, Qiu Shu, such orphans are all sent to the same place after being taken in by the inner minister. They wait to learn how to kill, to learn to trust no one anymore. Then they can come out and do things."

"If they don't learn, then?"

"If they don't learn, they all die inside."

"What is that place called?"

"We call it Wu Nian Shan. After coming out of that mountain, you no longer think about mountains!"

Chen Ji asked curiously: "Sir, I heard that the Jing Chao spies have hard bones. Why is this Si Cao willing to talk? Will there be no trick?"

Jin Zhu was happy: "The lower the level of the spy, the harder their bones. But once they become a minor power, they understand that they are just tools in the hands of the major powers, and then their bones become soft. So, if I catch a low-level spy, I'm too lazy to even interrogate them. But a character like Si Cao, we can have a talk."

The carriage slowly stopped. The west wind knocked open the iron door. Behind the iron door, down the long tunnel of stairs, came a foul odor and the sound of scolding and wailing.

Walking down the stone stairs, Chen Ji saw that the prison cells were full of prisoners. Some cursed the eunuch party angrily and spat at Jin Zhu.

Jin Zhu kept his distance and squinted at the jailers in the tunnel with a smile: "You have the ability to dry the spit from your faces yourself, I may not have that!"

The jailers' faces changed, and they immediately brought buckets of ice-cold underground river water from the bottom layer of the inner prison and splashed it through the iron bars into each cell.

Jin Zhu walked through this human purgatory with his hands behind his back, a smile on his face.

Walking deep into the inner prison, they saw Yuan Zhanggui with both hands nailed to a wooden rack, his head hanging. The nails of his ten fingers had been pulled clean.

Jin Zhu stopped in front of Yuan Zhanggui and said slowly and methodically: "If you want to tell the truth, tell it quickly. All the people from your Hundred Deer Pavilion have been caught by me. If you don't speak, others will."

Yuan Zhanggui slowly lifted his head, his eyes showing a fierce light: "How could they possibly know more than I do? The matters I know, if spoken, I fear can allow you to achieve another strange merit. But if I speak, what can you give me in return?"

Jin Zhu smiled genially: "I can leave you one dog's life, isn't that enough?"

"Not enough!"

Yuan Zhanggui said fiercely, "I want your Hai Dong Qing identity in the Secret Service Department, it must be stamped with the seal of the Si Li Jian, and announced to the twenty-four yamen of the inner court with a mansion report."

Jin Zhu said with interest: "You certainly know how to ask for a lot. But I can completely call Meng Ji over, at that time, I won't need to bother asking whatever I want to know."

Yuan Zhanggui burst out laughing: "I guess Meng Ji is not omnipotent either. If he could always interrogate me, why didn't he just interrogate me thoroughly by the river? Does his dream realm necessarily have unknown limitations? Sir Jin Zhu, there's no need to pretend. I've been in the military intelligence department for twenty years and have seen big storms and waves. You can't scare me. If Meng Ji can really interrogate me clearly, then I'll admit defeat."

Jin Zhu wasn't angry either. He changed the subject: "You must also know that to become a Hai Dong Qing, it requires the inner minister's personal approval. Pigeons going back and forth to the capital need half a month. If I wait until then, your comrades will have already escaped."

Yuan Zhanggui stared at Jin Zhu: "It doesn't need to be that troublesome. I can give you some benefits to taste first. After I finish speaking, you will all know my value."

This Yuan Zhanggui was dripping with blood and nailed to the rack, yet his mind was abnormally clear.

Jin Zhu thought for a moment: "Then you speak first and let me listen."

Yuan Zhanggui breathed: "You have our military intelligence department people lurking in your Secret Service Department, and they are right in Luo City. Their code name is Long Jing. The news of you surrounding Red Clothes Lane earlier was passed out by him."

Long Jing!

Chen Ji heard this code name again!

Jin Zhu's pupils slightly contracted: "Long Jing is in Luo City? What is his identity? What is his real name? If you expose him, I will write a letter and request a decree for you now."

Yuan Zhanggui laughed heartily: "So Sir Jin Zhu has heard of the code name Long Jing. Who exposed this name? Let me guess, Li Bao Yu, Wang Chuan, Tian Ji..."

Chen Ji looked at Jin Zhu. Jin Zhu patiently explained: "Long Jing has been lurking in my Si Li Jian for at least eight years and has sabotaged our plans many times. If it weren't for him, we might have even caught Sir Si. Jin Ling, the capital, Yang Province, Su Province, he seems to be able to split his body, he's everywhere."

Chen Ji lowered his head and analyzed: "Spy agents in various cities perform their duties separately. There aren't many spy agents who can be frequently dispatched to Jin Ling, the capital, and other places. Their identity should be very easy to investigate."

Jin Zhu nodded: "But after we investigated, we found that everyone was cleared of suspicion."

Chen Ji suddenly asked: "Has the Main Xing Si's Yu Long Guard investigated?"

Jin Zhu shook his head: "How could we overlook the Main Xing Si? After the investigation, everyone was also cleared. Within the entire Si Li Jian, no one has been to so many places simultaneously. Under the code name Long Jing, there shouldn't be just one person."

He looked at Yuan Zhanggui: "You expose Long Jing, and I will guarantee your Hai Dong Qing position."

Yuan Zhanggui shook his head: "I don't know either. Long Jing's identity is a bit higher than mine. This time, if he hadn't actively revealed the news of you surrounding Red Clothes Lane, I wouldn't have even known he was in Luo City."

"How did you pass the message?"

"Hundred Deer Pavilion sends medicinal materials to Fang Ping Medical Hall every day. The doctor at the medical hall is our person, go and catch him."

Jin Zhu said loudly: "Xi Feng, go and catch the people at Fang Ping Medical Hall."

After speaking, he looked at Yuan Zhanggui: "This little clue might not be enough to catch Long Jing. If you want me to request a decree now, you still need to spit out more things."

Yuan Zhanggui closed his mouth and didn't answer.

Jin Zhu's eyes flashed slightly. He said to the door outside: "Liu Wen, quickly take Yuan Zhanggui down and bandage his wounds."

Two secret agents helped Yuan Zhanggui lie down on a table and carefully used strong wine to clean his wounds.

As soon as the strong wine was poured onto the wounds, Yuan Zhanggui immediately cried out in heart-wrenching pain.

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