Chapter 137: The Assassin

In the withered and sparse forest, Chen Ji sat cross-legged on the soft, decaying leaves, muttering incantations.

“Immortal Taoist does not have gods, accumulating essence and qi to realize truth. The wonderful sound of the yellow boy is hard to hear, the jade book and crimson scroll are written in red cinnabar……”

Black Cloud perched on his head, craning its neck to look at the paper scroll he held, and asked curiously, “Can chanting scriptures summon reinforcements?”

Chen Ji didn't stop, continuing to chant for a moment before replying, “It's not guaranteed to summon them; it depends on the reinforcements' enlightenment……”

Black Cloud doubted, “Then if the reinforcements don't have enlightenment, what do we do?”

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, “Then we just see if they can endure pain!”

As long as the pain was long enough, Jin Zhu would certainly not be able to resist coming to find him.

Chen Ji and the others hadn't hidden their tracks along the way, and the matter of the Lu Hun Shan Zhuang literary gathering was known to everyone in the world.

As long as Jin Zhu was in enough pain, he would surely find a way to find him.

At this time, the Prince's shout came from afar, “Chen Ji, you weren't carried away by wolves, were you? Why did you go for so long?”

Chen Ji stood up, pulled Black Cloud down from his head, and said softly, “Master's divinations are always extremely accurate. This time is definitely very dangerous. If I don't call you, absolutely don't do anything reckless or adventurous.”

Black Cloud meowed, “Understood, understood.”

Chen Ji wrapped the wooden box back up with cloth, tied it onto Black Cloud's back.

Just then, the Prince's shout came again from outside the forest, “Chen Ji?”

Chen Ji looked at the paper scroll in his hand again, memorized a few sentences, and then opened his mouth to respond to the Prince, “Coming, coming!”

When they returned to the official road, Chen Ji saw the scholars just standing beside the ox cart, quietly listening to Wang Dao Sheng teach.

Wang Dao Sheng didn't mind who came to listen, whether they paid tuition or not, just calmly and composedly lectured, “Investigating things, extending knowledge, sincerity of intention, rectifying the heart, cultivating oneself, regulating the family, governing the country, pacifying the world. These are eight items. And investigating things and extending knowledge are the cornerstones of the eight items.”

Seeing Chen Ji arrive, he said to the scholars, “We should set off.”

The scholars replied with a smile, “Listening to Mister teach is like sweet dew pouring from above. Anyway, the ox cart doesn't move fast, so Mister can continue lecturing, and we'll follow behind the ox cart, walking while listening.”

Another scholar said, “I heard that after the Yu Xi flood disaster, there was a group of disaster victims in Long Wang Tun who turned into bandits, specializing in robbing homes, burning, killing, and plundering. There are more people traveling together. Presumably, they wouldn't dare act recklessly.”

Wang Dao Sheng nodded, “That's also good.”

Chen Ji saw that these people were determined to follow and didn't say anything more.

What he needed to do now was wait for Jin Zhu to arrive.

He jumped onto the ox cart and sat down. Bai Li handed him a cowhide water bag from the left side and said with concern, “Are you okay? Have some water.”

Chen Ji finished reciting Cloud Covering once, then took the water bag and said softly, “County Princess, if we truly encounter the bandits they mentioned, you absolutely, absolutely must remember to run towards my side with the Prince.”

Bai Li blinked her eyes and said casually, “Okay. But if we truly encounter bandits, will you only save the two of us?”

Chen Ji thought for a while and replied softly, “My ability is limited. I might not even be able to save the two of you, let alone others.”

Bai Li oh'ed and was silent for a moment, then said, “Chen Ji, if we truly encounter bandits, I mean really, really fierce bandits, if you can't save us, then run away yourself. Your own life is important.”

Chen Wen Xiao sat opposite him and said sarcastically, “You can still save people? County Princess, don't be fooled by him.”

Bai Li rolled her eyes, “When the bandits really come, it'll be good if you don't wet your pants from fear.”

Chen Ji suddenly stared intently at Chen Wen Xiao and said calmly, “After you framed your own deeds onto me, are you so guilty that you can't sleep at night? That's why you hope everyone will hate me, despise me, and scorn me. That way, even if I refute you later, no one will believe it.”

Chen Wen Xiao's face changed, “What are you saying?”

After speaking, he felt his voice was somewhat loud and quickly lowered it, “Don't talk nonsense. There's black and white evidence pointing to you. What does it have to do with me?”

He still wanted to argue, but Chen Ji no longer paid attention to him. Instead, he closed his eyes and silently recited Cloud Covering.

When he encountered parts he couldn't remember, he secretly pulled out the paper scroll from his sleeve to look.

Chen Wen Xiao looked at Chen Ji's composed appearance and felt as if a stone was pressing down on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

When he wanted to mock and sneer again, he somehow didn't dare to open his mouth.

Bai Li looked at Chen Ji strangely.

Framing?

At noon, the official road ran parallel to the Yi River outside Luo City. To the left of the ox cart was the sparkling golden Yi River, and to the right were undulating hills and forests.

On the Yi River, there were boatmen casting nets.

Jing Wang became interested and didn't care about his identity as a coachman.

He lifted the straw hat on his head and shouted loudly, “Boatman, can you catch fish today?”

The elderly boatman in a raincoat responded loudly, “The market isn't good today, only caught a few grass carp.”

Jing Wang laughed heartily, “Will you sell these fish?”

The boatman propped the black-awning boat slowly closer, “Sell, of course! Why wouldn't I?”

Jing Wang turned his head and said with a smile to Wang Dao Sheng, “Mister Wang, the journey has been smooth so far. It looks like we can reach Lu Hun Shan Zhuang before sunset. Why don't we stop for a while? We can roast some fish to eat here. You can't eat such fresh fish in the city.”

Wang Dao Sheng replied warmly, “It's rare for the… coachman to have such elegant taste. Let's stay here for a little while.”

The Prince and Bai Li cheered, jumped off the cart, and stretched. “We've been sitting on the ox cart all morning, our bottoms hurt.”

Zhang Xia also jumped off the horse and smiled as she took Bai Li's hand. The two huddled together, whispered a few sentences, and then turned and walked towards the forest.

Just then, several cat calls echoed in the mountain forest. Chen Ji suddenly gripped the short knife in his sleeve.

Chen Ji rushed forward several steps, pulled Bai Li and Zhang Xia back, “Don't go. There's danger.”

Zhang Xia was startled, “What are you doing?”

Chen Ji didn't look at her, only stared intently into the depths of the forest, slowly pulling the two of them back towards the riverbank.

Black Cloud said that it had seen more than ten unburied corpses in the forest.

The dead were very strange, with kitchen knives, hoes, and nail rakes scattered beside them.

Why were there more than ten corpses here?

They were the disaster victims from Long Wang Tun who had turned into bandits.

They were forced by life to become bandits, ambushing here to rob passing merchants. But they were killed by others.

Who killed them, and why?

Chen Ji didn't know any of this. He only knew that there was danger in the forest.

As they retreated, Zhang Xia shook her arm, wanting to break free from Chen Ji's hand, but then she heard Bai Li say, “Zhang Xia, listen to him.”

Zhang Xia no longer struggled.

When they silently retreated back to the riverbank, Chen Ji turned his head and looked at the boatman who had just docked. He saw the boatman carrying a bamboo basket jump off the boat, “My lords, there are eight grass carp in total. Fifty cash per fish is fine.”

Jing Wang was about to step forward to buy the fish when Chen Ji suddenly asked from more than ten steps away, “Boatman, how much do you ordinarily sell them to fishmongers for?”

The boatman was startled for a moment, “Ordinarily, ordinarily I sell them for forty cash each.”

Chen Ji asked, “Not by jin?”

The boatman smiled, “Right, right, right, by jin. You've confused me.”

The next moment, an accompanying scholar suddenly pulled Jing Wang back and said softly, “They're assassins.”

After speaking, the six scholars simultaneously slapped and broke their respective back boxes. There wasn't a single book inside, only two eight-chop knives fell out.

The six scholars ignored the others and firmly protected Jing Wang's side.

Chen Ji was startled. So these scholars were here to protect Jing Wang.

But since these people were here to protect Jing Wang, then who were this boatman and the killers in the forest?

The boatman no longer disguised himself. He pressed two fingers to his tongue and blew a whistle.

The six scholars suddenly turned back.

They saw a burst of footsteps on rotten leaves coming from the mountain forest, and dozens of people actually rushed out to kill them.

Zhang Xia looked at Chen Ji in astonishment. If this person hadn't stopped them just now, she and Bai Li would have likely run straight into this group of killers.

But the problem was, how did Chen Ji know there were people ambushing in the forest?

The killers in the forest charged towards the six scholars.

As soon as the two sides engaged, they saw a scholar stoop down to meet them.

The eight-chop knife in the scholar's hand flew up and down. In two breaths, more than ten knife strikes were delivered: hand tendons, foot tendons, femoral artery, and finally the neck.

Each strike was precise and unforgiving, brutally cutting the leading killer into a bloody mess.

The scholar's blue robe was stained with blood. He slowly brought the knife up to his eyes in a low stance, his eyes coldly staring through the gap between the two knife edges at the dozens of killers in front of him.

An expert!

First, using brutal means to kill one person, just to seize the initiative and shatter the enemy's courage.

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