Chapter 145: Amnesty

The blade measured three feet, three inches, and the handle two feet, two inches.

At the swallow's mouth of the guard, a white tiger's angry eyes were carved. Held level with the eyebrows, it rose like the tide.

Chen Ji slowly sheathed the knife in front of him. The whale knife was spotless, smooth as a mirror.

Under the moonlight, he saw himself in the "mirror." Dead leaves from the mountain, swept by the mountain wind, landed on his back. Strands of hair by his ears moved slightly with the wind, all clearly visible.

The wind stopped.

A dead leaf fell slowly from the air onto the whale blade, silently split in two, and drifted lightly back to the ground.

This knife had traversed ten thousand years and finally returned to his hand.

Chen Ji suddenly thought, if this knife was real, and if the inexplicable feeling of familiarity he had while holding it was also real, then everything Xuanyuan said must also be real.

But Guixu, peach blossoms, friends, teacher, student, the stars in the sky...

How could he not recall any of it?

Who exactly was he?

A rustling sound came from dozens of steps away.

Chen Ji calmly looked around. He couldn't see any figures in the dim mountain forest. The opponents seemed not in a hurry to surround and kill him, only hiding in the shadows of the mountain forest, and a voice asked, "Mister Feng wants me to ask you, have you made a good decision yet?"

Chen Ji inhaled deeply. "What decision?"

The questioner calmly said, "Mister Feng asks you, do you want to escape back to Luo City, or do you want to return to the military town to save your friends?"

These suddenly appearing black-clothed killers were like lone ghosts, asking heart-piercing questions.

Chen Ji didn't need to answer. He only dragged the whale knife towards the direction of the military town, walking faster and faster.

As he passed a large tree, a black-clothed figure emerged as if the bark had peeled off, silently slashing at Chen Ji's back.

But this kind of ambush using light and shadow was something Chen Ji had seen too many times from Feng Huai.

In an instant, it was as if he had eyes on his back. He turned his head and slashed.

A spray of fresh blood hit the ground, and the black-clothed figure slowly fell.

Clean and efficient, leaving no room for negotiation.

When Chen Ji moved forward again, he saw the vague figures in the mountain forest actually retreating backward.

Someone whispered, "Doesn't seem like the Acquired Realm. It's the Innate Realm."

Someone else replied, "Not the Innate Realm, it's that knife."

"Mister Feng has ordered, kill without mercy."

"Kill without mercy."

The black shadows no longer retreated, but immediately surrounded and attacked, weaving a net around Chen Ji's body.

Chen Ji moved to the left, and the net moved to the left.

Chen Ji moved to the right, and the net moved to the right, tightening even further.

These four black-clothed individuals, using evasion techniques, far surpassed ordinary military elites.

Even Chen Ji, who had stepped onto the cultivation path, couldn't shake them off. Their physical capabilities were not much different.

When the four black-clothed individuals were only five steps away from Chen Ji, they all simultaneously unleashed unparalleled knife light.

Four knives, too late to react.

Chen Ji suddenly pounced forward like a tiger, opening and closing with the whale knife in his hand, completely disregarding the knife light from the left, right, and back, intent only on killing the person in front of him.

The black-clothed person in front of him was startled and immediately retreated.

But as he retreated, Chen Ji immediately stopped pursuing and turned to face the other three. The knife followed the body's turn, the body destroyed the knife's path, and the narrow whale knife drew a dazzling arc of light under the moonlight.

Clang, clang, clang, three sounds.

Three long knives responded and broke. The black-clothed person he had forced back pounced up again, swinging his knife to assist, trying to force Chen Ji to turn his head.

But Chen Ji didn't even turn his head. He half-knelt on the ground and flicked his knife upward with a backhand. The whale knife was like a halberd, cutting off the wrist of the black-clothed person behind him at the root.

Chen Ji half-knelt on the ground, quietly looking around them, like a fierce tiger crouching in the wild.

The four black-clothed individuals exchanged a look. Just as they were about to abandon their broken knives and fight to the death bare-handed, an ethereal flute sound suddenly came from afar.

The flute sound was melodious, as if a little shepherd boy was sitting on the broad back of a black water buffalo, slowly crossing a stone arch bridge. Nearby were small bridges and streams, and in the distance were white clouds and mountain cliffs.

Mister Feng!

For some reason, Chen Ji didn't see the flute player, yet he subconsciously recited the opponent's name in his heart.

It was as if as long as the opponent appeared, no matter in what form, you would know it was definitely him.

One black-clothed person used his left hand to support his severed right wrist, his face calm. "Mister Feng wants to see you. To see or not to see, you decide."

Having said that, the four black-clothed individuals successively retreated backward, back into the shadows of the mountain forest.

Chen Ji stood up and looked towards the direction from which the flute sound came.

He pondered for a moment, held the whale knife, and actively walked towards the flute sound.

As he walked closer, the flute sound suddenly became like bamboo shadow sword qi, overflowing with killing intent.

Chen Ji subconsciously looked around, almost thinking that hundreds of knife-wielding men would charge out from the mountain forest.

But there was nothing around.

He suddenly realized that the opponent was actually creating an illusion of ambush from all sides with the flute.

After walking a few dozen steps, he saw Mister Feng in a set of green clothes sitting on a short green stone block, holding a shepherd's flute.

The fisherman who had appeared on the black awning boat stood quietly beside him.

Chen Ji cupped his hands in a salute. "Mister Feng."

Mister Feng slowly put down the shepherd's flute, smiling as he looked at Chen Ji. "Why didn't you take the opportunity to escape?"

Chen Ji calmly said, "I can't escape."

Mister Feng patted his palms in praise. "Clever. But since you are a clever person, why do you still want to return to the military town? You should know, you're just a small official in the Acquired Realm. Going back is useless. Moreover, you haven't known the world's son and the county lord for long. Why must you throw away your life for others!"

Chen Ji leaned tiredly against a tree trunk, exhaling a long breath. "Perhaps I'm still not clever enough."

Mister Feng sighed. "You're not not clever enough, but it's for the so-called young hero spirit."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Mister Feng handed the flute to the fisherman beside him, smiled, stood up from the green stone, and slowly walked towards Chen Ji. "Once, someone said that with fame and fortune as a knife, he could chop away nine parts of the world's hero spirit. Over the years, heroes of the rivers and lakes have all been recruited by the court, and various sects have disappeared without a trace. The world's cultivation paths have all been bound on high shelves. The rivers and lakes have also become a boring place."

He sized up Chen Ji and said, "But when I saw you today, I suddenly tasted another layer of meaning in his words. Originally, there is still one part of the world's hero spirit that even he couldn't chop away. Admirable, lamentable, singable and weepable. Ridiculous!!"

Chen Ji was puzzled, not knowing who Mister Feng was talking about.

Fame and fortune as a knife, chop away nine parts of the world's hero spirit.

What a grand tone.

Chen Ji asked, "Why does Mister Feng feel ridiculous?"

Mister Feng smiled and replied, "The so-called hero spirit is just the courage to do something knowing it cannot be done. But since you know it cannot be done, why still do it?"

Chen Ji said, "I don't understand what hero spirit is, nor do I feel it. It's merely courage. The decision I made is simply to be without shame in my heart. Since Mister Feng is a clever person, why choose the Liu family?"

Mister Feng stood in front of Chen Ji and said with interest, "Oh? Tell me, why can't I choose the Liu family?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Although the Liu family, as external relatives, holds a noble position and power, they have the Empress Dowager and cabinet elders above them. Below them are the prominent clans of Yu State. But His Majesty's accumulated resentment against the Liu family has been long-standing, and their decline is only a matter of time. His Majesty ascended the throne at the age of eleven. He has now ruled for thirty-one years. The eleven-year-old child thirty-one years ago, they couldn't fight over him. Can they fight over him thirty-one years later?"

Mister Feng smiled, "Continue."

Chen Ji continued, "Not to mention His Majesty and the Directorate of Ceremonial. Let's talk about the aristocratic families in this world: Xu, Hu, Chen, Qi, Liu, Yang, six families, like fierce tigers crouching. Among them, the Liu family ranks last. In the early years, their power might have been overwhelming, but now they cannot compare to the other five families. Is that right?"

Mister Feng nodded. "Not wrong. The other families don't look up to the Liu family much now. The Liu family's weakened power is also due to their encroachment."

Chen Ji looked up into Mister Feng's eyes. "Since you can see through these risks, why not change your allegiance? As the saying goes, a good bird chooses a tree to perch on, and a wise minister chooses a lord to serve. It's a pity for a clever person like Mister Feng to stay in the Liu family."

Mister Feng raised his head and laughed loudly. "Hahahahahaha, no wonder you dared to face me directly. So you wanted to deceive me to the Chen family. Young man is truly bold. Your courage is commendable. However, you have indeed carved out a path to life for yourself from a situation of ten deaths and no life. Not bad, not bad..."

Chen Ji propped himself up with his knife and stood calmly. "I am not finding a path to life for myself, but for Mister Feng."

This chapter is not finished, there is more...