Chapter 146: Ghost Wall

Mr. Feng, who stood before Chen Ji, laughed uncontrollably, freely and thoroughly.

By the end of his laughter, he placed his palm on Chen Ji's shoulder, bending over in laughter. The birds in the mountain forest were startled into flight, circling in the night sky.

Chen Ji stood propped on his knife, the blade close to Mr. Feng, but the other seemed oblivious, or perhaps, he was never worried about what a mere Houtian realm official could do to him.

Chen Ji lowered his head to look at Mr. Feng before him, pondering whether to seize the opportunity to kill him with a single strike.

But after examining for a long time, he found... no flaw.

The other's hand, seemingly casually placed on his shoulder, was certainly faster than his own knife.

After a long while, Mr. Feng straightened up and used his thumb to wipe away the tears of laughter from the corner of his eye. "Young man, truly witty. One moment advising me to abandon darkness and turn to light, the next openly changing sides."

Chen Ji said earnestly, "Since a smart person like Mr. Feng is willing to follow the Liu family, it must be because the Liu family has extraordinary qualities that I don't know."

Mr. Feng stared at him with a half-smile. "You have all the right words. Let me ask you then, what conditions do you have for working with me?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment. "Let go of the Crown Prince and the Princess!"

"Just that simple?"

"Just that simple!"

Mr. Feng considered. "I cannot decide this matter. Change the condition!"

Chen Ji said helplessly, "Mr. Feng can't even decide such a small matter? Then what's the point of staying with the Liu family? You might as well follow me to Jing Wang Manor."

Mr. Feng laughed and cried. "You say that as if you can decide for the manor. What if I say I want thirty thousand taels of silver a year?"

Chen Ji replied, "Good!"

Mr. Feng looked at Chen Ji, speechless. After a moment, he sighed. "You really dare to promise anything. Clearly I know you are delaying time, yet I can't help but want to hear what nonsense you can invent to survive. But capturing the Crown Prince and Princess doesn't require my personal involvement. What's the use of you delaying me?"

Chen Ji said earnestly, "Sir misunderstands. I sincerely want to work for you!"

Mr. Feng, however, paid no attention to his nonsense but lowered his head in thought. "What exactly are you waiting for by delaying time?"

"Waiting for Jing Wang? Unfortunately, Jing Wang's experts have all been eliminated by the Imperial Secretariat over the years. Waiting for the Secret Service? The Secret Service is far away in Luocheng and fundamentally cannot know what has happened here..."

Mr. Feng raised his head to look at Chen Ji and laughed even more cheerfully. "Young man, you seem to have no way out!"

This time, Chen Ji remained silent.

In Mr. Feng's words, he seemed to grasp something.

Something felt wrong, but for a moment, he couldn't figure out exactly what was wrong.

Mr. Feng laughed and patted his shoulder. "I know you are certainly waiting for something, but there's no harm in that. If you want to drag out time, I'll keep you company. I heard you won against Jing Wang and Zhang Zhuo in chess. I've had no opportunity to play chess with those two. How about you play a game with me?"

"Good!"

Chen Ji felt somewhat strange.

This Mr. Feng was not like someone who lost control in happiness. The other could clearly kill him at this moment.

This was the approach of a smart person. But the other was unexpectedly willing to wait with him.

He himself was waiting for reinforcements.

What was the other party waiting for?

Mr. Feng beckoned behind him. "Jiang Yan, get the chessboard and chess pieces from the horse saddle."

Not far away, two war horses were tied to a dead tree.

Jiang Yan took a handful of beans from the saddlebag on a horse's saddle and fed them to the war horse. Then, from the saddlebag on the other side, he took out a cloth chessboard, spread it flat and neatly on the ground.

Chen Ji and Mr. Feng sat cross-legged under the moon.

Mr. Feng looked at Chen Ji levelly. "We'll play fast chess. Each move cannot exceed ten breaths. If you exceed ten breaths and still don't make a move, Jiang Yan will cut off your head and send it back to the Liu family manor. If by the end of this game you still haven't waited for the person you are waiting for, you must also die."

Having said that, he actually took the black pieces and placed the first one.

Chen Ji silently counted breaths and placed a white piece at the last moment.

As soon as his fingers left the chessboard, Mr. Feng had already placed the second black piece.

Chen Ji waited until the last breath each time, while Mr. Feng was decisive each time.

After a few short moves, he suddenly frowned.

This Mr. Feng's thinking was agile and sharp, unlike anyone he had ever seen.

The other adopted a defensive posture with the corner. As soon as his white piece attacked, the other would immediately open up broadly and grandly, opening another battlefield and not engaging with him.

This person thought in terms of the overall situation, not just a corner.

Chen Ji's chess skill was not particularly powerful, but the chess strategy he learned from AlphaGo had never been defeated so quickly before.

If this was the other's well-thought-out chess strategy, he could still understand it.

But this Mr. Feng broke the situation without hesitation.

At this moment, Mr. Feng's gaze left the chessboard and he raised his head to tease Chen Ji. "This chess style isn't your own, is it? Why are you using it so awkwardly?"

Chen Ji was startled, his thoughts had actually been seen through.

In a daze, Jiang Yan beside him slowly raised the knife. He quickly placed a piece on the chessboard.

Mr. Feng immediately expressed dissatisfaction. "Bad move, bad move. This move counts as I just spoke and disturbed you. I'll let you take it back."

Having said that, he picked up the white piece Chen Ji had just placed and threw it back into Chen Ji's hand. "You have another ten breaths."

Chen Ji looked deeply at Mr. Feng, then took a deep breath and looked at the chessboard.

Just as the last breath was about to pass, he placed the white piece at the "autumn" position.

Mr. Feng's eyes lit up and he praised, "Young man, good courage. Only at this moment does it feel like your own chess style. Before, I didn't know where you picked up others' wisdom; you learned neither fish nor fowl."

Chen Ji ignored him and only stared at the chessboard motionless, as if shutting out the outside world.

Swaying branches, rustling dry leaves, birds under the moon. All quieted.

The two alternated moves on the chessboard, playing faster and faster.

On the chessboard, Chen Ji's slightly weak white dragon rampaged straight from the corner, several times almost breaking out of a heavy encirclement.

As Mr. Feng placed a piece, he said, "This technique of managing isolated groups indeed has spirit and vigor, no wonder you were able to fight your way here. Young man, I again have the desire to cherish talent. If you can work for me, I will help you fulfill one wish, how about that? Only, I have great use for the Crown Prince and Princess. This matter I cannot promise you."

Chen Ji answered without raising his head. "Good."

Mr. Feng smiled, not annoyed, and casually placed a piece on the chessboard.

In an instant, Chen Ji's white dragon could no longer move.

He pinched a white piece, and for a long time, he didn't know where to place it.

A dead end!

One breath!

Two breaths!

Three breaths...

Ten breaths.

Mr. Feng sighed. "The person you want to wait for ultimately didn't come. Although I have the heart to cherish talent, a character like you, it's better to kill in the bud to feel at ease!"

Jiang Yan at Chen Ji's side silently raised his knife and chopped down thunderously.

However, Chen Ji seemed to be prepared, grasping the hilt of the Whale Knife and slashing upwards.

But...

The knife that was sure to cut off Jiang Yan's wrist missed.

One only saw Jiang Yan's wrist barely hanging at the edge of the knife's trajectory. His powerful control allowed him to avoid this strike, then he chopped down again.

This was the suppression of realm.

Xiantian realm.

Chen Ji awkwardly rolled backwards with his knife to dodge this strike, then stood up and ran into the mountain forest without looking back.

He had delayed time as much as he could, done what he could. At this moment, he could only escape.

He turned his head for a look, only to see Mr. Feng slowly rising from the ground, seemingly not planning to chase him.

Chen Ji ran several hundred steps. As he ran, he realized something was wrong.

He slowly stopped and saw from afar the two tall war horses tied to the tree. Jiang Yan stood beside the horses, feeding beans to one while looking at him coldly.

Further away, Mr. Feng said with a smile, "Where do you want to run to?"

Chen Ji slowly retreated.

A ghost wall?

No, this was an official's technique.

He looked around, not missing any clue.

But this mountain forest was just an ordinary mountain forest; he couldn't see any anomaly.

Chen Ji ran several hundred steps again.

This time, he ran to the other side of the war horses. Jiang Yan was facing away from him, feeding beans to the war horse.

Strange.

Too strange!

Mr. Feng said loudly, "Don't waste your effort. This is Jiang Yan's Eight Gates Golden Lock Array. Ordinary people cannot escape."

Just as the words fell, a meow sounded from behind Chen Ji.

He suddenly turned and ran directly towards the source of the sound.

He followed the sound for several hundred steps, no longer circling back to the original place, but crashing into an invisible wall.

"Open!"

Chen Ji angrily swung his knife. The Whale Knife chopped on the air, as if tearing a piece of canvas.

The world suddenly brightened, and even the mountain wind became more violent.

Mr. Feng lightly said "Eh," as if surprised. "Interesting."

"Sir, shall we chase?"

Mr. Feng smiled. "Chase what? He entered the Scenery Gate. Let him come back."

"Yes!"

Mr. Feng stood with his hands behind his back and hummed softly, "Scenery Gate portends bloodshed, official rank sells fields and manors! Disasters should be numerous, children and grandchildren suffer calamity. Outer death and evil death. Six livestock also see injury. Birth separation and death parting. Enterer must beware. Ha ha ha, must beware..."

In the mountain forest.

Chen Ji ran frantically. He hadn't waited for the person he wanted to wait for, but he had waited for his cat.

Passing a large tree, Black Cloud leaped down from the treetop, landing lightly on his shoulder.

It extended a claw and touched Chen Ji's ear once.

A massive molten flow poured down.

Inside Chen Ji's body, furnaces lit up one after another.

Forty-two, forty-three, forty-four... forty-six lamps.

Chen Ji only felt that the fatigue from the previous fight dissipated like smoke, as if he had gained a new life.

But after running several hundred steps, his pace gradually slowed again.

Chen Ji expressionlessly took Black Cloud from his shoulder and threw it into the mountain forest, then walked forward.

The mountain forest parted like waves, revealing Mr. Feng holding a horizontal flute, standing at the edge of a green stone, smilingly replying, "Where did you go for a turn? It took you so long to come back?"

Chen Ji frowned. Even like this, he couldn't escape?

Mr. Feng walked towards him holding the horizontal flute. The long green tassel hanging from the flute swayed, almost sweeping the ground.

He said slowly, "Everyone has dreamed the dream of a young hero, but in the end, all they gain are lessons. Young man, don't struggle. I promise you, I can bring your complete corpse back to the Liu family... Hmm?"

Before he finished speaking, the sky greatly brightened!

A streak of white light, from far to near, illuminated the mountains.

Chen Ji suddenly turned back, only to see a meteor, like a white heavenly horse, crashing through the sky, drawing a thrilling parabola, flying from the distant horizon.

With a boom, this arrow seemed to shatter something. The world broke like glass.

On the other side, Jiang Yan's sleeve suddenly caught fire. He vigorously patted his sleeve, dropping out half a burning talisman paper.

He raised his head and looked towards Mr. Feng. "Sir!"

Mr. Feng ignored him but looked towards Chen Ji, suddenly realizing, "So you were waiting for the heavenly horse!"