Chapter 150: Broken Blade

In the mountain forest, the air was thick with the smell of ashes. A light mist swirled among the trees. Two war horses stood alone, tied in a deserted spot, which was especially odd.

Chen Ji, carrying Bai Li, walked along the rugged mountain path towards the war horses. He saw a cowhide water bag still hanging beside a saddle, and inside the saddlebag was a pouch of fried soybeans.

The horse, water, and food were all there.

Chen Ji turned back to look behind him and suddenly asked, "Did you all also hear Mr. Feng humming a song just now? Has anyone ever heard it before?"

The prince shook his head. "Never heard it."

Bai Li also replied, "It sounds more like a country folk song."

Zhang Xia thought for a moment. "Building, planning affairs, marrying. The Gen palace hides the chant, the Kun palace reverses the chant, the Xun palace enters the tomb, the Zhen palace receives restraint, generating endlessly... This is a mnemonic for the 'birth gate' within the techniques of Qimen Bagua."

Chen Ji murmured, "Birth gate..."

He turned his head and saw a line of small words carved into the tree trunk where the war horse was tied: 'Agreement effective.'

Zhang Xia saw it too and asked curiously, "What does this mean?"

Zhang Xia looked deeply at Chen Ji. This line of small words was clearly written for Chen Ji.

At this moment, Chen Ji pondered in his heart. The so-called agreement likely referred to what Mr. Feng had said to him earlier: as long as he followed the other party's instructions, the other party could help him fulfill one wish.

Could it be that the other party leaving these two horses was a gesture of goodwill, an invitation to join them?

But how could he turn to the Liu family?

The Liu family was an enemy of the court and would surely be defeated without a doubt.

Chen Ji placed Bai Li on the ground, untied the water bag from the saddle, and handed it to her. "County Princess, drink some water."

The prince doubted, "What if it's poisoned?"

Chen Ji shook his head. "If that Mr. Feng wanted to kill us, he wouldn't need to be so circuitous."

As he spoke, Zao Zao had already put its head into the saddlebag and was chewing the soybeans inside in big gulps.

Seeing this, the prince quickly reached into the saddlebag, grabbed a handful of soybeans, and stuffed them into his mouth. With a bulging mouth, he sighed, "I never expected that I, Zhu Yunxi, would fall to snatching food from a horse's mouth. Don't say, these beans are quite fragrant when fried."

Chen Ji stood to the side and asked curiously, "Zhang second miss, are there any other stories about Mr. Feng? After the palace examination, he vanished from the world. Could it be that no one has seen him since? What about his parents?"

Zhang Xia thought seriously for a moment. "No one has mentioned this matter."

This only made him more confused.

The Mr. Feng he had thought he understood clearly became blurred once again.

This Mr. Feng was like something hidden at the bottom of a calm lake. When you tried to touch it, you would first touch the surface of the lake, causing ripples, and with the ripples, you couldn't see the Mr. Feng at the bottom of the lake clearly either.

But why exactly did the other party mobilize such a large force?

Was it to kill the Golden Pig and the Heavenly Horse?

At this moment, Mr. Feng calmly descended the mountain. Did that mean the Golden Pig and the Heavenly Horse...

U Yun in his arms let out a soft meow.

Chen Ji, carrying Bai Li, suddenly looked towards the mountain. His hand also reached towards Zao Zao's saddle, tightly gripping the handle of the whale knife.

Zao Zao turned its head to look at him, but was suddenly startled by his eyes and aura and backed away a few steps.

These few steps allowed Chen Ji to naturally draw the whale knife from the saddle.

The next moment, the Golden Pig's voice came, seemingly complaining about the Heavenly Horse. "I told you to run earlier, but you insisted on not running. That Mr. Feng appeared beside Liu Ge Lao years ago and even faced Lord Wu Xiu. Lord Wu Xiu at that time chose to avoid his edge, so why were you so eager to join in? Look at how he beat me to this bloody state..."

"Chen Ji, that kid, finally broke through with great difficulty... I was just about to return to the Seeking Dao realm. Don't cause me trouble, okay? What person? ? ?"

The Golden Pig's figure descending the mountain stopped. He looked towards Chen Ji and the others as if facing a great enemy.

After seeing Chen Ji's face clearly, he said impatiently, "Why are you all here? You scared me."

Chen Ji also relaxed and slowly sized up the Golden Pig and the Heavenly Horse.

He saw that the Heavenly Horse was spotless in its white robe, completely unharmed.

The Golden Pig was covered in blood with seven or eight wounds. Truly, when gods fight, mortals suffer.

Chen Ji hesitated, "Golden Pig adult, are you okay?"

The Golden Pig waved his hand casually. "I'm fine, just some superficial wounds. That guy surnamed Feng is much worse off than me."

Chen Ji hesitated, "Adult, Mr. Feng just passed by here, and I saw he was completely fine."

The Golden Pig was startled and immediately tensed up. "Where? Where is the guy surnamed Feng?"

Chen Ji explained, "We were hiding in the bushes just now and saw him heading down the mountain. It was a bit strange though. He left with Jiang Yan, but he left two war horses."

"Did he go far?"

"He went far!"

The Golden Pig said 'oh' and his body was no longer tense. He plopped down and slumped onto the ground. "Damn it. How did I get so unlucky, getting involved with you two."

Chen Ji doubted, "Golden Pig adult, weren't you all fighting just now? How did it end?"

The Golden Pig said impatiently, "I came all this way to save you, and you still hope I die here?"

"No."

Chen Ji explained, "I'm just curious, this Mr. Feng set up such a big trap. Mobilizing over a thousand private soldiers, why did it end so hastily?"

The Golden Pig explained, "Just now, he and the Heavenly Horse couldn't do anything to each other. I lied to him and said the Trouble-Relieving Guard were on their way. Just then, a large burning tree fell between us, and he took that opportunity to retreat."

Chen Ji pursued, "What is Mr. Feng's cultivation path?"

The Golden Pig hesitated for a moment. "Didn't figure it out!"

Chen Ji felt something wasn't right.

Although one's cultivation path was the biggest secret for officials, they had clearly fought to the death. With the Heavenly Horse there, Mr. Feng must have gone all out. How could it be possible not to figure out his cultivation path?

The Golden Pig's words certainly hid something.

Chen Ji asked, "Golden Pig adult, what are your plans next?"

The Golden Pig sat up and cursed, "I must quickly return to Luocheng with the Heavenly Horse and mobilize the Trouble-Relieving Guard to raid this military town. Even if the Liu family can cover the sky with one hand in Yuzhou, they cannot cover this up."

As he spoke, a snowflake floated down from the air and lightly fell on Bai Li's hair.

She reached out to pick it up, but the snow melted on her fingertip.

Chen Ji lifted his head. He didn't know when the sky above had been covered with gloom.

The snow got heavier and heavier, finally falling in goose feathers. Even the mountain fire was suppressed by this sudden heavy snow.

The Golden Pig stood up, turned, and headed down the mountain. "Chen Ji, you all go to Lu Hun Manor to wait for reinforcements. I saw King Jing's thousand-year army mobilizing on the way here. If I see the thousand-year army on the way back, I must inform them of your whereabouts."

With that, he and the Heavenly Horse leaped and disappeared into the mountain forest.

Chen Ji supported Bai Li onto the war horse, turned to Zhang Xia, and said, "Zhang second miss, I'll trouble you to ride with the County Princess and take good care of her."

Zhang Xia smiled. "Don't worry, you don't need to remind me."

All four mounted their horses.

Bai Li leaned weakly against Zhang Xia's body and said, "Chen Ji, write a poem."

Chen Ji smiled. "County Princess, I can't write poetry."

Bai Li said softly, "Write one."

"I really can't!"

Chen Ji pulled the reins and turned back, his gaze piercing through the swaying wind and snow, looking at the devastation everywhere on the mountain.

After a long time, he turned back, one hand gripping the knife, the other pulling the reins, his legs clamping the horse's belly, urging the horse into the wind and snow.

In the mountain forest, the Golden Pig's figure hastily descending the mountain suddenly stopped, shattering the snowflakes one after another.

In an instant, a huge airflow shattered the original direction of the wind and snow.

The Heavenly Horse stopped beside him and gestured with sign language, "What are you doing?"

The Golden Pig narrowed his eyes slightly. "This snow is too heavy. I'm afraid that by the time we come back, some traces will already be covered. It won't be easy to find."

The Heavenly Horse doubted, "What traces?"

The Golden Pig answered irrelevantly. He gestured with sign language, "Have you seen an official break through in battle?"

The Heavenly Horse gestured matter-of-factly, "I broke through, crossing into the Seeking Dao realm from the innate realm that night, with Jiang Liu Xian."

The Golden Pig gestured again, "Then have you seen anyone break through twice in one night, in battle?"

Heavenly Horse: Impossible, there are no records in the Trouble-Relieving Building case file library.

The Golden Pig gritted his teeth. "Damn it, I've been played. Pig eats tiger."

The Heavenly Horse corrected, "Pig eats pig."

The Golden Pig looked at the Heavenly Horse speechlessly.

He turned and changed direction, hurrying up the mountain.

At this time, the heavy snow was like a quilt, covering the mountain fire.

Only black charcoal and corpses remained in the mountain forest, emitting white smoke.

Winding his way up, the Golden Pig searched for clues with his head down as he ascended the mountain.

The Heavenly Horse was very patient, following silently beside him.

He only frowned, looking at his own white boots stained with black ash.

He didn't know how long passed when the Golden Pig suddenly spoke, "Found it."

Saying that, he squatted down and picked up a section of a broken knife from the ground.

He pointed the blade towards the sky and held it up, carefully examining the break. "This isn't a knife that was broken by ordinary chopping. If an ordinary iron knife breaks because it can't withstand the force, the crack will be curved and irregular. But this one, the break is neat and was shaken broken by an expert."

Heavenly Horse: So what?

The Golden Pig didn't answer. He pinched the knife blade and handle, stood up, and continued to search the ground with his head down.

After a long time, he found three broken knives on the ground, all with exactly the same straight cracks.

The Heavenly Horse's face also became serious. Good knife skill.

The Golden Pig looked at the broken knives in his hand, his face gloomy and uncertain. "Could it be Liang family knife skill? Liang Gou Er Jì lived in the medical hall, it's possible he passed down his knife skill to this boy. When you fought Jiang Liu Xian, did she ever display this kind of knife skill?"

The Heavenly Horse denied it. Not, Liang family knife skill is overbearing and fierce, only seeking the intent of the knife, not technique.

The Golden Pig took a deep breath. "Then where did this young apprentice learn this knife skill from, could it be Yao Tai Yi? Damn, I hunt geese all day, but I've been pecked in the eyes by geese. Too embarrassing."

At this moment, he recalled the three hours of pain he had experienced yesterday. It was clearly caused by the conflict between Chen Ji's two cultivation paths.

And Chen Ji clearly knew, yet he practiced Covering Clouds repeatedly to torment him.

A good cultivation path, he actually managed to use it for long-distance transmission.

The Golden Pig gritted his teeth. "Bastard."

The Golden Pig lowered his head, looking at the broken knife in his hand, staring intently.

It wasn't until a layer of white snow fell on his shoulder that he took a deep breath, bent down, dug a pit, and carefully buried the broken knives one by one in the black soil.