Chapter 193: Where the Story Begins

In the 31st year of Jianing, winter, evening.

The evening glow filled the sky, like a sea of red waves slowly receding.

In Luo City, armored soldiers could no longer be seen coming and going. Common people tentatively walked out of their homes, and vendors carrying shoulder poles along the streets shouted their wares.

At first, vendors only dared to lower their voices. Later, their voices gradually grew louder: "Tofu! Just brined good tofu!"

The marketplace, like wild grass, could grow wildly from bricks and stones, from cracks in cliffs.

Everything would return to normal. Time seemed only to leave a long scar on a few people and slowly heal.

In the apprentice dormitory of Taiping Medical Hall, the room was filled with the smell of alcohol.

Chen Ji slept in an ugly posture, lying askew on the bunk and snoring. He repeatedly kicked off the quilt, and Black Cloud then repeatedly bit the quilt to cover him again, and then, with paws in pockets, silently lay beside him.

He didn't know how long had passed. Chen Ji slowly opened his eyes, dry and astringent, and asked: "...How did I come back? How do I not even have the slightest impression?"

Black Cloud muttered: "This morning you suddenly went mad, carrying a wine jar to the drum tower to watch the sunrise, saying something about carving a boat to seek a sword. Later, you were drunk and talking nonsense. One moment you pulled the soldiers under the drum tower and said, 'Second company commander, where's your damn Italian cannon?', and the next moment you pulled the foot porters and said, 'Your concubine wants to report Xi noble concubine for private communication and defiling the harem'."

Chen Ji sat up with a start, his eyes wide and tongue-tied: "Ah?"

Black Cloud hesitated for a moment: "Chen Ji, did you used to be a concubine for people in the forty-ninth heavens?"

Chen Ji hurriedly explained: "That's a line from a play."

Black Cloud was relieved: "That's good."

Chen Ji was suspicious and uncertain: "What else did I say?"

Black Cloud recalled a bit: "All some messy stuff, can't remember clearly."

Chen Ji was also relieved. He lazily lay back and quietly looked at the roof.

He was somewhat crying and laughing. If it weren't for these nonsensical words after drinking, he would have almost forgotten that he didn't originally belong to this world.

"Black Cloud, time passes really fast ah."

In the blink of an eye, he had already been in this world for more than two months. When he first arrived, it was still autumn, and now it was already snowing.

The room became quiet. Chen Ji lay on his back on the bunk. Black Cloud also lay on his back leaning on his arm. One person and one cat looked at the webbed beam, not knowing what they were thinking.

As if after a big drunk, so many things that happened last night were just a dream and were unrelated to today.

Chen Ji softly muttered: "No wonder so many people like to drink alcohol. No wonder master said that after getting old, wine tastes a little bitter... I don't know where master ran off to, not even wanting the medical hall."

Black Cloud answered: "Master said he went to a very far place and won't come back again."

Chen Ji sighed somewhat: "Everyone's gone, ah. What else did master say?"

Black Cloud recalled for a moment and imitated Yao old man's tone: "Let that boy not miss me, this old man. This old man is very happy without him by my side."

Chen Ji widened his eyes: "Master said it like that?"

Black Cloud doubted: "Not like? If you don't think it's like that, I'll make up another sentence for you."

Chen Ji said powerlessly: "...No need."

Black Cloud, with its round, slippery eyes, curiously sized up Chen Ji: "Chen Ji, master said you're from the forty-ninth heavens. What's the forty-ninth heavens like? Are there immortals flying in the sky?"

Chen Ji answered with a smile: "I don't know what other forty-ninth heavens are like, but in ours, ordinary people can also fly back and forth in the sky."

Black Cloud was shocked: "You've flown before?"

Chen Ji said happily: "Flew several times already."

Black Cloud solemnly respected: "Fierce, fierce!"

Chen Ji touched its head: "Not fierce at all, just need money. Maybe later there'll be a chance to take you to see where I live. At that time, I'll also take you flying several times."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Chen Ji suddenly said: "But before that, we have to change our way of life."

Black Cloud agreed: "Okay."

Chen Ji was curious: "You're not asking what kind of life?"

Black Cloud casually meowed: "No need, you decide the big matters at home."

Chen Ji was amused: "Black Cloud, you're really good."

"Indeed not," Black Cloud asked: "Are you going back to the Chen family today?"

Chen Ji rubbed his temples: "Not going back first. Should still have guests coming later."

Black Cloud doubted: "Guests?"

"Mm, people who are coming to kill me."

In front of the kitchen stove, Chen Ji sat on a small stool looking at the burning firewood, lost in thought for a while. The firelight reflected on his face, and the flames flickered in his eyes.

The heat wave from the stove made his cheeks somewhat flushed.

Black Cloud reminded: "Chen Ji, the pot's hot."

Chen Ji said "oh" and got up. He dug out a piece of pure white pork fat and threw it into the pot. He stir-fried a plate of pot-stuck tofu, a plate of vinegar-slipped cabbage, a plate of sour beans with minced meat, and a plate of dried bamboo shoots stir-fried with bacon. It was simple.

The sky was already late. He carried the dishes into the yard and set three sets of bowls and chopsticks. Then he sat at the Eight Immortals table and said: "You two, you've waited so long, come down and eat a meal together."

From the roof of the main hall came Jiao Rabbit's laugh: "Sea East Blue Lord Chen invited us to eat last time, and almost buried us among the firearms. This time he's inviting us to eat again, I wonder if he's setting a Hong Men banquet for us."

Chen Ji looked up. Jiao Rabbit stood on the left side of the roof eaves. Under the crescent moon, Cloud Sheep squatted on the right side, their killing intent soaring.

He was a bit dazed. When he first came to this world, he saw these two wanting to kill him.

Two months had passed, and these two still wanted to kill him.

Chen Ji sat by the table and unhurriedly divided the chopsticks: "You two are overthinking. This may not be a Hong Men banquet. White Dragon Lord arranged for you two to do things under me hereafter. We should naturally cooperate. I sincerely invite you two subordinates to eat a meal, absolutely not overthinking."

Cloud Sheep sneered: "You boy want to be our superior? I fear you don't have this life!"

"Oh?" Chen Ji pretended to doubt: "You two want to kill me? I'm now White Dragon Lord's person. Aren't you two afraid of him blaming you?"

Jiao Rabbit's eyes flowed like autumn waves: "We already exposed the matter of you betraying Jing Wang early this morning."

Saying so, she pulled down two handles of Emei thorns from her waist and threw them to Cloud Sheep: "When White Dragon Lord asks, we'll just say that the owner of these Emei thorns killed you. Jing Wang is his great benefactor. It's reasonable for him to take revenge for Jing Wang."

Chen Ji laughed: "You two aren't treating White Dragon Lord as a person, are you? How can this kind of matter possibly deceive him... However, between us, there's originally no need for fighting and killing."

Jiao Rabbit tilted her head, somewhat doubtful: "How do you say that?"

Chen Ji looked up at Jiao Rabbit: "How long did it take you two to endure and become Zodiacs?"

Jiao Rabbit sighed: "Many years, ah. Finally endured and became Zodiacs, and just glorious for half a year we were beaten back to our original form. So miserable, oh."

Chen Ji asked again: "You two are now pigeon-level spies. How much longer will it take to re-endure and become Zodiacs?"

Jiao Rabbit lowered her head and counted on her fingers: "Kill ten people for the Inner Minister to return to the Sea East Blue position, kill twenty more to mix into the Jia character section within Sea East Blue, kill fifty more... But in these years, the people the Inner Minister wanted to kill have probably all been killed. Wanting to return to the Zodiac position is truly a bit troublesome."

Chen Ji said with a smile: "Now the Sheep and Rabbit positions are vacant. Who can guarantee that these two positions will definitely be left for you? Think about it, other people who came out of Wunian Mountain all covet these two positions, right?"

He continued: "You two have been stagnant in the Innate realm for many years, and you are only one step away from the Dao-seeking realm. If you cannot exchange for the next layer of cultivation methods with merit before you are thirty-six years old, I'm afraid you will experience birth, old age, sickness, and death just like ordinary people."

Jiao Rabbit smiled but didn't speak.

Chen Ji looked up at her, his words falling with a sound: "You do things for me. Within one year, I will help you two regain your Zodiac positions. How about it?"

Under the moonlight, on the roof eaves, the air solidified.

Jiao Rabbit played with her own hair with her onion-white fingers, her eyes flashing with thought.

Chen Ji asked: "How long did it take you two to go from sparrow-level spy to Sea East Blue?"

Jiao Rabbit calculated the time: "Six years."

Chen Ji asked again: "How long did it take me?"

Jiao Rabbit's fingers pausing in her ear and wind-blown hair for a breath, her eyes lit up: "...Two months. Cloud Sheep, it seems like helping us regain the Zodiac position is not a bad proposal, ei. I just said, ah, it's much better if everyone doesn't fight and kill and cooperates happily."

Cloud Sheep's face sank: "This boy has too many ghost ideas. Keeping him will cause many long night dreams."

Cloud Sheep held the Emei thorns in both hands and leaped from the right side, lightly pouncing towards Chen Ji like a flying wild goose.

Chen Ji was not flustered or hurried. With an unchanging face, he gently pushed the Eight Immortals table out two feet.

In the blink of an eye, he suddenly got up, hooked the whale knife hidden under the table with the tip of his foot, and picked it into his hand.

One slash to the upper right, the knife edge like a sharp waning moon, instantly came in front of Cloud Sheep. Although the Emei thorns were one foot two inches long, the whale knife was five feet five inches.

In a hurry, Cloud Sheep retracted the two handles of Emei thorns to block in front. With a clang, his hands were numb from the vibration.

"Innate!" Cloud Sheep exclaimed, his body tumbling backwards, continuously retreating towards the apprentice dormitory.

But he saw him throw the Emei thorns from his hand like hidden weapons, trying to force Chen Ji back. But the whistling Emei thorns went in vain, buzzing as they nailed into the kitchen wall.

When Cloud Sheep looked for Chen Ji's figure, Chen Ji had already put the knife edge on his neck.

Cloud Sheep felt the cold knife edge on his neck and couldn't move. Chen Ji pulled him, facing Jiao Rabbit and slowly retreating backwards, saying as he retreated: "Cloud Sheep Lord, even a lion uses its full strength to fight a rabbit. Next time, don't be so careless."

In the small yard, killing intent was everywhere. The black cat crouched low on the roof eaves, staring intently at Jiao Rabbit not far away. A fight was imminent.

Cloud Sheep was held by Chen Ji and sneered: "You boy hide really deep, ah, actually in the Innate realm."

Jiao Rabbit sat on the roof ridge and clapped her hands: "Weren't you just now granted cultivation methods by the Inner Minister Lord, ah? How did you reach the Innate realm so quickly?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "Different talents. Jiao Rabbit Lord, now that Cloud Sheep Lord is in my hands, can we talk?"

Jiao Rabbit said carelessly: "What does he being in your hands have to do with me? People who come out of Wunian Mountain don't necessarily value old ties, ah. You kill him. After you kill him, we two can drink and chat. If you can help me regain the Zodiac position, I'll definitely repay you properly, ah."

Chen Ji also smiled: "Okay, since Jiao Rabbit Lord said so, I'll kill him first."

Having said that, he turned the knife edge in his hand, cutting into Cloud Sheep's neck skin and drawing blood.

"Wait!" Jiao Rabbit suddenly cut open her brow with her thumbnail and closed her eyes.

A cluster of black cloud mist drilled out from her brow, instantly turning into Jiao Rabbit's appearance and falling onto the roof.

She was wearing black armor, a black feather plume on her head armor swaying in the wind, and held a crescent moon knife upside down in her hand.

Chen Ji's heart tightened. He guessed correctly. Jiao Rabbit was always the more dangerous one of the two. The Inner Minister arranged Cloud Sheep beside Jiao Rabbit actually to let Cloud Sheep protect Jiao Rabbit.

Cloud Sheep looked up at the roof, startled: "Jiao Rabbit, you..."

Chen Ji held the knife to Cloud Sheep's neck and retreated into the shadow under the eaves of the main room: "Jiao Rabbit Lord, didn't you say you don't value old ties, ah? Why are you even willing to expose your own cultivation method?"

Jiao Rabbit said carelessly: "I just saw that your knife skills are extremely good and wanted to spar with you."

Chen Ji stood in the shadow under the eaves: "I'll say it again, there's actually no need for us to fight and kill. Work for me and I guarantee you two will become Zodiacs again within a year, otherwise today we'll fight to the death."

Having said that, he actually slowly lowered the knife edge, pushed Cloud Sheep out several steps, and then swaggered to the Eight Immortals table, picking up his chopsticks as if no one else was there: "My sincerity has already been given. Come down and eat."