Chapter 324: The Map Reveals the Dagger

The half-ruined city of Guyuan felt empty in the black night, so empty it made people's hearts feel desolate.

Chen Ji struggled to find his bearings in the darkness. Behind him, the urgent sound of hooves approached. He didn't know how many Tian Ce Army soldiers and horses had crossed the sea of fire to pursue them.

The Tian Ce Army got closer and closer. Li Xuan suddenly said, "You go, I'll hold them off."

But Chen Ji only glanced at him, pulling him into a heap of ruins. The smoke in the ruins was acrid. Chen Ji held his breath, concentrated, and closed his eyes!

Li Xuan was anxious and uneasy. He had fought with the Tian Ce Army all day and knew it wouldn't be easy to avoid their search. But he didn't dare speak to remind Chen Ji!

In his anxiety, the Tian Ce Army urged their horses past the ruins! But just as they galloped out a short distance, the first soldier in black pheasant tail armor detected something was wrong, pulled hard on the reins, and stopped his horse!

He listened quietly for a moment, then immediately turned his horse back: "Search the nearby ruins, don't miss a single spot. Perhaps those two people are hiding among them."

Dozens of mounted Tian Ce Army armored soldiers charged towards the ruins. Some held three-meter long horse spears, stabbing through every corner of the ruins, wanting to plow the area!

The Tian Ce Army got closer and closer, the sound of hooves was right by their ears!

Li Xuan's heart leaped. He was about to move to lure the pursuers away, but Chen Ji held him down tightly!

The next moment, they heard the distant clang of metal, followed by the sound of someone dragging a knife as they walked.

Instantly, dozens of Tian Ce Army armored soldiers turned their heads and looked towards the source of the sound!

The soldier in black pheasant tail armor pointed his spear and said angrily, "Kill without mercy."

The sound of iron hooves gradually faded into the distance. Only then did Chen Ji move to escape in another direction. He ran for three li before gradually slowing down and couldn't help but cough!

Temporarily safe!

Li Xuan looked around in disbelief: they had escaped.

He couldn't suppress the doubt in his heart and asked in a low voice, "What was that just now? Do you still have contacts in Guyuan City? Was it that girl from your side, or the second Miss Zhang? How did they manage to escape?"

Chen Ji didn't speak, attending to himself as he crossed a patch of thick smoke. His two sword seeds, covered by the night, returned to his waist pouch! He judged the general position, turned, and headed towards Tao Huaifang!

Li Xuan silently followed behind him, observing his every move!

Passing by a well, Chen Ji stopped and listened to the nearby sounds. After confirming that there was no one around, he lightly pulled up a bucket of water and wet the hems of his clothes to avoid having to pass through the large fire and thick smoke later!

Li Xuan followed suit and also wet the hems of his clothes!

Chen Ji re-tied his messy hair and secured it with a hair tie!

Seeing this, Li Xuan also tied up his hair!

Chen Ji rubbed charcoal in his hands and smeared five black marks diagonally across his face!

Although Li Xuan didn't understand, he still followed and smeared!

Chen Ji glanced at him: "Master Li, what are you learning from me?"

Li Xuan hesitated for a moment, then explained, "You move freely within Guyuan City. There's no harm in learning from you!"

Chen Ji said calmly, "Master Li doesn't need to learn!"

Li Xuan was slightly taken aback: "Why?"

Chen Ji explained casually: "Master Li is kind-hearted, I just fear he won't live too long, so learning so many things is useless!"

Li Xuan was speechless for a while!

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "What did those armored foot soldiers look like just now? Were they wearing leather armor?"

Li Xuan was startled: "How did you know? Did you also see those foot soldiers? Where did they come from, which banner number do they belong to?"

Chen Ji didn't answer, continuing to hurry on his way!

Li Xuan asked again, "I saw you use a knife earlier, and that single-handed arrow technique, where did you learn it? Can you teach me?" Chen Ji still didn't answer!

"Where is His Highness the Crown Prince?"

"Is Master Chen still alright?"

"Is Qi Jianzhe still alive?"

Gradually, Li Xuan realized that Chen Ji didn't want to pay attention to him, so he also fell silent!

Chen Ji led the way in front, and he followed miserably behind, as if Chen Ji was the commander of the Yu Lin Army, while he was a rookie who had just joined the ranks!

Chen Ji avoided the Tian Ce Army's search and constantly changed positions to get closer to Tao Huaifang!

But just when they were still two streets away from Tao Huaifang, he suddenly pulled Li Xuan behind a pile of burned ruins and quietly observed the outside!

They saw that at the road junction ahead, Tian Ce soldiers were passing through with torches!

Neat iron cavalry slowly advanced north, accompanied by foot soldiers leading hunting dogs on either side!

The long procession seemed endless, cutting off Chen Ji and Li Xuan's path!

Chen Ji suppressed his voice: "Wait for them to pass!"

The two men squatted behind the ruins and waited patiently. But they waited for a full half hour, and the army still hadn't finished. Li Xuan quietly observed and suddenly saw a sturdy armored soldier sitting on a war horse, holding a black banner that swayed in the firelight. The edge of the clan flag was sewn with a circle of black pheasant tail, and the flag face was embroidered with a gold "Yuan" character.

Li Xuan lowered his voice: "This is the central army's main force. Tian Ce Army Great Commander Yuan Zhen wants to enter the city."

Chen Ji hummed, unmoved!

A moment later, Li Xuan suddenly said, "Chen Ji, the Battle of Quwu Mountain in the twenty-fifth year of Jianing allowed him to escape. If we kill him, perhaps it can scatter the Tian Ce Army's morale!"

Chen Ji asked casually, "How old is Master Li this year?"

Li Xuan replied, "Thirty-four!"

Chen Ji continued, "Has Master Li ever been to the battlefield?"

Li Xuan shook his head: "No, I entered the Qi family by marriage at seventeen, then joined the Yu Lin Army. After that, I drilled and guarded every day. I've never been to the battlefield!"

Chen Ji said calmly, "Master Li blames Qi Jianzhe for being a fop, but how much better are you? You often have the appearance of talent that hasn't been met, but in the Yu Lin Army, everyone only looks up to you because you are the Qi family's son-in-law. Your step-by-step rise also relies entirely on the Qi family's generosity!"

"You keep saying your ancestors served in the Wan Sui Army, as if you're a grade higher than other Yu Lin Army soldiers, but then you turn around and act like a naive child! Master Li, you are indeed stronger than Qi Jianzhe, but only in that you dare to go die. Merely a comparison!"

Li Xuan was slightly startled, gradually lowering his head in shame: "I just thought that Guyuan City has already fallen, and since I'm going to die anyway, I wanted to die with some meaning! Since I married into the family and abandoned my own, I have achieved nothing except relying on the Qi family's help. I just..."

Chen Ji shook his head, saying inhumanly, "Master Li, you don't need to say these pretentious words for me to hear, they have nothing to do with me!"

Li Xuan was silent for a moment: "Sorry, you're making fun of me!"

At this moment, the Tian Ce Army suddenly stopped!

A team of Tian Ce Army iron cavalry pressed dozens of people and stumbled towards the road junction!

Chen Ji quickly looked over. Among these dozens of people were suddenly Zhang Xia, Zhang Zheng, the Crown Prince, and Xiao Man. They had actually been found by the Tian Ce Army.

Chen Ji was stunned in place!

Why?

Why were they found even hiding in the cellar?

How well hidden was the cellar under the grain and oil shop? As long as the cellar's brick and stone were properly blocked, who could discover the hidden mechanism within? Was it because they carelessly forgot to block the cellar entrance? Impossible, everyone else might carelessly forget, but Zhang Xia couldn't have...

Chen Ji looked at the swaying firelight before his eyes, the fire in his eyes flickering uncertainly!

That familiar feeling came back again, as if no matter how hard he tried, the outcome would not change!

In the torchlight, they saw an armored soldier urge his horse to the front of the group!

He first asked a few questions to a woman, then lifted his spear and stabbed her in the chest and abdomen!

The Tian Ce Army pressed another person forward to question, and then stabbed them to death!

Chen Ji bent down and silently approached, until he could clearly see Xiao Man's scolding mouth shape and Zhang Xia and Zhang Zheng's stubborn and unwilling expressions!

The armored soldier on the war horse swept his cold gaze over everyone, then used the tip of his long spear to point at the Crown Prince in the crowd, saying in a cold voice, "Bring him forward and question him!"

The Tian Ce Army pressed the Crown Prince forward a step. The armored soldier on the war horse used the spear tip to pick up the jade pendant at the Crown Prince's waist and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

The Crown Prince answered in a slow voice, "I am a Central Plains merchant who came here to do business!"

The armored soldier on the war horse laughed heartily, as if he had heard a great joke: "Dare I ask His Highness the Crown Prince of the Ning Dynasty, where in this world is there a merchant who dares to wear a four-claw group dragon jade pendant? Come, quickly ride to the city outside and report to the Great Commander. We have captured the Crown Prince of the Ning Dynasty."

"Yes." An iron cavalry turned his horse and galloped towards the city outside!

The armored soldier on the war horse waved his hand: "Leave the Crown Prince of the Ning Dynasty, kill everyone else."

Among the pressed crowd, one figure stumbled out: "Don't kill us, we are also useful. I am a scholar of the Ning Dynasty, I am Chen Wenxiao, the son of the Shao Zhanshi of the Zhan Shi Fu. Those two people over there are Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia, the children of the Ministry of Personnel's Left Vice Minister. Don't kill us." The armored soldier on the war horse was startled, then laughed more wantonly: "Good, good, good, what I like most in my life is this kind of spineless Southern Dynasty literati. Put an iron rope around his neck and raise him by my side as a dog later."

As he spoke, Chen Wenzong rushed out of the crowd and pushed down Chen Wenxiao. He mounted Chen Wenxiao's body, his fists falling like raindrops on Chen Wenxiao's face!

Some armored soldiers wanted to pull Chen Wenzong away, but the Tian Ce Army soldier on the war horse sneered: "Let them fight. Southerners are used to dog-eat-dog."