Chapter 58

In the dim apprentice dormitory room, lit by only two oil lamps. Chen Ji lay on the bunk bed, his body changed into clean clothes, his chest and thigh wrapped in white bandages. The entire apprentice dormitory room was filled with the strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine.

This strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine felt like a dying breath. But Chen Ji had no time to think about that. He had been unconscious for a day and a night, long enough for many things to happen. Before he fainted, Jin Zhu had led the Ning Dynasty's secret spy agency to find eyewitnesses and was currently investigating in the direction Wu Hongbiao had fled.

Now, Chen Ji hadn't been caught, and there were two possibilities. Either the secret spy agency's investigation was slow – with sparse pedestrians and no new eyewitness accounts found last night due to the rain, they still hadn't caught Wu Hongbiao. Or Wu Hongbiao had already been captured and taken to the inner prison, but still hadn't confessed about Chen Ji.

If it was the former, Chen Ji still had room to maneuver. But if it was the latter, Chen Ji couldn't possibly break into the inner prison to save or silence him, right? Moreover, even if Wu Hongbiao wasn't caught, Chen Ji was severely injured, and Wu Hongbiao was also heavily injured. Chen Ji had people to treat him, but Wu Hongbiao had no one. Not to mention treatment, the other party was hiding in the backyard of a cloth shop, without even a bite to eat...

While he was thinking, the Bai Li County Princess turned and went to the washbasin to wring out a towel, then placed it on Chen Ji's forehead, replacing the original one. She even washed the replaced towel again, then lifted Chen Ji's arm and wiped his armpit to cool him down.

"Um, County Princess, what are you doing?" Chen Ji was extremely surprised.

"You're still running a fever." The Bai Li County Princess glared at She Dengke and Liu Quxing. "Two big men, and they can't even do a simple task properly. Your master told them to put a cool towel on you, but they didn't even wring the towel dry before putting it on your face. They also didn't know to change your bandages."

She Dengke and Liu Quxing lowered their heads in embarrassment. "We've always done it this way."

Bai Li said, "That doesn't mean you can be so careless. How can you take care of a patient like this?"

The prince sighed emotionally, "Bai Li, you don't have to do these things..."

Bai Li also glared at him. "At Donglin Academy, the teachers didn't let you bring a book boy. When you were sick, didn't I take care of you this way?"

"But Chen Ji is an outsider after all!" The prince said anxiously, "If this gets out, how will you get married?"

"Married?" Bai Li County Princess furrowed her brows. "I just want to stay by my parents' side. Why must I get married? I'm just confused. Starting last year, you all keep saying 'marry, marry.' Why do I have to get married?"

Liang Gou'er muttered from the side, "Because everyone should have their own retribution..."

The prince: ...

Bai Li: ...

Liang Mao'er quickly covered his mouth and pulled him to the courtyard. "Brother, quickly shut up!"

Chen Ji lay on the bed, looking at Bai Li, dressed all in white. Going to Red Clothes Lane and gambling houses with her brother in the middle of the night and befriending Jianghu people – she was straightforward and decisive, just like a female hero who acted without hesitation.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere in the room, She Dengke quickly said, "I'll go make food for Chen Ji. Are you all hungry? I'll make more, and everyone can eat together."

Liang Gou'er rushed back into the room and raised his hand. "Lard meat! I saw lard meat in the kitchen!"

Liang Mao'er also followed shyly. "I'll eat some pickled vegetables and drink a little porridge!"

The prince thoughtfully said, "Tofu, pan-fried tofu!"

Chen Ji: "Hey, wait... you haven't mentioned anything I want to eat!"

She Dengke smiled and explained, "Chen Ji, I'll boil some porridge for you and steam some egg custard. Master said you've been unconscious for so long, you can't eat anything else."

After She Dengke went out to cook, Chen Ji looked at the people beside him in confusion. "Prince and County Princess, why are you all here?"

The prince happily explained, "We were originally planning to go out and play tonight. We climbed in and didn't see you, only Liu Quxing and She Dengke busy carrying water basins back and forth. Originally, not seeing you meant we could save on the toll fee. But Bai Li insisted on giving you the toll fee, so we found Liu Quxing to ask where you were, and then we knew you were severely injured. Then Bai Li said she wouldn't go out to play, but would stay to see if she could help in any way."

Bai Li turned her head to look at Chen Ji, puzzled. "Chen Ji, what bad person injured you? Thieves are too arrogant, daring to commit murder within Luocheng's borders... I thought Luocheng was very peaceful!"

She Dengke said in a muffled voice, "County Princess, Luocheng is not peaceful at night, especially the West Market. It's a place where human traffickers mix, and they're fierce. You must not go there."

Bai Li furrowed her brows. "When Father comes back, I will certainly tell him about this matter. We must make Luocheng clear and bright."

The prince smiled at everyone. "My sister, ah, was born with a heart of justice. From a young age, she couldn't bear to see us do anything unrighteous. If we stole two watermelons from someone, she would lecture us for a day and insist we go back and put down twenty copper coins!"

Bai Li rolled her eyes. "People work hard to plant watermelons for several months, and you steal them and still think you're right? Stop talking nonsense, Chen Ji. Do you still remember what the person who injured you looked like and where he was? I'll ask General Wang to catch him!"

Liang Mao'er also quickly said from the side, "No need for General Wang, my brother can do it. One knife and he'll chop him alive."

Chen Ji lay on the bed and smiled, shaking his head. "Thank you everyone, thank you County Princess. The person who injured me has already been brought to justice."

Bai Li County Princess nodded. "That's good!"

At this moment, the small apprentice dormitory room was full of people, to the point it looked especially crowded. Everyone was chattering and noisy. However, the backyard of Taiping Medical Hall had never gathered so many people before, nor had so many people cared about Chen Ji.

In this noisy environment, he actually felt a bit warm.

Speaking of which, Old Man Yao, with a black face, walked into the room with his hands behind his back. Looking at the crowded room, he immediately chased everyone out. "Go do what you're supposed to do. The Prince and County Princess should also not stay here. Go back to the Prince's Mansion first. Chen Ji needs rest."

The prince had originally just wanted to quickly take Bai Li away. Hearing these words, he immediately stood up and bid farewell. "Imperial Doctor Yao is right, we will go back now. Chen Ji, we'll come see you tomorrow morning!"

Chen Ji smiled and replied, "Thank you, Prince and County Princess!"

Old Man Yao glanced at him, then turned to the people in the room. "Liang Gou'er, Liang Mao'er, you two wait in the courtyard first, I have something to say to Chen Ji. Liu Quxing, you also go to the kitchen to help. Don't come in until I call you."

After the room was empty, Old Man Yao no longer gave Chen Ji a pleasant look. Chen Ji felt guilty and didn't dare to speak.

They were silent, even the flame of the oil lamp seemed to be shorter. After a long time, Old Man Yao asked solemnly, "Who is the person in the cloth shop? Since you wanted to kill him, why did you let him go again?"

Chen Ji's heart tightened. Master knew about this too. Old Man Yao said meaningfully, "Still planning to hide it? Why not ask if Jin Zhu has caught him or not?"

Chen Ji immediately became honest and raised his head to ask, "Master, how is he now?"

Old Man Yao stood by the bunk bed with his hands behind his back, saying mockingly, "Early this morning, the secret spy agency already found new evidence and was investigating towards here. They were only a few hours away from searching the cloth shop. I took advantage of the boy in the cloth shop being unconscious, stripped off his bloody clothes, and threw them into a small alley outside the West Market. Guards from the secret spy agency discovered the bloody clothes there and have now surrounded the West Market, checking everyone inside."

So Master had helped him divert the secret spy agency. This Old Man Yao said that everyone didn't need master-disciple affection, but in the end, he still acted.

But what made Chen Ji feel strange was that although they were master and disciple, and although Old Man Yao was a bit cold on the outside and warm on the inside, the relationship between them wasn't good enough for the other party to go against the secret spy agency for him, right? He always felt something was strange, as if there was another hidden story to this matter.

Old Man Yao saw him hesitating and then said mockingly, "Your forged scene deceived Jin Zhu, but it didn't deceive me. Crow saw that you almost lost your life and hurried back to call me to save you. You really should thank it properly. If it weren't for it, you would now be a corpse in the inner prison. Still not planning to say? This divination I calculated shows you have a sign of great disaster!"

Chen Ji sighed in his heart and finally chose to confess his secret. "Master, I not only work for the Ning Dynasty's secret spy agency, but also for the Jing Dynasty's military intelligence agency!"

Old Man Yao raised his eyebrows. "I know that. Tell me something I don't know."

"Ah?" Chen Ji was foolish. "You know this too?"

Old Man Yao sneered, "You still think you're doing it very secretly. Do you want me to repeat your conversation with Yun Fei?"

Chen Ji was completely foolish. He couldn't figure out how Master knew about this. Crow wasn't there at the time... Wait... In Feiyun Garden, in that persimmon tree, when he talked with Yun Fei, although there was no one in the courtyard, there were magpies pecking at the persimmons in the tree. Magpies also landed and flew away from time to time in front of the door. If Hei Yun could communicate with all cats, then Crow could also communicate with all birds!

Do magpies have intelligence? Of course they do. Magpies are among the top five bird species in terms of intelligence. They can not only remember over a thousand hidden food locations, but also clearly classify food. Their intelligence even surpasses many mammals.

Old Man Yao saw his eyes flicker and then said mockingly, "How many years have I cultivated in the path of Mountain Lord? You've only cultivated for a few days?"

"Then why didn't you call me earlier?"

Old Man Yao said with a broken heart, "Did you give me time to teach you? How long has it been since I led you to gain dragon qi? You've already made so many messes."

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment. "Then, as a Ning Dynasty person, are you not angry after discovering that I work for the Jing Dynasty's military intelligence agency?"

Old Man Yao shook his head. "I don't want to explain this matter. You'll understand later. Let's talk about your matter first. What about the person in the cloth shop?"

Chen Ji saw that the other party didn't seem to care about his spy identity and simply chose to spill everything. "The person in the cloth shop is named Wu Hongbiao. He was sent by my uncle from the Jing Dynasty to teach me spy knowledge and be my partner."

"My uncle is a certain important figure in the Jing Dynasty. He has currently failed in a political struggle, and his opponent, Lu Guanwu, is secretly eliminating his supporters. Wu Hongbiao is on the elimination list."

"He came to the cloth shop to give me a tip-off and warn me to be careful of danger!"

Old Man Yao fell into thought.

Chen Ji asked, "Master, what should I do now?"

Old Man Yao said impatiently, "Why are you asking me? You caused the trouble yourself, how long do you expect me to keep covering for you?"

"Is Wu Hongbiao still alive?"

"I don't know!"

"It's so cold, did you change his clothes after stripping off his bloody ones?"

"No, I don't care about that!"

"Then did you get him some food..."

"None of my business!"

Chen Ji suddenly sat up from the bed. "Bad."

Poor Wu Hongbiao. Old Man Yao really only cared about keeping himself alive and didn't think about the life or death of others.

He heard Old Man Yao sneer. "Don't tell me to thank my mother? If he died just like that, you can contentedly put away your womanly kindness. Don't worry, his death is not your fault, it's my fault, right!"

So Master wanted to starve Wu Hongbiao to death directly.

Chen Ji said seriously, "Master, this is not womanly kindness."

He said this and struggled to get up to go out, but he quickly calmed down and sat back on the bed. "No, I have to wait until everyone is asleep!"

Old Man Yao grunted and went out. "Still not stupid. I advise you to try not to associate with that Wu Hongbiao. I see that the life line on his palm is short and sturdy, and he looks quite cute. Associating with him will not end well!"

Chen Ji: ...

Master, you went to strip someone's clothes and even gave him a palm reading by the way?

The night was deep and quiet, and snoring echoed in the apprentice dormitory. Chen Ji quietly got up amidst the snoring, putting on his clothes with difficulty. When he moved too much, his wound was pulled, causing him pain and cold sweat on his forehead, but he dared not make a sound.

Chen Ji carefully limped out the door. In the courtyard, Crow was standing on a branch of the apricot tree, resting with its eyes closed, as if it had merged with the apricot tree. It saw Chen Ji come out and opened its eyes, gazing at him quietly. Under the moonlight, silver light sprinkled on its body, making it appear colorful, as if draped in a layer of divine light.

Chen Ji said seriously, "Uncle Crow, thank you." The old man said Crow had cultivated for fifty-three years, so calling him Uncle Crow was no problem. But it was the first time Crow had heard someone call it that. So it sized up Chen Ji curiously.

Chen Ji smiled softly. "Master said if it weren't for you, I would have died yesterday. I'm going out now. If you find anything abnormal, please notify me. I'm just in the cloth shop next door."

Crow was silent for a moment, then waved its wings, indicating for him to go with ease. Chen Ji went to the kitchen and took four coarse grain biscuits, then used a bamboo tube to hold water. He tucked some Fructus Cnidii into his chest and then walked out of the medical hall. His body was severely injured, so he could only support himself against the wall, sticking to the shadows between the houses, staggering forward little by little.

It was only a hundred meters away, but Chen Ji's whole body was in pain and covered in sweat, as if he had just run five kilometers. The wound on his thigh split open, and blood soaked his pants again. He gritted his teeth and flipped over the wall into the cloth shop's backyard. He saw Hei Yun hiding in the shadows, guarding the door of the main room.

Hei Yun saw him in this state and immediately meowed. "What happened to you? Who injured you?"

Chen Ji leaned against the wall, gasping for breath, and laughed miserably. "Don't mention that for now. Is Wu Hongbiao still inside?"

Hei Yun replied, "Still inside. He's mostly in a coma. Even when he wakes up, he doesn't plan to escape. He seems to be waiting for you."

Chen Ji was silent. At a certain moment, he would have hoped that Wu Hongbiao was just acting earlier. That way, he could kill the other party without any psychological burden and eliminate future trouble forever.

"Did he eat anything today?" Chen Ji asked curiously.

Hei Yun said, "I took advantage of his coma and caught several mice and threw them beside him. He wasn't picky. He woke up, peeled the skin with a knife, and ate the mouse legs and back meat raw."

Chen Ji glanced into the room. There was a patch of blood and dirt on the floor, and three peeled mouse corpses were lying aside.

"Did he drink water then?"

Hei Yun explained, "When he was thirsty, he went to the courtyard and scooped up the accumulated water on the ground to drink."

Chen Ji knew that Wu Hongbiao wanted to live. The other party's desire for survival surpassed that of ordinary people. No wonder he could survive until today under pursuit.

"Hei Yun, did he see you?"

"No!"

"Good!"

Chen Ji walked towards the room. Wu Hongbiao, who had been sleeping, suddenly opened his eyes. Seeing that it was him, he felt relieved and laughed bitterly. "I thought something had happened to you, but you don't look much better than me."

Chen Ji got straight to the point. "Which Si Cao wants to kill you?"

"Which one?" Wu Hongbiao was puzzled. "There's only one Si Cao."

Chen Ji asked, "Is it the one wearing a green-faced mask with fangs, skilled in using a knife, with patches on the elbows of his clothes?"

"That's right, it's him!"

Chen Ji had already been eighty percent certain in his heart that there wasn't just one person playing the role of Si Cao. The shopkeeper of Bai Lu Ge Yuan was one. The one wearing the green-faced mask with fangs was another. Currently, the one who wanted to kill him and Wu Hongbiao was the one who used a knife.

"How long have you worked with this Si Cao?" Chen Ji asked.

Wu Hongbiao managed to sit up, leaning against the wall and gnawing on a coarse grain biscuit. "I've worked with him for about four years and have never seen his true face. I only know that when he was in the Jing Dynasty, his name was Li Xilong. But when I came to the Ning Dynasty, I once heard your uncle mention that this person was his old subordinate and would take care of you and me!"

"Then why does he still want to kill you?"

Wu Hongbiao was choked by the coarse grain biscuit. He took the bamboo tube from Chen Ji's hand, drank a large mouthful of water, and then stated his speculation. "I guess he probably just received news from the Jing Dynasty. Earlier, your uncle was just removed from the position of Left Minister of the Zhongshu Province and was still allowed to continue as the Military Strategy Envoy. Now, even the Military Strategy Envoy has been removed and replaced by his former political enemy, Lu Guanwu. So Li Xilong, in order to preserve his position as Si Cao, has completely sided with Lu Guanwu and plans to use you and me as a surrender certificate!"

Chen Ji thought to himself that keeping Wu Hongbiao was indeed not disappointing. His status in the military intelligence agency was not low, and he knew many secrets.

Li Xilong... Chen Ji leaned against the door frame of the main room, his expression a little tired. He had already sensed the approaching crisis. Now that the other party couldn't find Wu Hongbiao, they would certainly seek an opportunity to attack him.

Chen Ji looked at Wu Hongbiao sitting on the ground. "How is your body?"

Wu Hongbiao patted his chest. "I have cultivation in my body, I won't die."

"I don't feel like you're very powerful..."

"You kid, you're asking for a beating again..." Wu Hongbiao cursed. "Yesterday, because I was severely injured, and I was blocked by that dog bastard Li Xilong, I clearly had enough merit, but he never gave me the next level of cultivation."

"What are your next plans?" Chen Ji asked curiously.

Wu Hongbiao said, "I plan to go back to the Jing Dynasty to see. I must beg your uncle to save my sister as soon as possible. I still need to help your uncle rise again. I must go back as soon as possible..."

The room fell silent. The moonlight cast down from behind, lengthening Chen Ji's shadow in the room. After a long silence, Chen Ji looked directly at Wu Hongbiao and said, "Sorry, you still can't go."

"Stay for what?"

"Kill Si Cao!"

...