Chapter 68

Inside Taiping Medical Hall, the arrival of the golden pig caused a commotion, leaving everyone silent and speaking little.

Inside the apprentice's sleeping quarters, there was one person and one cat.

Hei Yun spoke in a low voice about his discovery: "We followed him all the way south. This person is very alert. If something is slightly off, he immediately stops to observe the surroundings, then deliberately sets traps to lure trackers.

"After being tossed around four times, he finally relaxed. In the forest near Tuoluo Temple in the south, he drove out a carriage and waited at the temple entrance.

Not long after, I saw Liu Xianxian come out of the temple and get into the carriage."

Chen Ji was surprised: "He turned out to be Liu Xianxian's coachman. The master picked up from the medical hall to diagnose Master Liu was also him."

He pondered for a moment, then said: "I guess Liu Xianxian also doesn't know that there is actually a person from the Jingchao Military Intelligence Department hidden by her side. Otherwise, why would the Military Intelligence Department still need me and Yunfei to connect?

This coachman Si Cao's hiding position is too good. The opponent can not only grasp Liu Xianxian's whereabouts at any time, but also eavesdrop on Liu Xianxian's conversations with others.

Liu family coachmen all live together. If the other coachmen are not vigilant, this coachman Si Cao can even find out where other people in the Liu family went, what they did, and who they saw.

But, why would such a clever and cautious Si Cao risk exposure to come to Taiping Medical Hall this morning... Was he here to kill me?"

Chen Ji recalled the dialogue between the two and Si Cao. Shopkeeper Yuan said: "What are you here to do?"

Coachman Si Cao replied: "What are you here to do again?"

Following this, Shopkeeper Yuan said: "Luocheng is now under my management. You need to correctly place your position."

Chen Ji muttered to himself: "'You need to correctly place your position,' under what circumstances would someone say such words?"

Hei Yun lifted a paw: "I know this. The day before yesterday, after I subdued a stray cat leader, it still didn't obey discipline, so I beat it again, and then said, 'place your own position correctly'!"

Chen Ji was startled, a spark flashing in his mind: "So that's how it is. The power of the Luocheng Military Intelligence Department has changed hands. That coachman Si Cao was once in charge of Luocheng, but now the newly arrived Shopkeeper Yuan is in charge. Coachman Si Cao has been excluded."

The power of the Military Intelligence Department changed. His uncle-in-law's great power fell to the side after his retirement.

And that coachman Si Cao had been mentioned multiple times as being entrusted by his uncle-in-law to take care of things, presumably he was very close to his uncle-in-law, so he naturally became an object of exclusion.

Chen Ji was doubtful: "But what was he doing coming to Taiping Medical Hall this morning? Was he here to kill me?"

Hei Yun's expression was serious: "He wanted to kill you!"

"Not necessarily," Chen Ji shook his head. Earlier, Wu Hongbiao said that this coachman Si Cao wanted to kill them to present a token of submission, but Chen Ji always had a doubt:

That coachman Si Cao looked extremely fierce.

But...

When the Jingchao Military Intelligence Department suspected him of betraying and defecting to Zhou Chengyi, no matter how his subordinates accused him, coachman Si Cao did not mercilessly try to kill him.

The opponent did once hang him upside down for interrogation, but after the interrogation, he wasn't even injured.

Chen Ji, no matter what others said, only looked at what they did. Solely from these two points of doubt, that coachman Si Cao actually didn't have any killing intent towards him.

Even if coachman Si Cao changed his mind and wanted to kill him to present a token of submission, the timing wasn't right.

Last night, he and Liu Xianxian were together in the East Market. Coachman Si Cao must have also been there and noticed him.

If the opponent wanted to kill him, there were many opportunities last night. Why wait until this early morning to come to the medical hall?

So, the opponent wasn't here to kill him.

This made Chen Ji even more doubtful: "Then what was he doing coming to Taiping Medical Hall this morning? What reason would lead a naturally cautious person to take advantage of his employer going to burn incense and worship Buddha to quietly come to the medical hall? Was there some variable?"

Wait, it's because Shopkeeper Yuan came.

Coachman Si Cao didn't come to kill him, the opponent was here to protect him!

Chen Ji laughed at his own deduction: "Why would he protect me... but, either Wu Hongbiao messed things up, or he's lying. I have to get this clear.

Hei Yun, did Wu Hongbiao go out yesterday?"

Hei Yun replied: "No, you didn't send him food yesterday, so I went back to the medical hall to find Uncle Crow and got two pieces of mixed grain cakes to take to him. Don't worry, I put them by the door while he was sleeping. He didn't discover me.

Drinking wine delayed things."

At this moment, Liang Mao's voice came from outside the window: "Brother, why didn't you take action just now?"

Liang Gou pouted, pulling the bamboo broom while lowering his head and saying: "I said I have three things I won't help with, have you forgotten? I won't help the eunuch party, and I won't help those who oppose the eunuch party."

"But we are friends," Liang Mao was anxious, his face red: "We just went to the Drum Tower to watch the sunrise together this morning."

Liang Gou sneered: "There are many people who watch the sunset with me. Do I have to help every single one of them? Don't take seriously the words said while drinking. This is the rule of the wine field!"

Liang Mao angrily snatched his broom: "How did you become like this? You weren't like this before!"

Liang Gou muttered: "Before was before, now is now."

Inside the room, Hei Yun looked at Chen Ji: "What just happened?"

Chen Ji was silent for a moment and asked: "Hei Yun, if your friends are hiding many things from you, will you be angry?"

Hei Yun thought for a long time: "I don't know. You are my first friend, and my only one. I don't have experience in this aspect—but I should be angry, right?"

Chen Ji sighed in his heart. Just now, Princess Bai Li left in a huff, perhaps she was angry that even though everyone had endured the scolding, drank wine, and watched the sunrise together—in her heart, she already considered everyone friends.

But why were some people unwilling to help friends in trouble—why were some people hiding so many secrets?

But Chen Ji had no choice, some secrets he could only bury in his heart.

Hei Yun patted Chen Ji's hand: "I'm going—there's still a fight to finish. My subordinates are all waiting for me."

Chen Ji: "Okay, don't splash blood on yourself..." After Hei Yun left, Chen Ji slowly closed his eyes, thinking about the clues from just now.

If coachman Si Cao really didn't think about killing him, then was Wu Hongbiao lying or not—what kind of role did coachman Si Cao play in this matter—he could only wait until the evening to investigate further.

Chen Ji extinguished the sixteen furnace fires, allowing himself to pass through the sea of black clouds and land on the green mountain.

Once, Chen Ji extremely hated this dream of killing shouts night after night like a nightmare, unable to wake up and unable to sleep soundly.

But now he liked it here, not only because there were exquisite fighting skills here, but also because here he didn't need to think about complex interpersonal relationships.

No Military Intelligence Department, no Secret Service, no parents, and no uncle-in-law.

In this place, Chen Ji only needed to fight one after another, learn one skill after another, and didn't need to think about anything else.

He turned around and saw Xuanyuan, wearing a black king's robe and leaning on a king's flag, sitting on the edge of the cliff gazing into the distance.

The battlefield outside the cliff was frozen, the clouds in the sky rolled and unfurled, and even Chen Ji's mood calmed down.

He silently sat beside Xuanyuan: "For all these years, have you been watching all this alone?"

Xuanyuan ignored him.

Chen Ji asked again: "Why are you in my dream?"

Xuanyuan glanced at him: "I'm in your dream... you also deserve it—this is my world."

Chen Ji: "......"

So this isn't a dream, but a real existing place?

Chen Ji suddenly asked: "Have you heard of the Forty-Nine Heavens?"

Xuanyuan was puzzled: "What place is that—never been."

Chen Ji was also confused by this. It was understandable that his side didn't know about the Forty-Nine Heavens, but even an 'immortal' like Xuanyuan didn't know about the existence of the Forty-Nine Heavens? Could it be that Li Qingniao was talking nonsense.

"North Kuru Continent."

"Never heard of it."

"Then have you heard of a person named Li Qingniao?" Chen Ji asked.

"Never heard of it," Xuanyuan shook his head: "I've seen 'blue birds', but I haven't heard of anyone called by this name... What nonsense are you talking about?"

Chen Ji was confused. Could it be that everyone didn't know about the existence of the Forty-Nine Heavens?

Xuanyuan stood up: "Don't waste time, Feng Huai, give him a knife, and let him practice properly."

The plain knife warrior named Feng Huai nodded: "As ordered."

"Wait, wait," Chen Ji raised his hand and said: "But someone told me, I shouldn't practice the knife."

Xuanyuan looked as if he had heard a great joke: "You specially came to tell me jokes? You shouldn't practice the knife—someone said you shouldn't practice the knife! Hahahaha."

Xuanyuan's laughter rolled out like a large bell—even the clouds were scattered by this sound.

Chen Ji's face sank: "Is it that funny?"

Xuanyuan pointed at him from the air, puzzled: "What you used before was a knife!"

Chen Ji: "There's still this matter—the sword is the king of a hundred weapons, the knife is the gall of a hundred weapons—the knife is most suitable for you. What will you practice if not the knife!"

"Perhaps the knife was suitable for the previous me, but now I want to practice the sword.

The person who taught me said that my current character is not suitable for using a knife, and it will waste the foundation I practice.

Your current character... he is not completely without reason in what he says," Xuanyuan ridiculed: "But with your little foundation, how can you talk about wasting practice—wait until you finish practicing the knife, then you have to practice the sword, axe, spear, stick, and hammer.

If you can't master all of them, how will you know what means the enemy will use to fight you—wait until you finish practicing all of them, then you will know the way of this world, different paths lead to the same destination."

Liang Gou said not to practice, Xuanyuan said to practice, who should he listen to?

Chen Ji chose to listen to Xuanyuan, because Xuanyuan's realm seemed much higher than Liang Gou's...

He looked at Xuanyuan: "If, I'm saying if, I really was that person you knew back then, then what kind of knife did I use back then?"

Xuanyuan gazed at Chen Ji for a long time, then suddenly lifted his hand and drew a large knife the height of a person from the void: "Try this one."

He saw that the handle of the knife was about two-thirds of its length, the blade was about one-third, the handle had golden dragon patterns, and the blade was like snow.

Xuanyuan threw it from the air. When Chen Ji caught the knife, he was almost pulled down by the weight of the blade.

Chen Ji held the large knife in both hands and swung it a few times, immediately shaking his head: "No good, I'm not used to it."

Xuanyuan again drew a two-foot waist knife from the void and threw it to Chen Ji: "Try this one again."

The blade of this knife was red, as if it had just been pulled from lava.

Chen Ji swung it a few times again: "No good, I'm not used to this either, it feels a bit awkward."

This awkward feeling was like a person who was accustomed to using a certain pen of their own, suddenly changing pens but still wanting to change back to the previous one—both were usable and proficient.

Xuanyuan looked at him, continuously summoning dozens of knives from the void, floating in the air: "Pick one, pick one you like."

Chen Ji went to the front of each knife one by one. He took each one down and tried holding it in his hand to chop—there were sleeve knives, daggers, crescent large knives, straight-handled knives,

There were round moon curved knives.

He carefully and meticulously compared the difference between each knife. Time passed minute by minute, second by second, and Xuanyuan did not urge him at all.

This time, Xuanyuan was exceptionally patient.

Finally, Chen Ji stopped in front of a snow-bright narrow long knife. The blade was three feet three inches long, the handle was two feet two inches long. When propped on the ground, the handle was high to his collarbone.

Chen Ji held this knife in his hand and asked curiously: "What is this knife called?"

"You don't recognize it?"

"Should I recognize it?"

"Of course you should recognize it, because it is your knife," Xuanyuan calmly said: "It is called Whale."

"Did I name it?"

"No, I did."

Chen Ji was silent. It turned out that Xuanyuan had been patiently waiting without speaking, just wanting to see if he could choose this one.

And on top of this green mountain, there were clearly more than fifty knives floating, yet he didn't choose a longer one, nor a shorter one, but precisely this one.

Holding this 'Whale', Chen Ji felt an inexplicable familiarity, as if he had found a long-lost friend.

At a certain moment, he also seriously thought, could he really be that person Xuanyuan spoke of? Could it be that the opponent hadn't mistaken him?

This shock came very suddenly. Before this, although Chen Ji had apologized for the 'previous self', and had tacitly approved Xuanyuan's guess, he actually didn't believe it in his heart.

He only wanted to learn more skills on this battlefield, learn how to fight, learn different ways of using the sword.

And now...

Chen Ji lifted his head and looked at Xuanyuan: "Why is my knife in your hand? Did you kill me?"

Xuanyuan was silent.

Chen Ji suddenly laughed: "Haha, why that expression? Even if you killed me, didn't I live again? Right, can you give me this knife? Since you say this is your world, then this knife must also exist in reality."

Xuanyuan looked at him: "If you can defeat Feng Huai within three days, this knife will be returned to you."

Chen Ji casually made a knife flourish: "Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and come!"

Xuanyuan looked at Chen Ji and said seriously: "Don't think that defeating the giant halberd warrior within one day means you are how powerful. The bronze halberd is used on the battlefield to cope with charging warhorses. Its changes are few and not flexible enough, and it is very easy to be caught off guard.

A knife is different. Being able to defeat Feng Huai proves you have the qualification to go to the battlefield and fight."

Chen Ji asked curiously: "I see that the giant halberd warrior and the plain knife warrior you selected wear different clothes from others. They are not ordinary soldiers, right?"

Xuanyuan glanced at him: "The two of them are my subordinate tiger guards, the elite of the army, and instructors for all kinds of weapons."

Chen Ji was helpless. It turned out he was fighting against the most skilled people using their most skilled weapons: "How do I feel that you really want to teach me all the battlefield fighting skills?"

Xuanyuan coldly laughed: "Feng Huai, chop him."

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