Chapter 3 Chu Jianshan

A familiar voice came from his left ear. Cheng Yuan turned his head to look back, but the person had already brushed past him, leaving him only with their back.

Cheng Yuan's eyes seemed to be filled with blood, which blurred his vision, but he could still make out the man's size.

The man was dressed in a thin, bluish-gray robe. He wore no hair ornament, but only used a rattan hairpin to hold half of his hair back, with the rest hanging down to his waist. His belt was simply tied up with a few strips of tattered cloth.

The man stood with one hand behind his back, holding a sword wrapped in rags, facing the man in black, leaving only a mysterious and indifferent silhouette.

"Stop pretending..."

Cheng Yuan lowered his head and said helplessly. He recognized Chu Jianshan at a glance, but he hadn't noticed when the man had secretly followed him here.

Cheng Yuan sighed deeply. A person with no spiritual power wouldn't have the ability to save him even if he wanted to. He would probably have to wait for Cheng Yuan to save him later.

Strangely, the group of men in black seemed to stop the moment they saw the mysterious person, and then, as if given some kind of command, instantly changed targets and launched an attack on this person.

Cheng Yuan wanted to go up and help him, hoping to at least prevent him from dying so quickly, but who knew that the man twisted his body and dodged this almost flawless attack in a strange posture.

Cheng Yuan was completely bewildered. This person had no spiritual power, but some of his moves were indeed incredibly skillful and peculiar.

At that time, Cheng Yuan was familiar with the techniques of almost every one of the five major sects in the world. However, this person's techniques did not belong to any particular sect, but they had the influence of all of them.

Rather than saying this person is a disciple of any sect, it's more like he's a self-taught cultivator who has integrated five major cultivation techniques. However, to reach this level, calling him a genius wouldn't be an exaggeration.

"What are you still looking at? Come and help!" Chu Jianshan shouted.

Cheng Yuan snapped out of his daze, drew his sword, and joined the battle. Chu Jianshan also cooperated with him remarkably well, managing to hold off the men in black for a while.

However, it couldn't be dragged on until later, because without the support of spiritual energy, the breathing of the person next to Cheng Yuan began to become noticeably rapid and erratic.

"Is there any way to surround them?" Chu Jianshan asked again, but this time his voice was weak, as if he had run out of strength.

Cheng Yuan looked up and glanced around. He had almost destroyed all the silk curtains. He finally found one that was still relatively intact, so he immediately pulled it down and threw the end with the bell to Chu Jianshan.

Chu Jianshan immediately understood and began to move around the man in black, pulling up the silk curtains.

With the cooperation of the two, these people were instantly surrounded by silk curtains and temporarily lost their ability to move.

Cheng Yuan added spiritual power to the silk curtain, making it less likely to be cut by the sword. However, he still didn't understand how a single silk curtain could possibly trap this group of black-clad madmen.

Puzzled, Chu Jianshan took out a golden spherical object and threw it on the ground.

In an instant, the golden object transformed into a massive array, surrounding the man in black.

Cheng Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly; he recognized the object—an escape ball.

Yes, the name of this thing is just that casual, it's called the Escape Ball, and who came up with it is unknown.

The method of use is as above. Throwing it on the ground will generate an array that traps the enemy for half an hour. It cannot be broken without strong spiritual power. People inside cannot get out, and people outside cannot get in. It can only be used to escape.

However, such items are very rare because their production is complex, they are hard to find, and they are disposable, meaning they are thrown away after use.

In addition, people in the martial arts world are always courageous and bold. They only fight to the death, and it is shameful to spend a lot of money just to escape. Gradually, no one used such things anymore.

However, Chu Jianshan didn't have this mental burden. After trapping the group of people, he sat down against the wall, panting heavily, as if he was very tired. After all, his health hadn't been very good since he was injured.

Cheng Yuan looked down at Chu Jianshan, who was sitting on the ground, and didn't understand the meaning of what he was doing. Why would an outsider like him, who didn't even have spiritual power, bother to get involved in this mess?

Chu Jianshan felt uncomfortable under Cheng Yuan's gaze, and after a long pause, he finally spoke, "I saved you."

The implication is that shouldn't we show some appreciation? Say thank you, and express our deepest gratitude for his chivalrous heart, saying that we can never repay his life-saving kindness.

Cheng Yuan lowered his eyes, no longer looking at him, and did not thank him, only saying, "This ball must be quite expensive."

Chu Jianshan frowned, as if expressing some dissatisfaction, then looked down at his own attire. Did he really look that much like a poor person?

"Who exactly are you?" Cheng Yuan continued to ask.

The man lowered his head and chuckled softly, "Nobody much, just a wandering swordsman."

"How did you learn those moves just now?"

"I'm not affiliated with any sect or school. I'm just naturally gifted and created my own style. Is that not allowed?"

"I don't believe it," Cheng Yuan said firmly.

Chu Jianshan: "..."

How can we continue this conversation?!

The awkward atmosphere between the two lasted for a long time before it was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door.

Oh no! Cheng Yuan suddenly realized that Ji Shi was still outside the door! Then he raised his hand, the golden light on the door disappeared, and Ji Shi pushed it open.

"Cheng Yuan!!"

Ji Shi rushed in, sword in hand, his eyebrows practically pointing to the sky, as if he wanted to deliver a fatal blow to Changjinshan and clean house for them.

Cheng Yuan felt a little guilty and didn't look up at him. It was Chu Jianshan who came to his rescue, saying, "You people from Changjin Mountain... all like to play this trick of sacrificing yourself to save others."

Chu Jianshan slowly stood up, leaning against the wall, and then patted the dust off his bottom.

"You seem to know a lot about Changshan Mountain?"

Undoubtedly, his words aroused Cheng Yuan's suspicion.

Chu Jianshan didn't explain, but instead smiled at Cheng Yuan, his eyes crinkling beautifully. Then he said, "Let's save some things for later. If this ball stops working, I really won't know what to do."

Then he picked up the sword, which was wrapped tightly in tattered rags, and leisurely walked out.

Cheng Yuan didn't press the matter further and followed him out. After all, now was definitely not a good time to chat, as these people were here to kill him.

By the time they found a place to stay, it was almost dawn.

Ji Shi was treating Cheng Yuan's arm wound, while Chu Jianshan stood by without saying a word.

He remained silent, and Cheng Yuan remained silent as well. They remained silent for a while, until finally he couldn't hold back any longer and spoke first:

"Don't you have any other questions for me?"

He had prepared a whole host of excuses to deal with Cheng Yuan, but Cheng Yuan's silence made him feel very frustrated!

Cheng Yuan looked up at him and slowly said, "You won't tell the truth if I ask you, so I might as well save my energy for investigating the case."

Chu Jianshan touched the tip of his nose, feeling a little guilty, and his eyes unconsciously glanced elsewhere.

"Thank you..."

After a moment of silence, Cheng Yuan finally spoke and thanked him.

Chu Jianshan raised his eyebrows slightly, feeling a little pleased.

"You should thank me, after all, it's rare to see someone as kind-hearted as me."

Ji Shi rolled his eyes at him after hearing this; he had always hated arrogant people like this.

Speaking of arrogance, his junior uncle Chu Qingyuan also had this problem, but who could blame him for having the strength to back it up? He became the sect leader's closed disciple in his teens and single-handedly fought against everyone in Changjin Mountain.

If he himself possessed such high spiritual power, he could even shake a dog on the street with his spiritual power! Therefore, he did not think Chu Qingyuan had any problem.

But the person in front of him—his junior brother had already told him the whole story! He clearly had no spiritual power and relied entirely on his junior brother for protection, yet he claimed to have saved his life. This guy, a mere escape ball, wanted to claim all the credit? No way!

"Hey!" Ji Shi said, "Who exactly are you?!"

The man opened his mouth slightly, wanting to repeat the lie of the so-called wandering swordsman from earlier, but was interrupted by Cheng Yuan.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, we’re not interested, but…”

Cheng Yuan looked up and met his eyes:

"You should at least give us a name. We can't keep calling you 'Your Excellency.' After all, you'll be working with us on investigations from now on."

"What?!"

Ji Shi hadn't quite grasped the situation yet: "What... what do you mean by 'joining us in investigating the case'?"

"When you left Zuichunlou, you took something with you, didn't you?"

Cheng Yuan put his clothes back on, which Ji Shi had taken off while applying medicine, stood up, walked up to the man in blue, and approached him.

"Is it related to the case?"

Chu Jianshan crossed his arms, looked up at him, and said with a smile, "Smart."

"Let's get to know each other again. My name is Chu Jianshan. I hope you'll take care of me in the future."

Cheng Yuan

"Seasons"

The three introduced themselves to each other. Although Ji Shi was somewhat reluctant, he knew that Cheng Yuan must have his reasons for keeping him here. However, he still disliked this person!

Suddenly, there was some movement outside the door. Cheng Yuan gave him a look, and Ji Shi nodded and hid behind the door, his sword drawn three inches from its sheath.

Chu Jianshan rolled his eyes at them, swaggered over, and opened the door.

In an instant, a spherical object emitting golden light flew in and hovered around Chu Jianshan like an obedient and clingy pet.

? ? ? ?

Ji Shi looked completely bewildered.

"This...no, how could you get the ball back?"

Chu Jianshan gestured with his chin at him: "How about that, impressive, right?"

"Have you modified this ball?" Cheng Yuan asked at the opportune moment.

"Good eye!" Chu Jianshan replied, "How about it? Isn't it much better than the old version of the junk ball?"

"Wow...that's amazing!" Ji Shi exclaimed, his eyes sparkling, and shouted at Chu Jianshan, "Can you sell me this ball? We're open to discussing the price!"

"Tsk," Chu Jianshan seemed somewhat dissatisfied. He looked up and tapped the little golden ball, which immediately flashed and circled around him a few times.

"It has a name, it's called Xiao Jin."

"Xiao Jin?" Ji Shi called out, and Xiao Jin seemed to respond by flashing twice.

"Xiao Jin! Xiao Jin! Xiao Jin!" he called several more times, and Xiao Jin seemed to be quite happy, circling around him.

Chu Jianshan smiled at them and said, "Selling it to you is impossible. After all, Xiao Jin has been with me for so long and we've developed feelings for each other. But..."

"But what?" Ji Shi hurriedly asked.

"However, if you don't mind me joining you in the investigation, you'll be able to see Xiao Jin all the time, and I can even teach you how to use it."

"This..." Ji Shi hesitated, after all, he had just not liked this person at all.

Just as Ji Shi was hesitating, Xiao Jin seemed to sense something, gently approached him, and then rubbed against his face.

Ji Shi's eyes widened instantly, "Ahhhhh! Little Jin! Little Jin!"

"I agree! From now on, you'll be working with us. I'll protect you, so don't worry!"

"Thank you." Chu Jianshan had a determined look on his face.

Cheng Yuan, who was watching this scene from the side, did not stop it, but instead asked Chu Jianshan, "Do you know Pavilion Master Fang?"

The Fang Pavilion Master mentioned by Cheng Yuan, Fang Zhuxin, is the Pavilion Master of Liangyi Pavilion. Liangyi Pavilion mainly operates in the field of mechanical devices and is the largest mechanical device pavilion in the martial arts world.

Fang Zhuxin had a past relationship with his master, so Cheng Yuan had met him twice. However, Liangyi Pavilion gradually declined, Fang Zhuxin went into seclusion, and they lost contact.

Since this little thing has been modified, it must have been done by the Mechanical Pavilion. However, as far as he knew, only Fang Zhuxin could have modified it to this extent.

Chu Jianshan tilted his head slightly and looked at Cheng Yuan: "What? Do I have to get to know her? Can't I just buy it?"

Cheng Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly, showing him no mercy, and said bluntly, "You look like someone who can't even afford to eat, how could you possibly have the money to buy this?"

Chu Jianshan: "..."

"I advise you to speak less in the future."

Chu Jianshan raised his hand and put Xiao Jin back into his sleeve, completely ignoring the reluctance on Ji Shi's face.

"What, you don't like it?" Cheng Yuan asked.

"No," Chu Jianshan replied, "You could easily poison yourself the moment you open your mouth."

Cheng Yuan chuckled lightly, without refuting Chu Jianshan's words.

Chu Jianshan coughed lightly twice, making a fist to his mouth, and said solemnly, "I think investigating the case is more important right now. What do you all think?"

Chu Jianshan glanced at Ji Shi, then at Cheng Yuan, but neither of them spoke, making him slightly embarrassed.

"If you're not going, I'll go!"

He grabbed the painting he had taken from Zuichunlou and prepared to open the door and leave.

"etc--"

Cheng Yuan pulled him back and said, "We haven't even seen the stuff yet, how are we supposed to investigate?"

"Oh right." Chu Jianshan hurriedly took out the things he had taken from Zuichunlou, almost forgetting about this.

The object he was holding was a painting. The person in the painting was a handsome man with a folding fan in his hand.

"You're going to find this person?" Cheng Yuan finally spoke.

Chu Jianshan nodded: "This painting was placed in the most conspicuous position. If it belonged to a courtesan's lover, she wouldn't have left it behind, unless..."

Cheng Yuan continued, "Unless this person is already dead, and someone deliberately wanted us to see this painting."

Ji Shi, who was standing nearby, asked, "But where are we going to find this person?"

They all knew that the painting was key, but finding this person accurately based solely on a painting without any basis was not as simple as finding a needle in a haystack. He really wanted to know what method this person had.

Seeing that he had reacted, Chu Jianshan said mysteriously, "There's an old fortune teller in Lian Shui Lane who's always very accurate. Why don't you go and have your fortune told?"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Ji Shi exclaimed, completely bewildered. "A fortune teller, he..."

"good"

Cheng Yuan agreed without hesitation, and Chu Jianshan turned around and gave him a smile that was hard to decipher.

This time, I'm really confused. What are these two doing? Are they hiding something from me?

Chu Jianshan was also confused. Why did he agree so easily? Was he being teased again?

After observing for a while, he realized that Cheng Yuan didn't seem to be joking, so he chuckled and walked out the door.

Cheng Yuan followed him out of the room. Outside, it was already bright daylight, and people were coming and going on the street. The rays of dawn shone on everyone's faces and slowly melted the snow that had accumulated.