77. Ten Si Cao
On the collapsed ruins, only the beams remained tilted and intertwined.
Beneath the ruins, bricks, stones and tiles were constantly arching up, as if an immortal monster was buried there and was about to break out of the ground.
Chen Ji crouched down, his ears ringing, as he approached, pulling out the short knife from his sleeve. He had crafted three bamboo firearms, one to throw to the Golden Pig and the remaining two to blast Si Cao. Now, he had no more firearms, so he could only kill with his knife.
The next moment, there was a loud bang and bricks and stones flew everywhere.
Amidst the rubble, Shopkeeper Yuan supported himself with a heavy wooden beam and managed to stand up from the ruins.
His hair was disheveled and his golden crown flew away to who knows where.
Shopkeeper Yuan's body was covered in broken iron shards, his face bloody and grimy, blood and dust mixed together. He wore a tattered red satin robe, looking like a midnight demon.
He raised his hand to rub his eyes. After the explosion, too much dust and gravel flew into his eyes, and he couldn't open them no matter how hard he tried.
However, at this moment, he suddenly discovered that his right hand seemed to have been blown off and he could not lift it at all.
firearm!
This is the firearm of the Ning Dynasty!
Like Jin Zhu, Shopkeeper Yuan had seen firearms before, but neither of them had seen firearms with such great power!
Firearms were used on the battlefield in the Ning Dynasty for only a hundred years.
The fire gun was originally made of a thick bamboo tube as the gun body, with gunpowder and bullet nests loaded inside. The power of the gunpowder at this time was not enough to even blow up the bamboo tube. After several consecutive firings, the bamboo tube would be discarded.
It was not until recent decades that the Ning Dynasty replaced the iron barrel to carry more powerful gunpowder, but the gunpowder at that time was still not perfect. There was no purification process and the formula ratio was incorrect. It was only used on the front battlefield to curb the charge of the Jing Dynasty cavalry.
When Shopkeeper Yuan faced the bamboo tube, although he knew that he had no time to dodge, he did not think that this thing could kill him. At most, it would only leave him with skin and flesh torn, but no injuries to his bones.
But the power of Chen Ji's bamboo tube gunpowder was far greater than he had imagined!
Even the house collapsed!
Shopkeeper Yuan barely opened his eyes. His left eye was filled with blood and the eyeball was extremely red. Only his right eye could barely see.
He quickly looked around, but found no one in front of him. "The experts from the Ning Dynasty's Secret Service surrounded and killed me alone. Do I still need to hide here and there?"
From beginning to end, Shopkeeper Yuan didn't even see Chen Ji's shadow.
He was blown up by gunpowder, so he thought it was a master from the Secret Service who came with firearms, and didn't suspect Chen Ji at all!
But no one in the yard answered him, only a short knife stabbed through the wind.
Shopkeeper Yuan leaned sideways and easily avoided the knife that was stabbing at his neck, but Chen Ji did not stop. He stabbed him three more times in the back of his heart, spleen of his lower back, and left leg, and then retreated.
But Chen Ji suddenly discovered that except for the knife on the thigh, all the other cuts missed!
No, it didn’t miss!
But Shopkeeper Yuan had practiced martial arts and had skin of steel and bones, and ordinary daggers could not pierce him. No wonder he was able to stand up after the gunpowder explosion!
But the opponent's whole body should not be tough, otherwise he would not have to dodge the knife in the neck.
At this moment, Shopkeeper Yuan ignored the blood gushing from his thigh, turned around with one eye closed, and stared at Chen Ji fiercely: "Why is it you? You secretly hid the firearms given by Prince Jing's Mansion and the Liu family?!"
Chen Ji did not answer, but just silently thought about how to kill the brown bear-like Manager Yuan. He didn't know what kind of official skills the other party had cultivated, and it seemed that he could never be killed.
In a flash, Manager Yuan rushed over like a chariot, and Chen Ji immediately retreated and circled in the yard.
But before Chen Ji could run two steps, he saw Manager Yuan kicking a brick and sending it whistling towards him.
Bang!
Broken bricks brushed past Chen Ji's ears, the whistling wind blew his hair, and hit the wall not far away, shattering into pieces.
This kick was extremely terrifying. If Manager Yuan had not been blind in one eye and lost his aim, Chen Ji would have died on the spot!
Shopkeeper Yuan was furious because his strike failed to hit the target, so he kicked the bricks and stones away one after another. The bricks and stones whizzed past like muskets, becoming more and more accurate and fierce!
Bang!
A brick hit Chen Ji's back, and this single blow sent him tumbling out.
Chen Ji felt as if his heart and lungs were displaced by the impact, but he did not dare to stop for a moment and stood up to continue running for his life. Before he had run a few steps, he saw Manager Yuan kicking bricks and stones with two consecutive kicks, hitting his back and right leg one after the other.
Chen Ji fell down again, and the dagger flew five or six meters away. He tried to stand up, but he couldn't stand still.
Shopkeeper Yuan strode to Chen Ji's side. He hung his broken right hand and stretched out his left hand to twist Chen Ji's neck.
But it was at this moment!
In the silent silence, Chen Ji, who was lying on the ground, suddenly turned over and faced Manager Yuan!
Shopkeeper Yuan stared at Chen
Looking into Ji's eyes, I suddenly felt that there was no despair in them, only calmness.
No, no!
This is not the look of a dying man!
In the blink of an eye, the sword energy that had been accumulating in Chen Ji's body for several days flowed through his meridians like a dragon and arrived at his fingertips!
Use the stars to nourish the sword and break everything in the world!
The incident happened suddenly, and at such a close distance, Manager Yuan had no way to avoid it.
I saw an invisible sword energy shooting through the neck artery of Shopkeeper Yuan, and a stream of blood gushed out immediately!
The sword type that was once ridiculed by Old Man Yao as She Dengke's fart was nothing more than the power that Chen Ji had cultivated for an hour.
These days, Chen Ji has been learning swordsmanship from Feng Huai and cultivating his sword, patiently waiting for this invisible sword energy to become his final trump card.
Chen Ji used both hands to pry open the fingers of Shopkeeper Yuan, slowly pried open the fat hand, dropped it to the ground and started coughing violently.
Shopkeeper Yuan covered his neck in disbelief and stepped back step by step. Blood gushed out from between his fingers, quickly draining all his strength.
"When did you become an official? This is the way of sword cultivation. How do you know the sword-cultivation method of the Martial Temple? Did your mother teach you? But how could she master the sword-cultivation method..."
"The sword technique..."
"It's actually the sword technique!"
Shopkeeper Yuan collapsed with a loud bang.
Chen Ji slumped on the ground. He held up his palms and suddenly scattered snowflakes floated in the sky. The snowflakes fell into his palms and melted immediately.
He was a little confused for a moment. Did he finally kill Manager Yuan?
That night he first rescued the prince and Bai Li, and then dragged his wounds to assassinate Manager Yuan. Although it was still dark, it seemed as if he had endured a long season, from autumn to winter.
Before he could come to his senses, the sound of horse hooves could be heard on the street... The Secret Service had arrived!
Chen Ji struggled to get up and wanted to escape the scene quickly, but he fell heavily again as soon as he stood up. The last brick that Manager Yuan had kicked up just now fell on his leg, breaking the wound on his leg.
At this critical moment.
There were footsteps not far away, and someone said in a serious tone, "So you're here. I've been looking for you all night!"
Chen Ji was stunned; the voice was extremely familiar.
…
…
At the end of Tongji Street, dozens of war horses were galloping towards them, and the Golden Pig was riding on the horse with a calm expression.
He was just about to lead his men to retreat in Red Lane, several miles away, when he heard the familiar explosion sound again.
Jin Zhu never imagined that this thief from Jing Dynasty who was in possession of firearms did not escape, but instead fled to other places in Luocheng and committed serious crimes.
But the sound of the explosion was a bit strange, as if it came from where merchants gathered. Jin Zhu thought for a long time but couldn't figure out what the Jingchao thief could do here.
But the revenge for the bombing must be taken.
Golden Pig galloped into Tongji Street first. He saw the smoke rising from afar and said, "Come here, seal off the entire area around Tongji Street. From tonight, only people are allowed in, no out. Turn every inch of this place upside down, and don't let a single earthworm out!"
However, just as he finished speaking, a crow suddenly landed in the darkness.
The crow flew up and down like a gust of black wind, and people couldn't even see its specific appearance, it was so fast.
The crows did not fight with people, but just pecked at the eyes of the war horses again and again, scaring the horses so much that they raised their heads high and spread their hooves to try to get rid of the crows, and even threw the spies to the ground.
But then the golden pig jumped into the air from the horse's back, stepped on the saddle, and pounced on the crow in the sky.
The warhorse fell to the ground because it could not withstand the force of the recoil, and its fat figure crossed with the crow... and it didn't catch it!
The Golden Pig was startled. The crow seemed to be faster than him. "What the hell is this? How can there be such a powerful crow... Officer?!"
"Use a crossbow! Shoot it down!"
The spies pulled out crossbows from their waists and shot into the night sky, but the crows made cawing sounds as they twisted and turned, easily avoiding the crossbow arrows and mocking them.
Jin Zhu was sure that this must be some kind of official career path, but when he recalled all the official career paths he knew, he knew nothing about this kind of official career path, as if the other party had never appeared in history.
How could that be?
The Imperial Household Department is responsible for the intelligence of the royal inner court. Any official who appears in the world will be recorded, even folk legends will be recorded.
What kind of official connections are so hidden that there is not even a single word recorded in the Silijian archives?
"Abandon your horses!" The Golden Pig growled and took the lead in galloping towards the Yuan Mansion, where smoke and dust were everywhere.
The crow became anxious, and it pecked at the spy with all its might, but more and more spies came from behind, and the crossbow arrows almost formed a net in the air.
If it had fallen a little lower, it would have been pierced by several arrows!
The crows were forced to fly into the night sky.
In just over ten breaths, Jin Zhu had arrived at the gate of the mansion where the explosion occurred. He jumped over the high gate and landed in the courtyard, but at this time, there was only a collapsed house and a stripped corpse left in the mansion.
When he looked up again, he didn't know where the crow had flown away.
"Chase, the murderer can't get far!"
…
…
A few hundred meters away, Chen Ji was carried on someone's shoulders, with another person following behind.
He looked at the person following him while the car was bumping, and said with difficulty: "Brother Biaozi? Didn't you leave already?"
Wu Hongbiao grinned and said, "I was originally planning to leave, but Si Cao thought you might want to do something alone, so he took me to stay. We heard the commotion in Red Lane and sneaked over there, but we didn't dare get close. Later, when you escaped from the rooftop, we followed from a distance. We didn't recognize you at the time and thought you were some lawless criminal."
The next moment, the driver Si Cao, who was carrying Chen Ji, said coldly, "Don't rush into chatting. Be careful not to lose your breath and get caught up."
After saying that, he carried Chen Ji and turned left and right. It took him half an hour to reach a dark alley where an ox cart was tied.
Si Cao threw Chen Ji on the cart board, sat in the front, whipped the ox cart, and drove it south.
Chen Ji sat up and asked, "Where are we going?"
The coachman, Si Cao, said calmly, "Let's go south to Yangzhou first to hide. Once the Secret Service has lifted the blockade, we'll head north back to Jing Dynasty. There's no place for us in Ning Dynasty anymore. We need to go back to find your uncle."
Chen Ji was stunned. He looked back at the receding buildings and bluestone roads. Was he finally going to leave Ning Dynasty?
He whispered, "Is there no other way?"
"There's no other way. You injured Jin Zhu tonight and killed Liang and Yong. From now on, neither the Military Intelligence Department nor the Secret Service Department will tolerate you."
"Liang and Yong?"
"That's the shopkeeper Yuan you just killed." Si Caogui said coldly, "He was once your uncle's man, but he betrayed your uncle just to gain a foothold in Lu Guanwu. A treacherous villain must be killed by everyone. Even if you don't kill him today, I will find a way to kill him before I leave."
Chen Ji leaned against the truck bed and was silent for a long time: "Why are you so loyal to my uncle?"
Si Caogui tightened the reins in his hand: "This has nothing to do with you."
Chen Ji recalled his fight with Manager Yuan and wondered, "What kind of skills did he cultivate? Why can't even a knife pierce his iron skin?"
"Before coming to Ning Dynasty, he was arranged by your uncle to lurk in Kujue Temple in Shengjing City of Jing Dynasty. He practiced the Golden Bell Method. There are no shortcuts to this method. One must ring the bell in front of the Buddha for ten years without missing a day, and the method will naturally become copper-skinned and iron-boned. However, he only rang the bell for ten years, so naturally he still has many flaws. There was an old monk in Kujue Temple who rang the bell for sixty years, and his copper-skinned and iron-boned body was flawless."
Chen Ji leaned tiredly against the truck bed and said, "I've learned a lot. It turns out that ringing the bell can help me cultivate."
He recalled that the young monk beside the prince seemed to be the same, and he only needed to recite the Sutra of the Past Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva over and over again to practice.
In this case, wouldn't Buddhism and Taoism possess a vast array of spiritual practices? No wonder the Buddhist Tongbao dared to steal the money houses' business...
During the time he had been in Ning Dynasty, Chen Ji had not seen a single money shop on the street, so he thought that Fomen Tongbao was the only dominant one.
Chen Ji asked again, "How many officers do we have in the Military Intelligence Department?"
The driver was silent for a moment, as if he felt that they were all on the same side, so he stopped hiding it. "Before, there were three, but now there are ten. Let's use Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui as the code names."
"what do you?"
"I am 'Gui', and Shopkeeper Yuan is 'Xin'."
The twelve zodiac animals of the Ning Dynasty correspond to the ten 'Heavenly Stems' of the Jing Dynasty.
Chen Ji asked, "Why is there no place for us in Ning Dynasty?"
Si Caogui said calmly, "Originally, everyone in the Military Intelligence Department was promoted by your uncle. Now that Lu Guanwu has been promoted to Military Strategy Specialist, in charge of all military intelligence for our Jing Dynasty, he has brought his former subordinates in, intending to gradually purge your uncle's former subordinates. The original head of the department was also an old subordinate of your uncle, but I haven't been able to contact him for half a month. I'm afraid he's been killed. Once the new head of the department takes office, there will definitely be another purge."
Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Wait a minute, if all of my uncle's former subordinates have been eliminated, then besides you, Manager Yuan, and Brother Biaozi, who else in the Military Intelligence Department knows about my identity as a Jing Dynasty spy?"
Si Caogui pondered for a moment and replied, "The Master knows that, too."
Chen Ji took a deep breath. "But the Director was also eliminated by Lu Guanwu. Does that mean that, apart from you and Brother Biaozi, no one in the Military Intelligence Department knows my identity?"
Si Caogui thought again and again: "Yes."
Chen Ji stood up and grabbed the reins in Si Caogui's hand, stopped the ox cart, and said firmly, "You guys go to Yangzhou, I'll go back to Taiping Medical Clinic."
(End of this chapter)
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