68. Whale
In Taiping Medical Clinic, the farce caused by the arrival of the Golden Pig made everyone silent.
In the apprentice dormitory, there is one person and one cat.
Wuyun whispered about his findings, "We followed him all the way south. He's very alert. If he sees anything amiss, he'll immediately stop and observe his surroundings, then create a trap to lure anyone following him."
"After going back and forth four times, he finally put his mind at ease. He drove a carriage out of the woods near Tuoluo Temple in the south and waited at the temple gate. After a while, I saw Liu Mingxian come out of the temple and get on the carriage..."
Chen Ji was surprised: "He is actually Liu Mingxian's coachman? He was the one who took Master from the clinic to see Old Master Liu..."
He thought for a moment and then said, "I guess Liu Mingxian doesn't know that there's actually someone from the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department hiding next to him. Otherwise, why would the Military Intelligence Department need me to connect with Concubine Yun?"
The coachman's hiding position was very good. Not only could he keep track of Liu Mingxian's whereabouts at any time, but he could also eavesdrop on Liu Mingxian's conversations with others.
The Liu family's coachmen all lived together. If the other coachmen were not on guard, this coachman could even find out where the other members of the Liu family went, what they did, and who they met.
But why would Si Cao, who is so smart and cautious, come to Taiping Medical Clinic this morning and risk being exposed... Is he here to kill himself?
Chen Ji recalled the conversation between the two Si Caos. Manager Yuan asked, "What are you doing here?"
The driver Si Cao responded: "What are you doing here again?"
Then, Shopkeeper Yuan said, "Los Angeles is now under my control. You need to put yourself in your proper place."
Chen Ji muttered to himself, "'You need to put yourself in the right place'. In what context would one say something like that?"
Wuyun raised a paw and said, "I know this. The day before yesterday, I recruited a leading tabby cat, but it still refused to obey my orders. So I beat it up again and said, 'Put yourself in your place!'"
Chen Ji was stunned, a spark of hope flashing in his mind. "So that's how it is. The power of the Luocheng Military Intelligence Department has changed hands. The Coachman Si Cao used to be in charge of Luocheng, but now it's the new manager Yuan's turn to be in charge, and the Coachman Si Cao has been marginalized."
There was a power transition in the Military Intelligence Department, and after his uncle stepped down, power fell into the hands of others.
The coachman, Si Cao, had mentioned many times that his uncle had asked him to take care of him. He must have been very close to his uncle, so naturally he became the target of exclusion.
Chen Ji was puzzled: "But why did he come to Taiping Medical Clinic this morning? Is he here to kill me?"
Wu Yun's expression turned serious: "He wants to kill you?!"
"Not necessarily," Chen Ji shook his head.
Wu Hongbiao had previously said that the coachman, Si Cao, wanted to kill them as a token of surrender, but Chen Ji had always had a doubt:
The coachman, Si Cao, looked extremely fierce, but...
When the Military Intelligence Department of Jing Dynasty suspected that he had betrayed Zhou Chengyi, no matter how his subordinates accused him, the Coachman Cao did not kill him.
The other party did hang him upside down for interrogation, but after the interrogation, he didn't even have a scratch on his skin.
Chen Ji didn't care what others said, he just looked at what they did. Judging from these two doubts alone, the coachman Si Cao actually had no intention of killing him.
Even if the coachman Si Cao changed his mind and wanted to kill him to prove his loyalty, the timing was not right.
Last night, Liu Mingxian and I were in the East Market together. The coachman Si Cao must have been there too and noticed me.
If the other party wanted to kill me, he would have had plenty of opportunities last night. Why would he wait until so early in the morning to come to the clinic?
So, the other party is not here to kill me.
Chen Ji was now even more confused. "Then why was he coming to Taiping Clinic this morning? What could have caused such a cautious person to sneak into the clinic while his employer was burning incense and praying? Was there something fishy going on?"
Wait, it’s because Manager Yuan is here.
The coachman Si Cao was not here to kill him, he was here to protect him!
Chen Ji laughed at his own deduction: "Why would he protect me?... But Wu Hongbiao is either mistaken or lying. I have to figure this out. Wuyun, did Wu Hongbiao go out yesterday?"
Wuyun replied, "No, you didn't bring him food yesterday, so I went back to the clinic and asked Uncle Crow for two multi-grain cakes and gave them to him. Don't worry, I put them at the door while he was asleep, so he didn't notice me."
"Drinking will cause trouble..."
At this moment, Liang Maoer's voice came from outside the window: "Brother, why didn't you take action just now?"
Liang Gou'er curled his lips, fiddled with the bamboo broom, and said with his head down: "I said there are three things I won't help. Have you forgotten? I won't help the eunuch party, and I won't help those who oppose the eunuch party."
"But I
We are friends," Liang Maoer said anxiously, her face flushing. "We just went to the Drum Tower together to watch the sunrise this morning."
Liang Gou'er sneered, "Many people have watched the sunset with me. Do I have to help everyone? Don't take what is said while drinking seriously. This is the rule of the bar!"
Liang Maoer was so angry that she snatched the broom from him: "How did you become like this? You were not like this before!"
Liang Gou'er muttered, "The past is the past, and the present is the present."
Inside the house, Wu Yun looked at Chen Ji: "What just happened?"
Chen Ji was silent for a moment and then asked, "Wu Yun, if your friends kept many things from you, would you be angry?"
Wuyun thought for a long time: "I don't know, you are my first and only friend, I have no experience in this area... but I should be angry."
Chen Ji sighed inwardly. Princess Baili had just left in anger, perhaps because she was angry: they had all been scolded, drank together, and watched the sunrise together. In her heart, she already considered them all friends. But why were there still people who were unwilling to help their friends in need? Why were there still people who hid so many secrets?
But Chen Ji had no choice, some secrets he could only keep in his heart.
Wu Yun patted the back of Chen Ji's hand and said, "I'm leaving now. I just had a fight and my men are waiting for me."
Chen Ji: "...Okay, don't let the blood splash on you."
…
…
After the dark clouds left, Chen Ji slowly closed his eyes and thought about the clues he had just obtained.
If the driver's officer really hadn't intended to kill him, then was Wu Hongbiao lying? What role did the driver's officer play in this matter? He could only wait until night to find out.
Chen Ji gathered the sixteen fires and let himself fly through the black sea of clouds and land on the green mountains.
Once upon a time, Chen Ji hated this dream so much. The shouting and killing sounds night after night were like a nightmare. He couldn't wake up and couldn't sleep well.
But now he likes this place, not only because of the exquisite fighting skills, but also because he doesn't have to think about complicated interpersonal relationships here.
There is no Military Intelligence Department, no Secret Service Department, no parents, and no uncle.
Here, Chen Ji only needs to fight again and again, learn one skill after another, and doesn't have to think about anything else.
He turned around and saw Xuanyuan, wearing a black royal robe, sitting on the edge of the cliff, leaning on the royal flag and looking into the distance.
The battlefield outside the cliff froze, the clouds in the sky rolled and unrolled, and even Chen Ji's mood calmed down.
He sat silently beside Xuanyuan and asked, "Have you been watching all this alone all these years?"
Xuanyuan ignored him.
Chen Ji asked again: "Why are you in my dream?"
Xuanyuan glanced at him and said, "I'm in your dream... Are you worthy? This is my world."
Chen Ji: “…”
So this is not a dream, but a real place?
Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Have you heard of the Forty-Nine Heavens?"
Xuanyuan was puzzled: "What place is that? I've never been there."
Now Chen Ji was also confused. It was okay that the people around him didn’t know about the Forty-Ninth Heaven, but even an “immortal” like Xuanyuan didn’t know about the existence of the Forty-Ninth Heaven. Was Li Qingniao talking nonsense?
"Uttarakuru?"
“Never heard of it.”
"Have you heard of Li Qingniao?" Chen Ji asked.
"I haven't heard of it," Xuanyuan shook his head. "I've seen 'Blue Bird', but I've never heard of anyone with this name... What nonsense are you talking about?"
Chen Ji was confused. Didn't everyone know about the existence of the Forty-Ninth Heaven?
Xuanyuan stood up and said, "Don't waste time, Feng Huai, give him a sword and practice with him."
The swordsman named Feng Huai nodded: "As you command."
"Wait a minute," Chen Ji said, raising his hand. "But someone told me I shouldn't practice swordplay."
Xuanyuan seemed to have heard a huge joke: "Did you come here just to tell me a joke? You shouldn't practice swordplay? Someone said you shouldn't practice swordplay?! Hahahahahaha."
Xuanyuan's laughter rolled out like a huge bell, and even the clouds were scattered by the sound.
Chen Ji's face was gloomy: "Is it so funny?"
Xuanyuan pointed at him from a distance and asked in confusion, "You used to use a knife!"
Chen Ji: "...there is such a thing?"
"The sword is the king of all weapons, the knife is the courage of all weapons, the knife is the most suitable for you, if you don't practice the knife, what else can you practice?!"
"Maybe the knife was suitable for me in the past, but now I want to practice sword. The person who taught me said that my personality is not suitable for using a knife now, and it will ruin my basic training."
"You now
"Zai's character... he's not entirely without reason," Xuanyuan sneered, "but with your limited foundation, how can you say you're 'useless'? Once you've mastered the knife, you'll need to practice sword, axe, spear, staff, hammer... everything. If you can't master them all, how can you know what tactics your enemy will use to defeat you? Once you've mastered them all, you'll understand that all ways of the world lead to the same destination."
Liang Gou'er doesn't allow to practice, but Xuanyuan allows to practice. Who should I listen to?
Chen Ji chose to listen to Xuan Yuan, because Xuan Yuan's realm seemed much higher than Liang Gou'er's...
He looked at Xuanyuan: "If... I mean, if I am really the person you knew back then, then what kind of knife did I use back then?"
Xuanyuan stared at Chenji for a long time, then suddenly raised his hand and pulled out a large sword as tall as a man from the air: "Try this one."
But I saw that the handle was about two-thirds long, and the blade was about one-third long. There was a golden dragon pattern on the handle, and the blade was as white as snow.
Xuanyuan threw the knife from a distance, and when Chen Ji caught it, he was pulled by the weight of the knife and almost fell down.
Chen Ji waved the sword with both hands for a few times, then immediately shook his head: "No, I'm not used to it."
Xuanyuan pulled out a two-foot-long sword from the air and threw it to Chen Ji: "Try this one again."
The blade of this knife is red, as if it had just been pulled out of magma.
Chen Ji waved it a few more times: "No, I'm not used to it, it's a bit awkward."
This awkward feeling is like someone who is used to using a certain pen and suddenly changes to another pen. He can use it and is familiar with it, but still wants to change back to his previous pen.
Xuanyuan glanced at him and summoned dozens of swords from the void, standing in the air: "Pick it, until you find the one you like."
Chen Ji came to the swords one by one. He took down each one and tried to chop them in his hand. There were sleeve blades, daggers, crescent-shaped swords, straight-handled swords, and crescent-shaped scimitars.
He carefully compared the differences between each knife. Time passed by minute by minute, but Xuanyuan did not urge him at all.
This time, Xuanyuan was extra patient.
Finally, Chen Ji stopped in front of a sharp, narrow and long knife. The blade was three feet and three inches long, and the handle was two feet and two inches long. When it was leaning on the ground, the knife was at the level of his eyebrows.
Chen Ji held the knife in his hand and asked curiously, "What is the name of this knife?"
"Don't you recognize it?"
"Should I recognize it?"
"Of course you should know it, because it is your sword," Xuanyuan said calmly, "It's called Whale."
"Did I name it?"
"No, I got it."
Chen Ji was silent. It turned out that Xuanyuan had been waiting patiently without saying anything, just to see if he could choose this one.
There were clearly more than fifty swords hanging in the air on the top of the green mountain, but he did not choose a longer one or a shorter one, but this one.
Chen Ji held the "Whale" and felt inexplicably familiar, as if he had found a long-lost friend.
At a certain moment, he was seriously wondering whether he was really the person Xuanyuan mentioned, and the other party did not recognize the wrong person.
This shock came suddenly. Although Chen Ji had previously apologized for his "former self" and acquiesced to Xuanyuan's speculation, he actually didn't believe it in his heart. He just wanted to learn more skills on this battlefield, learn how to fight, and learn the art of swordsmanship.
And now…
Chen Ji looked up at Xuanyuan: "Why is my knife in your hand? Are you going to kill me?"
Xuanyuan was silent.
Chen Ji suddenly laughed and said, "Haha, why do you have that expression? Even if you kill me, I'm still alive! By the way, can you give me this knife? Since you said this is your world, then this knife must be real, right?"
Xuanyuan glanced at him and said, "If you can defeat Feng Huai within three days, I will return this sword to you."
Chen Ji casually made a knife flower: "What are you waiting for? Come on!"
Xuanyuan looked at Chen Ji and said seriously, "Don't think you're that powerful just because you can defeat a giant halberd warrior in one day. Bronze halberds are used in battle formations to deal with charging warhorses. They have few variations and are not flexible enough, making them easy to be exploited. A sword is different. Being able to defeat Feng Huai proves that you are qualified to fight in the battle formation."
Chen Ji asked curiously, "I noticed that the giant halberd warriors and broadsword warriors you selected are dressed differently from the others. Aren't they ordinary soldiers?"
Xuanyuan glanced at him and said, "They are both my brave soldiers, the best in the army, and instructors of all kinds of weapons."
Chen Ji was helpless. It turned out that he was fighting against the most skilled person, using the weapon that the other person was most proficient in. "Why do I feel like... you really want to teach me all the skills of fighting in battle?"
Xuanyuan sneered: "Feng Huai, chop him down."
(End of this chapter)
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