novelraw Chapter 128: Good Show
Chapter 128: Good Show
Zi-shi.
The iron gate of the Inner Prison emitted a creaking sound, as if a scrawny claw was scratching at the depths of one's heart, setting one's teeth on edge.
Jin Zhu walked out from inside the gate first. Outside the gate, over twenty black-clad secret spies stood solemnly with their hands on their sabers.
Wearing a set of black tight-fitting martial attire, he stood at the front of the secret spies and said expressionlessly: "In the battle of Peony Bridge, the brothers suffered heavy losses. But we eat this bowl of rice; we kill the most ferocious thieves, and sleep with the most beautiful women in Red Clothe Lane. Tonight, everyone tie your heads to your waistbands and follow me to establish merits."
Having said that, he turned around and said to Xi Feng: "Bring Shopkeeper Yuan out."
With iron shackles locking his hands and feet, Shopkeeper Yuan stumbled out of the Inner Prison. As he moved, blood seeped out from the wound on his thigh pierced by Tian Ma.
He stopped outside the gate, tilted his unkempt head up, greedily breathed in several mouthfuls of fresh air, and praised: "Truly delicious."
With his hands behind his back, Jin Zhu smiled and said: "If we can capture Chang Jing tonight, you will never have to return to the Inner Prison."
Shopkeeper Yuan chuckled, cupped his hands while wearing shackles, and said: "Borrowing Lord's auspicious words."
Jin Zhu pressed him into the carriage.Just as Chen Ji lifted his leg to follow into the carriage, he was stopped by Jin Zhu turning back: "Tonight, you and Xi Feng follow on the periphery, do not get close."
Chen Ji was puzzled: "Lord doesn't trust me?"
Jin Zhu sat in the carriage and laughed: "How could I not trust you? It's just that the closer you get tonight... the more dangerous the Jing Dynasty thieves become. You haven't yet stepped into the cultivation Pathway and lack the strength to even truss a chicken. You cannot risk yourself in danger."
He continued to instruct Earnest and Sincere: "Tonight, once you find the situation is unfavorable, immediately find a place to hide. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely do not do anything out of hot-blooded impulse."
Hearing Jin Zhu say "absolutely" three times in a row, Chen Ji's expression instantly became complex: "Lord, if I'm not in the carriage, who will devise strategies for you? I'm not afraid of danger."
Jin Zhu was slightly moved: "No, I accept your sentiments, but you have only just received your cultivation Pathway; you cannot die."
Having said that, he lowered the carriage curtain and said loudly: "Depart."
The carriage slowly drove towards the Eastern Market.
Standing in front of the Inner Prison, Chen Ji silently watched the carriage's back figure go further and further away. It was a good thing that Jin Zhu didn't want him to approach danger; at least he didn't have to worry about being backstabbed at any moment.
But he had originally planned to use the chaos tonight to trick and kill Shopkeeper Yuan to avoid dragging Consort Yun into this. Now he could only Adapting to Circumstances.
Just as he was pondering.
Xi Feng looked at Chen Ji: "Chen... Lord, let's also depart. We'll trail the carriage from a distance, so that if Lord Jin Zhu encounters danger, we won't be unable to support him in time."
Chen Ji glanced at him: "You and I are both Pigeon Rank secret agents, there's no need to call me Lord."
Xi Feng smiled flatteringly: "With Lord's intelligence and wisdom, being promoted to Gyrfalcon is only a matter of time."
The next moment, he took out the Copper Whistle and blew it. The secret agents scattered in an instant and wove their way through the narrow alleys.
Only Xi Feng remained walking alongside Chen Ji. He heard the other party sporadically blow a bird call, adjusting the formation of the secret agents, crisscrossing and covering the carriage's advance.
In between commanding, Xi Feng looked at Chen Ji with a furtive, thief-like expression: "What grade is the cultivation Pathway Lord gave you?"
Chen Ji glanced at him: "Lord didn't tell me. If you want to know, you can go ask Lord yourself."
Xi Feng shrank his neck: "I'm not asking him, I'll definitely get scolded if I ask."
While they were talking, the carriage ahead suddenly accelerated and turned left at Baning Street.
Xi Feng and Chen Ji looked at each other. Chen Ji said: "This isn't right. Shopkeeper Yuan said he agreed with Chang Jing to meet tonight at one quarter past Chou-shi at the water transport docks, but this isn't the direction to the water transport docks."
Xi Feng asked: "What do we do?"
Chen Ji said: "Blow the Copper Whistle and ask Lord Jin Zhu."
Xi Feng blew the Copper Whistle, and then heard a single reply from the carriage. At the same time, Xi Feng's expression turned serious: "Lord said to keep following."
Chen Ji took a deep breath: "Listen to Lord."
The secret agents continuously crisscrossed forward in the alleys, ceaselessly chasing after the carriage.
But before they could catch up to the carriage, it unexpectedly turned another corner, changing to a new direction.
Following behind the carriage, the crowd continuously increased their speed. One by one, the secret agents ran until they were panting heavily. Seeing it go on like this, they would have no stamina left by the time they reached the destination.
Chen Ji frowned and said: "Use the Copper Whistle to signal Lord to stop. We cannot continue being led by the nose by that Jing Dynasty thief like this."
Xi Feng blew the Copper Whistle. This time, the carriage only replied with two short bird calls.
Chen Ji asked somewhat puzzledly: "I keep hearing you guys blow the Copper Whistle; how do you distinguish what message the Copper Whistle sound conveys?"
Xi Feng explained: "The Copper Whistle can mimic three types of bird calls in total. The first is the magpie. One call is 'assemble, keep up', two calls is 'surround and ambush', three calls is 'evacuate', four calls is 'fuck his mother'."
Chen Ji raised his eyebrows: "Is it that emotional?"
Panting heavily, Xi Feng explained: "That's my colloquial explanation. The second type of bird call is the bamboo partridge. How many calls it makes represent different formations. The third type of bird call is the long cry of a falcon. There is only one situation to blow this whistle sound, and that is when encountering an extremely dangerous individual."
Chen Ji was momentarily stunned and asked: "Is it this kind of sound?"
Xi Feng said: "That's the sound. Fuck, enemy attack!"
On the cold and murderous long bluestone street, the flagstone road was so smooth it could reflect the moon. On this flagstone, there was clearly reflected a Long Halberd shooting over from the roof of a pavilion, as if one halberd strike had pierced through the moon.
With a hum, that Long Halberd was seen crossing the long sky. Square and true, it penetrated right through the carriage. With a loud crash, the wooden carriage cabin actually shattered into four pieces and five fragments, turning into sawdust filling the sky.
When the Long Halberd smashed the carriage cabin to pieces, it nailed into the bluestone flag road, its wooden shaft seemingly trembling unceasingly on its own.
Amidst the sawdust filling the sky, Jin Zhu and Shopkeeper Yuan flew out of the carriage to the left and right, crashing onto the ground.
Xi Feng exclaimed: "Lord!"
He was just about to charge forward to rescue him, when several masked assassins were seen piercing out from the roof, simultaneously shooting the Long Halberds in their hands outwards. Although not as terrifying as the first Long Halberd, they sealed off all the routes for the secret agents to come and support.
Chen Ji pulled Xi Feng to hide in a corner and peeked his head out. Looking at the place where the first Long Halberd flew from, he saw a masked robust man standing atop the roof ridge of the building, with several Long Halberds tied to his back with hemp rope.
The robust man kicked his heel backwards, exactly hitting the tail end of a Long Halberd. The Long Halberd was seen springing out from his back and landing in his hand.
The next moment, that Long Halberd flew out of his hand.
With a hum, the Long Halberd unexpectedly wasn't aimed at Jin Zhu, but flew straight for Shopkeeper Yuan's chest and abdomen. The other party wanted to first Murder to Silence the heavily injured Shopkeeper Yuan!
At the critical moment, Jin Zhu frantically rolled and crawled to Shopkeeper Yuan's side. Grabbing the other party's collar, he pulled fiercely.
The Long Halberd that was originally meant to fix into Shopkeeper Yuan's chest and abdomen pierced deeply through his calf and nailed into the ground.
"Ah!", Shopkeeper Yuan howled.
Jin Zhu said angrily: "What are you howling for?! And you still counted on those colleagues of yours to save you. Now it's not my Secret Spy Division that wants to kill you, it's those colleagues who want to kill you."
Shopkeeper Yuan shivered: "Save me, Lord Jin Zhu save me!"
In that instant, Xi Feng shouted loudly: "Lord be careful!"
Jin Zhu abruptly turned his body sideways. He saw a Long Halberd, whistling with the wind, surging past right in front of him, and nailing into the flagstone road behind him with a crash.
He roared angrily: "Tian Ma! This person is an expert in the Path-Seeking Realm; if you don't strike now I'm going to die!"
But this time no brilliant meteor shower streaked across the night sky.
The temporary change of route had caused Tian Ma to wait in vain.
Jin Zhu gritted his teeth, stood up and leaped onto the pavilion, charging towards that robust man on the second floor: "Xi Feng, go help the other brothers and drag this out until Tian Ma arrives!"
Chen Ji hid in the corner, silently observing the battlefield.
Long Halberds shooting everywhere crisscrossed on the flagstone road. Shopkeeper Yuan was seen taking a deep breath and forcefully pulling the Long Halberd out from his leg.
Enduring the pain, he climbed up, used the Long Halberd in his hand to support his body, and seizing the opportunity when no one was paying attention to him, limped and ran towards the small alley!
Chen Ji slowly retreated into the shadows. He chased in the direction Shopkeeper Yuan fled.
He constantly shuttled through the small alley, until he heard heavy, thick panting sounds coming from around the next corner, and then he suddenly stopped.
Chen Ji listened to the heavy panting sounds, getting closer and closer, closer and closer, until...
He abruptly charged out of the alley, ramming fiercely with his shoulder.
With a clang, the Long Halberd fell to the ground, and Shopkeeper Yuan was also knocked rolling to the ground by this ram.
Chen Ji silently sized up the other party. He saw Shopkeeper Yuan lying on the ground motionless.
Feigning death?
No, not feigning death.
Chen Ji looked closely. He only saw Shopkeeper Yuan's face turning black. He was already showing signs of the oil exhausting and the lamp going out.
Unexpectedly, the Long Halberd from just now was smeared with poison?
He picked up the Long Halberd from the ground and walked step-by-step towards Shopkeeper Yuan. Just as he was about to raise the Long Halberd to supplement a finishing blow, he suddenly stopped again.
Not right.
He kept feeling something wasn't right.
Chen Ji slowly put away the Long Halberd, leaned against the wall and said: "Dying at the hands of your own people, truly useless and cowardly enough. Remember not to be a Jing Dynasty person in your next life."
At this time, he looked up and around, only to find Tian Ma appearing at some unknown time, currently standing on the Eaves right above his head, looking down and silently watching him.
Chen Ji was startled inwardly.
Tian Ma didn't greet him, but gracefully jumped down from the wall, took out an Alchemical Pill from his sleeve, and stuffed it into Shopkeeper Yuan's mouth.
In the short span of several breaths, Shopkeeper Yuan's breathing gradually became heavy, and even the black color on his face quickly faded away and became ruddy.
Messy footsteps approached. Jin Zhu limped as he ran into the small alley, squatted beside Shopkeeper Yuan, and hefted the other party's collar: "Actually daring to scheme against this old man."
Shopkeeper Yuan faintly woke up: "Lord spare my life!"
Jin Zhu was just about to smash his fist into his face, but Tian Ma grabbed his fist.
He looked up; Tian Ma silently shook his head.
Jin Zhu's expression changed several times. Ultimately, he lowered his head to look at Shopkeeper Yuan: "Now the Jing Dynasty people want you dead even more than we do. The sky and earth are so vast, where else is there a place for you to shelter? Speak! Ultimately, are you willing to cooperate with us?"
Shopkeeper Yuan hurriedly said: "Willing, willing!"
Jin Zhu asked in a heavy voice: "Did you actually make an appointment with Chang Jing tonight?"
"I did!"
Chen Ji silently watched this scene and gently breathed out.
Until this moment, he was finally certain that everything that happened tonight was nothing more than a good show directed and acted entirely by the Secret Spy Division.
Although the assassins' Long Halberds were sharp and fierce. Besides Shopkeeper Yuan, not a single secret spy died. The first Long Halberd clearly had the opportunity to kill Jin Zhu, yet that halberd intentionally flew right through the center of the carriage. Jin Zhu, someone so afraid of death, and clearly having fallen to the Pre-Heaven Realm, actually dared to go chase and fight an expert in the Path-Seeking Realm...
Every detail revealed something bizarre.
But the most crucial detail was: Xi Feng said, one bird call is 'assemble, keep up', two calls is 'surround and ambush', three calls is 'evacuate', four calls is 'fuck his mother'.
When Jin Zhu responded to the whistle from the carriage the second time, it was clearly two calls!