The Azure Mountain

Chapter 76: Explosion

"Who's up there? Seize them!"

The agents looked where Jin Zhu was pointing. There, atop a tavern roof, a face smeared black peered out from behind the roof ridge, quietly spying on Red Clothe Lane.

One agent flinched: "Is that a man or a ghost?!"

Jin Zhu smiled as he fixed his gaze on Chen Ji above: "Playing tricks. Surround him!"

The Secret Spy Division had come up empty tonight. Outwardly, Jin Zhu wore his trademark smile; inwardly, he was seething. A Jing Dynasty mole had been planted right beside him. If the other Zodiacs found out, they would laugh their teeth out.

The next instant, Chen Ji watched as dozens of agents swarmed over, sealing the tavern on all sides — not a drop of water could have gotten through.

Some began scaling the outer walls. Chen Ji pried up roof tiles and hurled them down, bloodying the climbers' heads.

More agents brought two long ladders and tried to ascend to the rooftop.

Chen Ji moved to the ladders and heaved, toppling each one — ladder, agents and all. Every time they propped a ladder up, he knocked it over.

But there were simply too many agents. More ladders appeared, more climbers came. Alone, he couldn't watch every side. Losing his position was only a matter of time.He was like a man defending a lonely fortress against besieging armies from every direction.

At that moment, Lin Chaoqing drawled: "Do you need my Trouble-Resolving Guard to step in? If Honorable Jin Zhu's agents can't handle one man, my Guard can solve the problem for you. With this many eyes watching, if a single Jing Dynasty rat can't be dealt with, word getting out would bring disgrace upon the entire Directorate of Ceremonial."

Jin Zhu smiled: "No need to trouble the Trouble-Resolving Guard. The Secret Spy Division can handle this ourselves."

With that, he handed his light armor to a subordinate and went to apprehend Chen Ji himself.

Chen Ji caught this in his peripheral vision. His heart sank — if Jin Zhu personally came up, there would truly be no escape. He unfastened the cloth bundle from his back and pulled out two bamboo tubes!

The next moment, Jin Zhu charged toward the tavern, each stride covering several meters.

Reaching the building, he leapt — his portly frame shot upward like a sprout bursting from dry earth, landing on the second floor.

One more push off the second-floor railing, and he vaulted straight onto the roof!

For a Grand Guild Agent of Jin Zhu's level, scaling a building several meters high was as effortless as walking on flat ground — far beyond the limits of ordinary men.

But the moment he crested the roof, he saw the blackened figure across from him — one hand holding a fire-lighting strip, the other clutching a bamboo tube. The paper fuse on the tube was already burning.

But Chen Ji didn't throw it immediately. He waited patiently as the fuse burned down to its final length — and only then hurled it at Jin Zhu, who had just landed on the rooftop.

'Get down!'

Chen Ji threw himself flat on the roof and clamped his hands over his ears.

Jin Zhu, still finding his footing, saw the bamboo tube flying toward him. His instinct was to kick it away, but before it even reached him, it detonated!

A thunderous blast. Jin Zhu threw his arms up to shield his head, and the enormous shockwave sent his entire body hurtling backward!

The explosion was like a thunderclap from a clear sky. The fireball lit up the dark heavens as if a god had hurled down wrathful flames — scorching and absolute.

Outside Red Clothe Lane, the thunder of the blast rolled outward across the distance. In an instant, over a hundred watchdogs erupted into frenzied barking. The entire city of Luo seemed to jolt awake!

Inside Red Clothe Lane, patrons and courtesans alike went pale, hair standing on end. Countless men and women threw themselves to the ground, screaming in terror.

Not just the people — even the Trouble-Resolving Guard's warhorses reared in alarm, hooves pawing the air, nearly throwing their riders.

Lin Chaoqing's own mount tried to rear, but he forced it down with sheer strength.

The Chief Punishment Division Commander's expression turned grave. He lifted his head and gazed calmly at the sky, his keen eyes flashing beneath the brim of his bamboo hat. The man who had just reached the rooftop — Jin Zhu — was now tumbling through the air like a kite with its string cut, plummeting from several meters up.

Jin Zhu's once-immaculate cross-collared robe was in ruins — sleeves blown apart like tattered flowers, trousers half missing, his whole body ragged like a torn burlap sack.

An agent cried out: "Save him! Don't let him hit the ground!"

Over a dozen agents scrambled toward where Jin Zhu was falling, catching him just before he slammed into the cobblestones.

Several cracking sounds — the impact of Jin Zhu's dead weight snapped arms and buckled spines.

They collapsed in a heap, but at least Jin Zhu hadn't cratered into the bluestone pavement.

"Sir?!"

"Sir!"

These agents had served under Jin Zhu for years. They were as close as brothers.

Jin Zhu might have been ruthless toward Jing Dynasty spies, but to his own people, he was genuinely caring and brilliant at winning loyalty.

But now Jin Zhu's eyes were shut tight, his face blackened, and he had stopped breathing.

Grief overtook the agents.

"Cough cough cough cough — what are you crying for? Stop wailing — I'm not dead yet!" Jin Zhu slowly opened his eyes and sat up, shock and disbelief warring on his face: "What the hell kind of gunpowder was that?! Our own Imperial Workshop doesn't make anything this powerful!"

When he had seen the bamboo tube and its fuse, he'd already braced himself. He had guessed it contained gunpowder, and that detonation meant injury. But he had never imagined the blast would be so vastly more powerful than anything he'd experienced!

Whatever that was — it was not the same gunpowder he knew!

Jin Zhu looked down at his tattered clothes. His entire body burned with searing pain. His bones felt like they'd come apart. His organs had shifted inside him.

If not for his advanced cultivation level, he would have been killed on the spot.

'Strange — has someone at the Imperial Workshop developed something new without reporting it and secretly sold it to the Jing Dynasty spies?'

'This is bad. If the Jing Dynasty gets their hands on this, the Ning Dynasty is finished!'

Jin Zhu forced himself to his feet: "Quick, quick! Catch that man! If I let him escape right under my nose, how can I face the Inner Chancellor!"

But when he looked up at the rooftop, Chen Ji was long gone — already leaping across neighboring rooftops, vanishing into the night.

Lin Chaoqing sat on his horse, glanced at him: "Honorable Jin Zhu, surviving a great disaster brings great fortune. But next time, unless you're certain, don't come to the Mengjin Camp to requisition my Trouble-Resolving Guard. We're returning to base!"

......

......

Red Clothe Lane fell quiet.

Jin Zhu dispatched half his agents to hunt for the black-faced, black-clad figure... but deep down, he knew the man was likely long gone.

He led his inner circle to the tavern's rear courtyard and stood in silence, looking at the six agents who had died there.

"All blade wounds... Xi Feng, you're our best with a blade. Examine the bodies," Jin Zhu said, expressionless.

The agent called Xi Feng crouched down, murmured an apology to his fallen comrades, and stripped away their clothing.

He fetched clean water, washed the wounds, and studied them closely: "The attacker used a short blade. The cut marks are peculiar — the blade doesn't seem particularly sharp. It doesn't even look like a weapon meant for killing..."

"What kind of blade?"

"Sir, there are too many types to narrow it down. The assassin seems to have grabbed whatever blade was at hand and simply used it. But his technique is devastating — precise, surgical. Every wound hits a vital point. This is a veteran blade master. Without years and years of relentless training, this level of clean efficiency would be impossible."

"Moreover, this person is extremely careful. He clearly understands that a single stab usually won't kill instantly, so he follows up every kill with multiple strikes to other vital organs."

The agent drew a sharp breath: "Ruthlessly methodical."

Jin Zhu furrowed his brow and scanned the courtyard. His gaze suddenly fell on the agents' sabers scattered across the ground: "Wait — why are all these blades broken?!"

The examining agent stood and looked — and was stunned to find that of the six sabers in the courtyard, five were snapped in half!

He picked up one broken blade segment, found its matching hilt, and fitted the two pieces together. Only then could everyone see the distinct notch at the fracture point.

The agent could hardly believe it: "Sir, these sabers were each broken by a single strike. Our Secret Spy Division sabers are forged from hundred-fold refined steel. The enemy... simply picked up a short blade and broke them with one blow?"

Jin Zhu looked at the agent: "Have you ever seen this kind of blade technique?"

The agent shook his head: "Never. Could it be Liang Gou'er?"

Jin Zhu scoffed: "It's not Liang Gou'er. If Liang Gou'er were here, he wouldn't have needed to bother breaking their blades. Besides, Liang Gou'er's spine has already been broken — he wouldn't dare defy the Secret Spy Division... So who could it be? A blade master this formidable can't have just appeared out of nowhere."

He stood in the quiet courtyard, surveying the blood and the bodies.

Whoever had single-handedly slain six agents was certainly a practitioner — that much was beyond question. But while Jin Zhu had seen plenty of practitioners, blade masters of this caliber were rare.

'Wait — doesn't the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Division have a Si Cao who fights with a short blade?!'

Previously, Bao Hou had led a team to apprehend the man in Jinling, but the Si Cao had fought off over a dozen agents before leaping into the Qinhuai River to escape. And the weapon the Si Cao had used was precisely a short blade!

Jin Zhu's entire body burned — his skin embedded with countless iron shard fragments. Every step was agony, bones grinding as if they were falling apart.

By all rights, he should seek immediate medical treatment. But the thought of such devastating gunpowder falling into Jing Dynasty hands — destined to be used against the Ning Dynasty's own border soldiers — made his own injuries seem trivial.

Jin Zhu snarled through gritted teeth: "Xi Feng, take my waist plaque and go to the City Defense Division. Have them seal every gate in Luo City. Dong Feng, intercept the Trouble-Resolving Guard — have them proceed immediately to the canal docks. No vessel is to leave for three days!"

His voice turned cold as ice: "Find him. Even if we have to dig three feet into the earth and turn all of Luo City upside down — bring him to me!"