The dim apprentice dormitory was lit by only two oil lamps.
Chen Ji lay on the shared bed, dressed in clean clothes, his chest and thighs wrapped in white bandages.
The entire room was filled with the strong scent of medicinal herbs, a smell so intense it felt like the breath of death itself.
But Chen Ji didn’t have time to dwell on such thoughts.
He had been unconscious for a full day and night, and in that time, too much could have happened.
Before he passed out, the Ning Dynasty’s secret intelligence agency, led by Jin Zhu, had already found witnesses and was closing in on the direction Wu Hongbiao had fled.
The fact that Chen Ji hadn’t been captured yet left him with two possibilities: either the secret agency’s investigation was slow, and due to the rainy night, there were few witnesses, so they hadn’t caught Wu Hongbiao yet; or Wu Hongbiao had already been captured and taken to the inner prison, but hadn’t revealed Chen Ji’s involvement.
If it was the former, there was still room for Chen Ji to salvage the situation.
But if it was the latter, there was no way Chen Ji could storm the inner prison to rescue or silence Wu Hongbiao.
Moreover, even if Wu Hongbiao hadn’t been captured, both he and Chen Ji were severely injured.
While Chen Ji had someone to treat his wounds, Wu Hongbiao had no one.
Not to mention medical care, the man was hiding in the backyard of a fabric shop, without even a bite to eat…
As Chen Ji pondered this, Bai Li, the princess, turned to the basin in the room, dipped a towel in the water, wrung it out, and placed it on Chen Ji’s forehead, replacing the previous one.
She even rinsed the used towel again, lifted Chen Ji’s arm, and wiped his armpit to help lower his fever.
“Uh, Princess, what are you doing?” Chen Ji asked, surprised.
“You’re still running a fever,” Bai Li glared at She Dengke and Liu Quxing. “These two grown men can’t even do a simple task properly. Your master told them to cool you down with a towel, but they didn’t even wring it properly before slapping it on your face. They didn’t even change the bandages on your wounds.”
She Dengke and Liu Quxing awkwardly lowered their heads. “We’ve always done it this way.”
Bai Li retorted, “That’s no excuse for being so careless. This is no way to take care of a patient!”
The prince sighed. “Bai Li, you shouldn’t be doing these things…”
Bai Li shot him a glare. “At Donglin Academy, the teachers don’t allow us to bring servants. When you were sick, didn’t I take care of you like this?”
“But Chen Ji is an outsider,” the prince argued. “If word gets out, how will you ever get married?”
“Married?” Bai Li frowned. “I’ll stay by my parents’ side. Why do I need to get married? I don’t understand why, since last year, everyone keeps talking about marriage. Why do I have to get married?”
Liang Gou’er chimed in from the side, “Because everyone deserves their own karma…”
The prince: “…”
Bai Li: “…”
Liang Mao’er quickly covered his brother’s mouth and dragged him out to the courtyard. “Brother, just shut up.”
Chen Ji lay on the bed, watching Bai Li in her white robes.
She had gone to the Red Lantern Alley and the gambling den with her brother in the middle of the night, mingling with martial artists, standing tall and unyielding, like a heroine who never hesitated or let herself be constrained.
Seeing the awkward atmosphere in the room, She Dengke quickly said, “I’ll go make some food for Chen Ji. Are you all hungry? I’ll make extra so we can all eat.”
Liang Gou’er rushed back into the room, raising his hand. “Bacon! I saw bacon in the kitchen.”
Liang Mao’er followed shyly, “I’ll just have some pickles and a little porridge.”
The prince thought for a moment. “Tofu. Pan-fried tofu.”
Chen Ji interjected, “Hey, wait… What about what I want to eat?”
She Dengke laughed and explained, “Chen Ji, I’ll make you some porridge and steamed egg custard. The master said you can’t eat anything else after being unconscious for so long.”
After She Dengke left to cook, Chen Ji looked around in confusion. “Prince, Princess, why are you two here?”
The prince chuckled and explained, “We were planning to go out tonight, but when we snuck in, we didn’t see you. Instead, we found Liu Quxing and She Dengke running around with basins of water. We were going to save on the toll fee since we didn’t see you, but Bai Li insisted on giving it to you anyway. So we asked Liu Quxing where you were and found out you were seriously injured. Then Bai Li said we weren’t going out anymore and decided to stay and see if we could help.”
Bai Li turned to Chen Ji, puzzled. “Chen Ji, who hurt you? The criminals are getting too bold, daring to commit crimes within Luocheng… I thought Luocheng was peaceful.”
She Dengke muttered, “Princess, Luocheng isn’t peaceful at night, especially in the West Market. That’s where the human traffickers hang out. They’re vicious. You shouldn’t go there.”
Bai Li frowned. “When my father returns, I’ll definitely tell him about this. We must make Luocheng safe and clean!”
The prince smiled at everyone. “My sister here has always had a strong sense of justice. Since she was little, she couldn’t stand us doing anything wrong. If we stole two watermelons, she’d lecture us for a whole day, making us go back and leave twenty copper coins.”
Bai Li rolled her eyes. “They worked hard for months to grow those watermelons, and you think it’s okay to steal them? Enough of this nonsense. Chen Ji, do you remember what the person who hurt you looked like or where they are? I’ll have General Wang arrest them!”
Liang Mao’er quickly added, “No need for General Wang. My brother can handle it. He’ll chop them down with one swing!”
Chen Ji lay on the bed, shaking his head with a smile. “Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Princess. The person who hurt me has already been brought to justice.”
Bai Li nodded. “That’s good.”
At that moment, the small apprentice dormitory was packed with people, making it feel unusually crowded.
Everyone was talking at once, creating a chaotic atmosphere.
Yet, the backyard of the Taiping Medical Hall had never seen so many people gathered, and never had so many people cared about Chen Ji.
The noisy environment actually gave him a sense of… warmth.
As they chatted, Old Man Yao entered the room with a dark expression, his hands clasped behind his back.
Seeing the crowded room, he immediately shooed everyone out. “Everyone, go do what you need to do. Prince and Princess, you shouldn’t linger here either. Go back to the palace. Chen Ji needs rest.”
The prince, who had been eager to take Bai Li away, immediately stood up to leave. “Old Man Yao is right. We’ll head back now… Chen Ji, we’ll come see you tomorrow morning!”
Chen Ji smiled and replied, “Thank you, Prince and Princess.”
Old Man Yao glanced at him, then turned to the others in the room. “Liang Gou’er, Liang Mao’er, you two wait in the courtyard. I need to talk to Chen Ji. Liu Quxing, you go help in the kitchen. Don’t come in unless I call you.”
……
……
Once the room was empty, Old Man Yao’s expression turned stern, and Chen Ji felt too guilty to speak.
The two remained silent, the flame of the oil lamp flickering slightly.
After a long while, Old Man Yao finally spoke in a low voice. “Who was the person in the fabric shop? If you wanted to kill him, why did you let him go?”
Chen Ji’s heart tightened.
His master even knew about that!
Old Man Yao said meaningfully, “Still planning to hide it? Why don’t you ask if Jin Zhu has caught him yet?”
Chen Ji immediately became honest and looked up. “Master, how is he now?”
Old Man Yao stood by the bed, his hands behind his back, and sneered. “Early this morning, the secret agency found new witnesses and started searching this area. It was only a matter of hours before they reached the fabric shop. While the guy in the shop was unconscious, I stripped him of his blood-stained clothes and tossed them into an alley outside the West Market. The spies stationed there found the clothes, and now they’ve surrounded the West Market, searching house by house.”
So it was Old Man Yao who had diverted the secret agency’s attention!
This old man always claimed that there was no need for any master-disciple bond between them, but in the end, he had still stepped in to help.
But Chen Ji found it strange.
Even though they were master and disciple, and even though Old Man Yao was stern on the outside but kind on the inside, their relationship wasn’t strong enough for him to risk going against the secret agency for Chen Ji’s sake.
He felt there was something more to this, some hidden reason.
Seeing Chen Ji’s silence, Old Man Yao sneered. “The scene you set up fooled Jin Zhu, but it didn’t fool me. The crow saw you nearly lose your life and rushed back to call me to save you. You should really thank it. If it weren’t for the crow, you’d be a corpse in the inner prison right now. Still not planning to talk? I’ve divined that this is a dire omen for you.”
Chen Ji sighed inwardly and finally decided to confess his secret. “Master, I’m not only working for the Ning Dynasty’s secret agency, but also for the Jing Dynasty’s military intelligence agency.”
Old Man Yao raised an eyebrow. “I know that. Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Huh?” Chen Ji was stunned. “You know about that too?”
Old Man Yao scoffed. “You think you’ve been so discreet? Should I repeat the conversation you had with Consort Yun?”
Chen Ji was completely dumbfounded.
He couldn’t figure out how his master knew about that.
There hadn’t been any crows around at the time…
Wait.
The persimmon tree in Feiyuan Garden… When he had spoken with Consort Yun, there were no people in the courtyard, but there had been magpies pecking at the persimmons on the tree, and magpies had been flying in and out of the garden.
If the crow could communicate with all cats, then it could also communicate with all birds.
Did magpies have intelligence? Of course they did.
Magpies were among the top five most intelligent bird species.
They could remember thousands of food storage locations and even categorize their food.
Their intelligence surpassed that of many mammals.
Seeing Chen Ji’s expression, Old Man Yao sneered. “How many years have I been practicing the path of the Mountain Lord? How long have you been at it?”
“Then why didn’t you teach me earlier?”
Old Man Yao said with a pained expression, “Did you give me time to teach you? It’s only been a short while since I led you to obtain the dragon’s aura, and you’ve already caused so much trouble!”
Chen Ji hesitated for a moment. “But as a citizen of the Ning Dynasty, aren’t you angry that I’m working for the Jing Dynasty’s military intelligence agency?”
Old Man Yao shook his head. “I don’t want to explain this. You’ll understand in time. First, tell me about the person in the fabric shop.”
Seeing that his master didn’t seem to care about his double-agent status, Chen Ji decided to come clean. “The person in the fabric shop is named Wu Hongbiao. He was sent by my uncle from the Jing Dynasty to teach me about espionage and act as my partner. My uncle is a high-ranking official in the Jing Dynasty, but he recently lost a political struggle. His opponent, Lu Guanwu, is secretly eliminating his allies, and Wu Hongbiao is on that list. He came to the fabric shop to warn me about the danger.”
Old Man Yao fell into deep thought.
Chen Ji asked, “Master, what should I do now?”
Old Man Yao said irritably, “Why are you asking me? You’re the one who caused this mess. How long do you expect me to clean up after you?”
“Is Wu Hongbiao still alive?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s freezing outside. After you stripped him of his blood-stained clothes, did you give him something else to wear?”
“No, that’s not my concern.”
“Did you at least give him something to eat…”
“None of my business.”
Chen Ji suddenly sat up from the bed. “This is bad!”
Poor Wu Hongbiao!
Old Man Yao really only cared about keeping himself alive and didn’t give a thought to anyone else.
But then Old Man Yao sneered. “Shouldn’t you be thanking me? If he dies like this, you can finally put aside your soft-heartedness. Don’t worry, if he dies, it’s not your fault. It’s mine.”
So, Old Man Yao wanted to let Wu Hongbiao die.
Chen Ji said seriously, “Master, this isn’t soft-heartedness.”
With that, he struggled to get up and head out, but he quickly calmed down and sat back on the bed. “No, I have to wait until everyone is asleep.”
Old Man Yao snorted and left the room. “At least you’re not completely foolish… I advise you to stay away from that Wu Hongbiao. I’ve read his palm, and his life line is short and stubby. It looks quite cute, but getting involved with him won’t lead to anything good.”
Chen Ji: “…”
Master, you stripped someone’s clothes and even read their palm?
……
……
Late at night, the apprentice dormitory was filled with the sound of snoring.
Chen Ji quietly got up, wincing in pain as he put on his clothes.
Every movement tugged at his wounds, sending waves of pain through his body, but he didn’t dare make a sound.
Chen Ji limped out of the room, careful not to make any noise.
In the courtyard, the crow was perched on a branch of the apricot tree, its eyes closed as if it had become one with the tree.
When it saw Chen Ji, it opened its eyes and stared at him silently.
Under the moonlight, the silver light reflected off its feathers, creating a shimmering, almost divine aura.
Chen Ji said solemnly, “Uncle Crow, thank you.”
The old man had said the crow had been practicing for fifty-three years, so calling it “Uncle Crow” wasn’t out of line.
But it was the first time the crow had been addressed this way, and it looked at Chen Ji with curiosity.
Chen Ji smiled softly. “Master said if it weren’t for you, I would have died yesterday. I need to go out now. If you notice anything unusual, please let me know. I’ll be in the fabric shop next door.”
The crow was silent for a moment, then flapped its wings, signaling for Chen Ji to go ahead.
Chen Ji took a set of clothes from the wardrobe, grabbed four coarse grain cakes from the kitchen, filled a bamboo tube with water, and stuffed some snake bed seeds into his pocket before leaving the medical hall.
His injuries were severe, and he could only lean against the wall, moving slowly through the shadows between the buildings.
After just a hundred meters, Chen Ji was drenched in sweat, as if he had run five kilometers.
The wound on his thigh reopened, and blood soaked through his pants.
Gritting his teeth, he climbed over the wall into the backyard of the fabric shop, where Wu Yun was hiding in the shadows, guarding the main door.
When Wu Yun saw Chen Ji’s condition, it immediately meowed, “What happened? Who hurt you?!”
Chen Ji leaned against the wall, panting, and said with a bitter smile, “Let’s not talk about that now. Is Wu Hongbiao still inside?”
Wu Yun replied, “He’s still there. He’s been unconscious most of the time, but when he wakes up, he doesn’t try to escape. It seems like he’s been waiting for you.”
Chen Ji fell silent.
For a moment, he wished Wu Hongbiao had been faking it earlier.
That way, he could have killed him without any guilt, eliminating the threat once and for all.
“Did he eat anything today?” Chen Ji asked curiously.
Wu Yun said, “While he was unconscious, I caught a few mice and left them near him. He’s not picky. When he woke up, he used a knife to skin them and ate the meat from their legs and backs.”
Chen Ji glanced into the room.
The floor was covered in blood, and three skinned mouse carcasses were lying to the side.
“How did he drink water?”
Wu Yun explained, “When he got thirsty, he went to the courtyard and drank from the puddles on the ground.”
Chen Ji knew Wu Hongbiao wanted to live.
His will to survive was stronger than most, which was why he had managed to stay alive despite being hunted.
“Wu Yun, has he seen you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Chen Ji walked into the room.
Wu Hongbiao, who had been asleep, suddenly opened his eyes.
When he saw it was Chen Ji, he relaxed and said with a bitter smile, “I thought something had happened to you… But you don’t look much better than me.”
Chen Ji tossed the food, medicine, and clothes to Wu Hongbiao and got straight to the point. “Which Si Cao wants to kill you?”
“Which one?” Wu Hongbiao shivered from the cold and quickly put on the clothes. “There’s only one Si Cao.”
Chen Ji asked, “Is he the one with the green-faced, fanged mask, skilled with a blade, and wearing clothes with patches on the elbows?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
Chen Ji had already been eighty percent sure in his heart.
The name “Si Cao” wasn’t just one person.
The manager of the Hundred Deer Pavilion was one, and the one with the green-faced mask was another.
It seemed the one who wanted to kill him and Wu Hongbiao was the blade-wielding one…
“How long have you worked with this Si Cao?” Chen Ji asked.
Wu Hongbiao struggled to sit up, leaning against the wall as he bit into the coarse