In the early morning, in the narrow alleys of Luo City, a black cat named Wuyun moved gracefully through the lanes, calm and unhurried, exuding the demeanor of a seasoned general.
Behind it, only the six most agile tabby cats followed.
As they passed, a guard dog rushed out, barking fiercely.
However, one of the tabby cats merely glanced at the dog, and it immediately whimpered and retreated back into its home.
A moment later, another tabby cat came running back, meowing: "Not found!"
Wuyun meowed in response: "Keep searching, report back!"
The tabby cat turned and dashed away.
Not long after, another scout cat returned: "Not found!"
Wuyun: "Keep searching, report back!"
It had sent out six tabby cats, each taking a different path to track down the person Chen Ji had mentioned.
Wuyun refused to believe they couldn’t find him.
Just then, another tabby cat returned: "Found!"
Wuyun shot out like an arrow, its black figure flowing like a shadow, smooth yet fierce.
Meanwhile, Si Cao had reached Changning Street, his short knife now hidden in his sleeve.
As he walked among the crowd, he looked like an ordinary tenant farmer, nothing out of the ordinary.
The streets of Luo City were gradually filling with people.
Households carried out their chamber pots, dumping the night's waste into the public toilets built by the government along the streets.
Workers gathered around the toilets, scooping up the waste as residents poured it in.
In this era, the collection of waste had become a massive industry.
Merchants mixed the waste with hard soil to form fertilizer, which they then sold to farmers.
Some had even amassed great fortunes from this business, and the waste collectors had earned a unique nickname: "Qing Jiao Tou" (Tilted Feet Heads).
Si Cao suddenly stopped.
He tilted his head slightly, his sharp eyes beneath his bamboo hat scanning every passerby like a blade.
Yet, after searching for a while, he found nothing unusual.
Strange.
Si Cao felt an inexplicable sense of danger, as if a needle were pressing against his forehead, causing a tingling sensation.
He always felt this way when being watched, but this time, he couldn’t spot the watcher.
As he scrutinized his surroundings, a tabby cat sauntered past his feet.
Si Cao glanced at it briefly before shifting his gaze elsewhere, not giving it much thought.
Who was following him? The Secret Intelligence Bureau? Or perhaps the Yuan shopkeeper? Or maybe the Liu family?
Thinking this, Si Cao quickened his pace.
He ducked into a dead-end alley and, with a light leap, scaled the wall.
Crouching behind a rooftop, he cautiously peeked out, watching the alley to see if anyone would follow.
But after waiting for a quarter of an hour, no one appeared.
The only activity on the rooftops was a black cat playfully wrestling with a tabby cat in the distance.
Nothing seemed amiss.
Si Cao let out a soft sigh.
It seemed he had been too tense lately, overthinking things.
...
In a deserted alley, Chen Ji leaned against a gray wall, catching his breath.
He wasn’t sure if Wuyun could catch up to Si Cao, but he had to try.
Once, Chen Ji had no allegiance between the Ning Dynasty’s Secret Intelligence Bureau and the Jing Dynasty’s Military Intelligence Bureau.
He worked for whoever paid him.
But living on the edge every day wasn’t sustainable...
That moment on the drum tower, watching the sunrise with his Ning Dynasty friends, Chen Ji suddenly wanted a fresh start.
However, his identity as a spy for the Military Intelligence Bureau was like a chasm blocking his path to a new beginning.
To start anew, he had to end his old identity.
Now, only four people knew about his spy identity: his uncle, two Si Cao officials, and the bureau chief.
His uncle, a legendary figure, had already retired from power and could no longer control the Military Intelligence Bureau, nor could he control Chen Ji.
If his uncle were completely defeated by political rivals, it would be the best outcome—they would remain separated by two dynasties, never to meet again.
As for the other three...
If Chen Ji could eliminate them, he could gradually fade from the Jing Dynasty’s Military Intelligence Bureau’s radar.
The prince had once asked him on the drum tower what he wanted to do in the future.
At the time, Chen Ji didn’t know, only saying he wanted to survive.
Now, he knew what he wanted: to break free from the Jing Dynasty’s Military Intelligence Bureau.
Chen Ji leaned against the wall, slowly straightening up.
His wound, pressed by the Yuan shopkeeper earlier, had reopened during his hurried journey.
Only now, lifting his clothes, did he realize his pants were soaked with blood.
But there was no time to worry about that.
He patted the dust off his clothes and limped toward the medical clinic.
Chen Ji pulled his clothes over the bloodstains on his pants, but as soon as he stepped out of the alley, he retreated back in.
At that moment, Jin Zhu stood at the entrance of the Taiping Medical Clinic, talking through the door.
Chen Ji frowned.
Jin Zhu was blocking his way back.
If Bai Li opened the door and let him in, only to find Chen Ji missing, suspicions would surely arise.
"Bai Li, please buy me some time," Chen Ji thought anxiously as he struggled to climb onto the roof.
He wasn’t even sure if Bai Li would help him stall, as he hadn’t explained the situation to her.
...
At the entrance of the Taiping Medical Clinic.
"Are you Chen Ji’s friend?" Bai Li, the princess, asked through the door, puzzled.
"Yes," Jin Zhu replied with a smile.
"Could you open the door? I’ve brought some things to help him recover."
Bai Li almost blurted out that Chen Ji had gone out and that Jin Zhu should come back later.
But then she remembered Chen Ji sneaking out earlier and realized she couldn’t say that.
After a moment’s thought, she said, "Chen Ji’s injuries are quite severe. He’s still asleep. Please wait a moment, I’ll go wake him."
Jin Zhu muttered outside, "The princess really doesn’t understand social etiquette. Even if you’re going to wake him, at least let me in to wait. What’s with keeping the door closed... Huh?"
He tugged at the door, then pushed it, only to find it bolted shut from the inside.
Jin Zhu grew more suspicious.
While medical clinics didn’t need to open as early as breakfast stalls, shouldn’t someone be fetching water in the morning? Why was the door bolted? What were they doing inside?
With this in mind, Jin Zhu slowly backed away to Anxi Street, scanning the rooftops.
Just as he was about to climb up and sneak in, Bai Li’s voice came from inside the clinic: "Chen Ji is still asleep, but you can come in and wait. I’ll open the door for you."
Hearing this, Jin Zhu abandoned his plan to sneak in and waited patiently.
But after waiting for a while, the door still didn’t open.
Jin Zhu called out, "Why isn’t the door opening yet?"
Bai Li’s voice came hurriedly from inside, "The bolt seems to be stuck. I can’t pull it out."
The next moment, Jin Zhu yanked the door with force, and the bolt snapped with a crack.
The princess inside jumped back in fright, while Jin Zhu barged in with a smile.
"The bolt must have been rotten. I’ll have a new one made this afternoon, guaranteed to work."
The princess panicked, grabbing his arm.
"Hey, you can’t just barge into someone’s home like this! How rude! Are you the one who hurt Chen Ji? Don’t you dare hurt him again!"
But the princess’s strength was no match for Jin Zhu, who dragged her along the floor as he moved forward.
The princess shouted, "Brother! Doctor Yao! Brother Dog! Someone’s breaking into the clinic!"
"What’s going on?" The prince was the first to rush over, blocking Jin Zhu’s path and grabbing his clothes.
But Jin Zhu slipped away effortlessly, shaking off both the prince and the princess, who collided with Liang Mao’er.
Jin Zhu pushed Liang Mao’er but couldn’t move him.
Instead, Liang Mao’er, lips pursed, pushed Jin Zhu back to the main hall entrance.
"Hey," Jin Zhu muttered, disbelieving, and tried to wrestle Liang Mao’er to the ground using grappling techniques.
But strangely, Liang Mao’er’s stance was even steadier than his, and Jin Zhu couldn’t budge him.
"Huh?" Jin Zhu looked at Liang Mao’er in surprise.
"Natural strength?!"
Liang Mao’er grabbed Jin Zhu’s clothes and said gruffly, "Why are you breaking into the clinic?"
Realizing he couldn’t win by force, Jin Zhu slipped out of his outer robe like a snake shedding its skin and darted under Liang Mao’er’s arm, rushing into the apprentice dormitory.
He paused.
In the dimly lit room, Chen Ji lay wrapped in a blanket on the apprentice bed, fast asleep—completely different from what Jin Zhu had expected.
The prince, princess, She Dengke, Liu Quxing, and others rushed into the dormitory, trying to drag Jin Zhu out.
But Jin Zhu’s feet seemed nailed to the floor, unmovable no matter how hard they pulled.
The princess turned to Liang Gou’er.
"Brother Dog, help!"
But Liang Gou’er was sweeping the floor, pretending not to hear.
Seeing this, Liang Mao’er grabbed Jin Zhu’s arm and yanked with all his might, lifting Jin Zhu off the ground.
Jin Zhu, now airborne, exclaimed, "What the hell?!"
Liang Mao’er carried Jin Zhu into the courtyard, where the group surrounded him, blocking the kitchen entrance.
Bai Li stood outside, hands on her hips, her delicate willow-leaf brows furrowed as she scolded in a low voice, "You’re not really Chen Ji’s friend, are you? Who barges into a friend’s house like this?"
Jin Zhu quickly explained with a smile, "I was just worried about Chen Ji. You took so long to open the door, I thought something might have happened inside."
"Even if the sky were falling, you can’t do that!"
Old Man Yao stood by the apricot tree, hands behind his back, and said slowly, "Master Jin Zhu, what brings you here today?"
Jin Zhu held up the pastries and fruit he’d brought.
"Earlier, while our Secret Intelligence Bureau was capturing a Jing Dynasty spy, the spy escaped and accidentally injured Chen Ji, who happened to be passing by. In the end, he was hurt because of our negligence, so I felt bad and came to check on him."
The prince and princess were stunned.
This fat man was from the Secret Intelligence Bureau? No wonder Liang Gou’er hadn’t intervened earlier!
They glanced at Liang Gou’er, who was still sweeping with his bamboo broom, acting as if nothing had happened.
Bai Li turned to Jin Zhu and said, "Master Jin Zhu, you’ve seen him, and you’ve delivered your gifts. Please leave now. In the future, do your job properly and don’t let spies escape and hurt people again... Where is the spy who hurt Chen Ji now?"
Jin Zhu smiled.
"In custody? No, no. Chen Ji killed him."
The prince and princess gasped, instinctively looking toward the apprentice dormitory.
Until now, they hadn’t associated Chen Ji with killing.
Bai Li recalled Chen Ji sneaking out earlier, her expression growing complex.
This medical apprentice wasn’t as simple as she had thought...
As everyone stood in stunned silence, Jin Zhu slipped through the crowd like an eel.
He entered the apprentice dormitory and yanked off the blanket covering Chen Ji, revealing half of his body.
Chen Ji, wearing a sleeping robe, slowly opened his eyes.
"Master Jin Zhu, what brings you here?"
Jin Zhu’s furrowed brow relaxed.
Before the crowd could surround him again, he quickly clasped his hands and said with a smile, "I won’t disturb you any longer today. I’ll come back to visit when Chen Ji is feeling better."
With that, he slipped away.
Chen Ji sat up on the bed, breathing heavily.
Jin Zhu was a tough opponent, his suspicious nature making him the perfect fit for the Secret Intelligence Bureau.
But dealing with such a person meant that even the slightest mistake could lead to disaster.
The others wanted to come in and ask Chen Ji what had happened, but Bai Li stood at the door and said softly, "You all go ahead. I need to talk to him."
After everyone left, Bai Li asked, "Where did you go earlier?"
Chen Ji was silent for a moment.
"Princess, I don’t want to lie to you. If you’re willing to trust me, don’t ask."
"Then tell me this: were you sent to be with me and my brother by someone?"
"No, and I won’t do anything to harm you."
"Alright, I won’t ask again. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about what just happened."
With that, she turned and left, calling to the prince, "Brother, let’s go back to the palace."
The prince was puzzled.
"Leaving so soon? I wanted to stay for lunch."
Chen Ji sat on the bed, listening to the sound of them climbing over the wall to leave, silent.
The dormitory window shifted slightly, and Wuyun’s head squeezed through the gap, slipping in like liquid.
"I found the person you were looking for. He’s working as a coachman for the Liu family."
(End of Chapter)