The commotion caused by the arrival of the golden pig at the Taiping Medical Hall left everyone silent and withdrawn.
In the apprentice dormitory, a man and a cat sat together.
Dark Cloud, the cat, spoke in a low voice about his findings: "We followed him all the way south. This person is very alert. At the slightest hint of something amiss, he would immediately stop and observe his surroundings, then set up a trap to lure anyone following him."
"After going back and forth four times, he finally felt at ease. He drove a carriage out of the woods near the Tuoluo Temple in the south and waited at the temple gate. Not long after, I saw Liu Mingxian come out of the temple and board the carriage..."
Chen Ji was shocked: "He was Liu Mingxian's coachman? The one who took Master from the medical hall to see Old Master Liu was also him..."
After a moment of thought, he said, "I guess Liu Mingxian didn't know that there was someone from the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Bureau hiding by his side. Otherwise, why would the Military Intelligence Bureau need me to liaise with Yun Fei?"
This coachman, Si Cao, was in a perfect position.
Not only could he keep tabs on Liu Mingxian's movements at any time, but he could also eavesdrop on Liu Mingxian's conversations.
All of Liu's coachmen lived together.
If the other coachmen weren't vigilant, this Si Cao could even find out where the other members of the Liu family went, what they did, and who they met.
But why would such a clever and cautious Si Cao risk exposure by coming to the Taiping Medical Hall this morning...
Was he here to kill me?
Chen Ji recalled the conversation between the two Si Cao.
Manager Yuan had asked, "What are you doing here?"
The coachman Si Cao replied, "And what are you doing here?"
Then Manager Yuan said, "Now that Luocheng is under my control, you need to know your place."
Chen Ji muttered to himself, "'You need to know your place.' In what context would someone say that?"
Dark Cloud raised a paw: "I know this! The other day, after I took in a leader of a tabby cat group, it still wouldn't obey. So I beat it up again and said, 'Know your place!'"
Chen Ji was stunned, a spark of realization flashing in his mind: "So that's it. The power in the Luocheng Military Intelligence Bureau has changed hands. It used to be under the control of that coachman Si Cao, but now it's under the new Manager Yuan. The coachman Si Cao has been sidelined."
With the shift in power within the Military Intelligence Bureau, his uncle had been ousted, and authority had slipped away.
The coachman Si Cao had mentioned several times that his uncle had asked him to take care of Chen Ji, so he must have been close to his uncle.
Naturally, he had become a target of exclusion as well.
Chen Ji wondered, "But why did he come to the Taiping Medical Hall this morning? To kill me?"
Dark Cloud's expression turned serious: "He wants to kill you?!"
"Not necessarily," Chen Ji shook his head.
Earlier, Wu Hongbiao had said that this coachman Si Cao wanted to kill them to prove his loyalty, but Chen Ji had always had a doubt:
The coachman Si Cao looked extremely fierce, but...
When the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Bureau suspected Chen Ji of betraying Zhou Chengyi, no matter how much his subordinates accused him, the coachman Si Cao had never tried to kill him.
It was true that he had interrogated Chen Ji by hanging him upside down, but after the interrogation, Chen Ji didn't even have a scratch on him.
Chen Ji didn't care what others said; he only cared about what they did.
Based on these two points, the coachman Si Cao had never actually intended to kill him.
Even if the coachman Si Cao had changed his mind and wanted to kill Chen Ji to prove his loyalty, the timing was off.
Last night, Chen Ji had been in the east market with Liu Mingxian.
The coachman Si Cao must have been there too and had noticed Chen Ji.
If he had wanted to kill Chen Ji, there were plenty of opportunities last night.
Why wait until this morning to come to the medical hall?
So, he wasn't here to kill Chen Ji.
This left Chen Ji even more puzzled: "Then why did he come to the medical hall this morning? What could make such a cautious person risk exposure by sneaking into the medical hall while his employer was out praying? Was there some change?"
Wait, it was because Manager Yuan had come.
The coachman Si Cao wasn't here to kill Chen Ji; he was here to protect him!
Chen Ji laughed at his own deduction: "Why would he protect me... But Wu Hongbiao either got things wrong or was lying. I need to figure this out. Dark Cloud, did Wu Hongbiao go out yesterday?"
Dark Cloud replied, "No, you didn't bring him food yesterday, so I went back to the medical hall and asked Uncle Crow for two pieces of mixed grain cake. I left them at his door while he was asleep. Don't worry, he didn't notice me."
"Drinking really messes things up..."
At that moment, a voice came from outside the window: "Brother, why didn't you step in earlier?"
Liang Gou'er, who was sweeping with a bamboo broom, lowered his head and said, "I told you I have three things I won't help with, remember? I won't help eunuchs, and I won't help those who oppose eunuchs."
"But we're friends," Liang Mao'er said, his face red with frustration.
"We just watched the sunrise together this morning at the drum tower."
Liang Gou'er sneered, "Lots of people have watched the sunset with me. Should I help all of them? Don't take things said while drinking seriously. That's the rule of the drinking table!"
Liang Mao'er angrily snatched the broom from him: "Why have you become like this? You weren't like this before!"
Liang Gou'er muttered, "That was then, this is now."
Inside the room, Dark Cloud looked at Chen Ji: "What just happened?"
Chen Ji was silent for a moment before asking, "Dark Cloud, if your friend kept a lot of things from you, would you be angry?"
Dark Cloud thought for a long time: "I don't know. You're my first friend, my only friend. I don't have experience with this... But I guess I would be angry."
Chen Ji sighed inwardly.
Earlier, Princess Baili had stormed off in anger, perhaps because she felt that since they had all been scolded together, drunk together, and watched the sunrise together, she had already considered everyone friends in her heart.
So why were there still people unwilling to help when a friend was in trouble? Why were there still so many secrets?
But Chen Ji had no choice.
Some secrets he could only keep buried in his heart.
Dark Cloud patted Chen Ji's hand: "I'm off. There's a fight I didn't finish earlier. My underlings are waiting for me."
Chen Ji: "... Alright, try not to get blood on you."
......
After Dark Cloud left, Chen Ji slowly closed his eyes and pondered the clues he had just gathered.
If the coachman Si Cao really hadn't intended to kill him, then was Wu Hongbiao lying? What role did the coachman Si Cao play in all this? He would have to wait until tonight to test the waters.
Chen Ji gathered the sixteen furnace fires and let himself drift through the black sea of clouds, landing on a green mountain.
Once, Chen Ji had hated this dream.
Night after night, the sounds of battle had haunted him like a nightmare, making it impossible to wake up or sleep soundly.
But now he liked it here.
Not only were there exquisite combat techniques to learn, but here he didn't have to think about complicated relationships.
No Military Intelligence Bureau, no Secret Spy Bureau, no parents, no uncle.
Here, Chen Ji only needed to fight again and again, learning one technique after another.
He didn't have to think about anything else.
He turned and saw Xuan Yuan, clad in a black royal robe, leaning on a royal banner as he sat on the edge of a cliff, gazing into the distance.
Beyond the cliff, the battlefield was frozen in time.
The clouds rolled and drifted in the sky, and even Chen Ji's heart felt at peace.
He silently sat down beside Xuan Yuan: "All these years, have you been watching all this alone?"
Xuan Yuan ignored him.
Chen Ji asked again, "Why are you in my dream?"
Xuan Yuan glanced at him: "In your dream... you think you're worthy? This is my world."
Chen Ji: "..."
So this wasn't a dream, but a real place?
Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Have you heard of the Forty-Nine Heavens?"
Xuan Yuan was puzzled: "What place is that? I've never been there."
Now Chen Ji was confused.
It was one thing for the people around him not to know about the Forty-Nine Heavens, but even Xuan Yuan, a "celestial being," didn't know about it? Was Li Qingniao talking nonsense?
"Northern Jambu Continent?"
"Never heard of it."
"Then have you heard of someone named Li Qingniao?" Chen Ji asked.
"Never heard of him," Xuan Yuan shook his head.
"I've seen 'Qingniao,' but I've never heard of anyone by that name... What nonsense are you spouting?"
Chen Ji was in chaos.
Did no one know about the existence of the Forty-Nine Heavens?
Xuan Yuan stood up: "Don't waste time. Feng Huai, give him a sword and train him well."
A swordsman named Feng Huai nodded: "As you command."
"Wait, wait," Chen Ji raised his hand.
"But someone told me I shouldn't practice swordsmanship."
Xuan Yuan looked as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world: "Did you come here just to tell me jokes? You shouldn't practice swordsmanship? Someone told you you shouldn't practice swordsmanship?! Hahahaha."
Xuan Yuan's laughter boomed like a bell, scattering the clouds.
Chen Ji frowned: "Is it that funny?"
Xuan Yuan pointed at him from a distance, puzzled: "You used to use a sword!"
Chen Ji: "... Really?"
"The sword is the gentleman of weapons, the sword is the courage of weapons. The sword is the most suitable for you. If you don't practice swordsmanship, what will you practice?!"
"Maybe the sword was suitable for the old me, but now I want to practice the sword. The person who taught me said my current personality isn't suitable for the sword, that it would ruin my foundation."
"Your current personality... He's not entirely wrong," Xuan Yuan sneered.
"But with your level of foundation, what's there to ruin? After you finish practicing the sword, you'll need to practice the axe, spear, staff, hammer... You need to practice them all. If you don't master them all, how will you know what techniques your enemies will use against you? Once you've mastered them all, you'll understand that all paths lead to the same destination."
Liang Gou'er said not to practice, Xuan Yuan said to practice.
Who should he listen to?
Chen Ji chose to listen to Xuan Yuan, because Xuan Yuan's level seemed much higher than Liang Gou'er's...
He looked at Xuan Yuan: "If... I mean, if I really am the person you knew back then, what kind of sword did I use?"
Xuan Yuan stared at Chen Ji for a long time, then suddenly reached into the void and pulled out a sword as tall as a person: "Try this one."
The hilt was about two-thirds the length, the blade about one-third.
The hilt had golden dragon patterns, and the blade was as white as snow.
Xuan Yuan tossed it over, and Chen Ji nearly fell over from the weight of the sword as he caught it.
Chen Ji swung the large sword a few times, then shook his head: "No, I can't get used to it."
Xuan Yuan pulled another sword, a two-foot waist sword, from the void and tossed it to Chen Ji: "Try this one."
The blade was crimson, as if it had just been pulled from molten lava.
Chen Ji swung it a few times: "No, I can't get used to this one either. It feels awkward."
This awkwardness was like someone who was used to using a certain pen suddenly switching to another.
They could still use it and were familiar with it, but they wanted to switch back to the old one.
Xuan Yuan glanced at him and summoned dozens of swords from the void, floating in mid-air: "Choose. Pick one you like."
Chen Ji walked up to each sword, taking them down one by one and trying them out.
There were daggers, crescent moon swords, straight swords, scimitars.
He carefully and meticulously compared the differences between each sword.
Time passed minute by minute, but Xuan Yuan didn't rush him.
This time, Xuan Yuan was unusually patient.
Finally, Chen Ji stopped in front of a bright, narrow longsword.
The blade was three feet three inches, the hilt two feet two inches.
When propped on the ground, the hilt reached up to his collarbone.
Chen Ji held the sword in his hand and asked curiously, "What's the name of this sword?"
"You don't recognize it?"
"Should I?"
"Of course you should. It's your sword," Xuan Yuan said calmly.
"It's called 'The Whale.'"
"Did I name it?"
"No, I did."
Chen Ji was silent.
So Xuan Yuan had been patiently waiting to see if he would choose this one.
And among the fifty or so swords floating in the air on this mountain peak, he hadn't chosen a longer one or a shorter one, but this one.
Chen Ji held "The Whale," feeling an inexplicable familiarity, as if he had found a long-lost friend.
For a moment, he seriously wondered if he really was the person Xuan Yuan had spoken of, and that Xuan Yuan hadn't mistaken him for someone else.
This realization hit him suddenly.
Before this, although Chen Ji had apologized on behalf of "his past self" and tacitly accepted Xuan Yuan's assumptions, deep down he hadn't believed it.
He had only wanted to learn more techniques in this battlefield, to learn how to fight, to learn the ways of the sword.
But now...
Chen Ji looked up at Xuan Yuan: "Why do you have my sword? Did you kill me?"
Xuan Yuan was silent.
Chen Ji suddenly laughed: "Haha, why that expression? Even if you killed me, I'm alive again now! By the way, can you give me this sword? Since you said this is your world, this sword must be real, right?"
Xuan Yuan glanced at him: "If you can defeat Feng Huai within three days, I'll return the sword to you."
Chen Ji casually twirled the sword: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Xuan Yuan looked at Chen Ji and said seriously, "Don't think that just because you defeated a halberdier in one day, you're something special. The bronze halberd is used in battle formations to deal with charging warhorses. It has few variations and isn't very flexible, making it easy to exploit its weaknesses. The sword is different. Only by defeating Feng Huai will you prove you have what it takes to fight in a battle formation."
Chen Ji asked curiously, "I noticed that the halberdier and the swordsman you chose are dressed differently from the others. They're not ordinary soldiers, are they?"
Xuan Yuan glanced at him: "They're both elite warriors under my command, the best in the army, instructors in various weapons."
Chen Ji sighed.
So he was fighting against the best, using the weapons they were most skilled with: "I feel like... you really want to teach me all the skills of battle formation combat."
Xuan Yuan sneered: "Feng Huai, attack him."
(End of Chapter)