Night, the hour of Hai (9-11 PM).
Everyone in the medical hall had fallen into a deep sleep, except for a single beam of light still shining in the main hall.
The flame of the oil lamp flickered on the counter, casting only a small circle of light.
Chen Ji stood behind the mahogany counter, his sleeves rolled up, his hair tied up with a wooden hairpin.
He was fully focused, grinding pieces of charcoal into powder, then mixing it with the high-proof liquor he had bought earlier, spreading it out on the counter.
He pushed the oil lamp further away, quietly waiting for the alcohol, hydrogen compounds, and oxides to evaporate completely.
As he waited, he gently fanned himself with a small fan, occasionally glancing up at the rafters.
A small spider was slowly spinning its web on the rafters.
A moth had flown into the web and was struggling desperately.
The spider crawled toward the moth, unaware that a gecko was waiting nearby, ready to pounce.
Just then, a voice came from behind him: "Why does it smell so strongly of alcohol in here? Have you been drinking?"
Chen Ji turned around and saw Old Man Yao, who had appeared out of nowhere.
He smiled and said, "Master, you're still awake?"
Old Man Yao's face was expressionless.
"My disciple is about to leave for distant lands. How could I sleep?"
"Did you divine it?"
Old Man Yao sneered.
"You've been cooking for everyone and looking all sentimental. I didn't need to divine anything to figure it out. I don't just rely on divination; I also use my brain."
"Oh..."
Old Man Yao stood across from him, casually inspecting the charcoal powder on the counter.
"So, where are you planning to go?"
Chen Ji shook his head.
"I'm not leaving. This time, you guessed wrong."
Old Man Yao was taken aback.
He pulled out six copper coins from his sleeve and tossed them onto the counter, interpreting the hexagram as he spoke.
"Huh, it really doesn't show you leaving... Why aren't you leaving?"
Chen Ji smiled.
"The heavens create chaos, movement arises from danger, and life emerges from death. Isn't that the hexagram you divined for me? I'm not the type to run away."
"So you're suited for throwing your life away? The Southern Ning Dynasty's Secret Service is watching you, and the Northern Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Bureau wants you dead. What are you staying here for?"
Chen Ji didn't respond.
He just looked up at the spider and the gecko on the rafters again, curious to see if the gecko had eaten the spider yet.
Old Man Yao followed his gaze.
"So this time, are you the spider, the gecko, or the moth already caught in the spider's web?"
Chen Ji didn't answer.
Instead, he gathered the dried charcoal powder, weighed it on a copper scale, and then mixed it with sulfur, saltpeter, and sugar he had prepared earlier.
He poured the mixture into a bamboo tube, adding a few iron shavings.
At that moment, Wu Yun (Black Cloud), the cat, slipped in through the window.
In the tense atmosphere, it glanced at Old Man Yao, then at Chen Ji, and meowed, "Just as you guessed, the Golden Pig has already found clues from the Craftsmen's Bureau."
Chen Ji didn't look up.
He carefully sealed the bamboo tube, leaving a thin paper fuse filled with gunpowder.
Only then did Chen Ji place the bamboo tube on the counter and look up with a smile.
"Master, I'm not the moth, the spider, or the gecko."
He glanced at the oil lamp on the edge of the counter.
"I am the fire."
A fire that did not belong to this era.
Chen Ji took a piece of cloth, wrapped three bamboo tubes in it, tied it to his back, and beckoned to Wu Yun.
He turned to leave.
Old Man Yao watched him for a long time.
"How much 'Ice Flow' do you have left in your body? How many ginseng roots can you absorb?"
Chen Ji thought for a moment.
"Six."
Old Man Yao walked to the medicine cabinet and pulled open a drawer.
"Convert all the 'Ice Flow' before you go."
Chen Ji's eyes lit up.
So the ten ginseng roots his master had bought earlier were meant for him.
"Thank you, Master."
"One ginseng root costs thirty taels of silver, or three gold melon seeds."
Chen Ji's expression froze.
"I thought you were giving them to me."
Old Man Yao sneered.
"Giving them to you? Do you think I'm made of money?"
"Fine, I'll take five."
Chen Ji counted out twelve gold melon seeds from his sleeve and placed them on the counter, then fetched thirty taels of silver from the apprentice's quarters...
At this point, the savings he had worked so hard to accumulate were down to just sixty-three taels of silver.
"Master, I'm leaving," Chen Ji said, taking the five ginseng roots and converting them into transparent crystal beads, feeding them one by one to Wu Yun.
He slung his pack over his shoulder, walked into the backyard, climbed onto the roof, and disappeared into the night.
By the apricot tree, Old Man Yao watched the direction Chen Ji had gone, casually tossing six copper coins.
"Great misfortune."
A crow cawed.
Old Man Yao said impatiently, "He chose his own path, let him walk it... If you want to go, go take a look. I won't stop you."
...
...
On Zhenghe Street at night, a charcoal cart pulled by two oxen slowly made its way toward the East Market.
Winter was approaching, and charcoal had become a necessity.
For example, the capital distributed over 720,000 bundles of charcoal to its officials each year.
The imperial palace used red-basket charcoal, the nobility favored silver-thread charcoal from the Western Hills, wealthy households burned tung wood charcoal, while common folk used black charcoal.
Without charcoal, winter would be especially harsh.
This was the best time of year for charcoal merchants.
Charcoal was produced in the mountains, transported by water to the East Market of Luocheng, and then sold to households.
The streets were bustling with carts day and night.
The charcoal cart was different from ordinary ox carts.
It was enclosed on all sides but open at the top.
The charcoal vendor drove the cart, humming a tune, completely unaware that someone with a cat on his shoulder was waiting in the shadows for the cart to pass by.
As the cart passed the shadows, Chen Ji quickly took two steps and nimbly flipped into the cart without making a sound.
The vendor felt the cart shake slightly and looked back at the stone-paved road, thinking he had run over a small pebble.
Seeing that the wheels were fine, he continued humming his tune: "Standing on the steps past the first watch, fate brings us together. Call out 'a guest has arrived,' light the lamp and go upstairs. Late at night, the host must make do..."
Chen Ji recognized it as a risqué tune from Red Dress Lane...
These vendors spent their days earning money and their nights in brothels, either gambling or whoring, never saving a penny.
He smiled, holding Wu Yun close as he nestled in the dirty charcoal cart and closed his eyes, letting the cart carry him toward Red Dress Lane in the East Market.
The closer they got to the East Market, the calmer Chen Ji felt.
He touched the short knife in his sleeve once more, then slowly closed his eyes.
Returning to the battlefield in his dreams.
"Brother Feng Huai, what's the name of that move where you turn your body with the blade?"
"Xing Yuan."
"Brother Feng Huai, what's the name of that move where you press your blade against mine and force me to drop my weapon?"
"Spark."
"Brother Feng Huai, what's the name of that move where you strike the back of my blade? It made my wrist hurt, but it didn't seem to do much."
Feng Huai smiled shyly.
"That move is called 'Mistaken Gold.' It's supposed to break your blade in one strike. It didn't work because your blade is too good."
Every movement of Feng Huai's blade, every step he took, was like a work of art, flawless.
He was like a heavy hammer, pounding Chen Ji, the raw steel, into shape.
Chen Ji had died countless times, each death bringing him a new technique.
Chen Ji had never used a blade to fight anyone outside of his dreams, so he didn't know if his skills were up to par.
He could only keep practicing, slowly approaching Feng Huai's level, then surpassing it.
At first, Chen Ji would die twenty or thirty times in an hour.
Now, he only died three or four times in an hour.
At first, his movements were full of openings.
Now, both sides would exchange dozens of moves without finding any weaknesses in each other.
Those blade techniques seemed to have been carved into his bones tens of thousands of years ago, intricate and exquisite patterns that were slowly being awakened.
Chen Ji straightened up.
"Again."
On the boulder, Xuan Yuan sat cross-legged, still wearing his black royal robe, though the constellations embroidered in gold had changed, leaving only the Purple Forbidden Enclosure.
Xuan Yuan asked, "You seem to be in a hurry?"
Chen Ji replied, "I am."
Xuan Yuan was puzzled.
"Is someone trying to kill you out there?"
Chen Ji answered calmly, "No, it's that I want to kill someone."
Xuan Yuan laughed heartily.
"No wonder you're progressing faster today. This is the right mindset for practicing the blade! The blade is the courage of all weapons. Without the desire to kill, you can't master it! But I suggest you stop for now, rest a bit before continuing. Practicing while exhausted will only make you impatient and won't help."
Chen Ji thought for a moment, then decisively sat down on the ground.
"Brother Feng Huai, you should sit and rest too."
Feng Huai sheathed his blade and sat down, his posture as straight as a diligent student.
The three of them sat on the mountain, surrounded by flowing clouds, as if in a celestial realm, receiving enlightenment from an immortal.
Chen Ji sighed.
"Brother Feng Huai, your blade skills are amazing."
Feng Huai, wearing light armor, looked to be in his early twenties, handsome and somewhat shy.
No one would guess from his appearance that he was a master of the blade.
Hearing Chen Ji's praise, he smiled even more shyly.
"It's all thanks to your teaching back then. When we trained with you, we suffered a lot too."
Chen Ji was stunned. "... I taught you? Then why do I feel like you're so excited to cut me down?"
Feng Huai hesitated.
"Who wouldn't be excited?"
Chen Ji said calmly, "... Fair point. Be nicer to me when we're not practicing."
Feng Huai quickly agreed.
"Understood!"
Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Xuan Yuan, if I die tonight, can you return to the world through my body?"
Xuan Yuan stared at Chen Ji.
"Yes."
"Then if you do return, can you kill someone for me?"
Xuan Yuan sneered.
"Kill them yourself."
"Fine."
Chen Ji turned to Xuan Yuan, who was looking down at him from the boulder.
"Um... I want to discuss something. Can I borrow 'Whale' tonight?"
"No," Xuan Yuan shook his head.
"But I need to kill someone tonight, and without 'Whale,' the other blades aren't as suitable."
Xuan Yuan sneered.
"Do your enemies negotiate with you? Can everything in life be negotiated? I've told you, being clever is good, but there are always mountains you can't bypass. If you want 'Whale,' you'll have to defeat Feng Huai first."
"Understood."
Just then, Chen Ji heard Wu Yun meow softly in his ear.
He stood up, leaning on his blade, and looked at Xuan Yuan.
"I have a lot to do tonight. If all goes well, I'll see you tomorrow."
Xuan Yuan was silent for a moment.
"See you tomorrow."
Chen Ji opened his eyes in the cart.
The charcoal cart had come to a stop outside Red Dress Lane, and the driver was humming his risqué tune as he happily walked into the lane.
Chen Ji and Wu Yun quietly peeked out of the cart, only to be shocked to see a familiar carriage pull up beside them.
The next moment, the voice of the Crown Prince came from the carriage: "It would've been better to go through the medical hall. Chen Ji even set up a ladder for us... Now look, my robe got torn climbing out of the back garden!"
Princess Bai Li's voice followed immediately: "I just didn't want to go through the medical hall, okay?"
"Fine, fine..."
Chen Ji watched as the two of them got out of the carriage and walked into Red Dress Lane.
He wanted to stop them and warn them that it was dangerous here tonight, but how could he explain why he was here?
As the Crown Prince and Princess Bai Li disappeared into Red Dress Lane, Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, then reached into the cart and smeared some charcoal dust on his face.
"Come on, Wu Yun, let's climb onto the roof."
(End of Chapter)