Chapter 110 Hunter and Prey

A layer of white moonlight was sprinkled on the bluestone road, like a layer of gentle gauze.

The tense atmosphere was also blown away by the breeze.

Chen Ji sheathed the dagger. He looked at Princess Baili in front of him and asked softly, "How long have you been plotting to secretly help me?"

Bai Li picked at the purse on his waist a little embarrassedly: "One and a half days."

Chen Ji wondered, "Why didn't I notice you guys discussing these things?"

Bai Li explained: "You always come back during the day, looking tired, and go to the dormitory to sleep. We always discuss quietly in the yard while you sleep."

"Aren't you afraid that I'm going to gamble?"

"Don't be afraid, you are definitely not the gambler they say you are."

"Thank you."

Chen Ji could imagine this group of people sitting in a circle around the octagonal table, whispering to each other.

Naive and sincere.

Chen Ji glanced at Liang Gou'er and said, "By the way, how much money have you raised to help Brother Gou'er? We haven't received the dividends from the kiln factory yet, so everyone is broke, right?"

The prince laughed cheerfully and said, "Ten taels of silver. Bai Li and I really don't have much money. Liu Quxing paid for it. You didn't see that when Liu Quxing took out the silver ingot from the lining of his clothes, his face was distorted."

Chen Ji was speechless for a moment. He was silent for a long time before he asked in disbelief: "Liu Quxing?"

The prince laughed and said, "It was agreed that each person would pay two taels of silver. This is his first step to help out. When the kiln factory pays dividends, we will return the silver to him."

Bai Li asked: "Chen Ji, what difficulties did you encounter..."

She took a step forward, but Chen Ji took a step back: "Princess, I can't tell you. Maybe one day I will tell you everything, but not now. I'm leaving first, I have something very important to do tonight."

"But Brother Gou'er can help you."

"No need."

After saying that, Chen Ji retreated step by step, and finally turned around and walked away with big strides, disappearing at the end of the long street.

Liang Gou'er held a long knife in his arms and leaned against the wall. He looked at Chen Ji's back, wondering what he was thinking.

At this time, Bai Li mustered up his courage and wanted to continue to follow, but Liang Gou'er stopped him with his scabbard against his collarbone: "Princess, don't follow. You'd better not get involved in his affairs."

Bai Li looked at Liang Gou'er in surprise: "Why?"

Liang Gou'er smiled and said, "If a normal person encounters difficulties, how can he refuse my help? Unless the difficulties he encounters come from the eunuch party. Chen Ji is either a member of the eunuch party or an enemy of the eunuch party. He knows very well that I will not help either of these two types of people."

"But……"

Liang Gou'er suddenly said, "I'm afraid the prince and the princess don't know what kind of person is hiding around them."

The prince was puzzled: "What do you mean?"

Liang Gou'er held the long knife in his arms and glanced at the two of them: "This kid has definitely killed someone, and he has killed more than one person. The look in a person's eyes is completely different if he has killed someone... Do you know about this?"

The prince and Bai Li looked at each other.

The prince clearly remembered how the mysterious man cut off the spy's sword with one blow that night in Red Lane, and saw the other party swing it three times in a row.

So when Chen Ji broke the knife in Bai Li's hand, the prince already knew Chen Ji's identity.

Of course Chen Ji had killed people, and he did it in front of him.

The prince hesitated for a moment, recalling Baili's recent abnormality, and asked in a low voice: "Baili, have you discovered it a long time ago?"

Bai Li hummed.

The prince said with emotion: "No wonder...Brother Gou'er, we know that Chen Ji has killed someone. Although we are not sure about his identity, this does not affect us becoming friends with him."

Liang Gou'er sighed and said, "I'm afraid his identity is more complicated than you two imagined."

"How to say?"

Liang Gou'er explained, "Bai Li and the prince are not familiar with martial arts, so they have no idea about this kid's swordsmanship. But have you ever seen a swordsmanship that can easily break a person's weapon without brute force? That is a sword that can amaze many swordsmen for a lifetime. It has nothing to do with strength. Just talking about the technique, ordinary people can't learn it even if they want to."

"The key is, who taught him this sword technique?"

Liang Gou'er looked towards the end of the long street: "Fang Yuwu? Or Li Zhechong? No, neither of them can do it..."

"Brother Gou'er, can you do this?"

"Of course I can!"

……

……

Chen Ji followed the signboards of each store until he saw Chai Ji Grain and Oil Shop, then he turned into the dark alley next to it.

The moment he turned in, he saw dozens of pairs of green eyes looking at him in the darkness.

Chen Ji's scalp tingled. He couldn't tell which eye in the darkness belonged to Dark Cloud, so he could only whisper, "Dark Cloud?"

No cat responded, but continued to stare at him quietly, motionless.

One of the pairs of eyes blinked violently at him several times.

After a moment of silence, Chen Ji tried again: "Nine Heavens Yingyuan Thunder Sound Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable?" The next second, he saw a pair of green eyes standing out from the crowd, walking from the darkness into the moonlight, and meowed arrogantly and coldly: "What do you want from me?"

Chen Ji coughed lightly and said, "Well, I have something I want to report to you in private."

The dark cloud turned around and meowed at the dozens of pairs of eyes in the darkness, only to see those eyes slowly disappear into the darkness.

Wuyun waited for a moment, then jumped into Chen Ji's arms and said happily: "What was that name just now? It sounds so majestic!"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "That is the name of the highest god in the Thunder Department. He is in charge of life and death, rewards and punishments for good and evil, making clouds and rain, slaying demons and monsters, and commanding thunder."

Wuyun was in awe: "Meng Meng! In the future, when there are other cats around, can you just call me by this name?"

Chen Ji was silent.

Wuyun said quickly: "I can give you a leg massage when we get home!"

Chen Ji remained silent.

"Step on the back!"

"Deal, but you don't have to massage my legs or back," Chen Ji smiled and touched Wu Yun's head and asked, "Why don't you go back to the clinic these days?"

Wu Yun thought for a moment and said, "Master said that I have developed the energy of the Liang family's swordsmanship. If I stay in the clinic, Liang Gou'er will sense it."

Chen Ji: “Ah?”

Really learned it?!

Chen Ji asked curiously, "As long as we practice the same path, will we be able to sense each other when we meet?"

Wuyun replied, "Master said that when people who practice the same path meet for the first time, they will inevitably feel nervous, as if they have met their natural enemy."

He suddenly remembered that after he used ginseng to dissolve the ice flow for the first time, the moment he saw Old Man Yao, he felt palpitations, as if he was being stared at by a vicious tiger.

It turned out that at that moment, the master already knew that I had embarked on the journey of cultivation, but I thought that no one else knew.

Therefore, if he meets Lu Yang from Jingchao Martial Temple in the future, the other party will know at the first moment that he is also practicing the sword skills, and then kill him with a sword?

"Let's get down to business," Chen Ji looked at Wu Yun and said, "You have to do me a favor."

"What's the deal?"

"Borrow a knife and kill a few people."

……

……

On the night of the appointment with Liu Mingliang, Chen Ji returned to Zhou Mansion as promised.

It was a cloudless day today. In the dark night, he stood in front of the red-painted gate, put on the tiger mask, picked up the animal head ring on the door and put it down.

The gate was wide open, and in the courtyard of Zhou's mansion, there were densely packed black-clad spies sitting cross-legged on the ground, wiping their swords.

When Chen Ji stepped in, a secret agent wiped his long sword and looked at him coldly and silently, his eyes slowly moving with his steps.

Jin Zhu came out from the study and said with a smile, "You are quite punctual."

Chen Ji asked in confusion, "Sir, aren't you going to pretend to be Si Zhu and meet Liu Mingxian tonight? Why did you call in so many secret agents and look so murderous?"

Jin Zhu smiled and explained, "Originally, I wanted to follow your plan and let Xifeng pretend to be the chief and slowly extract some information from Liu Mingxian. But then I changed my mind. Although the Jingchao thieves haven't contacted the Liu family yet, it doesn't mean they will never contact them. As long as they contact us, we will be exposed."

Jin Zhu continued, "It's better to wait until the night is long and dreamy. As long as Liu Mingxian comes to the appointment tonight, it will be confirmed that he is suspected of colluding with Jing Chao. Even if I arrest him, the Liu family will not be able to say anything. At that time, I only need to take Liu Mingxian to the inner prison. With Meng Ji here, I am not afraid that he will not confess."

Chen Ji was stunned: "Meng Ji? Your Excellency invited Meng Ji from Kaifeng Prefecture?"

The Golden Pig asked nonchalantly, "Why, is there anything wrong?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "No, what I mean is that as long as Master Mengji is here, Liu Mingxian will have no way to quibble."

Jin Zhu said meaningfully: "Yes, Meng Ji's move is foolproof."

Chen Ji asked, "Sir, since you have changed your plan, do you not need me anymore? You also know that I am a medical apprentice and I am weak and unfit to participate in the arrest operation."

However, just as he finished speaking, two secret agents stood up from the ground, slowly walked to Chen Ji's side, and subtly controlled Chen Ji.

Chen Ji's face turned stern, and he suddenly turned to look at Jin Zhu: "Sir, what does this mean?"

The next moment, all the spies sitting cross-legged on the ground stood up silently, holding long swords and looking like eagles and wolves.

It seemed that in the courtyard tonight, everyone was a hunter and only Chen Ji was the prey.

Jin Zhu patted Chen Ji on the shoulder and said, "Brother, you still have to cooperate with us to continue acting. After all, we have to lure Liu Mingxian out first. Don't think too much. I know you are powerless, so these two colleagues beside you are specially sent to protect you."

Chen Ji asked, "Sir, are you sure they are here to protect me?"

The Golden Pig smiled and said, "What else?"

After that, he looked at the secret agents in the courtyard and said in a cold voice: "We must arrest Liu Mingxian tonight. As long as we are brave and courageous in catching the thief, we will not be short of rewards from you. Let's go!"

The heavy vermilion lacquered door of the Zhou Mansion was opened again, and the spies filed out.

The two secret agents sheathed their swords and said in a cold voice, "Let's go, sir, don't make things difficult for us."

Chen Ji's expression was hidden under the tiger mask. He was silent for a long time and said, "Okay."

(End of this chapter)