Chapter 138 Killer

In the withered woods, Chen Ji sat cross-legged on the soft rotten leaves, muttering to himself.

"The immortals and Taoists are not gods, they accumulate energy and vitality to believe that they are real. The wonderful voice of Huang Tong is hard to hear, and the jade book is written in red ink..."

Wu Yun squatted on his head, stretched his neck to read the words on the paper scroll, and asked curiously: "Can reciting scriptures call for help?"

Chen Ji did not interrupt and continued to read for a while before answering: "It is not certain that we can really call for help. It depends on the understanding of the reinforcements..."

Wuyun wondered: "What if the reinforcements don't have the ability to understand?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Then let's see if he can bear the pain."

As long as the pain lasts long enough, the golden pig will definitely come looking for him.

Chen Ji and his group did not hide their tracks along the way, and the literary gathering at Luhun Villa was known to everyone. As long as Jin Zhu felt sorry enough, he would definitely find a way to find him.

At this time, the prince's voice came from a distance: "Chen Ji, you were not taken away by a wolf, why did you take so long?"

Chen Ji stood up, pulled the dark cloud off his head, and said softly: "Master's fortune-telling has always been very accurate. This time it must be very dangerous. If I don't call you, don't rashly do anything risky."

Wuyun meowed, "I know, I know!"

Chen Ji wrapped the wooden box with cloth again and tied it to Wuyun's back.

At this time, the prince's voice came from outside the woods again: "Chen Ji?"

Chen Ji took another look at the paper scroll in his hand, wrote down a few words, and then responded to the prince: "Here I come!"

When he returned to the official road, Chen Ji saw the scholars standing next to the ox cart, listening quietly to Wang Daosheng's lectures.

Wang Daosheng didn't care who was listening or whether he was given money for studying. He just spoke calmly: "Investigating things, seeking knowledge, sincerity, uprightness of mind, self-cultivation, regulating the family, governing the country, and pacifying the world, these are the eight goals. And investigating things and seeking knowledge is the cornerstone of the eight goals..."

When he saw Chen Ji coming, he said to the scholars, "We are about to set off."

The scholars smiled and replied, "Listening to your lecture has enlightened me. Anyway, the ox cart can't go fast. You can continue to talk. We can just follow the ox cart and listen while we walk."

Another scholar said, "I heard that after the flood in western Henan, a group of victims became bandits in Longwangtun, specializing in robbing, burning, killing and looting. With so many people traveling with them, I'm sure they wouldn't dare to do anything reckless."

Wang Daosheng nodded: "Okay."

Seeing that these people were determined to follow him, Chen Ji didn't say much. All he needed to do now was to wait for the golden pig to arrive.

He jumped onto the oxcart and sat down. Bai Li handed him a cowhide water bag from the left and asked with concern, "Are you okay? Drink some water."

After Chen Ji finished reading Zhayun, he took the water bag and whispered, "Princess, if you really encounter the bandits they mentioned, you must remember to run to my side with the prince."

Bai Li blinked and said nonchalantly: "Okay. But if we really encounter bandits, will you only save the two of us?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and replied in a low voice: "My ability is limited. You two may not be able to save them, let alone others."

Bai Li said "oh" and was silent for a moment: "Chen Ji, if we really encounter bandits, I mean the kind of fierce bandits, if you can't save us, just run away by yourself, your own life is more important."

Chen Wenxiao sat opposite him and sneered, "Can you still save people? Princess, don't be intimidated by him."

Bai Li rolled his eyes and said, "When the bandits really come, just don't piss your pants in fear."

Chen Ji suddenly looked directly at Chen Wenxiao and said calmly, "After you put the blame on me for your own affairs, are you so guilty that you can't sleep at night? So you hope that everyone will hate me, despise me, and despise me, so that even if I refute you in the future, no one will believe me."

Chen Wenxiao's expression changed: "What are you talking about?"

After saying this, he realized that his voice was a little loud, and quickly lowered his voice: "Don't talk nonsense, the evidence in black and white points to you, what does it have to do with me?"

He wanted to argue something, but Chen Ji ignored him and closed his eyes to recite Zhayun silently. When he came across something he couldn't remember, he would secretly take out the paper scroll from his sleeve and take a look.

Chen Wenxiao looked at Chen Ji's calm appearance and felt as if a stone was pressing on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

When he wanted to make another sarcastic remark, he was too afraid to speak.

Bai Li looked at Chen Ji strangely.

To blame?

……

……

At noon, the official road ran parallel to the Yi River outside Luo City. On the left side of the ox cart was the sparkling golden Yi River, and on the right side were undulating hills and woods.

On the Yi River, a boatman is casting a net.

Prince Jing was in high spirits. He ignored his position as a driver, held up his straw hat, and shouted, "Boatman, did you catch any fish today?"

The elderly boatman, wearing a straw raincoat, responded loudly: "The market is not good today, and we only caught a few grass carp."

Prince Jing laughed and said, "Are you selling these fish?"

The boatman slowly came over with his black-sailed boat and said, "Sell it, why not?"

Prince Jing turned around and smiled at Wang Daosheng, "Mr. Wang, today's trip went smoothly. We will definitely reach Luhun Villa before sunset. Why don't we stop here and grill some fish? You can't get such fresh fish in the city."

Wang Daosheng responded in a gentle voice: "It's rare... the driver is so interested, so let's stay here for a while."

The prince and Baili cheered and jumped off the cart, stretching themselves lazily: "After sitting in the ox cart for the whole morning, my buttocks are sore."

Zhang Xia also jumped off the horse, took Bai Li's hand with a smile on his face, and the two of them whispered to each other, then turned around and walked into the woods.

At this moment, a few cat calls were heard in the forest, and Chen Ji suddenly clenched the dagger in his sleeve.

Chen Ji took a few steps forward and pulled Bai Li and Zhang Xia back: "Don't go, it's dangerous!"

Zhang Xia was stunned for a moment: "What are you doing?" But Chen Ji didn't look at her, but stared at the depths of the woods, pulling the two of them slowly back to the river.

Wuyun said that he saw more than ten bodies in the woods, which were not buried. The people who were killed looked strange, with kitchen knives, hoes, and rakes scattered around them.

Why are there more than ten bodies here? They are the victims of the Longwangtun bandits. They were forced to become bandits due to their poor living conditions. They ambushed here and wanted to rob the passing merchants, but were killed.

Who killed him and why?

Chen Ji knew nothing about it.

All he knew was that there was danger in the woods.

As he retreated, Zhang Xia swung his arms, trying to break free from Chen Ji's hand, but he heard Bai Li say, "Zhang Xia, listen to him!"

Zhang Xia stopped struggling.

When they quietly retreated to the riverside, Chen Ji turned around and looked at the boatman who had just landed. He saw the boatman jumping off the boat with a bamboo basket in his hand: "Gentlemen, there are eight grass carps in total. You only need to pay fifty-two coins per fish."

Prince Jing was about to go forward to buy the fish when Chen Ji suddenly asked from a distance of more than ten steps: "Boatman, how much do you usually sell a fish to the fishmonger?"

The boatman was stunned for a moment: "On weekdays...on weekdays, it sells for 40 cents a piece."

Chen Ji asked, "Isn't it measured by jin?"

The boatman smiled and said, "Yes, yes, it is weighed by kilogram. I misunderstood you."

The next moment, an accompanying scholar suddenly pulled Prince Jing back and whispered, "It's an assassin!"

After saying that, the six scholars smashed the boxes behind them at the same time. There was not a single book inside, only two eight-cut swords fell out.

The six scholars ignored everyone else and just stayed close to Prince Jing.

Chen Ji was stunned. It turned out that these scholars were here to protect Prince Jing!
But since these people are here to protect Prince Jing, then who are this boatman and the person who killed someone in the woods? !
The boatman no longer pretended, he pressed two fingers to his tongue and whistled.

The six scholars turned around suddenly, and heard the sound of footsteps trampling rotten leaves coming from the forest, and dozens of people rushed out!
Zhang Xia looked at Chen Ji in astonishment. If this man had not stopped them just now, he and Bai Li would have run into this group of killers!

But the question is, how did Chen Ji know that there was an ambush in the woods?
The killer in the woods rushed towards the six scholars. As soon as the two sides started fighting, a scholar leaned down to meet them.

The Eight-Cut Knife in the scholar's hand flew up and down, and he chopped more than ten times in two breaths, cutting the tendons of the hands, feet, thigh arteries, and finally the neck. He cut without leaving any room for the killer to survive, and cut him into a bloody gourd.

The scholar's blue shirt was stained with blood. He took a bow step and slowly brought the knife in front of his eyes. He looked coldly at the dozens of assassins in front of him through the gap between the two blades.

Master.

First, kill one person with thundering means, just to gain the upper hand and shock the enemy's courage.

How could the scholar still look as kind as before?

However, Chen Ji suddenly discovered a detail. When the killer saw the scholar's cruel methods, he did not rush forward, nor did he retreat. He just looked at each other, as if a little surprised.

Chen Ji was shocked: "These people are not here to assassinate the prince."

If he really wanted to assassinate a powerful vassal king, how could he hesitate at this moment? Besides, if he wanted to assassinate a powerful vassal king, how could he send such a killer?

These killers were not here to kill Prince Jing, nor did they know that Prince Jing was hiding on the ox cart!
Chen Ji was confused. If the killer's target was not Prince Jing, then who would it be?
He turned his head to look at Bai Li and the prince beside him, and suddenly shouted in a low voice: "Run! Hide behind the prince!"

After saying that, he pulled Bai Li and the prince and ran towards Prince Jing.

As soon as he finished speaking, the killers had made a decision and immediately split into two groups. One group surrounded the scholar and Prince Jing, while the other group rushed towards Chen Ji and others, forcibly separating the two sides.

Wang Daosheng, Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao standing by all ignored him.

Prince Jing's expression changed: "Don't worry about me, save them!"

The scholars' expressions remained unchanged, and they continued to coldly protect Prince Jing, with no intention of rescuing him.

Chen Ji suddenly felt something was wrong. These scholars were specially trained killing machines. They only had to perform their duties and didn't care about anything else.

He pulled the prince and Bai Li to stop and retreat again.

Seeing more than 20 assassins getting closer and closer, Chen Ji shouted towards the woods: "Eat!"

He pulled out a dagger from his sleeve, his eyes calmed down, and he stared at the killer who was right in front of him.

It was at this time that Wang Daosheng calmly said, "Wait."

At this moment, it seemed as if the world had stopped for a moment, even the heartbeat slowed down, and the Yi River stopped flowing.

Chen Ji saw that the killers' movements slowed down, as if they were swimming in water, and the air was filled with great resistance.

An inexplicably powerful force descended upon the world.

He glanced at Wang Daosheng and immediately wanted to take the opportunity to slash the killers’ necks one by one, but Wang Daosheng reminded him: “Run.”

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, turned around, pulled the prince and the white carp into the Yi River, and swam quickly to the other side.

Zhang Xia hesitated for a moment and then jumped down as well.

The moment they fell into the water, the killer's actions were fully resumed.

The killers looked back at Wang Daosheng in surprise and doubt, only to see him lying on the ground with a pale face.

"Chase!" The killers held their long knives in their mouths and jumped into the icy Yi River one by one.

And the boatman actually jumped onto the sail boat.

The black-sailed boat was seen moving without wind, sailing towards Chenji through the waves.

(End of this chapter)