Chapter 618
Ugly
Chen Ji gripped the whale knife tightly.
The swirling snow was swept into the liquor alley, and the wind blowing through the alley carried the snowflakes past him, making his clothes flutter loudly.
Xiaoman finally managed to generously spend twenty taels of silver to buy wine and meat, and the gang leader made a promise with him to get drunk at noon, but then the promise was suddenly broken.
Xiaoman walked up to Chen Ji with the letter in her hand, her mouth opening and closing as she spoke, but Chen Ji couldn't hear anything.
He turned his head and saw a string of dark brown footprints standing out conspicuously in the snow in Shaojiu Hutong, heading towards Yuhebian Street outside the hutong. As the heavy snow fell, a layer of white frost quickly covered the footprints, threatening to bury them completely.
"Wait for me at home."
Following the footprints, Chen Ji traced the path, his gaze sweeping over the accumulated snow.
On a snowy day, pedestrians hurried along the road. When they saw someone chasing after them with a knife, they all gave way... The pedestrians' boots trampled the originally clear footprints.
Chen Ji took a deep breath, the cold air filling his lungs, and his world suddenly became quiet. There was no sound of wind, no sound of snow, no noise of pedestrians in the distance, only the rustling sound of snow hitting his cheeks.
He looked down at the ground. The messenger wore black boots with soles about eight inches long, and his stride was more than three feet. His left foot landed harder than his right. Either he had an old leg injury, or he was using his right hand unbalancedly.
found it.
The next moment, Chen Ji chased south, following a series of blurry footprints out of Yuhebian Street, then turned east again, passing through Xila Hutong and entering Tangzi Hutong.
As Chen Ji drew closer to the other, the footprints in the snow became increasingly clear.
But when Chen Ji chased after the person out of Tangzi Hutong, the footprints suddenly stopped. It was as if the person he was chasing had vanished into thin air, disappearing into a crevice that did not belong to this world.
wrong.
Chen Ji leaped onto the rooftop, the wind and snow hitting his face. He squinted and suddenly saw the back of a man running wildly across the rooftops, smashing the slanting, falling snow into a swirling frenzy.
He drew his knife and gave chase.
Without turning his head, the man swung his hand backward. Three sharp whooshing sounds pierced through the wind and snow as Chen Ji flipped his wrist, his whale-shaped blade swirling through the snow.
Ding!Ding!Ding!
Three caltrops were cleaved and embedded in the tiles on both sides.
The man leaped from the end of the roof ridge and flew onto another roof. Chen Ji followed closely behind, his body soaring into the air. But just as he was about to land, the man suddenly turned around and, with his hands moving like afterimages, unleashed seven bone-piercing nails in quick succession.
With nowhere to gain leverage in mid-air, Chen Ji swung his whale-blade repeatedly.
Six bone-piercing nails were deflected, the last one grazing his ear and severing a few strands of hair. But the combined force of those six parries sent him swerving off course and plunging into the alley.
After landing, the man looked back and searched for traces of the past in the heavy snow.
No.
Chen Ji did not leap onto the roof again.
The man was panting, and hesitated for a moment. The whale-shaped blade was too fast, so fast that he couldn't tell whether Chen Ji had blocked all seven bone-piercing nails.
He turned to continue his escape.
Just as he was about to leap onto another rooftop, a flash of light suddenly appeared in the alley.
The glint of the blade was fiercer than the wind and snow, slicing upwards from the shadows of the alley.
The man's right leg was severed cleanly below the knee, blood splattering onto the snow, scalding it and creating a crater. He fell into the alley, and before he could even cry out in pain, a cold blade was already pressed against his neck.
He looked up and saw Chen Ji holding the whale knife upside down, the cold tip of the blade pressed against his neck; another stroke and it would take his life.
Chen Ji stood with his foot on the man's chest, looking down at him: "Where were the Pao Ge and Er Dao taken?"
The man gritted his teeth and secretly reached for the deerskin bag at his waist, which contained caltrops.
The blade flashed again.
The man let out a beast-like roar as his right hand was severed at the wrist and lay on the snow, his fingers still twitching.
Chen Ji's voice was completely flat: "I'll just ask again."
The man trembled all over, blood gushing from his severed wrist, spreading a large dark red stain on the snow.
He was breathing heavily when he finally spoke: "I...I don't know either. The person was tied up by the Jiazi side. I'm from the Yichou side. I was only responsible for delivering messages."
Chen Ji calmly asked, "How many people were there in Jiazi? How many were there in Yichou? Are there any others?"
The man was breathing heavily: "Twelve people born in the year of Jiazi, twelve people born in the year of Yichou. And there are also Bingyin, Dingmao, Wuchen, Jisi, Gengwu, Xinwei, Renshen, and Guiyou."
All of these are years in the sexagenary cycle calendar, and there are 120 people.
The number of assassins kept by the Qi family is far greater than what is on the surface.
Before the man could say anything more, he opened his mouth only to see Chen Ji plunge the whale-shaped knife into his mouth and pin his head to the ground.
Chen Ji wasted no time and turned around to stride back into the wind and snow.
Who kidnapped the Pao Ge and Er Dao?
Qi Jia is undoubtedly the best.
Now that Grand Secretary Qi is in a coma, Qi Xianzhun and Qi Zhenwu have returned to Jizhou, and Qi Xianshu is far away in Jiaozhi, the only people in the Qi family who can take charge are Qi Zhenzhuo and Qi Zhong...
It was Qi Zhong; the Qi family's elite assassins were also under his control. This adopted son of the Qi family had been trained as an assassin since childhood, and his behavior was completely different from that of officials and nobles in the capital. He was unscrupulous and extremely bloodthirsty.
According to Bai Long, the Qi family had always wanted to exile him to Lingnan because of the broken engagement. His refusal to go to the wedding was exactly what they wanted. So why were they now forcing him to go?
Chen Ji frowned and pondered for a long time.
Yes, the Qi family also knew that they couldn't possibly exile themselves to Lingnan over such a trivial matter as breaking off an engagement. Perhaps exiling a rootless and powerless son-in-law like Li Xuan was possible, but exiling him was absolutely out of the question.
But why would the other party want to go to fetch the bride themselves?
Do you want to be raised in the Qi family's koi pond like Li Xuan?
Shaojiu Hutong (Shaojiu Alley).
Xiaoman, clutching a boning knife, squatted at the kitchen door, staring intently at the courtyard gate.
The young monk stood behind her, chanting scriptures softly.
Xiaoman lowered her voice: "It's so annoying. You never seem to study hard during the week, and you only cram at the last minute when it's crucial."
The little monk closed his mouth, but his lips were still slightly parted.
Chen Ji returned to Shaojiu Alley carrying the blood-dripping whale knife and pushed open the door to enter.
Xiaoman hurriedly asked, "Has the young master caught the messenger?"
“Kill him, but he was just a errand boy. The people who kidnapped the gang wouldn’t be stupid enough to tell him everything.”
Xiaoman said anxiously, "What should we do? The Gelaohui and Erdao are not even officials."
After pondering for a moment, Chen Ji instructed Xiao Man, "You two go to the Eagle House to find Jiao Tu and Yun Yang. Have them lead spies to search the entire city. If you want to tie up two living people in the street, you must use a carriage as cover. Maybe someone has seen a suspicious carriage."
Xiaoman looked at Chen Ji: "And you, young master?"
Chen Ji carried the whale knife out: "I'm going to find Jin Zhu to see if I can persuade Tian Ma to use 'Ugly.' I need to know where Qi Zhong is now. When Jin Zhu came to the house earlier, did he mention where to find him?"
The duties of the spies, including the male, female, painted-face, and clown roles, were different. The clowns were servants and coachmen scattered throughout the homes of officials and nobles. Although they could not hear the biggest secrets, they were the most convenient for finding people's whereabouts.
Xiaoman recalled: "He told me that if my family encountered any trouble, they should come to him. He would be at Desheng Teahouse in the morning, Hanjia Hutong in the afternoon, and Yingfangsi or Xihuamen in the evening. He would also eat at Donglaishun during mealtimes."
……
……
noon.
Chen Ji, carrying a whale knife, lifted the heavy cotton curtain of Donglaishun Restaurant, and a wave of heat rushed out, accompanied by the noisy chatter of the diners.
The main hall was filled with guests, and copper hot pots were placed on wooden tables. The charcoal fire blazed in the copper stoves, and the clear broth simmered with mutton and tofu.
A waiter with sharp eyes strode forward and used a white cloth to pat the snow off Chen Ji: "What would you like to eat, sir?"
Chen Ji pushed the waiter aside: "I'm looking for someone."
He walked straight toward the table where Jin Zhu and Tian Ma were sitting. Suddenly, someone from the next table stood up and blocked his way. Jin Zhu sneered, "Are you out of your mind? Lord Chen's murderous aura is so strong right now that he could eat people alive. You still dare to block his way?"
The spies quickly moved aside.
Chen Ji walked to the Golden Pig table and sat down. The Golden Pig smiled and handed him a bowl of sesame sauce: "Congratulations on your release from prison. Have some mutton. The sesame sauce from Donglaishun is absolutely perfect with mutton. The thick slices of mutton are ready to eat as soon as they change color in the pot, and they don't foam even after being cooked for a long time. Nowadays, everyone says that Donglaishun's taste isn't good anymore, but for all connoisseurs, Donglaishun is still their first stop. If you want to become a connoisseur of hot pot mutton, you have to start by criticizing Donglaishun. But you can't just criticize it for no reason; you have to know how to criticize it. Only by criticizing it well can you truly understand the art of eating hot pot..."
Chen Ji didn't take the sesame sauce: "Pao Ge and Er Dao have been kidnapped by the Qi family, and they want me to go to the Qi family to pick up the bride tomorrow."
The golden pig looked surprised: "When did this happen?"
Chen Ji calmly said, "Just now, I wanted to ask Lord Tianma to use 'Ugly' to help me find Qi Zhong's whereabouts. Perhaps finding him will lead me to the Gelaoge."
The golden pig looked at the celestial horse.
Tianma silently picked up a piece of mutton with his chopsticks, coated it with sesame sauce, stuffed it into his mouth, and ignored it.
Jin Zhu signed: "That old bastard Qi Zhong killed my men left in Luocheng, and Xifeng almost died at his hands too. Although it was arranged by the Grand Chancellor, I can't swallow this insult. I will definitely kill him when I get the chance."
Pegasus remained unresponsive.
Jinzhu then used sign language: "Among the dead, there was a boy named Erbing. He was the one who made your favorite mutton noodles."
Tianma paused with his chopsticks, got up, and left Donglaishun.
Jin Zhu handed Chen Ji a pair of chopsticks: "Food is the most important thing for people. Even if the sky falls, we still have to eat first. My secret intelligence team is more capable than you think. Qi Zhong is a key figure that my secret intelligence team has been keeping an eye on for a long time. Don't worry, we will definitely find him within an hour. Even if we can't find him, we will at least know where he is."
Chen Ji grunted in agreement, took the chopsticks, and began to wolf down his food.
Just as the golden pig had predicted, the heavenly horse returned in less than an hour.
The golden pig asked in sign language, "Where is that old bastard?"
Tianma patted the snow off his sleeves, looked at Chen Ji, and made a sign.
Chen Ji asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Jin Zhu hesitated and said, "He said that Qi Zhong is waiting at your door in Shaojiu Hutong... and Miss Qi, Qi Zhaoning."
Chen Ji threw down his chopsticks, got up, and left. (End of Chapter)