Chapter 653
Using a borrowed knife to kill
Chen Ji sat in the noisy teahouse, his mind racing. The tea drinkers were whispering and talking amongst themselves, but he seemed not to hear a thing.
The mountain king is his biggest secret, but it is also the other party's biggest secret. This senior brother is ruthless and always acts with the intention of fighting to the death.
Chen Ji knew that his senior brother wanted to use someone else to do his dirty work, but what gave him the right to expose the mountain lord to the public?
At this moment, Xiaoman asked worriedly, "Young Master?"
Chen Ji snapped out of his daze, the noise from the teahouse filling his ears.
A student from the Imperial Academy said loudly, "After all this time, I've only heard stories about Chen Ji, but I've never heard of any official connections he had."
Another student speculated, "Chen Ji's connections as an official must be formidable, otherwise how could he have killed so many Tian Ce soldiers in Guyuan and then fought his way back from outside Chongli Pass?"
"Mountain Lord... the name sounds quite domineering. Compared to Jingchao's sword style, which is stronger?"
"Isn't that obvious? The sword type is definitely stronger!"
Amid the noise, Baohou looked at Chen Ji and asked in a low voice, "Sir, should we stop this storyteller?"
Qi Xiaoning said in a deep voice, "The sect's secret is the most important secret of the official. If any fellow cultivators hear of this, they will surely come to kill us. This storyteller should be taken to the Pipa Hall in the inner prison and interrogated to find out who instructed him."
Changsheng said softly, "Summon spies to surround the teahouse and silence them all."
Seeing that Chen Ji did not answer, Bao Hou asked again, "Sir?"
Chen Ji looked at Xiao Man: "Xiao Man, go to other teahouses and ask around to see if there are any other teahouses talking about this. Find the storyteller and ask him who instructed you to do this."
Xiaoman exclaimed "Hey!" and got up to run outside.
At this moment, the storyteller was very satisfied with the effect of his captivating performance. The so-called "hat story" of a storyteller is a story about a current event that is told after the opening poem and before the main text, in order to keep the audience entertained before he can collect his money.
He took a sip of tea to moisten his throat before slowly speaking: "Do you all know what a Mountain Lord is?"
A student from the Imperial Academy loudly retorted, "Isn't it just a tiger?"
The storyteller shook his head: "The mountain tiger is a tiger, but no ordinary tiger. At six years old, it was named Big Cat. At twelve, it was named Striped. At eighteen, it was named Big Insect. At twenty-four, it was named White Forehead..."
At this point, the storyteller paused, then struck the gavel again, and said in a powerful voice: "At thirty, the tiger is majestic without being angry, and mountains and rivers listen attentively to it. It is as immovable as a mountain, and even the fiercest winds must detour around it. It is the most yang creature in the world, and thus it is the mountain king."
The room was completely silent.
In the silence, Changsheng asked softly, "The Mountain Lord is the ultimate Yang entity, so what is the ultimate Yin entity?"
Yu Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Xuan She, he's the most cunning."
At this point, a tea drinker asked in bewilderment, "Having said so much, regardless of whether it's a mountain tiger or a tiger, what exactly is the skill behind this method?"
The storyteller smiled mysteriously: "Let me tell you slowly. As the saying goes, clouds follow the dragon, and wind follows the tiger. Since ancient times, when dragons and tigers fight, one will surely be injured... What is a dragon? A true dragon is the Son of Heaven. And this mountain lord feeds on the dynasty's fortune and devours the creation of heaven and earth."
The tea drinkers were all astonished: "Are you consuming the dynasty's fortune?"
The storyteller said decisively, "That's right."
The tea drinker then asked, "The dynasty's fortune is so ethereal and uncertain, how can one consume it?"
"The dynasty's destiny is not something ethereal or unreal," the storyteller said with a smile. "Do you all know that all officials of the third rank and above in our dynasty are imbued with destiny, and all evil is warded off?"
The tea drinkers chimed in, "This is no secret. A third-rank official is immune to all magic and cannot be killed without weapons. I remember there was a story like this in the Chronicle of the White Boat: a demon from the Jing Dynasty tried to use magic to harm our young general, but he didn't know that the young general had just received an imperial decree to be promoted to the third-rank Zhaowu General, so the demon from the Jing Dynasty's efforts were all in vain!"
The storyteller nodded: "Do you all know that in the old days, imperial edicts written in blood could summon wind and rain?"
A student from the Imperial Academy exclaimed, “I have heard of this. In the twenty-seventh year of the Zhengde reign, Jizhou suffered a severe drought. The late emperor cut open his palm and wrote a blood edict, ordering rain to fall in Jizhou. The Grand Eunuch Wang Bao personally brought the edict to Jizhou. As soon as the edict was read, it began to rain. It was a miracle. This is recorded in the local chronicles of Jizhou, and it is absolutely true.”
The storyteller unfolded his folding fan, fanned himself twice, and asked in return, "Have you all heard of any imperial edicts written in blood that could summon wind and rain in recent years?"
The tea drinkers looked at each other in bewilderment: "It seems there really isn't any left. In the twenty-first year of the Jia Ning era, an imperial edict was sent to Shanzhou, but not a single drop of rain fell. I heard it's the same in Jingchao; Xijing Road and Longyou Road are experiencing a famine."
The storyteller said slowly and deliberately, "All of this is due to the mountain lord's method of devouring the fortune of the heavens. The method of cultivation is called 'Dragon Devouring'!"
The tea drinkers gasped.
Devouring Dragon?
This dynasty even avoids the term "dragon-pulling," and the meritorious official who attempted it almost met a tragic end. How much less so "dragon-swallowing"? How is this any different from treason and rebellion?
Even Bao Hou tentatively looked at Chen Ji, but Chen Ji quietly looked at the storyteller, seemingly lost in thought.
The precious monkey asked in a low voice, "My lord..."
Chen Ji calmly replied, "It's fake."
Bao Hou breathed a sigh of relief: "I will go find a spy right away and throw everyone in this teahouse into the imperial prison, so as not to endanger your life, sir."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xiaoman came running back breathlessly and whispered, "Young master, several teahouses are talking about this. I inquired and the storyteller at Youfu Teahouse said that someone offered five taels of silver to tell this story today. The person was wearing a straw hat and was a middle-aged man, but the storyteller couldn't see his face clearly."
Yu Yuan pondered, "If all three hundred teahouses in the capital were bribed, the news would probably spread throughout the capital within a day."
Chen Ji's mind grew increasingly troubled; there was no stopping him now.
He may deny such rumors, but at first people may just treat it as a joke. But after it has been circulating for two, three, or four days, some people will start to have doubts and want to know if the Mountain King's sect really feeds on the dynasty's fortune.
Within a few days, even Emperor Ning, deep within the palace, would want to know if the rumors circulating in the streets were true.
This senior brother didn't even need to take action himself; he only needed to spread the word, and someone would come to kill him.
The monkey asked in a low voice, "My lord, if the rumors are false, you can reveal your cultivation method to prove it." Chen Ji remained unmoved.
He could have proven himself by revealing his sword seed, which would have immediately shown that he was not from the Mountain Lord's sect. However, revealing his sword seed would have led to his death.
I fear that revealing this today will quickly attract the attention of Headmaster Lu Yang. Looking across the Ning Dynasty, who can protect him from Lu Yang?
While pondering, a tea drinker loudly asked the storyteller, "How do you know that Chen Ji repaired the path to the mountain king?"
The storyteller smiled and said, "You don't need to know how I know this. You only need to know that the path of this mountain lord must be linked to beasts, and that Chen Ji happens to have a black cat by his side that is extremely intelligent."
Chen Ji frowned.
Xiaoman, Baohou, and the little monk all looked at the dark cloud on the stool. The dark cloud stared with its big, round eyes.
Before anyone could ask anything, Chen Ji had already stuffed Wu Yun into his robes, picked up the whale knife, and stood up: "You all wait here for A Xia, I'll be right back."
Xiaoman was taken aback: "Where are you going, young master...?"
Before he finished speaking, Chen Ji's figure had already disappeared outside the teahouse.
……
……
Chen Ji, head down, weaved through the crowd and quickly crossed the long street.
The dark cloud meowed in his arms: "Who is this person? Why is he so familiar with the way to the Mountain Lord's place?"
Chen Ji said in a low voice, "He's the beggar boy that Old Man Yao adopted. Old Man Yao probably didn't have the heart to kill him back then, but now he's returned to the capital. It's strange..."
The dark cloud asked in confusion, "What's so strange?"
Chen Ji frowned and remained silent.
In the storyteller's "hat story," this senior brother mentioned that the mountain lord devours fortune, but he didn't dare say that the mountain lord can only devour it after high-ranking officials or royal offspring die.
The other party must be leaving a way out for the mountain lord's path, so that they won't be unable to get close enough to devour the ice flow later.
But this senior brother has made his pact with beasts public. Isn't he afraid that someone will discover the clues and drag him out as well?
Could this senior brother have another plan?
"Where are you going now?" Wu Yun asked curiously.
Chen Ji said in a deep voice, "Let's find out who he is first."
He arrived at Chessboard Street and went straight into the Imperial Hospital. As he crossed the threshold, the gatekeeper was about to stop him, but upon seeing Chen Ji, he hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Excellency, the Imperial Hospital Chief."
Chen Ji hummed in agreement and continued walking inside, where he saw Zhou Fangping standing behind the pharmacy counter weighing medicine: "Where are the Imperial Physician and the Imperial Attendant?"
Zhou Fangping was taken aback: "The academy envoy doesn't know, the chief academy judge is in the main hall."
Chen Ji continued walking inside. The judge saw him from afar, dropped his brush, and strode out to greet him: "What brings you here, sir?"
Chen Ji cut to the chase: "My master, Physician Yao, once took on a disciple. Were you his colleague?"
The abbot was taken aback: "I have heard of this person, but I have never worked with him. I heard that he died young in the ten-odd years of the Jia Ning era, while I was promoted from Jinling to the capital in the twenty-first year of the Jia Ning era. You should ask the abbot about this. He has been an apprentice in the Imperial Medical Academy since he was a child, and he must have seen this person."
Chen Ji then asked, "Where is the Imperial Physician?"
The chief physician replied, "The chief physician did not come to the Imperial Hospital today; perhaps he was invited by some high-ranking official for a consultation."
Chen Ji asked urgently, "Didn't the head of the academy give prior notice that he wouldn't be coming to the Imperial Hospital today? Would he usually do this?"
The judge shook his head: "No, the abbot has worked diligently all these years and rarely takes a break. If he has something to do and can't come, he will inform us in advance."
Chen Ji turned and walked out: "Take me to the academy envoy's residence, quickly!"
The Imperial Physician's residence was not far away. It was just a few steps east of the Imperial Hospital, across the Jade River Bridge.
Seeing Chen Ji's solemn expression, the judge hurriedly led the way, lifting the hem of his robe: "Hongchang Hutong is just ahead. It's the second room after you go in."
Arriving at the small, dark brown door, Chen Ji saw that the gate was slightly ajar and immediately used his whale-shaped knife to block the judge behind him: "Wait for me outside the alley."
The judge was startled: "Will the Chief Justice be alright?"
Chen Ji did not answer, but slowly moved towards the small door. After the judge withdrew from the alley, he slowly drew his whale knife, and the black cloud in his arms jumped onto the roof and meowed.
Chen Ji used the tip of his knife to pry open the courtyard gate, and Wu Yun meowed, "The smell of blood."
Chen Ji hurriedly went inside and saw that the courtyard was shabby and simple. Strings of dried radish strips and salted fish hung under the eaves, and a few patched clothes were left on the bamboo pole.
Further inside, they saw the Imperial Physician lying in a pool of blood, his face submerged in purple blood, with a letter on the octagonal table beside him.
Chen Ji took a deep breath, squatted down next to the magistrate, and placed two fingers on his neck. There was no pulse, and no ice flow.
He reached out and squeezed the academy envoy's wrist, then cut open his clothes and touched his abdomen. The skin was cold, but his chest and abdomen still had some warmth.
Chen Ji tried to pry open the academy envoy's fingers again, which were not yet stiff: "The time of death was within two hours. That senior brother came here after making eye contact with me in the crowd."
He closed the academy envoy's eyes, then rose and opened the letter. The letter was written in the envoy's own blood: "Junior brother, seeing this letter is like seeing you in person." (End of Chapter)