Chapter 113

The sky was not yet bright, and the river water was like black ink.

Chen Ji's head floated out of the water, breathing in large gulps. The cold touch felt as if it were penetrating his skin and reaching into his bones, drilling into his marrow.

His soaked clothes clung to his body, unable to retain any warmth.

Chen Ji looked around the surrounding water, trying to search the waves for traces of Shopkeeper Yuan, but was suddenly captivated by the scene overhead. Meteors flew over the river surface one by one, dragging long tails like a rare meteor shower that occurred only every few years, splendid and glorious. Under a fully drawn bow, the meteors flew across a distance of a hundred paces. The more than twenty Elephant Armor Guards on the bridge didn't even have a chance to counterattack before being pierced through. A tattooed man on the bridge hid behind a carriage, dodging the meteors one by one. He pulled a copper whistle from his waist and blew it. Hearing the whistle, densely packed Elephant Armor Guards surged out from small alleys, rushing towards Peony Bridge like a brown flood. The tattooed man roared, "Catch the golden pig, cover Second Master's retreat! Only one Sky Horse came. I don't believe he can shoot hundreds of arrows consecutively!" But his words had just fallen when he heard the distant sound of iron hooves.

The sound of iron hooves came from far to near, as if a grand battle array was stepping through the icy river. Chen Ji suddenly turned his head and saw a middle-aged man in a raincoat and straw hat standing quietly on the eaves of a distant pavilion. Opposite him, like a black eagle or falcon in the swaying firelight, he held a black banner in his hand, pointing it towards Peony Arch Bridge from afar. On the banner, two large characters, "Jie Fan," were embroidered in gold thread.

It was Lin Chaoqing.

Sky Horse had also transferred the Jie Fan Guards from Mengjin Camp.

Chen Ji gazed at the golden pig on the bridge, who was frantically bending over to dodge, finally seizing the opportunity to leap into the water.

It seemed he couldn't kill the golden pig tonight.

Although Liu Xianran's plan was extensive, Si Li Jian's ability to break the situation seemed even superior.

The overall situation was already decided.

But the things Chen Ji had to do tonight were not yet finished.

At this moment, the sound of water waves came from a place not far away. He saw Shopkeeper Yuan swimming westward with great effort, constantly stirring the water. Chen Ji followed carefully, neither getting close nor staying far.

Shopkeeper Yuan turned his head and gave him a cold look, swimming faster. The two of them were one in front and one behind. Behind them were soaring firelight and the sounds of shouting and killing, while here there was only the sound of splashing water. The firelight reflected on the black river surface, as if even the cold Luo River water was igniting cold flames. Chen Ji swam while shouting, "Don't run! Your leg has a penetrating wound. Where can you escape?" Shopkeeper Yuan gave a cold laugh and didn't answer.

Chen Ji continued to shout, "Cooperate with my Secret Spy Department, and your life may be spared."

Shopkeeper Yuan still didn't answer, only swimming towards the shore.

Chen Ji swam a few strokes with effort to keep up, but Shopkeeper Yuan suddenly turned back and kicked his head.

In the surging undercurrents, Chen Ji was kicked to the river bottom by this foot. Cold river water drilled into his mouth and nose. If not for the resistance in the water, he probably would have fainted immediately.

He shook his head and kicked the river bottom forcefully with both legs, actually gritting his teeth and following up again. Shopkeeper Yuan turned back and looked, only feeling a lone wolf following behind him, as if it wanted to drag him to death in the uninhabited wilderness. After a moment, he limped and stepped on the goose egg stones, slowly wading ashore. Shopkeeper Yuan lowered his head and looked at the wound. He saw that a thumb-thick blood hole on his thigh was still bleeding, soaking his pants purple. Just as he lowered his head, a whistling sound of breaking wind came. He tilted his head slightly, and a flying stone brushed past his ear and fell on the distant beach. Shopkeeper Yuan turned back and looked, only to see Chen Ji standing in waist-deep water, bending down to pick up several goose egg stones from the water and holding them in his hand, throwing them over one by one. He laughed in anger, "Who the hell are you? You dare chase me over with a few goose egg stones!" "The Secret Spy Department only gives you a few taels of silver a month. What kind of life are you playing with me?" Chen Ji did not speak.

Shopkeeper Yuan wanted to lower his head and tear off his hem to wrap the wound and stop the bleeding. If the bleeding wasn't stopped, he couldn't escape far. But just as he barely lowered his head, he heard the sound of breaking wind from a stone again.

Shopkeeper Yuan easily dodged a step, making a gesture to return to the river and kill Chen Ji before doing anything else. But just as he moved, Chen Ji immediately squatted in the water back into the river.

He was angry, his forehead veins bulging. "Just relying on you also want to delay time?"

Saying that, Shopkeeper Yuan simply ignored Chen Ji, not even dodging the flying goose egg stones, concentrating on lowering his head and bandaging the wound. An ordinary person throwing goose egg stones, even if it hit, wouldn't injure muscles or bones.

The next moment.

Thump.

A huge stone smashed the corner of Shopkeeper Yuan's forehead, making his eyes go black. He staggered several steps to the right.

He stared with angry, wide eyes, only to see Chen Ji laboriously hugging a head-sized stone out of the river again. The young man's face in the river turned green, his lips turned white, and his whole body trembled from the cold, just like the goose egg stones at the bottom of this Luo River, equally cold and hard. "You motherfucker, is there no end to this?"

Shopkeeper Yuan narrowed his eyes. "Don't entangle me anymore. Later, I'll send you a lifetime of wealth that you can't spend all of. It's much better than you working in the Secret Spy Department."

Chen Ji laughed coldly. "Live through tonight first, then talk."

It was at this very moment that someone not far away squinted and said with a smile, "Look down on my Secret Spy Department's salary? Could it be that your Military Intelligence Department can give more? May I ask, is the person in front the Military Intelligence Department's Si Cao? We've been looking for you for a long time."

Shopkeeper Yuan suddenly turned his head, only to see the golden pig arriving at some unknown time, his entire body still dripping water, slowly squatting in the water and walking ashore from the river.

In the center of the river.

On a small black awning boat, an old man in a raincoat was polling with a long pole, slowly approaching with the white-clothed Sky Horse.

Sky Horse stood still at the bow of the boat, like a sea-calming needle, as if as long as he was there, the river water could not stir up shocking waves.

Shopkeeper Yuan wanted to escape towards the river bank, but just as he barely turned his body, he saw a person squatting on the river bank behind him, staring at him with a smile.

This person wore a bright brown pair-collar large front opening robe. The man rose from the river bank down to the beach.

His robe was embroidered with dozens of brightly colored wild pheasants. His face was white and beardless, and his hair was neat and smooth, as if it were the painted face of a big green-robed character on a stage.

Dream Chicken.

Shopkeeper Yuan said fiercely, "Three of the Twelve Zodiacs have arrived, plus the Three's Sky Horse. It can be said to be mobilizing troops, but you all don't go catch Liu Xianran, yet you all come find me to play?"

The golden pig laughed. "Inner Prime Minister wants the Liu family dead, so he has no reason to live. Liu Xianran is just a small fry. The Liu family's roots are in Yu state. Where can he run? Don't struggle. Surrender with your hands tied."

Shopkeeper Yuan didn't answer, instead turning his body to pounce on Chen Ji, planning to take this bothersome little thief with him before he died.

But when he turned back this time, he found that Chen Ji seemed to have anticipated his intention and had already returned to the river ahead of time.

The next moment, a meteor flew from the center of the river, piercing through Shopkeeper Yuan's other good leg.

The golden pig walked forward with a squinting smile, flipping Shopkeeper Yuan and pressing him to the ground.

He pulled a small knife from his sleeve, cut off a lock of Shopkeeper Yuan's hair, and handed it out. "Dream Chicken, interrogate him right here. Also that boy in the river, interrogate him here together."

The golden pig squatted on the ground, turned his head to look at Chen Ji in the river, and said slowly, "After interrogating him, I can rest assured."