Chapter 127: The Good Show

At the Zi hour, the iron door of the inner prison creaked, as if a withered, thin claw had scratched deep within one's heart, making the teeth feel sour.

Golden Pig was the first to walk out of the door. Outside the door, more than twenty black-clothed secret agents stood solemnly, pressing their knives.

He stood in front of the secret agents, wearing a set of black tight clothing, his face expressionless as he said, "In the battle of Peony Bridge, the brothers suffered heavy losses. But we eat this kind of rice, kill the fiercest thieves, and sleep with the most beautiful women in Red Clothes Alley. Tonight, put your heads on your waistbands and follow me to earn merit."

After speaking, he turned to Xi Feng and said, "Bring Shopkeeper Yuan out."

Shopkeeper Yuan's hands and feet were locked with iron shackles. He stumbled out of the inner prison. As he walked, blood seeped from the wound on his thigh caused by Tian Ma's shot.

He stood still outside the door, his dishevelled and dirty head raised, greedily breathing in a few mouthfuls of fresh air, and praised, "It's truly delicious."

Golden Pig, with his hands behind his back, smiled with squinting eyes and said, "If we can capture Chang Jing tonight, you will never need to return to the inner prison."

Shopkeeper Yuan chuckled and cupped his hands with the shackles, saying, "I will borrow the official's auspicious words."

Golden Pig pushed him onto the carriage.

Chen Ji was just about to lift his leg to follow onto the carriage, but Golden Pig turned his head and stopped him. "Tonight, you and Xi Feng will follow on the outer perimeter. Do not get close."

Chen Ji didn't understand. "Does the official not trust me?"

Golden Pig, sitting in the carriage, laughed. "How could I not trust you? It's just that the closer you are tonight, the more dangerous the Jing Dynasty thieves will be. You haven't entered the cultivation gate yet, and you don't even have the strength to tie up a chicken. You cannot expose yourself to danger."

He continued to instruct him with heavy words, "Tonight, once you discover the situation is not right, you must immediately find a place to hide. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely do not do anything hot-blooded."

Chen Ji heard Golden Pig say "absolutely" three times, and his face suddenly became complex. "Official, if I'm not in the carriage, who will offer you advice? I'm not afraid of danger."

Golden Pig was slightly moved. "No, I accept your intention, but you have just obtained the cultivation gate and cannot die."

After saying that, he lowered the carriage curtain and said loudly, "Depart."

The carriage slowly drove towards the East Market.

Chen Ji stood in front of the inner prison door, silently watching the back of the carriage as it moved further away. It was a good thing that Golden Pig was unwilling for him to approach danger. At least he didn't need to worry about being stabbed in the back at any time.

But he had originally planned to take advantage of the chaos tonight to kill Shopkeeper Yuan to avoid involving Cloud Concubine. Now, he could only adapt to the changes.

Just as he was pondering...

Xi Feng looked towards Chen Ji. "Chen... official, let's depart too. We'll follow the carriage from a distance to avoid Golden Pig encountering danger and us being unable to provide timely support."

Chen Ji glanced at him. "You and I are both pigeon-level secret agents. There's no need to call me official."

Xi Feng said flatteringly, "With the official's intelligence, promotion to Dong Hai Qing is also an early matter."

The next moment, he took out a copper whistle and blew it. The secret agents instantly dispersed, passing through the small alleys.

Only Xi Feng accompanied Chen Ji. He heard the other party blow a bird call from time to time, adjusting the formation of the secret agents and covering the carriage as it moved forward.

In the gaps between commands, Xi Feng, with a cunning look, looked towards Chen Ji. "What grade of cultivation gate did the official give you?"

Chen Ji glanced at him. "The official didn't tell me. If you want to know, you can go and ask the official yourself."

Xi Feng shrank his neck. "I won't ask him. I'll definitely get scolded if I ask."

As they were speaking, the carriage in front suddenly accelerated and turned left at Bailin Street.

Xi Feng and Chen Ji exchanged glances. Chen Ji said, "That's not right. Shopkeeper Yuan said he agreed to meet Chang Jing tonight at a quarter past Chou hour at the grain transport wharf, but this is not going in the direction of the grain transport wharf."

Xi Feng asked, "What should we do?"

Chen Ji said, "Blow the copper whistle and ask Golden Pig."

Xi Feng blew the copper whistle but only heard a sound reply from inside the carriage. At the same time, Xi Feng's face became serious. "The official wants us to follow."

Chen Ji took a deep breath. "Let's listen to the official."

The secret agents continuously crisscrossed through the alleys, chasing the carriage without stopping.

But before they could catch up with the carriage, it unexpectedly turned another bend and changed direction again.

Everyone followed behind the carriage, continuously speeding up. One by one, the secret agents ran until they were gasping for breath. They realized that if they continued to run like this, they would have no physical strength left when they reached their destination.

Chen Ji frowned and said, "Use the copper whistle to signal the official to stop. We can't be led by the nose by that police thief anymore."

Xi Feng blew the copper whistle. This time, only two short bird calls replied from inside the carriage.

Chen Ji asked, puzzled, "I always hear you blowing the copper whistle. How do you distinguish what message this copper whistle sound conveys?"

Xi Feng explained, "There are a total of three kinds of bird calls that can be learned with the copper whistle. The first kind is the magpie. One sound is to assemble or follow up. Two sounds are to surround and ambush. Three sounds are to withdraw. Four sounds are to 'do his mother'."

Chen Ji raised his eyebrows. "So emotional?"

Xi Feng gasped for breath and explained, "That's my vulgar explanation. The second kind of bird call is the bamboo partridge. The number of sounds represents different formations. The third kind of bird call is the long cry of a hawk falcon. This whistle sound is only blown in one situation, and that is when an extremely dangerous character is encountered."

Chen Ji was startled and asked, "Is it this kind of sound?"

Xi Feng said, "Exactly this sound. Fuck, enemy attack."

On the clear and solemn long street of bluestone, the stone slab road was smooth enough to reflect the moon. On this stone slab, a long halberd was reflected shooting forth from the pavilion roof, as if one halberd was piercing through the moon.

With a buzzing sound, that long halberd could be seen crossing the sky, penetrating straight through the middle of the carriage. With a boom, the wooden carriage actually shattered into four pieces, turning into debris everywhere.

After smashing the carriage, the long halberd was nailed to the bluestone slab road, its wooden shaft still shaking automatically.

Along with the debris everywhere, Golden Pig and Shopkeeper Yuan flew out of the carriage, one to the left and one to the right, and fell to the ground.

Xi Feng exclaimed, "Official!"

He was about to go forward to rescue, but saw several masked assassins again pierce out from the roof, simultaneously shooting forth the long halberds in their hands. Although not as terrifying as the first long halberd, they blocked all the routes for the secret agents to come to support.

Chen Ji pulled Xi Feng to hide in the corner and peeked his head out, looking towards the place where the first long halberd had flown from. He saw only a masked man standing on the building ridge, with several long halberds bound to his back with hemp rope.

The man kicked his heel backward, just hitting the tail end of one long halberd. The long halberd shot out from his back and fell into his hand.

The next moment, that long halberd left his hand.

With a buzzing sound, the long halberd unexpectedly did not rush towards Golden Pig, but straight to the area between Shopkeeper Yuan's chest and abdomen. The other side wanted to kill Shopkeeper Yuan first to silence him.

At the critical moment, Golden Pig rolled and crawled, rushing to Shopkeeper Yuan's side and fiercely pulling his collar.

The long halberd, which was originally aimed at Shopkeeper Yuan's chest and abdomen, deeply penetrated his calf and was nailed to the ground.

"Ah!" Shopkeeper Yuan wailed.

Golden Pig said angrily, "What are you wailing about? It's a pity you still hoped your colleagues would save you. Now it's not our secret agent department that wants to kill you, it's your colleagues who want to kill you."

Shopkeeper Yuan trembled. "Save me, Official Golden Pig, save me."

In an instant, Xi Feng shouted loudly, "Official, be careful!"

Golden Pig suddenly moved his body to the side, only to see a long halberd, with a whistling wind sound, surge over from in front of him. With a boom, it was nailed to the stone slab road behind him.

He roared, "Tian Ma, this person is a Seeking Dao realm expert. If you don't make a move, I will die."

But this time, no brilliant meteor shower streaked across the night sky.

The route had been temporarily changed, leaving Tian Ma waiting in vain.

Golden Pig gritted his teeth, got up and leaped onto the pavilion, charging towards the man on the second floor. "Xi Feng, go help the other brothers and hold on until Tian Ma arrives."

Chen Ji hid in the corner, silently observing the battlefield.

Long halberds shot out everywhere, crisscrossing on the stone slab road. Shopkeeper Yuan took a deep breath and forcefully pulled out the long halberd in his leg.

He endured the pain and crawled up, using the long halberd in his hand to support his body. Taking advantage of the opportunity when no one was paying attention to him, he limped towards a small alley and ran!

Chen Ji slowly retreated into the shadows and chased in the direction Shopkeeper Yuan had escaped.

He continuously moved through the small alley until he heard the sound of heavy breathing from around the next corner. Then he suddenly stood still.

Chen Ji listened to the heavy breathing getting closer and closer, closer and closer, until...

He suddenly rushed out of the alley and collided fiercely with his shoulder.

With a clang, the long halberd fell to the ground, and Shopkeeper Yuan also rolled on the ground from the collision.

Chen Ji quietly observed the other party. Shopkeeper Yuan was lying motionless on the ground.

Feigning death?

No, not feigning death.

Chen Ji fixed his eyes and saw that Shopkeeper Yuan's face had turned black, already showing signs of being at the end of his life.

Had that long halberd been poisoned?

He picked up the long halberd from the ground and walked step by step towards Shopkeeper Yuan. Just as he was about to lift the long halberd to deliver another strike, he suddenly stopped.

Something wasn't right.

He always felt something was wrong.

Chen Ji slowly put away the long halberd, leaned against the wall, and said, "To die at the hands of your own people is truly humiliating. Remember in your next life not to be a Jing Dynasty person."

At this time, he raised his head to look around and discovered that Tian Ma had appeared at some point, standing on the eaves above his head, lowering his head and silently watching him.

Chen Ji was startled in his heart.

Tian Ma didn't greet him, but lightly floated down the wall, took out a pill from his sleeve, and stuffed it into Shopkeeper Yuan's mouth.

Within a few breaths, Shopkeeper Yuan's breathing gradually became heavy, and even the blackness on his face quickly faded, becoming ruddy.

The sound of disordered footsteps came. Golden Pig limped into the small alley, squatted beside Shopkeeper Yuan, and lifted his collar. "You dare to plot against me."

Shopkeeper Yuan slowly woke up. "Official, spare my life!"

Golden Pig was about to smash his face with a fist, but Tian Ma grabbed his fist.

He raised his head to look, and Tian Ma silently shook his head.

Golden Pig's face changed several times. Finally, he lowered his head and looked at Shopkeeper Yuan, "Now the people of the Jing Dynasty want you to die even more than us. The world is so big, where else can you stay? Tell me, are you willing to cooperate with us or not?"

Shopkeeper Yuan hurriedly said, "Willing, willing!"

Golden Pig solemnly asked, "Did you or did you not meet with Chang Jing tonight?"

"I did!"

Chen Ji silently watched this scene and lightly exhaled a breath.

Until this moment, he finally confirmed that everything that had happened tonight was just a play directed and acted by the secret agent department themselves.

Although the assassins' long halberds were fierce, no secret agent died except for Shopkeeper Yuan. The first long halberd clearly had an opportunity to kill Golden Pig, but that halberd happened to fly from the middle of the carriage. Golden Pig, this person who was afraid of death, had clearly fallen to the innate realm, yet he dared to chase and fight a Seeking Dao realm expert...

Every detail revealed strangeness.

But the most crucial detail was: Xi Feng said that one sound of the bird call was to assemble and follow up, two sounds were to surround and ambush. The second time Golden Pig replied with the whistle sound from inside the carriage, it was clearly two sounds.