Chapter 280: The Map and the Dagger

Half of Guyuan City had already been reduced to ruins. In the dark night, the emptiness of the ruins made one feel overgrown with weeds in their heart.

Chen Ji struggled to discern directions in the night. Behind him, the sound of hooves was urgent, and he didn't know how many Tian Ce Army soldiers and horses had crossed the sea of fire to pursue them.

As the Tian Ce Army drew closer, Li Xuan suddenly said:"You go, I'll stop them."

But Chen Ji only looked at him once and pulled him into a pile of ruins. The smoke in the ruins was acrid. Chen Ji held his breath, concentrating, and closed his eyes!

Li Xuan was anxious and uneasy. He had fought with the Tian Ce Army all day and knew that evading their search was not that simple, but he didn't dare to speak and remind Chen Ji!

In his anxiety, the Tian Ce Army rode past the front of the ruins! However, they had only galloped a short distance when the first armored soldier with a black pheasant tail detected something was wrong, pulled the reins tight, and stopped his horse!

He listened quietly for a moment, then immediately turned his horse back:"Search, don't miss a single ruin nearby. Perhaps those two people are hiding among them."

Several dozen mounted Tian Ce Army armored soldiers charged towards the ruins. Some held ten-foot horse spears, piercing through every part of the ruins, wanting to comb through the area!

The Tian Ce Army was getting closer and closer, the sound of hooves was near their ears!

Li Xuan's heart was startled. He was about to move and lead the pursuers away, but Chen Ji held him down tightly!

The next moment, he heard the urgent sound of metal clashing in the distance. Immediately after, it seemed there was also the sound of someone dragging a knife while walking.

In an instant, several dozen Tian Ce Army armored soldiers all turned their heads, looking towards the source of the sound!

The armored soldier with the black pheasant tail pointed his spear and said angrily:"Kill without mercy!"

The sound of iron hooves gradually faded. Only then did Chen Ji move and escape in another direction. He didn't slow down his pace until he had run three li, and he couldn't help but cough!

They were temporarily safe!

Li Xuan looked around the surroundings with some disbelief:They had escaped.

He couldn't suppress the doubt in his heart and asked in a low voice:"What was that just now? Do you still have support here? Was it that girl from your side, or Zhang Eryi? How did they escape?"

Chen Ji didn't speak. He walked through a thick plume of smoke, and the two sword seeds in the cover of the night returned to the pattern on his waist belt! He determined the general direction and turned towards Taohuaifang!

Li Xuan silently followed behind him, observing his every move!

Passing a well, Chen Ji stopped and listened to the sounds nearby. After confirming there was no one in all four directions, he gently shook up a bucket of water. He wet the hem of his clothes to avoid having to pass through large fires and thick smoke again!

Li Xuan followed suit and also wet the hem of his clothes!

Chen Ji retied his messy hair, making it secure with a hair tie!

Li Xuan saw this and also tied up his hair!

Chen Ji rubbed charcoal on his hand and wiped five black marks diagonally across his face!

Although Li Xuan was doubtful and didn't understand, he still followed suit and wiped!

Chen Ji glanced at him:"Li Daren, what are you learning from me?"

Li Xuan hesitated for a moment then explained:"You can move freely inside this Guyuan City. It's always right for me to follow and learn!"

Chen Ji said calmly:"Li Daren doesn't need to learn!"

Li Xuan was slightly startled:"Why?"

Chen Ji explained casually:"Li Daren is kind-hearted, I'm just afraid you won't live too long, so learning so many things is useless!"

Li Xuan was speechless for a moment!

Chen Ji suddenly asked:"What did those armored foot soldiers look like just now? Is the armor they're wearing leather armor?"

Li Xuan was startled:"How do you know? Did you also see those foot soldiers? Where did they come from, which banner do they belong to?"

Chen Ji didn't answer and continued to hurry on.

Li Xuan asked again:"I saw you use a knife earlier. Where did that one-handed arrow technique come from? Can you teach me?"

Chen Ji still didn't answer!

"Where is His Highness the Prince?"

"Is Chen Daren still well?"

"Is Qi Jianzhe still alive?"

Gradually, Li Xuan discovered that Chen Ji didn't want to pay attention to him, so he also fell silent!

Chen Ji led the way in front, and he followed behind in a sorry state, as if Chen Ji was the commander of the Yulin Army, while he was a raw recruit who had just joined the ranks!

Chen Ji avoided the Tian Ce Army's search, constantly changing direction to approach Taohuaifang!

But just when he was still two streets away from Taohuaifang, he suddenly pulled Li Xuan behind a pile of burned ruins, quietly observing outside!

He saw that at the road intersection ahead, Tian Ce soldiers were passing by holding torches!

Neat iron cavalry slowly advanced north, accompanied by foot soldiers leading hunting dogs on either side!

The long line seemed endless, cutting off Chen Ji and Li Xuan's path in the middle!

Chen Ji whispered:"Wait for them to pass!"

The two squatted behind the ruins and waited patiently, but they waited for a full half shichen, and this army still didn't finish: Li Xuan quietly looked over and suddenly saw a strong armored soldier sitting on a warhorse, holding a black banner that swayed in the firelight. The edge of the banner was sewn with a circle of black pheasant tails, and the banner face was embroidered with a gold thread "Yuan" character.

Li Xuan lowered his voice:"This is the banner of the main army. The great commander of the Tian Ce Army, Yuan Zhen, is entering the city."

Chen Ji responded with an emotionless "en."

A moment later, Li Xuan suddenly said:"Chen Ji, in the battle of Quwu Mountain in the twenty-fifth year of Jianning, he managed to escape. If we kill him, maybe we can scatter the morale of the Tian Ce Army!"

Chen Ji asked casually:"How old is Li Daren this year?"

Li Xuan answered:"Thirty-four!"

Chen Ji continued:"Has Li Daren ever been to the battlefield?"

Li Xuan shook his head:"No, after marrying into the Qi family at seventeen, I just entered the Yulin Army. Later, I drilled and guarded every day, never going to the battlefield!"

Chen Ji said calmly:"Li Daren blames Qi Jianzhe for being a fop, but how good can you be? You often have a look of unrecognized talent, but in the Yulin Army, everyone only looks up to you because you are the son-in-law of the Qi family. You were able to rise step by step also entirely due to the grant of the Qi family!"

"You keep saying that your ancestors served in the Wansui Army, as if you are a grade higher than other Yulin Army, but then you are as naive as a child! Li Daren, you are indeed stronger than Qi Jianzhe, but only stronger in that you dare to die, only a little!"

Li Xuan was slightly startled, and gradually lowered his head in shame:"I just think that Guyuan City has already fallen. Since it's a death anyway, then I want to die with some meaning! Since I married into and abandoned my family, except for the matters the Qi family helped with, I have achieved nothing. I just..."

Chen Ji shook his head and said without humanity:"Li Daren, there is no need to say these affected words for me to hear, they have nothing to do with me!"

Li Xuan was silent for a moment:"Sorry, I made a fool of myself!"

At this moment, the Tian Ce Army suddenly stopped!

A team of Tian Ce Army iron cavalry, pressing several dozen people, staggered to the road intersection!

Chen Ji quickly looked. Among these several dozen people, he suddenly saw the figures of Zhang Xia, Zhang Zheng, the Prince, and Xiao Man. They had actually been searched out by the Tian Ce Army.

Chen Ji froze on the spot!

Why?

Why were they searched out even when hiding in the cellar?

How hidden was the cellar under the well of the grain and oil shop? As long as the cellar's bricks and stones were blocked properly, who could discover the hidden mechanism within? Was it because they were careless and forgot to block the cellar entrance? Impossible, it was possible for anyone else to be careless and forget, but impossible for Zhang Xia...

Chen Ji looked at the swaying firelight before his eyes, the fire in his eyes flickering uncertainly!

That familiar feeling came back again, as if no matter how hard he tried, the outcome would not change at all!

In the torchlight, he saw an armored soldier ride his horse to the front of the crowd!

He first asked a woman a few sentences, then lifted his spear and stabbed her in the chest and abdomen!

The Tian Ce Army then pushed another person forward to question, and again stabbed them to death!

Chen Ji bent down and silently approached, until he could clearly see Xiao Man's scolding and babbling mouth shape, and Zhang Xia and Zhang Zheng's stubborn and unwilling expressions!

The armored soldier on the warhorse coldly swept his gaze over everyone, then used his long spear to point at the Prince in the crowd, and said in a cold voice:"Bring him forward to be questioned!"

The Tian Ce Army pushed the Prince forward a step. The armored soldier on the warhorse used the tip of his spear to pick up the jade pendant at the Prince's waist, and asked in a deep voice:"Who are you?"

The Prince answered in a slow voice:"I am a merchant from the Central Plains who came here to do business!"

The armored soldier on the warhorse laughed heartily, as if he had heard a huge joke:"Dare I ask Your Highness the Prince of the Ning Dynasty, where in this world is there a merchant who dares to wear a four-clawed coiled dragon jade pendant? Come, quickly ride to the city outskirts and report to the great commander, we have captured the Prince of the Ning Dynasty."

"Yes!" An iron cavalry turned his horse and left, galloping towards the city outskirts!

The armored soldier on the warhorse waved his hand:"Leave the Prince of the Ning Dynasty, kill everyone else."

Among the pressed crowd, one figure staggered out:"Don't kill us, we are also useful. I am a scholar of the Ning Dynasty, I am Chen Wenxiao, the son of the Shao Zhanshi of the Zhanshi Fu. Those two people over there are Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia, the children of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Don't kill us."

The armored soldier on the warhorse was stunned for a moment, then laughed even more wildly:"Good, good, good, what I like most in my life are these spineless literati of the Southern Dynasty. Put an iron rope around his neck and keep him by my side as a dog afterwards."

As he spoke, Chen Wenzong rushed out of the crowd and pushed Chen Wenxiao down. He rode on Chen Wenxiao's body, his fists falling like rain on Chen Wenxiao's face!

Some armored soldiers wanted to pull Chen Wenzong away, but the Tian Ce Army soldier on the warhorse sneered:"Let them fight, the Southerners are used to dogs biting dogs."