Chapter 77: Ten Officials

On the collapsed ruins, only a few tilted house beams remained, intersecting.

Under the broken walls and tiles, pieces of brick and tile constantly shifted upwards, as if burying an undying monster about to break free from the soil.

With a ringing sound in his ears, Chen Ji crouched down and moved closer, drawing the short knife from his sleeve.

He had made a total of three bamboo tube firearms. One was given to Jin Zhu, and the remaining two were used to bomb Si Cao. At this point, he had no extra firearms and could only use his knife to kill.

The next moment, there was a booming sound, and bricks and stones flew everywhere.

In the rubble of the ruins, Yuan Zhanggui, propping up a thick, heavy wooden beam, struggled to stand up from the ruins.

He had disheveled hair, and his Jin Liang crown was nowhere to be seen, blasted away.

Yuan Zhanggui was covered in broken iron pieces, his face a blur of flesh and blood, with blood and dust mixed together.

His once bright red satin robe was torn and tattered, draped over his body like a ghost from the deep of night.

He raised his hand to rub his eyes; after the explosion, too much dust and gravel had gotten into them, making it impossible to open them properly.

However, just at this moment, he suddenly discovered that his right hand seemed to be broken, completely unable to lift it.

"Firearm!

This is the Ning Dynasty's firearm!"

Yuan Zhanggui, like Jin Zhu, had seen the Fire Hu, but neither of them had ever seen a firearm with such immense power!

The Ning Dynasty's firearms had only been used on the battlefield for a little over a hundred years.

In the beginning, the fire gun used a rough bamboo tube as the barrel, loaded with gunpowder and wadding. At that time, the gunpowder's power wasn't enough to even burst the bamboo tube; only after firing several times would the bamboo tube be discarded.

In recent decades, the Ning Dynasty finally switched to iron tubes to withstand more powerful gunpowder. But even then, the gunpowder was still not perfect enough; there was no purification technique, and the formula ratio was also incorrect. It was only used on the front lines to counter the Jing Dynasty's cavalry charges.

When Yuan Zhanggui faced the bamboo tube, although he knew he had no time to dodge, he didn't believe it could kill him. At most, it would cause some superficial injuries, not to his bones and tendons.

But the power of Chen Ji's bamboo tube gunpowder was far greater than he had imagined!

It had even blasted the house into collapse!

Yuan Zhanggui barely opened his eyes; his left eyeball was completely bloodshot and extremely red. Only his right eye could barely see things.

He quickly looked around in front but found no one there: "Ning Dynasty secret spy si experts surround and kill me alone, and they still need to hide and skulk?"

From beginning to end, Yuan Zhanggui didn't even see Chen Ji's shadow.

He was blasted by gunpowder, and his first thought was that secret spy si experts had brought the firearm. He didn't even consider Chen Ji!

But no one in the courtyard answered him. Only a short knife stabbed through the air.

Yuan Zhanggui tilted his body and easily dodged the knife aimed at his neck. But Chen Ji didn't stop, stabbing three more times in quick succession at his back, lower back, spleen, and left leg before retreating.

Except for the stab to the leg, Chen Ji suddenly realized that all the others had missed!

No, they didn't miss!

But Yuan Zhanggui's horizontal kung fu had made him copper-skinned and iron-boned; ordinary daggers simply couldn't pierce him. No wonder the opponent could still stand up after the gunpowder explosion!

However, the opponent couldn't be completely tough; otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to dodge the stab to the neck.

At this moment, Yuan Zhanggui, regardless of the blood gushing from his leg, turned his body with his one good eye and stared viciously at Chen Ji: "How is it you? You secretly hid the firearm given by Jing Wang Fu and the Liu family!"

Chen Ji didn't answer, only silently considering how he should kill this bear-like Yuan Zhanggui. He also didn't know what official path the opponent cultivated; he seemed impossible to kill.

In an instant, Yuan Zhanggui charged over like a war chariot. Chen Ji immediately retreated backwards, circling around the courtyard.

But Chen Ji hadn't run two steps before he saw Yuan Zhanggui kick up a piece of brick and stone, which howled towards him.

The broken brick whizzed past Chen Ji's ear, the rushing wind blowing his hair, and struck the wall not far away, shattering into slag.

This kick was terrifyingly powerful. If Yuan Zhanggui hadn't been blinded in one eye, losing his accuracy, Chen Ji might have perished on the spot!

Yuan Zhanggui was frustrated by missing his strike, and kicked brick and stone again and again, sending them flying like cannonballs from a fire gun.

They became more and more accurate, and more and more fierce!

A piece of brick and stone hit Chen Ji's back, and this one strike sent him tumbling.

Chen Ji felt as if his heart and lungs had been displaced, but he didn't dare stop for a moment, scrambling to get up and continue fleeing for his life. He hadn't run many steps when he saw Yuan Zhanggui kick up two more pieces of brick and stone in succession, striking his back and right leg from front and back.

Chen Ji fell down again, and his short knife also flew five or six meters away. He wanted to force himself to stand up, but he couldn't stay steady no matter how hard he tried.

Yuan Zhanggui strode over to Chen Ji's side. He let his broken right hand hang limply and reached out with his left hand to twist Chen Ji's neck.

However, just at this moment!

In the silent stillness, Chen Ji, lying on the ground, suddenly flipped his body to face Yuan Zhanggui!

Yuan Zhanggui gazed at Chen Ji's eyes and suddenly felt that those eyes held no despair, only calm.

No, that's not right!

These are not the eyes of a dying person!

In the space of a breath, the sword seed that Chen Ji had accumulated within his body for several days, like a swimming dragon, traveled along his meridians to his fingertips!

Nourish the sword with the stars, break all things and all laws!

The event happened so suddenly, and at such close range, Yuan Zhanggui had no way to avoid it.

An invisible sword qi spurted from Yuan Zhanggui's neck artery, and a stream of blood suddenly sprayed out endlessly!

The "She Dengke fart sword seed" that Old Head Yao once mocked was actually the power that Chen Ji had nourished for an hour.

And in these past few days, Chen Ji had been learning the knife from Feng Huai while also nourishing his sword, patiently waiting for this invisible sword qi to become his final trump card.

Chen Ji pried open Yuan Zhanggui's fingers with both hands. The large, fat hand slowly opened, and he coughed heavily on the ground.

Yuan Zhanggui covered his neck in disbelief, retreating step by step. Blood flowed from between his fingers, quickly draining all his strength.

"When did you become an official... This is the sword seed path... How do you understand Wu Miao's nourish sword method! Did your mother teach you? But how could she master the nourish sword method..."

Sword seed path...

"It really is the sword seed path!"

Yuan Zhanggui fell with a boom.

Chen Ji slumped to the ground. He held up his palm, and sporadic snowflakes suddenly floated down from the sky, melting immediately upon falling into his palm.

For a moment, he felt a bit confused. He had finally killed Yuan Zhanggui.

This night, he first saved the world son and Bai Li, then dragged his injured body to assassinate Yuan Zhanggui. The sky was clearly not yet bright, yet it felt like a long, long season had passed, enduring from autumn to winter.

Before he could fully recover, the sound of horse hooves echoed from the distant street. The secret spy si were coming!

Chen Ji struggled to stand up, wanting to quickly escape the scene, but as soon as he stood up, he fell heavily again. The last piece of brick and stone kicked up by Yuan Zhanggui had fallen on his leg, reopening his wound.

Just at the critical moment.

Footsteps sounded from not far away, and someone spoke in a condensed voice: "So you were here. I looked for you all night!"

Chen Ji was astonished; this voice was extraordinarily familiar...

At the end of Tong Ji Street, dozens of warhorses galloped forward, with Jin Zhu riding in the lead, his face grim and quiet.

He had just been in Hong Yi Alley several li away, preparing to lead his subordinates to withdraw, when he heard the familiar sound of an explosion again.

Jin Zhu never would have thought that this master wielding the firearm, a thief from the Jing Dynasty, wouldn't escape but would instead go to other parts of Luo City to commit another major crime.

Only this explosion sounded a bit strange, seeming to come from a merchant district. Jin Zhu thought for a long time but couldn't figure out what a Jing Dynasty thief could do there.

But the grievance of one explosion could not go unavenged.

Jin Zhu charged into Tong Ji Street on horseback, and from a distance, he saw the place where smoke and dust rose: "Come, seal off the area around Tong Ji Street.

From tonight onwards, only allow entry, not exit. Turn over every inch of this place; don't even let an earthworm go!"

However, as soon as the words fell, a crow suddenly descended in the dark night.

The crow rose and fell like a gust of black wind. The crowd couldn't even see its specific appearance; it was extremely swift.

The crow didn't engage in a tangled fight with the people, only repeatedly pecked at the warhorses' eyes, causing the horses to rear up in fright, scattering their hooves to shake off the crow, even flinging the secret spies onto the ground.

Jin Zhu leaped from his horse's back, stepped on the horse saddle, and sprang into the air towards the crow.

The warhorse knelt on the ground, unable to bear the counterforce, and his stout figure crossed paths with the crow... he missed!

Jin Zhu was suddenly shocked. The crow's speed seemed faster than his: "What is this thing? How can there be such a fierce crow? Official path!

Use crossbows! Shoot it down!"

The secret spies scrambled to take out hand crossbows from their waistbands and shot towards the night sky. But the crow turned and moved, emitting caw caw sounds, easily dodging the crossbow arrows while mocking them.

Jin Zhu determined that this was necessarily some kind of official path, but he recalled all the official paths he knew, and none of them matched this kind of path. The opponent seemed to have never appeared in history.

How could this be?

The Si Li Jian was the organization that managed the imperial court's intelligence. As long as an official path appeared in the world, it would certainly be recorded in their archives, even folk legends would be recorded.

What kind of official path was this, actually hidden so deep, not a single word recorded in the Si Li Jian's case library?

"Abandon horses!"

Jin Zhu let out a low shout, taking the lead and running madly towards Yuan Fu, where smoke and dust were rising.

The crow was anxious. It desperately pecked and struck the secret spies, but more and more secret spies were catching up, and the blunt arrows almost wove a net in the air.

As long as it flew slightly lower, it would likely be hit by several arrows.

Pierce!

The crow was forced to fly up into the night sky.

In just over ten breaths' time, Jin Zhu had already reached the entrance of Yuan Fu. He leaped over the high courtyard gate and fell into the yard, but at this time, only a collapsed house and a stripped, naked corpse remained inside Yuan Fu.

He looked up again, and the crow had also flown away to who knows where.

"Chase, the killer hasn't gone far!"

Several hundred meters away, Chen Ji was being carried on someone's shoulder, and another person was following behind.

He looked back at the person following him through the jolting, and with difficulty, he opened his mouth: "Biao Zi brother, weren't you already leaving?"

Wu Hong Biao grinned and said: "Originally, I planned to leave, but Si Cao felt that if you didn't leave, you might want to do something alone, so he kept me behind.

We heard the commotion in Hong Yi Alley earlier and then secretly lurked over, only not daring to get close. Later, you escaped from the roof, and we followed from afar.

At that time, I didn't recognize you and still thought you were some outlaw."

The next moment, the cart driver Si Cao, who was carrying Chen Ji, said in a cold voice: "Don't hurry to chat. Be careful your breath is disordered and they catch up."

Having said that, he carried Chen Ji, turning left and right, taking a full half hour to reach a dark alley. An ox cart was tied up here.

Si Cao threw Chen Ji onto the cart board, then sat in the front, waved the whip, and drove the ox cart south.

Chen Ji sat up: "Where are we going?"

The cart driver Si Cao calmly said: "First, go south to Yangzhou to avoid the storm. Wait until the secret spy si lift the seal, then go north back to the Jing Dynasty. There is no longer a place for us in the Ning Dynasty; we have to go back and find your uncle."

Chen Ji was stunned. He turned his head to look at the retreating buildings and the bluestone road. Did he eventually have to leave the Ning Dynasty?

He asked in a low voice: "Is there no other way?"

"No other way. You injured Jin Zhu tonight and killed Liang He Yong afterwards. The Military Intelligence Si and the Secret Spy Si will both be unable to tolerate you."

"Liang He Yong?"

"The Yuan Zhanggui you just killed."

Si Cao Gui said coldly: "He was also once your uncle's man, but he betrayed your uncle to get closer to Lu Guan Wu.

He was a faithless villain. Everyone should execute him. Even if you hadn't killed him today, I would have found a way to kill him before leaving."

Chen Ji leaned back in the cart, silent for a long time: "Why are you so loyal to my uncle?"

Si Cao Gui tightened the reins in his hand: "That's none of your business."

Chen Ji recalled his fight with Yuan Zhanggui and said doubtfully: "What path did he cultivate? Why was he copper-skinned and iron-boned, even a knife couldn't pierce him?"

"Before he came to the Ning Dynasty, he was arranged by your uncle to lurk in Ku Jue Temple in Sheng Jing City of our Jing Dynasty. He cultivated the Golden Bell path.

This path has no shortcuts. It requires hitting the bell in front of Buddha for ten years, day after day, without fail. The path itself makes one copper-skinned and iron-boned.

But he only hit the bell for ten years, so naturally, his body still had many flaws. Ku Jue Temple once had an old monk who hit the bell for sixty years and was completely copper-skinned and iron-boned without any flaws."

Chen Ji leaned back in the cart, tired: "I've learned something. So hitting the bell can be a form of cultivation."

He recalled that the little monk with the world son also seemed to cultivate by simply reciting the Sutra of the Original Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva repeatedly.

In this way, are there many cultivation paths in the Buddhist and Daoist schools? No wonder the Buddhist Gate Tong Bao dared to rob the money shop business...

In these days since coming to the Ning Dynasty, Chen Ji hadn't seen a single money shop on the street, thinking that the Buddhist Gate Tong Bao must be the sole dominator.

Chen Ji asked again: "How many Si Cao does our Military Intelligence Si have exactly?"

The cart driver Si Cao was silent for a moment, seeming to feel a sense of kinship with him, and then no longer hid it: "Before there were three, now there are ten. They are coded as Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui."

"Which one are you?"

"I am 'Gui'. Yuan Zhanggui was 'Xin'."

"The Ning Dynasty's twelve zodiacs correspond to the Jing Dynasty's ten heavenly stems?"

Chen Ji asked: "Why is there no longer a place for us in the Ning Dynasty?"

Si Cao Gui said calmly: "Originally, the entire Military Intelligence Si was promoted by your uncle. Now Lu Guan Wu has been promoted to Military Strategy Envoy and manages all military strategy and intelligence of our Jing Dynasty. He will bring in his old subordinates and gradually purge your uncle's old subordinates.

Originally, Si Master was also your uncle's old subordinate, but I haven't been able to contact him for half a month. I fear he has already met with misfortune.

Once the new Si Master takes office, there will inevitably be another purge."

Chen Ji suddenly asked: "Wait, if your uncle's old subordinates have all been eliminated, then within the Military Intelligence Si, besides you, Yuan Zhanggui, and Biao Zi brother, who else knows my identity as a Jing Dynasty spy?"

Si Cao Gui thought for a moment before answering: "Si Master also knows."

Chen Ji took a deep breath: "But Si Master has also been eliminated by Lu Guan Wu. Doesn't that mean that within the Military Intelligence Si, besides you and Biao Zi brother, no one else knows my identity?"

Si Cao Gui thought again and again: "Yes."

Chen Ji stood up and pulled Si Cao Gui's hand on the reins, stopping the ox cart. He said with firm determination: "You go to Yangzhou. I'm going back to Tai Ping Medical Hall."