Aoyama

Chapter 188 Fate

The clear sound of the copper whistle was like a magpie, flying over the rooftops and into the dark alleys.

In the alley, the guards wearing bamboo hats looked up at the night sky at the same time. When they heard the sound of the whistle clearly, they took out their own whistles from their arms and blew them.

The sound of the copper whistle rolled into the distance like ripples, and Jie Fanwei moved closer to the inner prison like wasps returning to their nest.

Looking down from the sky, the vast snow looks like a chessboard, the alleys look like chess squares, and the densely packed Jiefanwei look like chess pieces. It seems that someone has set up a chess game here to lure you into a trap.

Before Jie Fanwei arrived, Liang Gou'er leaned on the roof and whispered to Chen Ji, "Hurry up, Jie Fanwei will be here soon, this is a trap!"

In front of the inner prison gate, Chen Ji did not answer.

He looked at the dark stone steps of the inner prison. A cold wind blew towards him from inside. The jailer had retreated into the darkness of the inner prison, and the wall lamp engraved with the Bagua diagram went out at some point.

Heavy snow fell on Chen Ji's head, shoulders, and heart. He felt a chill rising from the bottom of his heart and spreading throughout his body like an icy flow.

Someone has set up a tight net here to guard against anyone who wants to jailbreak and eliminate all future troubles.

Save or leave? This is a fatal question.

While I was thinking, I heard the sound of wheels running over the cobblestone road in the distance.

Chen Ji turned around and saw that it was a convoy of soldiers from the Luocheng Prefecture under Zhang Zhuo who were transporting food and fodder. They were lined up in a long queue and had blocked the area.

The arrow is on the string and must be fired!

Liang Gou'er lowered his voice and asked, "Are you leaving or not?"

Chen Ji looked back at Liang Gou'er on the roof with a dark look in his eyes. The master was right. The more he wanted to see the sun, the more his roots had to be buried in the dark soil.

If you want to accomplish something, you always have to pay a price.

He lowered his eyes, stood in the darkness and whispered, "Brother Gou'er, I asked you to come here to deal with the current situation. You guard the door, and I promise that you can see Jiang Liuxian with the letter."

Liang Gou'er said angrily: "I'm not a god, how can I beat such a Jiefanwei?"

Chen Ji's face was calm: "Jiang, Liu, Xian."

Liang Gou'er was angry again: "You will definitely die if you go in now."

Chen Ji walked into the inner prison without looking back: "It doesn't matter, there's nothing to look forward to anyway."

He walked down the stone steps step by step and headed deeper into the inner prison.

She Dengke hesitated for a few moments, jumped off the roof, and ran into the inner prison with Chen Ji.

In the heavy snow, only Liang Gouer and Liang Maoer were left on the roof.

Liang Gou'er was lying on the roof with a complicated expression. He saw Jie Fanwei approaching from a distance and turned around to leave: "Cat, let's go. We don't want to get involved in this mess! What Jiang Liuxian or not, I'm gone!"

However, before he could turn around completely, Liang Mao'er grabbed his arm tightly and said in a muffled voice: "Brother, I know you haven't made up your mind whether to go to see my sister-in-law or not. I will accompany you whether you go or not. It doesn't matter, you can think about it slowly. But the prince and the princess are both good people, we can't leave now."

Liang Gou'er impatiently struggled to break free from Liang Mao'er's hand, but he couldn't.

He said helplessly: "They are good people. What does it have to do with us? Aren't there many people who have repaid us with evil over the years?"

Liang Gou'er counted on his fingers: "In the 14th year of Jianing, Li Xuan was arrested by the court and fled to Luocheng. In order to save him, my father was stabbed seven times, one of which severed the tendons of his left hand. Li Xuan knelt down and told my father that he owed the Liang family a life and would pay it back in this life."

"But what happened? That evil minister set up a martial arts alliance to recruit martial artists from all over the world, giving them official positions, food and wages, and land. Just because someone secretly told Li Xuan that he and my father were both candidates for the leader of the martial arts alliance, he was afraid that my father would compete with him for the leader of the martial arts alliance, so he attacked my father after drinking! There were 28 sword wounds all over his body. If it weren't for the medicine from Laojun Mountain Taoist Temple, my father would have died long ago!"

Liang Gou'er glared at his brother and said, "In the autumn of the 19th year of Jianing, Zhou You and his son were hunted down by Luo Tian Sect and brought to Luocheng. My father went to the old sect leader to mediate and was able to save them."

"What happened? After my father was injured by Li Xuan, he was escorting an escort. Zhou You and his son were tempted by the money and revealed the matter to the Taihang Mountain bandits. My father escaped by chance and was only one breath left when he returned to Luocheng! Over the years, I killed Li Xuan, Zhou You and his son, and the Taihang Mountain bandits. I have a lot of blood debts on my shoulders. If I get injured or die, how will you survive if my enemies come looking for you?"

"Cat, let me ask you, are there any rewards for being a good person in this world?"

"Cat, let me ask you, is there anyone in this world who would go through fire and water for three thousand miles, climb mountains of swords, and descend into seas of fire, just to deliver a letter and save a person for a promise?"

Liang Maoer remained silent.

Liang Gou'er looked at his brother and glared at him: "Are you going to leave or not? If not, I will leave!"

Liang Maoer slowly let go of his hand and said seriously: "Brother, it is their fault for being ungrateful, not what we did. Brother, what is our Liang family motto?"

Liang Gou'er was startled: "Mao'er, the martial arts world is no longer the same as before. The backbone of this martial arts world has been broken by people using fame and fortune..."

Liang Maoer stood up from the roof, looked down at his brother and said seriously: "When a man of the underworld does under the underworld, he must keep his word and fulfill his actions. He must be sincere when he makes a promise. He does not care about his body and would rather die with honor than live in vain. He will face death with equanimity!"

Liang Maoer continued, "Brother, do you remember what the eight words our father told you before he died?"

Liang Gou'er murmured, "If one's integrity is ruined, everything will fall apart..."

Liang Maoer lowered her eyes: "You didn't do it."

As soon as he finished speaking, a Jie Fanwei came to the gate of the inner prison with a knife on his waist. Just as he was about to rush in, Liang Maoer jumped from the roof and pounced behind Jie Fanwei.

Jie Fanwei felt a dark shadow pressing down from behind him, and subconsciously turned around to draw his knife, but before he could draw the knife halfway, he was grabbed and lifted up by Liang Maoer.

"go with!"

Liang Maoer threw the ball with all his might and immediately threw Jie Fanwei several feet away.

But I saw that Jie Fanwei fell on the snow, bounced heavily and fell down again, sliding for two or three feet before he stopped, and no one knew where the hat on his head fell.

Jie Fanwei struggled to get up from the snow and shook his head. He looked at the distance between himself and Liang Maoer in disbelief. He was actually thrown so far!
He turned his cheek to the side and spat out a mouthful of blood, then reached to his collar and slowly untied his raincoat and threw it on the snow, revealing a black flying fish suit underneath, with a red embroidered python on his shoulders extending to his chest.

"Kill!" Jie Fanwei drew his sword, walked forward on the snow without fear of death.

When he rushed back, another five or six Jiefan guards arrived. They took off their raincoats and drew their swords to attack Liang Maoer.

When they came within ten steps of Liang Maoer, Jie Fanwei took off their hats and swung them at Liang Maoer like hidden weapons.

The bamboo hat broke through the layers of snow and flew towards us.

Liang Maoer tried his best to dodge, but was still cut by the two hats on his arms and legs. There was a blade hidden in the brim of Jie Fanwei's hat, and the cuts left a bloody mark.

Jie Fanwei surrounded Liang Maoer.

Liang Maoer fought without any method and could only charge forward wildly. He repeatedly knocked away Jie Fanwei's blade, grabbed his opponent and threw him out, but he never killed him.

But he was still muttering: "When a man of the underworld does things in the underworld, he must keep his word, fulfill his actions, and keep his promises..."

Liang Gou'er knows his younger brother best. He is a soft-hearted person who would cry for half the night when a chicken died in the family when they were children. When Liang's father wanted to kill a cow, the silly younger brother hugged the cow's neck and said, "If you want to kill the cow, kill me first."

This kind of fool has wasted his natural supernatural power. Even if he has mastered the sword skills, he will not kill anyone.

Liang Gou'er was upset. He turned over and lay on the roof with his eyes closed. Liang Mao'er's voice lingered in his ears: "I would rather die with honor than live in shame..."

More and more guards gathered around Liang Maoer, and Liang Gouer, who was lying on the roof, stood up.

"Stop thinking, stop thinking!" He stood quietly on the roof, overlooking his brother not far away, and finally sighed: "You are so soft-hearted that I am going to die. How can you live on?"

When a Jiefanwei swung a knife at Liang Maoer from behind, Liang Gouer flicked the knife's jaws with his thumb.

A clanging sound pierced the sky, and the pure sound of the sword being unsheathed was like the original sound of martial arts created by heaven and earth!
Liang Gou'er was still standing on the roof when a clear sword light crossed the sky and the earth, spanning a distance of several feet and cutting the Jie Fanwei who had attacked Liang Mao'er into two. The stone road under the snow was also split into a palm-deep crack.

Domineering! Unrivaled!
You Jie Fanwei exclaimed: "Liang family swordsmanship!"

The Liang family's swordsmanship does not have any special techniques, they simply practiced the sword's intent to the extreme.

In a matter of breaths, the killing intent is pure, no tricks are needed!

Liang Maoer turned to Liang Gouer and smiled innocently, "Brother, thank you."

Liang Gou'er said angrily: "Shut up!"

He jumped lightly off the roof and stood in front of Liang Maoer.

The next moment, Liang Gou'er looked up at the Jie Fanwei who had just surrounded him and attacked him. There were so many of them.

Without even turning his head, he said to Liang Mao'er, "Silly Mao'er, no one in our Liang family has ever been able to cross the hurdle of the divine way. Dad has always said that this matter must fall on you. I hope Dad is right. Today, I will show you what the real Liang family swordsmanship is. Whether you can learn it or not is also fate."

Liang Gou'er was seen facing hundreds of Jiefan Guards, standing tall and looking up. He took a deep breath, and the wind and snow were sucked into his mouth, sucking in the world.

Draw the knife!

In an instant, the sword light illuminated the night and the snow waterfall rolled back!

A crack several feet long appeared on the bluestone road outside the inner prison gate, and all the Jie Fanwei within a few feet were turned into ghosts by this knife.

Liang Gou'er looked at the endless stream of Jiefanwei around him and laughed loudly: "The fourteenth generation of the Liang family's knife master is here, bring your heads here quickly!"

Watching and clapping, laughing at the carelessness and madness, what's wrong with being careless? What's wrong with being mad?
……

……

Chen Ji walked down the stone steps of the inner prison quickly.

A crossbow arrow shot out from the darkness. Chen Ji slightly turned his head to avoid it. His right hand caught the crossbow arrow by his ear. He threw it back into the darkness. A muffled groan was heard not far away, and then someone ran away quickly.

Chen Ji covered his face with the gray cloth again, ran down the stone steps, and stepped into the corridor of the inner prison.

More than ten jailers came over to fight, but Chen Ji did not stop and walked towards the jailers.

The cells on both sides still held prisoners from Prince Jing's Mansion and the Liu family. They leaned against the iron bars and cried, "Save us, save us!"

Chen Ji encountered hand-to-hand combat with the jailer in a narrow corridor. In an instant, he snatched the knife and swung it in one go!
A jailer exclaimed: "Xiantian!"

Chen Ji's face was as gloomy as water, and he moved forward step by step with a knife in hand.

Amid the sounds of fighting in the corridor, She Dengke ran to Chunhua's cell and hugged her through the iron bars: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm here to save you."

Chunhua pursed her lips and tried to suppress her tears: "Idiot, why are you here? Aren't you afraid of death?! There are so many of them, hurry up and leave!"

She Dengke hurriedly comforted him, "It's okay, we'll die together... Wait a moment, I'll go help you."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned his head to look at the corridor, only to find that more than a dozen jailers were already lying on the ground and did not need his help at all.

Chen Ji was covered in blood and panting. He pulled a bunch of keys from the jailer's waist, found the key of No. 7, took it off, and then threw all the remaining keys to She Dengke: "Open the door and save Chunhua."

She Dengke took the key and hurriedly inserted it into the keyhole while watching Chen Ji run deeper.

Chen Ji ran very fast, and the cell No. 7 was getting closer and closer.

When he was almost there, he stopped and wiped the blood off his face. He looked down again and was relieved only after confirming that there were no visible injuries on his body.

But when Chen Ji arrived at the door of cell number 7, he was suddenly stunned.

Chen Ji stood in front of the cell door, feeling as if he had just experienced another explosion, with a loud buzzing in his ears.

There was only the prince in the cell, not Bai Li.

He watched the prince grab the iron bars and open and close his mouth, but he could no longer hear what he was saying. He felt like he was drowning in the water, the sticky black water wrapped him tightly, and he didn't know where he was going.

Chen Ji came back to his senses and asked angrily, "Where is the princess?"

The prince came to the door and said, "Bai Long took her away alone today. I don't know where she went!"

"Why did you take the princess away alone?"

"do not know!"

Chen Ji suddenly felt a sense of absurdity.

It was as if fate had the ability to correct itself. No matter how hard he tried, there would always be a problem, causing fate to return to its original track.

Chen Ji felt a rage burning in his heart. He turned around and strode forward. He came to the door of cell No. 1, and saw Prince Jing sitting in the cell, looking haggard.

In just two days, it seemed as if the other party had spent his entire life in this inner prison.

Prince Jing heard the footsteps and looked up at Chen Ji in front of the door: "You are here after all."

Chen Ji grabbed the iron bars and said, "Prince, do you have to sacrifice others for what you are going to do? You knew you would die and that Emperor Ning was going to kill you, so why didn't you prepare a way out for the prince and the princess in advance?"

Prince Jing said nothing.

Chen Ji asked again: "Did you let Bai Long take Bai Li away? You didn't want me to leave Ning Dynasty, so you wanted to use Bai Li's life to keep me here?"

In the dim and damp inner prison, Chen Ji looked straight into Prince Jing's eyes: "Prince, you have seen Li Qingniao, right? It was you, my master, and Li Qingniao who 'smuggled' me down from the forty-ninth heaven, so you came to play chess with me as soon as you returned to Luocheng, wanting to see what kind of person I am."

Chen Ji's voice gradually weakened: "But why did you sacrifice the princess? What did she do wrong? Just because she is not your biological daughter, you hate her?"

At this time, Prince Jing said: "All your guesses are correct, except for one thing: I did not have Baili taken away by someone, and Bailong was sent to kill me by secret order, so he is not one of my men."

Chen Ji was startled. If it wasn't arranged by Prince Jing, then why did Bai Long take Bai Li away alone?

and many more……

and many more!

Chen Ji suddenly remembered what Yun Yang had said tonight, that the other party had someone who could capture Han Tong, and that person was being held in the Secret Service Office in Huanjing Hutong!
It's a white carp!
The Secret Service knows that Bai Li is not Prince Jing’s biological daughter!

Chen Ji looked at Prince Jing in shock: "Did you secretly leak the news to the Secret Service?"

Prince Jing said weakly: "What?"

Chen Ji roared: "Your Highness, did you leak the news that Baili is Han Tong's biological daughter to the Secret Service because you knew that Baili could lure out Han Tong, who is the most difficult to catch! Only you, Concubine Yun, and Han Tong should know about this. Now that you are going to die, do you want to drag Luo Tianzong into the grave with you?"

Prince Jing was silent.

Chen Ji murmured, "...Do you all have no emotions? Are the people in your world all cold-blooded?"

Prince Jing looked at him quietly, and after a long while he slowly said: "Chen Ji, the Jing and Ning dynasties have been fighting for a thousand years, and the people can't bear the chaos. There are too many things I want to do, but I don't have time. I don't have time to clear up the chronic diseases of the Ning Dynasty, nor do I have time to train troops and unify the country. At the age of 21, I was an ambitious young general, and at the age of 45, I was just a terminally ill prisoner. I don't have time. Chen Ji, there are some things that someone must do..."

Prince Jing whispered, "The Luo Tian Sect secretly controls the grain transport. Over the years, they have secretly abducted and sold countless women and children, and have sheltered countless bandits. If they collude with the Jing Dynasty and cut off the Ning Dynasty's food supply at the most critical moment, then everything will be over. The Luo Tian Sect must be eradicated."

Chen Ji's expression had completely darkened. "Your Majesty, if Bai Li knew that you sold her, what would she think... No, you clearly entrusted your son to your care, you didn't really want her to die! Your Majesty, you must have a backup plan, what exactly is it?"

At this time, She Dengke ran over holding Chunhua's hand and said, "Hurry up, it's too late. If you don't leave now, you will really be unable to leave!"

She Dengke dragged Chen Ji out, and Chen Ji roared, "What on earth are you going to do? Why did you sneak me out?"

Prince Jing sighed in his cell: "Chen Ji, there shouldn't be gods in this world, nor should there be forty-nine heavens... I'm sorry."

Chen Ji was about to rush forward to ask more questions, but he discovered that a raging ice stream was rolling out of the No. 1 prison cell. It was more terrifying and huge than the ice streams of Concubine Jing and Concubine Yun, more than any previous ice streams, and even more than the ice streams of the entire inner prison!

Suffocating!

The powerful prince of the Ning Dynasty left.

The other party did not give him another chance to ask questions, and the prince died willingly in this dark cell.

At one point, Chen Ji even thought that during the past three years, Prince Jing had been calculating the future every day, every minute, and every second, even his own death.

The reason why the other party has held on until now is to leave the ice flow to him!
Without time to think, he took out the key, opened the cell, pulled the prince and ran out.

The prince shouted, "Chen Ji, save my father, he is still in there!"

Chen Ji did not answer. He just pulled the prince forward, passed through the long dark corridor, and broke through the cage.

When he reached the ground, She Dengke was shocked.

There were hundreds of Jiefanwei corpses lying on the snow. Their red blood was steaming in the winter night, melting the snow one by one.

In the snow, Liang Maoer supported Liang Gouer with tears in his eyes. Liang Gouer stood with his left hand leaning on the sword, standing tall.

However, there was a bloodstain on Liang Gou'er's back, running diagonally from his shoulder to his waist, and his right arm... was empty.

Chen Ji hesitated and said, "Brother Gou'er, you..."

Liang Gou'er grinned, "Damn it, there are many officials hidden in the Jiefan Guard, and they have capsized in the gutter. The Du Meridian is broken, and I can't use the sword in the future. But it's just right, this sword skill has plagued the Liang family for more than ten generations, so let it go."

Chen Ji stared at Liang Gou'er in a daze, and suddenly Wang Daosheng's words echoed in his ears: Most people can only see the gains and losses of external things, but not the gains and losses of their own hearts. You feel uncomfortable because there is a piece missing in your heart.

He avoided her gaze and said, "Thank you, Brother Gou'er."

Liang Gou'er panted and said in a deep voice, "Stop pretending. I don't like dealing with people like you who are unscrupulous. Let's forget each other and never meet again. You and I were not friends before, and we will not be friends in the future. She Dengke, I advise you not to be friends with this kind of person, otherwise he will sell you out one day without you knowing."

She Dengke hurriedly said: "Brother Gou'er, Chen Ji is not..."

Liang Gou'er interrupted, "He will be it soon. People only need to change once, and then they will keep changing along this path and can never turn back."

Chen Ji only felt a dull pain in his heart. He did not explain anything, but took out a white porcelain bottle from his arms and threw it to Liang Maoer: "Medicine from Huangshan Daoting."

Liang Gou'er said solemnly: "From now on, you owe my two brothers a life. If Liang Mao'er is in trouble one day, no matter where you are, no matter if you have to climb mountains of swords or descend into seas of fire, you must repay this life."

Chen Ji: “Okay.”

At this moment, the sound of galloping horses was heard in the distance.

Chen Ji looked at everyone and said, "She Dengke, you will follow the plan with the prince, and someone will take you out of Luo City."

She Dengke turned around in surprise: "Where are you going? Aren't you going to Jingchao with us? You will die if you stay."

Chen Ji took a deep breath and said, "I can't leave. I still have things to do."

She Dengke was about to say something.

But Chen Ji was seen retreating alone, step by step into the darkness: "Someone told me that people who can't give up anything can't change anything. I'm sorry, everyone, for putting you in danger. I, Chen Ji, owe you a life. I don't know when we will meet again after this separation, or maybe we will never see each other again. If you drink together in Jingchao, please drink a sip for me. Take care... You must take care! See you later!"

After saying that, Chen Ji turned around and ran wildly.

(End of this chapter)