Aoyama

Chapter 247 The Real Secret Passage

Dong-dong-dong, there was a knock on the door.

Chen Ji, who was sitting at the eight-immortals table, looked at the closed door, and Wu Yun also stood up from the windowsill.

He slowly stood up, tightly grasped the whale knife beside him, and asked calmly: "Who?"

The madam outside the door smiled and said, "Sir, I have brought some silver and would like to buy some more information from you."

Xiaoman said, "Sir, I'll go open the door."

But this time, Chen Ji grabbed her wrist and said firmly: "I'll go."

After saying this, he slowly walked to the door with the whale knife in hand, and slowly lifted the bolt with the end of the whale knife wrapped in gray cloth.

The next moment, when the sound of the door bolt being lifted was heard, the madam outside the door had already attacked through the door.

But then there were six bangs, and the six bone-piercing nails that the old procuress was holding between her fingers flew out of her hands. The wood chips on the door panel flew and the six bone-piercing nails pierced in from outside the door.

Six sounds of "dou dou dou".

The Chenji Whale Knife in the room blocked his way, and six bone-piercing nails were lined up in a row, all blocked on the scabbard of the Whale Knife.

He shook his right hand vigorously, and the gray cloth wrapped around the whale knife suddenly broke into pieces, revealing the original appearance of the whale knife, and the bone-piercing nail also fell to the ground.

The madam was startled. She didn't expect that the people inside the door would intercept all six bone-piercing nails.

She crossed her hands, and took out three bone-piercing nails from her left and right sleeves respectively. Her arms left afterimages like the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara, and the bone-piercing nails pierced through the wooden door and smashed it!
The originally intact wooden door suddenly shattered into a hole. But when the madam looked carefully, there was no one behind the door.

The six bone-piercing nails that had just been thrown out were nailed into the wooden wall opposite, and the traces that should have been behind the door were nowhere to be seen.

The madam did not rush in. She stood cautiously in front of the door and whispered, "I know the people around you are ordinary people. If you don't want to affect them, come out by yourself."

The room was quiet and no one answered.

Chen Ji silently retreated to the window with the whale knife in his hand and slowly pulled out the knife.

The next moment, the dark cloud meowed, and Chen Ji, without even turning his head, stabbed the whale knife towards the window behind him.

The blade penetrated the white paper window and pierced the killer lurking outside the window. Chen Ji drew his knife back, and the dead killer fell from the third floor of the inn, making a heavy sound in the backyard of the inn.

When the whale knife was pulled back, it left a trace of blood, staining the window paper red.

Xiaoman stared at this scene in a daze: "Master, you..."

Before he finished speaking, Wuyun meowed again, "There are four more on the roof."

Chen Ji's heart sank.

He jumped up on the Eight Immortals Table and slashed at the roof with a mighty sword. Wherever the sword touched, the gray tiles shattered and the beams of the house broke.

With a loud bang, a large section of the roof collapsed, and one killer was smashed into the house, while another killer had his calf cut off by the knife.

A muffled groan was heard from the roof, and gushing blood flowed down along the tiles, pouring from the eaves, and splashing into the backyard of the inn.

The madam in the corridor heard the noise and immediately kicked the wooden door to pieces, trying to rush into the room.

At the moment when the wooden door was kicked to pieces, a bright flash of a knife appeared among the wood chips in the dark room. The madam kicked back with all her might and barely avoided the whale knife.

Just as she was about to use all her strength to shoot out all the bone-piercing nails on her body, she suddenly saw that there was a hint of black behind the knife light, like a bamboo leaf, or a sword, floating out from behind the knife light.

The madam's body twisted strangely, and she suddenly changed her posture as if it was broken, avoiding the fatal blow from the sword.

Like a spider, she used her hands and feet to climb up the corridor wall, all the way to the beams, and looked around coldly, looking for any trace of the black dagger.

The madam was in doubt. The black short sword seemed to be made by the legendary Wumiao Shanzhang...

Before she could figure it out, the sword flew from behind her like a poisonous snake, lightly brushed across her neck, and then disappeared into the dark corridor.

The madam fell down, holding her neck, and fell from the beam.

She stared at Chen Ji: "Sword..."

With a hiss, the whale knife pierced into her heart, cutting off the words she was about to say.

……

……

On the other side, the shopkeeper jumped out from the counter, stepped on the handrail of the stairs, and climbed up as light as a swallow.

Xiao Wu looked up at the counter and shouted, "Boss, where are you going?"

The shopkeeper was extremely anxious at the moment, and had only one thought in mind: "Save them! I'll go to the third floor, Xiaowu and Xiaoliu, you guys grab your weapons and go up to the rooftop and kill all those people under Hongxiuzhao!"

Xiaowu felt puzzled. Didn’t you just say that we were running a black shop? Why did you suddenly want to save people again?

At this time, the shopkeeper jumped straight up to the third floor on the stair railing. Just as he was about to rush into Room No. 1, he saw Chen Ji standing in front of the madam's body with a five-foot-long knife in his hand.

The shopkeeper was shocked. The madam was dead?

Is this dead?

He looked up, only to see Chen Ji turning his head coldly, the blade slowly turning: "Why is the shopkeeper here?" The shopkeeper was in deep pain, he couldn't tell the real reason, so he could only make up a lie and explain: "Young... Sir, I heard the noise upstairs, and immediately rushed over to help."

Chen Ji was skeptical: "Really?"

The shopkeeper said sincerely, "It's absolutely true! We have a rule in Longmen Inn that no one can kill anyone in the inn. I thought that the madam of Hongxiuzhao might want to do something bad to you, so I came to kill her. I didn't expect that you are so skilled that I didn't have to do anything."

As they were talking, the shouts of Xiaowu and Xiaoliu were heard from the rooftop. Several people were fighting on the tiles, killing from south to north and from east to west on the roof.

In less than an incense stick of time, two men jumped down from the hole in the room, holding a kitchen knife in one hand and a corpse in the other.

Xiao Wu limped to the corridor and threw the body at the shopkeeper's feet: "Shopkeeper, I killed two of the junior officials in the post-natal realm and one ran away."

Chen Ji squatted down to sniff their breath and confirmed that the two killers were dead.

But the shopkeeper refused to give in. He looked at Xiao Wu angrily and said, "Why do we keep you? How can you let one of you run away?"

Xiao Wu scratched his head: "You gave the order too late just now. If it weren't for you..."

The shopkeeper's face changed, and he quickly said, "I told you a long time ago that you are not allowed to let strangers upstairs. Why did you let this old procuress upstairs?"

Xiaowu: "Ah?"

The shopkeeper continued, "Go, kill all the people in Hongxiuzhao."

Xiao Wu was shocked: "Now?"

The shopkeeper was furious: "Go quickly, we must give you an explanation tonight!"

Chen Ji was puzzled. Was it true that the Longmen Inn followed such rules? The madam of Hongxiuzhao came to assassinate him, and the innkeeper came to rescue him immediately, and even wanted to avenge him by killing all the people of Hongxiuzhao?
Are other guests treated like this?
At this time, Xiao Wu pointed to the hole in the roof of Tianzijia Room and said, "Boss, the roof is broken. It will cost a lot of money to repair it. How much do you think is appropriate for you to pay?"

"What compensation do you need?" The shopkeeper twisted Xiaowu's ear and said, "Go get a broom and help the guests clean the room. Quickly vacate the Tianzi C room and invite the guests to go in and rest."

Xiaowu cried out in pain, but was wondering: In the past, if a customer broke a cup, the shopkeeper would want the customer to pay for it until he was bankrupt before letting him go, but today there was such a big hole in the roof but he didn't have to pay for it?

He cursed his bad luck inwardly and lowered his head to get the broom with Xiaoliu.

The shopkeeper looked at Chen Ji with a smile and said, "Sir, you will be staying in Room C in a moment. Although that room is not as big as Room A, it has everything you need."

Chen Ji thanked him.

The shopkeeper changed the subject: "I heard that you are the third son of the Chen family. Is that true?"

Chen Ji thought that this matter could not be concealed, so he nodded and admitted it immediately.

The shopkeeper smiled more peacefully: "Sir, you also heard the long bell of Guyuan in the evening. The Jing Dynasty is besieging the city, and there will be a fierce battle here. Why don't you leave through the secret passage of my inn and go to Fengshengzhou in Xijing Road of Jing Dynasty to avoid the limelight? We have people there too, and we will keep you safe."

Chen Ji became alert, thinking that the shopkeeper might still be thinking about his money: "No need, I want to stay a little longer."

The shopkeeper saw his expression and immediately thought to himself, "Sir, did you see the black hat in the stable? To be honest, the tunnel under the stable is not for leaving the city. The real secret passage is hidden behind my counter. Where I usually stand, lift up the wooden board and it will be there. From there, leave the city, and Xiaowu will lead you through the underground palace. It will only take one day to leave Guyuan."

Chen Ji was shocked and confused. What happened to this shopkeeper? Why did he reveal the biggest secret of Longmen Inn?

No, this might be the other party's new strategy.

He thought about it again and again, and finally shook his head and said: "Thank you for your kindness, boss. There is no need for the secret passage. I believe Guyuan City will not be breached."

The innkeeper was anxious. Why didn't anyone believe him when he told the truth? "You'd better leave quickly. You must not get into trouble in my inn!"

Chen Ji raised his eyebrows: "Hmm?"

The shopkeeper realized that he had said something wrong, so he turned around and walked away quickly: "Sir, please have a rest. I promise that no one will come to my inn to commit crimes again in the future."

He walked down the stairs and breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then the door curtain was opened and the Third Master appeared from nowhere.

The third master glanced at the shopkeeper and walked towards the stairs without saying a word. But the shopkeeper took a few quick steps and grabbed the third master's arm, saying angrily: "If you don't believe me, you can just say it directly. I don't need to be the shopkeeper anymore. I don't need the secret passage anymore. I don't need anything!"

The Third Master frowned: "What are you crazy about?"

The shopkeeper took a deep breath and said, "I said before that it was General Wen Tao's idea that I surrendered to the Jing Dynasty. I killed some of my own people, but I had no choice. If I didn't kill them, the people of the Jing Dynasty would not believe me!"

The Third Master stared at the shopkeeper and said, "The general never mentioned to us that he ordered you to hide in Jing Dynasty."

The shopkeeper said helplessly: "The general did not tell you about this, not because he did not trust me, but because he did not trust you and was afraid that you would leak the news! Now, you clearly know that the person upstairs has come to Guyuan, why didn't you tell me?"

The Third Master sneered, "During the battle at Qu Wushan, someone saw you only ten steps away from the Yuan Zhen banner, why didn't you go and kill him?"

The shopkeeper said angrily: "He is the commander-in-chief of the Tiance Army. He must have masters of the Xundao Realm around him. How can I kill him? The general asked me to spy on the military situation, not to die!"

The Third Master said calmly, "Second Brother, loyalty is not something you can say, it's something you earn with your life."

The shopkeeper opened his mouth and finally waved his hand dejectedly: "Okay, okay, you are all heroes of the Ning Dynasty, and I am a surrendered general of the Jing Dynasty, okay?"

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the backyard alone.

The Third Master said in a deep voice behind him: "The one upstairs, only you and I know what happened. Don't let me hear you leak anything, and don't recognize him."

"You don't need to remind me."

(End of this chapter)