Aoyama

Chapter 504 Seeking Death
Si Cao Gui has left.

Ning Chao had been wandering for twenty years. He came in a sorry state but was determined, and he left with a heart full of doubts.

Thirteen looked at the smoke screen in front of him: "Master, from what you were saying just now... are you old acquaintances?"

Standing in front of the smoke screen, Madam Lu said, "You could say that."

Thirteen was taken aback: "It is or it isn't, what do you mean by 'consider it'?"

Madam Lu turned and walked into Anfu Lane: "Thirteen, there are some people you've known for a long time, but when you see them again many years later, they've changed beyond recognition. These don't count as old acquaintances, because the person you knew died many years ago. But this person just now hasn't changed in twenty years. He looked the same twenty years ago, and he still looks the same now."

Seeing that Lu was still heading towards the sound of fighting, Thirteen said worriedly, "Master, are you alright? Our medicine can only stop the bleeding. Let's leave once the smoke clears and not get involved in this mess."

Madam Lu glanced down at the wound on her abdomen: "It's nothing serious, I avoided the vital points."

Thirteen muttered under his breath, "If Third Master finds out you were injured when he returns from Jingchao, he'll definitely seek revenge. You never used to get involved in such messes, Master. What's wrong with you lately..."

Lu said calmly, "Pay back the debt."

"Huh?" Thirteen was confused.

Madam Lu sighed softly, “Thirteen, I have never owed anyone anything in my life. If someone does me a favor, I have to repay three times over. If someone lends me a tael of silver, I have to repay three taels. Only by not owing anyone can I have a clean conscience. Otherwise, I can’t even sleep soundly. But now I owe one person too much, so much that I don’t know how to repay him.”

Thirteen was taken aback: "Whom do we owe?"

Lu remained silent.

She once thought that as long as she left, Chen Ji could stay away from trouble for the rest of his life, without having to become rich or famous, as long as he didn't have to live a life of danger like her.

So she left the Chen family and never looked back.

But she found out she was wrong.

At this moment, Thirteen tentatively asked, "Shopkeeper, are you still short of money? I have some savings that I can lend you. You don't need to pay me back three times, just two times..."

Lu glanced at him sideways, and Thirteen immediately shut his mouth.

Thirteen quickly changed his tune, saying, "Whom do you owe? I'll help you pay it off, and it'll be done soon."

Madam Lu shook her head: "It has nothing to do with you. You wait for me here, and we'll leave once the smoke clears."

Thirteen exclaimed anxiously, "That won't do!"

Without turning her head, Madam Lu said coldly, "If you dare to follow me, you're no longer a member of Deng Huo. Go back to your Hu family and be a spoiled brat."

Thirteen stood there anxiously scratching his head. He raised his hand, but the movement aggravated his wound, causing him to wince in pain.

……

……

The tavern was filled with the deafening shouts of battle. The battlefield was divided into three parts: Chen Ji's, Li Xuan's, and Qi Zhenzhuo's, leading the remaining Imperial Guards.

Chen Ji was alone on the second floor of the tavern. Just as the eight assassins turned their arrows around, he was still more than ten steps away when he saw him holding a knife in both hands, splashing a burst of light with his whale-shaped blade.

With a clang, the blade struck the arrow, sparks flying, and the arrow shattered.

The assassin was about to fire a second arrow when Chen Ji hurled his whale-blade, pinning one of the assassins to a pillar.

By the time the remaining seven assassins had nocked their arrows, Chen Ji had already charged in front of them. He casually pulled out the whale-shaped blade from the pillar and slashed horizontally, instantly killing two assassins.

As the whale blade was pulled out, the assassin nailed to the pillar slowly slumped over. Chen Ji lifted the corpse by the neck to shield himself, letting arrows pierce the corpse's back.

The five assassins abandoned their bows, drew their swords, and retreated step by step.

The assassins retreated, while Chen Ji pressed forward, carrying the corpse.

Just as he cornered the five assassins, the roof tiles suddenly shattered, and someone swung a sword from above, the blade buzzing and disturbing his mind.

At the critical moment, Chen Ji abandoned the corpse and flew backward. By the gleaming blade of the whale knife, he saw the person who had ambushed him. The person had a black headband wrapped around his head, with a white character "Chen" embroidered on it.

It was none other than Chen Guang, the Dao Seeking Official who had invited him to the reed marshes to meet Chen Lizhi.

Chen Guang pounced from the rooftop, and Chen Ji twisted the blade and forcefully slashed upwards. The blade and sword collided, making his hand numb from the impact.

He turned and ran towards the window. The matter of the Seeking Dao Realm Official must be resolved by the Seeking Dao Realm Official, and it has to be Li Xuan.

Chen Ji ran to the window and jumped out from the second floor.

Without hesitation, Chen Guang followed him out of the window. Just then, a figure hanging upside down from the eaves suddenly fell down and placed a palm on Chen Guang's chest.

The palm strike thundered, its power terrifying. Chen Guang's clothes on his back suddenly ripped and flew everywhere, spitting out a mouthful of blood as he was sent flying back into the tavern.

After landing, Chen Ji rolled to a stop, knelt on one knee and looked back, just in time to see "Princess Liyang" ambushing Chen Guang and chasing him into the tavern.

He was slightly taken aback, turned to look at the carriage, and saw that it was broken, as if a battle had taken place.

He picked up his sword again and charged back into the tavern. He went upstairs, only to find Chen Guang slumped against the wall, all the assassins killed.

Chen Ji was shocked. He had witnessed Aunt Ping's methods of fighting Liao Zhong before, but he did not expect Aunt Ping to be so fierce. Even the Dao Seeking Realm assassins raised by the Chen family were no match for her.

He saw blood seeping from Aunt Ping's abdomen: "Aunt Ping is injured?"

Madam Lu turned to look at him: "It's alright. This person has lost five of his seven souls, and only has the strength to speak left. What should we do?"

Chen Ji walked up to Chen Guang and asked, "Where is Chen Wende?"

Chen Guang looked up and gave a bitter laugh: "Don't worry, you'll find out." Chen Ji's heart skipped a beat. What kind of answer was that?
According to Chen Guang, Chen Wende had no intention of hiding his whereabouts and would appear sooner or later... But what did Chen Wende want to do?
Without further hesitation, Chen Ji gripped the hilt of the knife with one hand and pressed the end of the hilt with the other, plunging the whale-shaped blade into Chen Guang's chest.

Madam Lu watched him quietly as the young man ended Chen Guang's life without even blinking.

Only after Chen Guang died did Madam Lu ask, "When was the first time you killed someone?"

Chen Ji's first murder was on Earth, so he could only vaguely answer, "When there was no other choice."

Lu remained silent again.

Chen Ji drew the whale knife, flicked his arm to shake off the blood, and not a single drop of blood remained on the blade.

Lu sighed, "What a fine knife."

Chen Ji looked up at her: "Aunt Ping, have you seen any Military Intelligence Bureau spies?"

Madam Lu nodded: "He got away. But don't worry, he's too busy to take care of himself for the time being. I'm leaving now... If you need anything, you can come to Bianyifang to find me, I'll be there these days."

Chen Ji said calmly, "Auntie, aren't you afraid I'll report you to the authorities and have you arrested just like that?"

Lu said meaningfully, "This is the thing I fear least now. Until we meet again."

After saying that, Madam Lu jumped out of the window and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Chen Ji stood on the second floor of the tavern, pondering. He wondered what role Aunt Ping played in the lanterns. She seemed to have a high status, yet she never seemed to command other lantern patrons. She seemed to have a low status, yet she could still hold sway over the capital region.

He crouched down and ran his fingers over Chen Guang's sword.

As his fingers traced the blade, the three sword seeds stirred restlessly within the markings. But now was not the time to nurture the swords; if the resounding echo of heaven and earth were to emanate from him now, people would likely immediately guess that he was the official in charge of the sword seed cultivation path.

Chen Ji suppressed his thoughts, wrapped the longsword in cloth, held it in his hand, and turned to go downstairs.

……

……

On the other side, when Qi Zhenzhuo rushed up to the second floor of a tavern, Chen's assassins immediately turned around and fired arrows at him, forcing him to retreat back down the stairs.

Duo Bao looked at Qi Zhenxue beside him and said, "What should we do? We can't get through."

Qi pondered for a moment, then went back downstairs, picked up an eight-immortal table, and rushed back upstairs: "Get out of the way!"

Upon reaching the upper floor, Duo Bao and Li Cen, carrying an octagonal table, charged towards the Chen family's assassins amidst the arrows, while the remaining Imperial Guards followed behind them, launching a surprise attack.

Several arrows, heavy with force, pierced through the tabletop in quick succession. In just a few breaths, Duo Bao and Li Cen had already rushed to the assassins.

One of the assassins threw down his longbow, drew his sword, and slashed at the table.

The moment the broadsword shattered the eight-immortal table, the assassin saw an even brighter sword light scattering from the broken wood chips.

Qi Zhenzhuo cleaved the assassin's right shoulder with a single sword strike, cutting through his left rib, blood splattering everywhere.

"Break the formation!"

Qi Zhenzhuo's Imperial Guards filed out from behind him, scattering the assassins. The Chen family assassins had originally wanted to fight to the death, but as soon as they engaged in battle, they discovered that almost every member of the Imperial Guards was a Xiantian Xingguan (a high-ranking officer in the Imperial Guards).

The officials in red robes, who were paid with silver to create the Innate Officers, were an elite force that only the three major imperial camps could afford to assemble, with each officer being an Innate Officer.

In Anfu Ward, the shouts of killing gradually subsided, leaving only a few heavily wounded assassins lying on the ground in the tavern, barely clinging to life.

Qi Zhenzhuo whispered, "Leave them alive."

As they were talking, Chen Ji came up the stairs carrying the whale knife.

Qi Zhenzhuo quickly took credit: "Master, we solved all of these ourselves."

Chen Ji hummed in agreement: "Impressive."

He crouched down and pried open the assassin's mouth, but didn't see the poison sac.

Chen Ji fell into deep thought. Back in Xiangshan, all the assassins from the second branch of the Chen family had poison sacs sealed with white wax hidden in their molars. Even when they were on the verge of death, they would bite open the poison sacs to avoid being interrogated by Meng Ji if they managed to survive.

This time, however, the assassins all had their back teeth pulled, indicating that the other side had prepared to carry poison, but didn't actually bring any...

why?
What is Chen Wende going to do?
At this moment, thick black smoke billowed from the main street of Anfu Ward. The garrison soldiers of Weimo Ward came to their aid, but were blocked outside the smoke screen. Some infantrymen tried to approach the smoke wall, but were pulled in and torn apart by black hands inside the smoke screen.

The garrison commander's expression changed drastically, and he retreated in terror: "Don't come any closer! There's a demon at work!"

But the next moment, the smoke dissipated on its own, leaving only a pool of blood.

The garrison soldiers hesitated to advance, but a scholar stepped forward and walked alone into the long street, loudly proclaiming: "Chen Wende, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, of the Chen family on the right side of the prefecture, has been secretly possessing bows and crossbows and raising assassins with the intention of assassinating the envoy of the Jing Dynasty. Today, he confesses his crimes, submits to the law, and surrenders."

Chen Ji slipped to the window and silently watched the thin figure on the long street, which was undoubtedly Chen Wende.

Qi Zhenzhuo stood beside him, bewildered: "Why did he voluntarily come out and admit to this crime that would lead to the extermination of nine generations of his family? What exactly is Chen Wende up to?"

Chen Ji's eyes remained calm: "I want to die."

……

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(End of this chapter)