Aoyama

It's quiet at night.

Chen Ji sat on the roof of Ginkgo Garden, silently polishing his whale knife. The long, narrow whale knife was like flowing mercury, reflecting the moonlight in the sky and also reflecting Chen Ji's eyes.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a small figure leap into the Chen residence from afar.

The other party nimbly leaped between rooftops, and in the blink of an eye sat down beside him, meowing, "Killed, but not as satisfying as I imagined."

Consort Xue's icy energy flowed into her body. Chen Ji looked at the orange-red firelight in the distance and said, "Because she was not the chief culprit, she was just the knife that killed the Empress, not the hand that held the knife, so it's not enough to satisfy her anger."

Wu Yun hesitated: "Then did I kill the wrong person?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "We didn't kill the wrong people. If we had the chance, we should have killed them all. But we don't have the chance to kill them all now, so we can only kill one at a time."

He took out a wooden box from his pocket and opened it. Inside were three bright green jadeite rings, all gifts from the Golden Pig.

Chen Ji pondered, "He has clearly reached the eighth level of the tower, and the remaining markings have grown. He has lit seven hundred and twenty furnaces, yet the Mountain Lord's official realm is stuck at the peak of the Innate Realm, showing no sign of stepping into the Seeking Dao Realm. Perhaps, to cross a major realm, only Jadeite is possible?"

As Jin Zhu previously mentioned, the Innate Realm and the Dao-Seeking Realm are an insurmountable chasm that some people cannot cross in their entire lives.

Now, he stands frozen before this chasm, utterly perplexed.

Chen Ji handed the box to Wu Yun: "Try touching these three rings and see if you can use the jade to advance to the Seeking Dao Realm."

The dark cloud stretched out its claws and carefully touched the face of the ring.

The moment the claw tip touched the jadeite's surface, the vibrant green within dissolved, and the surface became transparent. A stream of molten metal flowed from the dark cloud back to Chen Ji, and the seven hundred and twenty furnace flames instantly shone with a solid, radiant light.

But Chen Ji still couldn't cross that insurmountable barrier.

He thought for a moment: "Again."

The dark clouds turned the other two rings into molten liquid as well, but apart from the furnace fire becoming more and more intense, there was still no qualitative change.

Wuyun turned to look at him: "I think I'm a little bit more formidable now."

Chen Ji frowned: "My strength has increased a bit, but there hasn't been a qualitative change."

The dark cloud asked in confusion, "What went wrong?"

Chen Ji was also puzzled. He lowered his voice and asked, "Do we have to kill the emperor?"

Dark Clouds stood in awe: "Mighty!"

Chen Ji wasn't so arrogant as to want to kill the emperor. He simply recounted the differences between himself and Old Man Yao on their paths of cultivation: the latter had experienced the death of the previous emperor and gained imperial fortune for free, while he had not.

No, more than once.

He looked up and silently calculated. Old Yao was ninety-three years old and had probably already seen two emperors pass away. He had gained the Ice Stream for free.

Chen Ji sighed, "There are countless experts in the palace, and if you get within twenty steps of the emperor, you will be suppressed and reduced to an ordinary person... Killing the emperor is too difficult. No wonder my master became a royal physician."

Wu Yun tilted his head: "Does it have to be an emperor? How about one from a foreign land?"

Chen Ji pondered: "The foreign tribes are easier to kill, but the foreign tribes near the Ning and Jing dynasties only have kings, not emperors. Besides, I'm not sure if I'm right. What if I'm wrong? Logically speaking, my master should have told me about something this important beforehand. There must be a reason why he didn't tell me."

Wu Yun thought for a moment: "If we don't reach the Dao Seeking Realm, what will we do tomorrow?"

Chen Ji let out a long breath under the cover of night: "Let's take it one step at a time."

……

……

August 18th, the thirty-second year of the Jia Ning era.

Unusually, Chen Ji did not fetch water, but instead left the Chen residence carrying the whale knife.

The capital remained quiet. Occasionally, a breeze would lift the curtains of passing sedan chairs, revealing officials inside wearing white linen robes over their official robes. The sedan chairs, originally draped in green and red silk, were also covered overnight with white linen.

Chen Ji heard from the gangsters that many opera troupe leaders had led their troupes away from the capital overnight, otherwise their large families would not be able to survive the hundred-day national mourning period, and they would have to go to the county towns to perform operas to support their families.

When Chen Ji passed by Xuanwumen Street, he saw that the double happiness characters that had been pasted on the door of Li Langzhong’s house in the Ministry of Works had been removed. Many families in the capital had to postpone their weddings until after November 17.

The common people had never seen the Empress, did not know what she had done in her life, nor why she had died, and could only lament their plight.

Chen Ji suddenly remembered what Nei Xiang had told him: all the joys and sorrows of this world cannot withstand scrutiny, because they are only your own affairs. Arriving at the gate of Plum Blossom Ferry, Chen Ji saw several vendors carrying loads silently passing by; they were all familiar spies under Jin Zhu's command.

When he climbed up to Meirui Tower, he saw Tianma sitting in the corner with his eyes closed, resting. Jinzhu was playing Go with the Paoge. The two terrible Go players ended up playing a game of Gomoku.

Jin Zhu tried playing two games and clapped his hands in approval: "This way of playing suits me best. I really don't understand Go at all. All that talk about strategizing and winning battles is for big shots. I can play this straightforward Gomoku game."

Chen Ji placed the whale-shaped knife on the table: "Have you deployed troops all around?"

Jin Zhu grinned and said, "You can rest assured about my work. The manpower was arranged last night. They are all the good guys I have trained over the years, and no one will leak the news. Moreover, it's not just the newly arranged manpower. My secret service has already deployed manpower in Baishun Hutong. The Qingyin Xiaoban restaurant diagonally opposite your Meihua Ferry is also a property of my Directorate of Ceremonial."

Chen Ji suddenly realized that Jin Zhu had said in Luocheng that he was the Inner Minister's moneybag, and most of the shady businesses of the Directorate of Ceremonial were in his hands, making it easy for him to place people in his place.

When others strolled around Yuancheng's ancestral home, all they did was fight and kill. But when Jinzhu went for a stroll, he managed to steal quite a few good things. It seems the Inner Minister has made the right choice in employing him.

Jin Zhu laughed and said, "In this secret agency, if we're talking about who knows the most secrets, it's naturally Prison Rat. After all, too many important figures died in the inner prison, and no one knows what they said before they died. If we're talking about who has the most insidious torture methods, it's naturally Black Serpent. But when it comes to rumors in the marketplace, no one is more knowledgeable than me."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Where's Bai Long?"

Jin Zhu rolled his eyes: "What are we, the lower three, supposed to compare with the upper three?"

Chen Ji asked in confusion, "What's the difference?"

Jin Zhu lowered his voice: "My secret service has spies planted among the civil and military officials. They are not distinguished by 'sparrow,' 'pigeon,' or 'gyrfalcon,' but by 'male lead,' 'female lead,' 'painted face,' and 'clown.' There is no distinction of rank, only different duties."

Chen Ji suddenly realized that he had felt something was missing from the Secret Service. It turned out that the secret agents he had seen before were all those who were out in the open, but he had never seen the spies who were lurking among the officials.

Jin Zhu glanced at Tianma and continued, "This line can only be used by the top three; the bottom three cannot be touched. Even among the top three, Tianma can only command the 'clown' at present, and cannot touch the 'male lead, female lead,' or 'painted face.' Some of the spies are so high in status and so deeply hidden that it's frightening to say. If the officials knew, I'm afraid they would curse us again."

Chen Ji lowered his head and pondered. If they were named after the roles of actors, Sheng would be old men, young men, and martial men; Dan would be qingyi and huadan; Jing would be loyal and brave military generals; and Chou would be comical characters.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Lord Tianma can only command spies such as coachmen, sedan chair bearers, and servants in the households of officials?"

Pegasus opened his eyes and glanced at the golden pig, gesturing: "Don't say too much, he's too smart."

The Golden Pig responded with a gesture: "What's there to be afraid of? It's not some huge secret. It's only a matter of time before he achieves his zodiac position."

Tianma pondered for a moment, then closed his eyes again.

Jin Zhu looked at Chen Ji: "When will the person you're waiting for arrive?"

Chen Ji glanced at the sky: "We should come after nightfall."

The golden pig then asked, "When will we make our move?"

Chen Ji picked up the whale-shaped blade and weighed it in his hand: "I'll make my move when I draw the blade."

Just then, Erdao came running up the stairs: "Master, there's a carriage parked at the gate. The driver said that if you want to see Han Tong, go with him. He's alone and doesn't carry any weapons."

Chen Ji frowned: "They arrived so quickly?"

Jin Zhu narrowed his eyes slightly: "He won't come to see you, but instead wants you to go to see him? If you just go with the Canal Gang like this, wouldn't I have wasted a whole night? Who knows where the Canal Gang will take you? What if they try something underhanded? Those pillars and hall masters of the Canal Gang, if you cut them open, they're all black inside."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Jin Zhu looked at Chen Ji: "Listen to your brother. Even if you miss this opportunity, you can't just fall into the hands of the Canal Gang. Besides, you can't do anything by going alone."

Chen Ji shook his head: "We can't wait any longer."

Seeing his expression, Jinzhu gritted his teeth and said, "Then I'll secretly follow behind."

Chen Ji shook his head again: "Han Tong is so cautious, he must have planted people to observe him secretly. If he discovers anything, I'm afraid it will be difficult to find him again."

Jin Zhu said urgently, "Han Tong is at the Dao Seeking Realm. What are you, a mere Innate Realm official, doing, risking your life against him?"

Chen Ji took a deep breath: "Give it a try."

He turned and went downstairs. When he arrived at the back door, he saw the coachman standing politely beside the carriage, handing Chen Ji a black hood: "Please forgive me, sir of Wuxiang County, even if Lord Qi wanted to see my gang leader, he would have to go through this process."

Chen Ji glanced into the car and saw two men staring at him menacingly.

The driver raised his hand: "Please."

Chen Ji climbed into the car and sat between the two men, then put on a hood. (End of Chapter)