Aoyama

The carriage swayed and rattled as it drove out of the Eight Great Hutongs.

Two men from the canal gang sandwiched Chen Ji between them. Chen Ji could smell the fishy smell of aquatic plants, the tung oil smell of boat wood, and the fishy smell on their bodies.

The two men each held a boning knife against his ribs, ensuring they could pierce his lungs at any moment.

Chen Ji calmly said, "Is this the way the Canal Gang treats its guests?"

The two men remained silent, but the driver lifted the curtain and replied, "Please don't be offended, sirs of Wuxiang County. Before we came, our leader instructed us that so many ruthless men have fallen at your hands, so it's only right that we be careful."

Chen Ji frowned: "I'm here to discuss serious matters with Han Tong. If he doesn't trust me, he can simply refuse to see me. There's no need for such a fuss."

The driver ignored the traces and only instructed the two men, "Keep the goods steady so he doesn't step on the kiln opening."

Chen Ji calmly closed his eyes and silently sensed.

The carriage first traveled south for a while, passing through Zhengyangmen Street and Zhushikou. Then the carriage headed east towards Chongnanfang, and then north into Chongbeifang.

Chen Ji smelled incense; he must have just passed by the Kitchen God Temple...

But the carriage had been going around in circles for too long, and he gradually lost his sense of direction. He remembered that he had passed through Chongnanfang and Chongbeifang several times, but the carriage never stopped.

The canal gang was deliberately going in circles.

He originally wanted to use the sounds of vendors hawking their wares to determine his location, but it happened to be during a time of national mourning, and the hawkers carrying loads on shoulder poles and the shopkeepers along the roadside were all silent. He could only vaguely smell some odors, but could not hear any sounds.

At that moment, he suddenly smelled fresh cow dung and couldn't help but crawl into the car.

where is this?
Two men suddenly and forcefully pulled him out of the car. Chen Ji glanced down, trying to discern the texture of the bricks on the ground through the gaps in his hood.

Before he could even discern the details, the man dragged him into a shop. As they entered, Chen Ji tripped over the threshold, kicking it loudly with the back of his foot.

Seeing this, the man immediately took his arms on either side and led him inside, passing through the shop. The air in the small shop was filled with the rich aroma of sesame oil, and Chen Ji could still hear the dull thud of the oil press struggling to squeeze out the oil residue.

The two men suddenly stopped, and the lead driver ordered, "Wait."

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Have we arrived?"

The coachman replied with a smile, "Madam Wuxiang, please be patient, we'll have to wait a little longer... I'm a little curious, how did you kill that man last night?"

Chen Ji's expression shifted: "Do you know who I killed? Han Tong even dares to tell you something like this, which shows that you have a high status in the Canal Gang."

The coachman humbly replied, "I am Zhu Xiao, one of the four pillars and eight pillars of the Canal Gang, and I am considered his most trusted confidant. Please, Magistrate of Wuxiang County, tell me the truth frankly."

Chen Ji suddenly realized: "So you are Zhu Xiao. But the question you just asked, I dare to answer, but do you dare to listen? Brother Zhu, this is not something you can listen to. If you want to live, let Han Tong ask you instead."

Zhu Xiao smiled and said nothing more.

Just when Chen Ji thought this was where he would meet Han Tong, another carriage drove up from the back door of the shop. Two men helped him into the carriage, and it continued to drive into the alley and circle around.

Gradually, Chen Ji noticed that the temperature in the air was slowly decreasing, and the light filtering through the gaps in the hood was getting dimmer and dimmer.

The sun has set.

Chen Ji, sitting between the two men, asked, "How long are you going to keep going? Even Lord Qi didn't take this long."

Zhu Xiao replied slowly, "Lord Qi is Lord Qi, and you are you; naturally, there are differences."

Chen Ji asked in a deep voice, "Where is Han Tong?"

Zhu Xiao smiled and said, "You'll see him soon."

As they were talking, the carriage finally stopped again, and two men helped Chen Ji out of the carriage and led him into a house.

As the light dimmed completely, the men from the canal gang pressed him down into a chair and bound him tightly with thick hemp ropes, rendering him unable to move.

After the other party had tied Chen Ji up tightly, Zhu Xiao ripped off his hood.

Chen Ji stared ahead and saw the other person standing in front of him, holding an oil lamp: "Where is Han Tong?"

Zhu Xiao bent down and looked directly into his eyes: "The man from Wuxiang County needs to explain first why you've been followed by eunuch faction members all this way?"

The man before him, Zhu Xiao, was dressed in a gray cloth jacket with a short knife at his waist. His face was tanned a purplish-red from sun and wind, and his sleeves were rolled up, revealing scars on his forearms.

Chen Ji was unsure whether the other party was bluffing him or whether Jin Zhu genuinely couldn't bear to see him take such a risk. He secretly followed the carriage, which was noticed by the canal gang.

He remained calm: "If your Canal Gang gets involved with the Secret Service, don't drag me down with you. I don't want to be targeted by the eunuch faction." Zhu Xiao raised the oil lamp closer: "You, the man of Wuxiang County, think that just because my Canal Gang is down on its luck, you can't find out about your shady dealings with the Secret Service? During the Spring Hunt at Xiangshan, the White Dragon of the Twelve Zodiacs issued a warrant for Liao Zhong's arrest to protect you; you were imprisoned twice, once by the Jade Rabbit and the other time by the Golden Pig. And you still say you have no connection with the eunuch faction?"

Chen Ji sighed inwardly. Too much had happened between him and the Secret Service, and it could no longer be hidden from those who were interested. This was probably why Grand Secretary Chen had reminded him to stay away from the eunuch faction.

However, this makes it difficult to find Han Tong again.

His gaze passed over Zhu Xiao's shoulder and landed on the closed wooden door of the house. He tentatively called out to the outside, "I have a way to rescue Princess Baili. Please, Chief Han, show yourself."

Zhu Xiao chuckled and drew his short sword from his waist, wiping the blood off the blade on his sleeve. "Don't bother. The gang leader isn't here at all. He instructed me to leave you a whole corpse, but you'll have to pray to Buddha that the Chen family finds this place soon, otherwise, in this weather, you'll be rotting in less than three days."

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "What should we do about Princess Bai Li?"

Zhu Xiao ran his thumb along the blade: "Our Cao Gang has already tried to rescue the princess, but there was a traitor among us who let the Jie Fan Guard know about our plan in advance. Don't worry, the gang leader hasn't forgotten the princess, and we have other plans."

Chen Ji looked directly into Zhu Xiao's eyes: "You plan to rescue her on the way to the marriage alliance?"

Zhu Xiao shook his head: "It won't work on the way to the marriage alliance. The eunuch faction will definitely send more people along the way, using the princess as bait to lure our canal gang into a trap. However, the man of Wuxiang County need not worry. Once the princess arrives in Annam, we will naturally have other means to rescue her."

Chen Ji sighed, "It's too late."

Zhu Xiao grinned and said, "You don't need to worry about these things."

The next moment, he swung his knife and slashed at Chen Ji's neck.

Chen Ji lightly touched the ground with his toes, causing the chair to lean back. The blade grazed his chin but didn't harm him at all. In the flickering light of the oil lamp, a sword seed emerged from his sleeve and severed the ropes binding him from behind.

The thick hemp rope fibers snapped one by one in the dim light. Chen Ji's body was still leaning backward with the chair, his gaze never leaving Zhu Xiao. He saw surprise and fear in the other's eyes.

Zhu Xiao flipped his short knife and thrust it at Chen Ji with a backhand motion.

This time, however, Chen Ji grabbed Zhu Xiao's wrist and rolled him backward, pulling Zhu Xiao forward by twisting his arm.

Chen Ji flipped backwards, instantly twisting Zhu Xiao's arm into a pretzel. He heard his arm bones crack like firecrackers, and his hand holding the short knife involuntarily loosened, causing the knife to fall to the ground.

As Chen Ji landed, he caught the short sword that was still on the ground and held it against Zhu Xiao's neck: "Take me to find Han Tong."

Zhu Xiao chuckled through the pain, "The man from Wuxiang County is indeed ruthless. Despite all my precautions, he still fell victim to you. But if you think my Cao Gang are all cowards, you're mistaken. If you want to find the gang leader, you'll have to wait until your next life."

As he spoke, a dark line spread along Zhu Xiao's veins, spreading like a spider web to the back of his eyes.

Chen Ji pried open the other man's mouth and saw that the venom sac sealed with white wax at Zhu Xiao's molars had been bitten open, just like the assassin from the second branch of the Chen family.

He discarded Zhu Xiao's body and pushed open the door to leave.

The small courtyard was empty, as if the members of the Canal Gang had left after dropping Chen Ji off there. Chen Ji looked up and saw Wu Yun perched on the courtyard wall, meowing, "Are you alright?"

Chen Ji asked urgently, "Where is this?"

Wuyun meowed: "A small alley north of Liulichang."

Chen Ji frowned. How did we end up here?

He then asked, "When did you find me?"

Wuyun meowed, "I caught a whiff of your scent on Zhengyangmen Street just before sunset, and I only just caught up with you here."

Chen Ji lowered his head and pondered. Now that Zhu Xiao was dead, Han Tong would probably never show his face again.

The other party probably planned to wait until the princess went to Annam, and then join forces with his sworn brother Lin Daoqian to rescue her, but he couldn't wait that long.

Chen Ji closed his eyes and pondered silently, wondering where Han Tong might be hiding.

Han Tong wasn't completely distrustful of himself, but rather somewhat skeptical. If the other party didn't believe him at all, they wouldn't have gone through all that trouble today, having Zhu Xiao lead him around all day; they could have simply ignored him.

If Han Tong was already skeptical, why did he suddenly give up on meeting him? What happened that caused him to change his mind?
and many more.

Chen Ji suddenly opened his eyes. He tore a piece of cloth from the hem of his clothes, wrote two sentences with a charcoal stick from the yard, and the words "to be handed over to Jin Zhu". Then he tossed the cloth to Wu Yun: "Take this to the Brotherhood of the Gelaohui. Be quick!"

Without saying another word, Wuyun picked up the gray cloth, turned around, and jumped onto the roof, while Chenji ran wildly out the door.

A person and a cat, one heading east and the other south, disappeared together into the night. (End of Chapter)