19, Chop Wrongly

Luocheng City's winding and intricate streets and alleys were like the city's own palm lines.

The Liu Family's team, which was pursuing Chen Ji and others, split into five groups, converging like a closing hand, solidifying the air within the city.

Spies slipped through the shadows between buildings, while hundreds of steps behind them trailed the figures of the Liu Family members, armed with clubs and holding aloft torches.

Jiao Tu looked back at Chen Ji at the end of the line and turned to ask Yun Yang, "Do you believe what that kid said? If he doesn't find the evidence, we might miss our chance to leave Luocheng tonight."

"We have no choice but to trust him now," Yun Yang said gravely, "If we can't find the evidence tonight, we won't be able to get past the Criminal Justice Department."

Jiao Tu nonchalantly said, "The Prime Minister won't really do anything to us; we're still useful to him. At worst, we'll just kill some more people for him."

"The Prime Minister has good and bad people under him, but no fools. If you and I mess this up, there'll be no place for us in the Spy Department... Maybe this kid will actually find the evidence."

Jiao Tu said earnestly, "Hopefully. If he doesn't find any evidence, we'll head back to the Imperial Capital and plead with Bai Long. We must not fall into the hands of the Criminal Justice Department."

As she spoke, she looked back at Chen Ji again.

The young apprentice was panting at the back of the group, his hair soaked with sweat, unwilling to remove the wet cloth covering his face.

"This kid's got a decent constitution to keep up with the spies," Jiao Tu remarked.

A spy from under the Spy Department, if placed in the 'Longevity Army', would be among the elite of the elite. So, no matter how disheveled Chen Ji appeared, it was already an achievement to keep pace with them.

At this moment, Chen Ji felt the changes in his body; as he exhausted himself, warm currents flowed continuously from the three stoves beside his Dantian, supporting him to keep running.

The stove fires washed through him like a torrent, causing some mysterious transformation in his body.

It was as if a rusty sword was being scrubbed clean.

As they crossed Changning Street, the shouts from behind drew nearer. Yun Yang said in a low voice, "The Liu Family members are more familiar with Luocheng, they are taking shortcuts to encircle us. We'll definitely be caught if we keep running this way."

"What should we do?" Jiao Tu asked.

"Abandon the carriage to protect the commander."

Passing by a small courtyard, Yun Yang instructed, "Qiwan, lead everyone and draw the Liu Family to the west. You'll have a great merit for this!"

The black-clad spy named Qiwan whispered, "Yes, the rest of you, follow me!"

Chen Ji stood by the courtyard wall, watching the departing figures of the spies without a word, Yun Yang and Jiao Tu had already flipped into the small yard. When they saw that he hadn't followed, Yun Yang poked his head out from the grey tiles, "What are you dawdling for?!"

"I'm coming," Chen Ji said as he jumped and grabbed Yun Yang's extended hand, clumsily flipping into the yard.

The three stood behind the wall, pressing themselves against it, listening to the noise outside.

They heard a mix of hurried footsteps passing by the wall and voices saying, "We must not let them escape Luocheng, we need to avenge the old master."

Separated by only a wall, Chen Ji could even smell the scent of the burning torches outside, a mixture of cypress bark and pine resin, dry and explosive.

As the black mass of people chased after the direction the spies had taken until it was quiet outside the wall, Chen Ji finally dared to breathe, "Can the spies survive?"

Yun Yang glanced at him and said, "In these troubled times, life and death are predestined. It's the same for you, for them, and for me and Jiao Tu. When Jiao Tu and I were little spies, we didn't know how many times we had been abandoned."

Jiao Tu said, "Stop talking nonsense and move."

The three flipped over the courtyard wall again, and the street was empty. They headed east but stopped at the first intersection.

Yun Yang squinted as he looked across the bluestone road; Lin Chaoqing and about thirty Fish-Dragon Guards stood silently on horseback, seemingly always able to locate their prey immediately.

The Criminal Justice Department was to the east, and the Spy Department to the west. Both stood silently across each other, each waiting for the opponent to speak first.

The Fish-Dragon Guards, draped in raincoats and wearing bamboo hats, had their hands resting on the hilts of their swords at their backs, giving off an oppressive feeling like looming mountains.

In this silence, Lin Chaoqing spurred his horse forward, slowly approaching Yun Yang.

His expression hidden under the bamboo hat was unclear, "We both serve in the Ritual Supervision, colleagues in our duties. We also don't wish for people from the Spy Department to be manipulated by civil servants. Allowing you to leave just now was giving you a chance. An hour has passed, now can you present the evidence?"

Yun Yang's expression remained grave and he did not answer; this wasn't a situation that could be bluffed through.

"It appears you still don't have it," Lin Chaoqing pressed his horse forward, "Arrest them—"

His words were interrupted by a disturbance coming from a distance: "Liang Mao'er, where are you taking me? Miss Yan'er is still waiting for me in the red tent!"

"Brother, the Liu Family seems angry, we need to hurry and kill the Eunuch Party's men; otherwise, your drinking money and medicine for your practice will be cut!"

"What! Cut off my drinking money?"

"Brother, medicine is more important!"

Both the Criminal Justice Department and Spy Department turned their gazes to the left and saw a plump young man running while carrying a drunken middle-aged man on his back.

The middle-aged man, whose robes flapped open loosely, leaned lopsided on the young man's shoulder, disheveled and unkempt, but the knife at his waist seemed frequently polished, and was especially ornate.

When Lin Chaoqing saw this man, he pulled on his reins and, for a moment, all the Fish-Dragon Guards from the Criminal Justice Department halted.

Jiao Tu whispered, "It's Liang Gou."

Everyone silently watched the duo, an awkward silence enveloping them; then they saw Liang Mao'er, carrying Liang Gou, cursing as they approached.

When they passed the intersection, the plump Liang Mao'er finally saw the groups from the Criminal Justice Department and Spy Department in the shadows by the roadside, and was so scared that he dared not breathe, his body trembling.

"Brother, brother, wake up! I think I saw them!" Liang Mao'er said.

Liang Gou, drunkenly opened his eyes, "Found the Eunuch Party?"

Liang Mao'er's forehead began to perspire, wishing desperately that he could toss Liang Gou'er aside and flee. He lowered his voice and said, "Brother, they can hear us..."

Liang Gou'er's gaze shifted toward Lin Chaoqing, and when he noticed his tidy hat and straw cape, he exclaimed with delight, "These straw capes and hats are indeed the Eunuch Party! But let's not offend anyone, remember to tell the Liu Family that I used my sword..."

In an instant, Liang Gou'er crouched on Liang Mao'er's back, his middle and index fingers hooked around the hilt in one swift move and gave it a slight flick.

With a clang, the long knife was drawn from its sheath.

The overpowering glow of the sword swung towards Lin Chaoqing, and before anyone could react, the blade had returned to its sheath.

With a snap, Lin Chaoqing's hat split in two and fell to the ground, revealing his sharp and resolute face. The aerial sword move was exquisitely executed. The sword energy shattered the hat and then stopped, leaving Lin Chaoqing's face unscathed.

The street fell silent, everyone dumbfounded by the scene.

Liang Mao'er glanced at the Criminal Justice Department on the right and then at the Spy Department on the left. "Brother, we cut the wrong person..."

"Ah?" Liang Gou'er squinted at the Spy Department and then back at Lin Chaoqing.

Lin Chaoqing sat on his horse unmoved, his cold voice demanded, "Liang Gou, open your dog eyes wide and see who I am."

"Ah!"

The next second, Liang Gou'er jumped off Liang Mao'er's back, scrambling and rolling up to Lin Chaoqing's horse and said ingratiatingly, "Isn't this Commander Lin? Sorry, sorry. It's all the Liu Family's fault, they insisted I had to cut you down while I said I wanted to drink in Hongyi Lane!"

Lin Chaoqing swung his horsewhip and struck Liang Gou'er on the shoulder, "I will spare you today, now scram."

"Alright, alright, I'm scramming!" said Liang Gou'er, and he actually rolled away.

Lin Chaoqing looked up across the street.

By then, Yun Yang, Jiao Tu, and Chen Ji had already vanished without a trace.

"Chase them, they won't get far."

Dozens of Fish-Dragon Guards spurred their horses in pursuit, and only then did Liang Gou'er stagger to his feet, while Liang Mao'er tenderly came over to dust him off, "Brother, why endure their contempt?"

Liang Gou'er chuckled, gathering his disheveled hair at the top of his head, "Mao'er, was I not clever just now, deftly averting a crisis?"

Liang Mao'er muttered in aggrievement, "It wasn't clever at all!"

"Come on, let's continue drinking now that the job is done!"

"I don't want to drink! You've had enough already; you don't need more!"

Liang Gou'er: "I haven't had my fill yet… bleh!"

...

...

"The Criminal Justice Department's nose is too keen, how do they always find us," complained Jiao Tu.

Hauling Chen Ji over one shoulder, Yun Yang sprinted, saying, "They say we are the Prime Minister's hounds; we are the hawks, they are the dogs, and the Criminal Justice Department's nose is famously sharp, they could find you even at the ends of the earth."

As he was running, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Jiao Tu exclaimed in surprise, "Are you injured? Let me carry him."

"I just had a clash with Lin Chaoqing, it's nothing serious, just a light wound," Yun Yang said. "This guy is a man, why would you carry him... we're here!"

Arriving in front of a mansion sealed with a notice, Yun Yang dumped Chen Ji down: "This is the place, we have to be quick, the Criminal Justice Department will be here any moment!"

Chen Ji stepped forward, tore the seal, and pushed open the vermilion gate with all his might, quickly bypassing the decorative rockery and pond fish as he headed inside. "Where's the study?"

"It's at the very back!"

From afar, they already heard the sound of galloping hooves, thundering like drums!

But then, Chen Ji entered the study and began removing books from the shelf, briefly flipping through each under the moonlight before tossing them onto the floor, just as he had done previously at Zhou Mansion!

Yun Yang pulled out a flint from his bosom, lit the candles within the room, and held them up before the bookshelf. He suddenly felt like Chen Ji's pageboy, a bit angry, but he had to suppress it with the imminent danger at hand.

Yun Yang puzzledly asked, "What exactly are you looking for? I feel like you're trying your luck like a headless fly."

Chen Ji responded, "Sometimes, luck is also a part of strength."

While they spoke, the sound of hooves stopped outside, and they heard the friction of straw capes against saddles as the Criminal Justice Department prepared to storm in!

Jiao Tu's expression darkened, her lithe and diminutive figure blocking the doorway, her hand on the short knife at her waist.

She faced the rushing Fish-Dragon Guards and said, "The Spy Department capturing spies is a critical moment, one step further and you die."

However, Lin Chaoqing ignored her warning and continued his advance, "Charge in, kill any who resist."

Just as the clash was about to erupt, Jiao Tu suddenly drew her short knife and sliced across her forehead. From that cut, it seemed as though a dark mist was about to emerge.

Inside the eerily quiet mansion, Lin Chaoqing, with a long knife hanging from his waist, stepped forward one step at a time, the knife gradually drawing out, its cold light seeping through from beneath his straw cape, chilling to the bone.

The burly middle-aged man, like a fierce tiger, kept his eyes fixed on the crimson wound on Jiao Tu's forehead, from which an inexplicable power seemed to surge forth.

Lin Chaoqing sneered, "I hold a fourth-ranking official title in Daning; don't shame yourself by resorting to petty tricks."

Jiao Tu calmly replied, "Whether it is a petty trick or not, let's find out."

Just then, Chen Ji's voice came from inside the room, "I've found it!"

The youth walked out of the room, holding a scroll in his hand.