In the main room, Su Zhou sat weakly on the bed. Xiaoman hid behind Chen Ji, poking her head out. The dim and flickering candlelight continuously stretched and distorted the shadows of the three people; just like the thoughts of the three, swaying and shaking incessantly.
Chen Ji instructed Xiaoman: "You stay in the room. I will go and return shortly."
Tugging at his sleeve, Xiaoman said in a low voice: "Young Master, this woman is too fierce! I'm going with you!"
Chen Ji consoled her: "Keep an eye on the door. Do not let anyone else enter."
Xiaoman: "Oh..."
Su Zhou looked at Chen Ji coldly. "I advise you best not to harbor any crooked thoughts. Otherwise, your entire Chen Estate, from top to bottom, will have to die."
Chen Ji said slowly, "Rest assured. I am going out to fetch some healing items for you."
After saying that, he turned and went out. Only after properly closing the two wooden doors of the main room did he walk out toward the courtyard exterior.
Behind him, Xiaoman said anxiously: "Young Master, go quickly and return quickly, ah! I'm a bit scared staying alone with this woman!"
Chen Ji raised his brows, but did not turn his head back.
The instant the door closed, Xiaoman stood up straight, the panicked expression on her face also withdrawing a bit.
Acting as if nothing happened, she pushed the door to open a crack, stealthily looking outside, and casually said to Su Zhou behind her: "You fierce woman, you definitely made a mistake. My Young Master would absolutely never be the person who betrayed Prince Jing. This afternoon at the Zhang Estate, the Young Master already proved..."
Before the sound of her words fell, Xiaoman turned her head, only to discover that Su Zhou had already arrived behind her like a ghost or phantom!
Bringing her fingers together like a knife, Xiaoman chopped toward Su Zhou. Yet Su Zhou's figure was like a slippery loach that couldn't be grasped; actually sticking close to the chopping arm, she dodged and slipped right behind Xiaoman!
The Emei Piercer was once again pressed against Xiaoman's lower jaw. With just the slightest movement, the poison-laced Emei Piercer would nail into her chin.
Caught off guard, Xiaoman let out an "Ah," saying: "Let me go! Let's go outside and find a place to fight!"
Su Zhou said in a low voice: "Do not shout! Otherwise, I'll kill you along with him!"
She observed Chen Ji through the crack in the door. Seeing Chen Ji converse with the City Defense Division soldiers for a moment, and that no one came in to arrest her, only then did she let out a slight breath of relief.
Xiaoman muttered, "You can set your mind at ease now, right? My Young Master definitely wouldn't betray you, nor would he betray Prince Jing."
Su Zhou said in a deep voice: "You may know a person and know their face, but you do not know their heart. Even the brothers who stayed by the Prince's side for many years can betray the Prince; why couldn't he?"
Xiaoman said helplessly: "My Young Master is not that kind of person. Since childhood, he hasn't even had the heart to kill a chicken. In the past, he raised two little chicks, and accidentally raised one to death. He cried for a long time over it! He is extremely kind."
Su Zhou sneered coldly: "People change. In The Jianghu, everyone spreads rumors that he and the Commandery Princess and Prince Heir were close friends. But from what I see, Prince Jing's Estate suffered a great disaster, yet he isn't saddened in the slightest. Is this still not enough to prove he betrayed the Prince?!"
Looking at Chen Ji's retreating back outside the door crack, Xiaoman remained silent for a long time before saying: "He is very sad. He just doesn't want others to see his sadness, but I can see it."
Su Zhou gave a scoffing laugh. "Are you the roundworm in his stomach?"
Xiaoman fell silent for a moment, then said calmly: "Hey, we both work under the Chief Director. I kindly saved you, so don't be unappreciative of favors! Twice you pressed that Emei Piercer of yours against my neck. What, do you truly think you can actually kill me?!"
The candlelight in the room stagnated for an instant. The atmosphere turned freezing cold, as if even the charcoal basin in the room had grown somewhat dim and ashen.
Su Zhou said calmly: "You are nothing more than a seventh-rank 'Candle Snuffer'. You dare to speak to me like this?"
Xiaoman opened her mouth slightly: "I... I just don't possess as heavy a killing intent as you all do. I just don't like killing people, which is why I couldn't be promoted! Ah, right! This time I saved you, but you still haven't given me the copper coin!"
Pondering for a moment, Su Zhou slowly lowered the Emei Piercer. Taking out a copper coin from her sleeve, she tossed it into Xiaoman's embrace.
Picking up the copper coin, Xiaoman scrutinized it carefully, only to see that the words engraved on the copper coin weren't 'Jianing Tongbao', but rather the two words 'Lantern Fire': "So this is a Lantern Fire Copper Coin, ah! Can it truly be exchanged for two hundred taels of silver?"
Seeing her appearance, Su Zhou asked suspiciously: "Have you never seen a copper coin before?"
Xiaoman stiffened her neck: "Who said I've never seen one? Haven't I seen it now?"
Su Zhou grew even more confused: "You truly haven't seen a Lantern Fire Copper Coin! Could it be that you've never taken on a single mission in the past?! Exactly who was the one who guided and recruited you into Lantern Fire?!"
Curling her lips, Xiaoman said: "Who are you? Why should I tell you? Ah, right! Has the Chief Director ever said why we are called 'Lantern'?"
Su Zhou let out a sigh: "Why don't you know anything at all... 'Lantern' implies 'Home'. When returning home, if there is a lantern in the home, it means someone is at home. 'Lantern Fire' is meant to give us homeless people a home."
Lowering her head, Xiaoman tucked the copper coin into the small pouch at her waist: "Then there's no need. You all don't have a home, but I do."
Su Zhou: "..."
Stowing the copper coin well, Xiaoman warned: "Saving you is saving you. But I warn you, you are not allowed to harm my Young Master! Furthermore, you are not allowed to expose my identity! And even more so, you are not allowed to press your Emei Piercer against me again... Hey, you!"
Thump.
Before Xiaoman even finished speaking, Su Zhou had already fainted to the ground.
...
...
When Chen Ji returned, he carried two red-lacquered Food Boxes in his hands.
Outside the Mingquan Courtyard doors, six City Defense Division soldiers stood holding torches. Chen Ji handed the Food Boxes to them: "Generals, it's not easy for you all to come out entirely handle official duties in this biting cold wind. I instructed the rear kitchen to prepare some food and dishes for everyone. Please hurry and eat them while they're hot."
The City Defense Division soldiers were overwhelmed by the unexpected favor: "Third Young Master is too polite! How could we trouble you to worry about our meals?!"
Although Chen Ji was a Concubine's Son of the Chen Family, to these soldiers, he was already an important figure sitting high above, someone they couldn't reach even by standing on their tiptoes normally.
Chen Ji smiled and asked casually: "Ah, right. With so many of you coming to guard the Chen Estate, what about the matter of catching the culprit?"
The leading soldier in front of the door let out a sigh: "We, the Luo City City Defense Division, know exactly how many catties and taels we weigh. The serious matter of catching the culprits still has to be done by the Secret Spy Division."
Chen Ji asked nonchalantly: "Are there any clues at the location where the incident occurred?"
The soldier smiled and answered: "You've asked the right person! The few of us were the first batch to rush there. Xingluo Street was covered in blood! All the Thousand-Year Army soldiers were killed except for one. General Wang's chest was stabbed into a sieve!"
Chen Ji sucked in a breath of cold air: "To kill so many people... how many murderers were there?"
The soldier said smoothly: "We heard the Living Yamas of the Secret Spy Division say there were a total of two murderers. One is a female assassin of 'Lantern', and the other is an accomplice who commands a spirit monster."
Chen Ji asked with a smile: "Since the Secret Spy Division has taken action, presumably they will definitely be able to catch them. Did the Secret Spy Division say how they plan to catch them, or when they will be able to catch them? After all, with such fierce scoundrels at large outside the law, it makes one feel quite scared."
"Third Young Master needn't be scared, us brothers are guarding you here!" A soldier smiled honestly and simply: "The Secret Spy Division is currently searching medical clinics all over the city right now. It gets said that the female assassin suffered severe injuries; if not treated in time, she probably won't survive."
Chen Ji gave an "Mhm", smiling as he entered the Mingquan Courtyard: "Thanks for your hard work, Big Brothers. I'll go back and rest first."
The several soldiers hurriedly nodded and bowed: "Thank you, Third Young Master! Please hurry back and rest well."
Chen Ji latched the courtyard doors securely and returned into his room.
Su Zhou was currently lying unconscious on the bed. Seeing him return, Xiaoman hastily stepped forward, shaken and terrified: "Young Master was gone for so long, ah! Staying in the same room as this fierce woman almost scared me to death!"
Chen Ji smiled, not taking her words to heart.
The greatest anomaly regarding tonight's events lay in: why was Su Zhou able to accurately find his room while on the run?
Finding the Chen Estate wasn't difficult, but to accurately locate his whereabouts within the Chen Estate... how could a female assassin who had just arrived in Luo City and was completely alone accomplish this?
Both this Su Zhou and Xiaoman treated him as an ordinary person, thinking he was very easy to fool.
Chen Ji did not expose them, silently watching to see exactly what they intended to do.
He pulled out a palm-sized white porcelain bottle from his robes, as well as a needle and thread box, handing them together to Xiaoman: "The white porcelain bottle contains the strongest Strong Distilled Liquor in the estate. Use it to clean the wounds of the person on the bed, and the wounds won't fester with pus."
Xiaoman looked at the needle and thread box: "This is?"
Chen Ji cast a glance at the saber and sword wounds on Su Zhou's body: "Roast the needle over the charcoal basin. After burning it, sew up her wounds like sewing clothes. As for whether she can pull through, that will depend on her own luck."
Xiaoman's eyes widened: "I've heard of pouring strong liquor over wounds before, but using needle and thread to sew human skin... is this something Young Master learned at the medical clinic? Why have I never heard of this in the past?"
Chen Ji gave an "Mhm": "Useful things learned at the medical clinic."
Sutured wounds could prevent secondary infections, and granulation tissue would grow and heal in around ten days. If not sutured, he feared it might not even heal in one or two months.
Chen Ji exited the room, leaving Xiaoman to administer first aid.
He sat down by the stone table in the courtyard, quietly looking at his palm.
In the next moment, he closed his palm, and when he opened it again, a black 'Sword Seed' was already hovering within the center of his palm!
The black Sword Seed resembled a bamboo leaf. It had no sword hilt and no sword guard, and was as thin as a cicada's wing.
Chen Ji brushed his finger pad over it. The surface was rough, as if cast from black iron, and even the edges weren't smooth or even. No matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem to possess much class or elegance.
He pondered in his heart: "Why was Xuanyuan's Sword Seed radiant and glowing with vibrant colors, resembling a shooting star when shuttling through the air... Yet my Sword Seed looks just like an inconspicuous Iron Shard... Is it because I haven't seized enough swords, or is it because I haven't nourished it for long enough?"
Chen Ji attempted to control the Sword Seed with his mind, but that black Iron Shard wobbled unsteadily in front of him. It always felt somewhat disobedient and hard to control, and its speed couldn't become fast either.
In a flash, he simply decided to direct the Sword Seed to forcefully smash toward the wintersweet tree in the courtyard!
His original intent was to pierce through a leaf, but when the Sword Seed arrived in front of the wintersweet tree, it deviated by several Cun.
With a slicing sound, a wintersweet branch as thick as two fingers snapped in response. By the time the Sword Seed returned to Chen Ji's palm, it was completely undamaged.
Stepping forward, Chen Ji looked up and saw that the cut on the wintersweet branch was smooth and perfectly even! It was as if he had just sliced a block of tofu, rather than cutting off a wooden branch!
Lowering his head to scrutinize the Sword Seed, his cultivation of this Sword Seed Cultivation Pathway had finally entered the door! He was no longer an outsider!
However, he didn't know just how much more sword intent he had to seize, and how many more people he had to kill, in order to complete himself.
With a creak, the door to the main room was pushed open.
Flipping his hand to stow the Sword Seed back into his sleeve, Chen Ji asked nonchalantly: "What is it?"
Xiaoman cast a suspicious glance at him, sizing him up for a moment, before saying: "The wounds have all been sewn up. You can come in."
(End of this chapter)