Heavy, breathing.

On the rugged mountain road, there are old traces wading through weeds and shrubs, turning back three times every step.

Feng Huai, who was originally adorned behind him, disappeared, and even Feng Lie and the giant ax disappeared.

He held the "whale" in his hand tightly, suddenly abandoned the mountain road and headed into the woods, hiding his body under the shadow of the dense canopy of trees.

However, just when Chen Ji looked back again, a sword light suddenly burst out from the tree canopy in front of him, like a ribbon pulled out of the Milky Way, and the head of his pocket was slashed.

The howling wind was accompanied by a sharp neighing sound.

Chen Ji subconsciously raised his knife to block, but when he raised the knife halfway, Feng Huai's knife tip stopped between his eyebrows.

In the silence, the tip of the knife did not fall.

Chen Ji breathed heavily, recalling everything that had just happened.

He didn't know when Feng Huai hid in the tree, nor did he know why Feng Huai could guess that he would take this path. He just felt that he was like a beginner in chess, and his every move was accurately calculated.

Feng Huai's face was smeared with grass juice, and his body was tied with branches. The tip of the knife remained motionless without any trembling: "Previously, the king only let us fight on the top of the mountain to protect you, so that we could only compete in skills. But the real fight,

It’s not just skills.”

Chen Ji thought thoughtfully: "Fighting?"

Feng Huai asked solemnly: "What is fighting?"

Before Chen Ji could answer, he continued: "The so-called fighting means thinking about the enemy's thoughts, anticipating the enemy's opportunities, and using everything available, including mountains, rivers, trees, and people's hearts, to end the opponent's life."

With that said, Feng Huai sheathed his sword and slowly retreated into the woods behind him. Before retreating into the shadows, he said softly: "Teacher, you taught us this back then. Now it's my turn to teach you."

It was only at this moment that Chen Ji realized that Feng Huai's strength was not limited to his sword skills, and the real fight had just begun.

From noon to dusk, Chen Ji was assassinated by Feng Huai again and again. The opponent was like a ghost, trying his best to demonstrate what he had learned throughout his life.

If he walks in the woods, he will be killed. If he walks by the river, he will be killed. If he walks in the open land, he will still be surrounded and killed by Feng Huai and Feng Lie.

Sometimes Fenghuai sticks to the tree like a piece of bark, and sometimes it looks like a piece of driftwood in the river. It looks like anything and suddenly turns into a huge ghost mountain, which is extremely scary.

Only this time, Feng Huai no longer started to kill people, but stopped before killing each other again and again, leaving traces of him alone in the same place recalling all the details.

At a certain moment, Chen Ji was walking in an open space and looked back at the top of the mountain.

Xuanyuan held the king's flag in his hand and looked down at him quietly from the highest point. The expression on his face was unclear whether it was ridicule or compassion.

…

…

"Chen Ji, wake up Chen Ji!"

Someone slapped Chen Ji on the shoulder. He immediately stood up and subconsciously waved the "whale" in his hand, slashing to the left!

At this moment, when he raised his hand with the knife, he was still in the shadow of the dense woods. When his arm fell, he had returned to the sunset in Yichuan County, and his hand was empty.

Chen Ji hesitantly lowered his head and looked around. Mr. Wang, Bai Li, the Crown Prince, and Chen Wenzong were sitting on a bullock cart. They looked up at him blankly. Bai Li's hand that patted his shoulder was still hanging in the air.

The ox cart has stopped, and next to it is the "Xiying" Inn. The old two-story wooden gatehouse looks like it has been around for a while.

Wang Daosheng looked at Chen Ji carefully for a moment and asked casually: "Are you having a nightmare?"

Chen Ji quickly followed and said, "Yes sir, I just had a nightmare."

Wang Daosheng smiled and said: "It must be because I haven't had a good rest. We will stay at this inn later and everyone should have a rest early."

At this time, several waiters in the store came out with smiling faces: "Please come in, please."

Zhang Xia asked: "Is there hot water?"

The waiter quickly replied: "Yes, yes, it's burning in the backyard, but a pot of hot water costs two cents."

Zhang Xiahun didn't care: "Is there any bean feed for the horses?"

The waiter smiled and said: "Yes, yes. Sir, your horse is so powerful that it must eat the best beans!"

Zhang Xia casually threw the riding whip to the waiter and said with a smile: "You can talk!"

The waiter hurriedly caught the riding whip, nodded and bowed and led them through the door.

Before entering the door, Chen Ji subconsciously looked inward at the surroundings, scanning every corner of the surrounding area, fearing that someone might pop out of nowhere.

Bai Li asked curiously: "Chen Ji, what are you looking around for?"

Chen Ji came back to his senses and secretly laughed that he was assassinated by Feng Huai and left a psychological shadow.

There are several Eight Immortals tables randomly placed on the first floor of the inn, where guests are eating, and the guest rooms are on the second floor.

I don't know if it was because of his tight nerves, but as soon as he stepped into the threshold of the inn, he felt that all the diners were paying attention to him intentionally or unintentionally.

Chen Ji rubbed his eyebrows. Was it because he was too vigilant that he misunderstood?

While rubbing his eyebrows, he lowered his head and looked at all the diners with his peripheral vision.

No, it's not a misunderstanding!

There was wine on the table, but no one took a sip. Their eyes were clear and their faces were as usual.

The most important thing is that these diners have daggers hidden in their sleeves. Others may not be able to see it, but traces can.

He took a step forward and gently pulled Wang Daosheng's arm: "Sir, this inn is a bit dirty. Let's change it to another one."

Wang Daosheng was startled for a moment: "Oh?"

The shopkeeper behind the counter hurriedly came out and apologized: "Sir, you are joking. Our Xiying Inn is definitely the best in the nearby villages. Big businessmen from all over the country only stay here when they come to Yichuan County."

of."

Chen Wenxiao turned to look at Chen Ji and said scornfully: "My master's illness is not the only thing that can save your life. This inn is already very good. We don't dislike it, but you dislike it instead?"

Chen Ji didn't look at him, but looked at Wang Daosheng: "Sir?"

Wang Daosheng looked at him deeply, thought for a moment and said, "Then let's look at another house."

After that, he turned around and went out without any hesitation.

But they walked along the long street for two miles until sunset, and found only three inns.

And without exception, all three inns were full, and even the stables were occupied by people, most of whom were going to Luhun Villa to watch the cultural gathering.

Chen Wenxiao complained: "Hurry back to Xiying Inn, otherwise we won't even have a place to stay there! Chen Ji, if you are going to get sick, please don't drag everyone with you. You can't bear this kind of hardship. I think Dr. Yao is still too used to it."

It’s got you!”

Bai Li frowned: "Why are you speaking so unpleasantly? The inn just now was indeed not clean."

At this moment, Wang Daosheng suddenly turned around and asked Chen Ji: "You didn't change the inn just because you were dirty, did you? Tell me the reason."

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, and finally expressed his concerns: "In the inn just now, many guests were carrying short knives and looked suspicious."

Chen Wenxiao suddenly laughed out loud: "I see you have never traveled far, what's the problem with carrying a knife?"

Prince Jing also smiled and said: "What do I think it is... Nowadays, when traveling far away, it is natural to carry a knife. Even if you don't encounter bandits and robbers, you still have to guard against local snakes."

With that said, King Jing took out a short knife from his sleeve, Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao also took out a short knife from their cloth bundles, and even Zhang Xia took out a dagger from his boots.

Chen Ji: "..."

He noticed that Prince Jing was carrying a knife, but he didn't expect that everyone else was also carrying one.

Chen Ji couldn't think of anything to refute for a while, so he had to hand it over and said, "I'm sorry, I made a fuss out of a molehill."

Wang Daosheng shook his head: "It doesn't matter, be careful when you go out. This cultural gathering at Luhun Villa attracted too many outsiders. If we don't stay at the Xiying Inn, we will really have to sleep on the streets tonight."

Chen Ji hummed: "Then stay at the Xiying Inn."

When everyone returned to the inn, the innkeeper still greeted them with a smile.

Chen Ji looked around and saw that the diners just now were all gone.

He cupped his hands to the shopkeeper and said: "I have offended many people before, I hope the shopkeeper will not care about it."

The shopkeeper smiled and said: "Look at what you said, how can we worry about customers finding faults when we open the business? Just feel free to stay, our Xiying Inn is very clean."

Wang Daosheng asked: "Shopkeeper, how many guest rooms are there?"

The shopkeeper pointed to the second floor and said: "There is only one Tianzi Shangfang and one Huangzi Tongpu left."

Chen Wenxiao raised his voice: "Tongpu? When have I ever lived in Tongpu?! Shopkeeper, do you think we live in Tongpu? We have..."

He was about to say that Tangtang Prince Jing was among them, but Chen Wenzong stopped him in time and asked politely: "Shopkeeper, I remember when I first entered the door, you said there were many guest rooms."

The shopkeeper was puzzled: "If you had just moved in, there would still be three rooms in the house, but as soon as you left, another businessman came to stay."

Chen Wenxiao frowned: "I'm going to find them. Since I'm going to Luo City to do business, I think they will give us some face."

However, Wang Daosheng calmly raised his hand and stopped: "It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. Just open the shop and have a place to sleep. Bai Li and Zhang Xia are going to live in Tianzi Fang, let's

Go to Tongpu."

The inns these days are like a large courtyard. The front building is where the inn is located, and the back yard has a horse-tethering post, a horse-drinking pond, and countless merchant goods piled up.

There are very few single rooms in the inn. Most of them are bungalows prepared for merchants and horse teams. One room can accommodate ten or twenty people. The inn usually uses "Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang" to name the guest rooms, and the word "Tian" is the best.

The rooms with yellow characters are the messiest ones.
To be continued...