Night, Hai hour.

Everyone in the hospital was fast asleep, only the main hall was still lit by a beam of light.

The flame of the oil lamp flickered on the counter, illuminating only a small patch of light.

Chen Ji stood behind the mahogany counter with his sleeves rolled up, his hair tied on top of his head with a wooden hairpin, concentrating on grinding each piece of charcoal until it was crushed, and then mixed it with the jar of Shao Daozi wine he had bought, and spread it on the counter

superior.

He pushed the oil lamp further away and waited quietly for the alcohol, hydrides, and oxides to evaporate.

While waiting for it to evaporate, he gently fanned himself and looked up at the beams.

There was a small spider slowly building a web on the beam. A moth gnat struggled against the web. The spider crawled towards the moth gnat, but did not notice that there was a gecko waiting beside its web.

At this time, a voice came from behind him: "Why is there such a strong smell of alcohol in the house? Have you been drinking?"

Chen Ji stood up and turned around, looked at the sudden appearance of old man Yao, and said with a smile: "Master, are you still asleep?"

Old Yao had no expression on his face: "My apprentice is going to a foreign country, can I sleep?"

"Did you get your fortune right?"

Old Man Yao sneered: "You cook for everyone, and you look sad. I can guess it even if you don't tell fortunes. I can not only tell fortunes, but I can also use my brain."

"oh……"

Old man Yao stood opposite him, looking at the charcoal powder on the counter casually: "Tell me, where do you plan to go?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "I won't leave. You guessed wrong this time."

Old Man Yao was startled for a moment. He took out six copper coins from his sleeve and threw them on the counter. While interpreting the hexagram, he said: "Hey, you really haven't left... Why don't you leave?"

Chen Ji smiled and said: "The grass is created by nature. It is in danger and lives towards death. Isn't this the divination you gave me? I am not suitable for running away."

"Is it suitable to die? The Secret Intelligence Department of Ning Dynasty in the south is monitoring you, and the Military Intelligence Department of Jing Dynasty in the north wants to kill you. What are you doing here if you don't leave?"

Chen Ji didn't answer, he just looked up at the spider and gecko on the beam again, wanting to see if the gecko had eaten the spider.

Old Man Yao followed his gaze and said, "This time, are you the spider or the gecko? Or are you the gnat that has fallen into the spider's web?"

Without answering, he just gathered up the dried charcoal powder and picked up a copper scale to weigh it.

He took out the previously purified sulfur, saltpetre, and sugar, mixed them evenly and poured them into the bamboo tube, and then mixed in a small amount of iron pieces.

At this time, dark clouds came in through the cracks in the window. In this solemn atmosphere, it first looked at old man Yao, then at the traces, and meowed: "As you guessed, the golden pig has been inspected from the craftsmanship."

We’re getting some clues.”

Chen Ji didn't look up. He carefully sealed the bamboo tube, leaving behind a medicinal twist made of tissue paper and gunpowder.

Until this moment, Chen Ji put the bamboo tube on the counter, raised his head and replied with a smile: "Master, I am not a moth, nor a spider, nor a gecko."

He looked at the oil lamp on the edge of the counter: "I am the fire."

A ball of fire that does not belong to this era.

Chen Ji took a piece of cloth, wrapped three bamboo tubes in it, and tied them to his back.

He waved to the dark clouds and turned to go out.

Old Man Yao stared at him for a long time: "How much ice flow is left in your body? How many ginsengs can it absorb?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Six branches."

Old Man Yao walked to the medicine cabinet and opened the drawer: "Convert all the ice flow before going."

Chen Ji's eyes lit up. It turned out that Master had purchased ten ginseng sticks in the morning and wanted to keep them for himself: "Thank you, Master."

"One ginseng costs thirty taels of silver, or three golden melon seeds."

Chen Ji's expression froze: "I thought you wanted to send me off."

Old Man Yao sneered: "Send it to you? I can't survive?"

"Okay, I'll only change five." Chen Ji counted twelve golden melon seeds from his sleeve and put them on the counter, and took out thirty taels of silver from the apprentice's dormitory...

At this time, he only had sixty-three taels of silver left in his family that he had worked so hard to save.

"Master, I'm leaving," Chen Ji picked up five ginseng sticks, turned them into transparent crystal beads, and fed them to Dark Clouds one by one.

He walked into the backyard with his bag on his back, climbed onto the roof, and blended into the night.

Beside the apricot tree, Old Man Yao looked at the direction he was leaving and threw down six copper coins: "Big bad luck."

The crow cackled.

Old Yao said impatiently: "You should walk on the path you choose... If you want to go, just take a look and I won't stop you."

…

…

At night on Zhenghe Street, there was a charcoal cart pulled by two cows, slowly heading towards the East Market.

Winter is about to come, and charcoal has become a necessity. For example, the capital distributes as many as 720,000 charcoals to officials in the capital every year.

Red basket charcoal was used in the palace, officials and nobles praised Xishan silver charcoal, rich people burned paulownia charcoal, and ordinary people used black charcoal. Without charcoal, winter would be extremely difficult.

This was the best time for the charcoal merchants. The charcoal was burned in the mountains and forests, transported by canal to the East City of Luocheng, and then sold from the East City to every household. There was an endless stream of cars coming and going every day.

The charcoal cart is different from the ordinary ox cart in that it is sealed on all sides but open at the top.

The charcoal seller drove his bullock cart and hummed a tune along the way. He didn't notice a cat squatting on someone's shoulder in the shadows on the roadside, waiting for him to pass by slowly.

When the charcoal truck passed by the shadow, Chen Ji took two quick steps and flipped into the truck bed without making any sound.

The charcoal dealer noticed the slight shaking of the car and looked back at the stone road on the ground in confusion, thinking that he had hit a pebble.

Seeing that there was no abnormality in the wheel, he continued to hum a ditty: "Stand at the top of the steps, your marriage will be perfect. Call out that there are guests, light a lamp and go upstairs. It's late at night and you have to make do with the east road..."

Chen Ji heard that this was a erotic song that was circulated in Hongyi Lane...

These dealers make money during the day and work in brothels at night, either gambling or whoring, but there is always nothing left.

He smiled, hugged the dark clouds and nestled in the dirty charcoal cart, closed his eyes, and let the charcoal cart take him to Hongyi Lane in Dongshi City.

The closer he got to Dongshi, the calmer Chen Ji's heart became. He touched the short knife in his sleeve again and slowly closed his eyes.

Return to the battlefield in the dream.

"Brother Fenghuai, what's the name of the move you did with your sword just now?"

"Xingyuan."

"Brother Fenghuai, what's the name of the move you made just now by pressing your blade against mine and forcing me to abandon it?"

"spark."

"Brother Fenghuai, what was the move you used to slash the back of my sword just now? This move made my wrist hurt, but it didn't seem to have any effect."

Feng Huai smiled shyly and said: "That move is called wrong gold. I should have cut off your sword with one strike. It's because your sword is so good that it keeps cutting."

Every move of Park Swordsman Feng Huai's sword, every step forward and backward, is as exquisite as art and impeccable.

The opponent was like a heavy hammer, hitting his piece of steel hard and forging it into shape. Chen Ji died again and again in exchange for one skill after another.

Chen Ji had never fought with an outsider with a knife, so he didn't know if his skills were up to par. He could only keep practicing so that he could slowly approach Feng Huai's skills and then surpass them.

In the beginning, Chen Ji would die twenty or thirty times an hour, but now, he only dies three or four times an hour.

In the beginning, he was full of flaws, but now, both sides are trying to exploit each other, and often neither of them can find the other's flaws within a hundred moves.

Those sword skills seemed to have been engraved on his bones tens of thousands of years ago, carved into complex and exquisite totems, and were gradually being awakened.

Chen Ji stood up straight again: "Come again."

Xuanyuan, who was sitting cross-legged on the boulder, was still wearing a black royal robe, but the stars embroidered with gold threads had changed, leaving only the purple stars.

Xuanyuan asked: "You seem to be in a hurry?"

Chen Ji said: "I'm really in a hurry."

Xuanyuan wondered: "Is there someone outside who wants to kill you?"

Chen Ji calmly responded: "No, I have someone I want to kill."

Xuanyuan laughed loudly: "No wonder you entered the country faster today than yesterday. This is the time for you to practice swordsmanship! The sword is the courage of a hundred soldiers. If you don't have the intention to kill, you can't practice the sword well! But I suggest you stop first.

Come down and rest for a while before continuing to study. Being tired will only make you restless and not helpful."

Chen Ji was thoughtful and simply sat cross-legged on the ground decisively: "Brother Fenghuai, please sit down and rest for a while."

Feng Huai put away his sword and sat down, his posture upright like an apprentice.

The three of them sat on the ground, with clouds flowing around them, as if they were in a fairyland, being caressed by an immortal and granted immortality.

Chen Ji sighed with emotion: "Brother Fenghuai, your sword skills are so good."

Wearing light armor, Feng Huai looks about 20 years old. He is handsome and a little green. Just by looking at him, you would never guess that he is a master of swordsmanship.

When he heard Chen Ji praising himself, he smiled even more shyly: "You taught me well back then. We also suffered a lot when we practiced swordsmanship with you."

Chen Ji was stunned: "...I taught you that? Then why do I feel that you are so excited to chop me?"
To be continued...