Before dawn, the river water was like black ink.

Chen Ji’s head surfaced, gasping for air. The icy sensation seemed to penetrate his skin, seep into the cracks of his bones, and bore into his marrow.

His soaked clothes clung to him, unable to retain any warmth.

Chen Ji scanned the water, trying to find traces of Shopkeeper Yuan amidst the ripples, but he was suddenly drawn by the scene above. Streaks of meteors shot across the river surface, trailing long comet tails, like a rare, brilliant meteor shower. With bows fully drawn, the meteors covered a hundred paces, piercing through more than twenty armored guards on the bridge, who had no chance to retaliate. On the bridge, a tattooed man, hiding behind a carriage to avoid the meteors, pulled a brass whistle from his waist and blew it. Countless armored guards poured out from the alleys at the sound of the whistle, rushing towards Peony Bridge like a brown torrent. The tattooed man roared, “Capture Jin Zhu and cover Second Master’s escape. It’s just Tian Ma. I don’t believe he can shoot hundreds of arrows!” But just as his voice faded, the sound of hoofbeats echoed from afar.

The hoofbeats grew louder, approaching from the distance, as if a vast army was breaking through an icy river. Chen Ji turned sharply and saw a middle-aged man, clad in a straw cape and conical hat, standing silently on the eaves of a distant pavilion. He resembled a black hawk, holding a black banner amidst the flickering flames, pointing it towards Peony Arch Bridge. Embroidered in gold on the banner were the two large characters: “Jie Fan.”

It was Lin Chaoqing. Tian Ma had also brought the Jie Fan Guards from Mengjin Camp.

Chen Ji gazed at Jin Zhu on the bridge, who was desperately ducking and weaving, before finally seizing the chance to leap into the water.

It seemed Jin Zhu couldn’t be killed tonight.

Although Liu Mingxian’s plan was extensive, the Directorate of Ceremonials seemed to have outmaneuvered him.

The overall situation was settled.

However, what Chen Ji needed to do tonight was not yet finished.

At that moment, the sound of splashing water came from nearby. Shopkeeper Yuan was vigorously swimming west, continuously stirring the water. Chen Ji cautiously followed, neither approaching too closely nor drifting too far.

Shopkeeper Yuan turned back, gave him a cold glance, and swam faster. The two moved one after another, with towering flames and battle cries behind them, while here, only the sound of splashing water remained. The firelight reflected on the black river, as if even the icy Luo River had caught a cold fire. Chen Ji swam and shouted, “Don’t run! You have a penetrating wound in your leg. How far can you escape?” Shopkeeper Yuan sneered but did not reply.

Chen Ji continued to shout, “Cooperate with my Secret Service, and your life might be spared.”

Shopkeeper Yuan still did not reply, only swimming towards the bank.

Chen Ji swam hard to keep up, but Shopkeeper Yuan suddenly turned and kicked him in the head.

Amidst the surging undercurrents, Chen Ji was kicked to the riverbed, cold river water rushing into his mouth and nose. If not for the resistance of the water, he might have fainted instantly.

He shook his head, then pushed off the riverbed with his legs, gritting his teeth and once again pursuing. Shopkeeper Yuan looked back, feeling as if a lone wolf was following him, intent on dragging him to his death in a desolate wilderness. A moment later, he limped onto the bank, wading slowly through the water over the pebbles. Shopkeeper Yuan looked down at his wound; a thumb-thick bloody hole in his thigh was still bleeding, soaking his trousers purple. As he bent down, a whistling sound cut through the air. He slightly tilted his head as a flying stone grazed his ear and landed on the distant mudflats. Shopkeeper Yuan looked back to see Chen Ji standing in waist-deep water, bending down to pick up several pebbles and throwing them one after another. He laughed in exasperation, “Who the hell are you, daring to chase me with a few pebbles? How many taels of silver does your Secret Service pay you a month that you’d risk your life like this?” Chen Ji remained silent.

Shopkeeper Yuan wanted to rip off a piece of his clothes to wrap around the wound and stop the bleeding; if it didn’t stop soon, he wouldn’t get far. But just as he lowered his head, he heard another stone whistling through the air.

Shopkeeper Yuan easily stepped aside, feigning a move to return to the river to kill Chen Ji, but as soon as he moved, Chen Ji immediately squatted back into the water.

Veins pulsed on his forehead in anger. “You think you can stall me?”

With that, Shopkeeper Yuan simply ignored Chen Ji, no longer bothering to dodge the flying pebbles, and focused on bandaging his wound. Pebbles thrown by an ordinary person wouldn’t break bones or tear tendons, even if they hit.

The next moment.

*Thud!* A massive stone struck Shopkeeper Yuan’s temple, making his vision go black and sending him stumbling several steps to the right.

He glared, his eyes wide, to see Chen Ji laboriously hauling another head-sized stone from the river. The young man in the river was pale-faced, his lips white, and his body trembled with cold, as cold and hard as the pebbles at the bottom of the Luo River. “You damn bastard, are you ever going to quit?!”

Shopkeeper Yuan narrowed his eyes. “Stop bothering me. In the future, I’ll give you enough wealth to last a lifetime, far more than you’d earn serving in the Secret Service.”

Chen Ji sneered, “Survive tonight, then we can talk.”

Just then, someone nearby spoke with a smile, “Looking down on my Secret Service’s salary? Can your Military Intelligence Department offer more? May I ask if you are Chief Cao of the Military Intelligence Department? We’ve been looking for you tirelessly.”

Shopkeeper Yuan turned sharply, only to see Jin Zhu had arrived at some point, his clothes still dripping wet, slowly wading out of the river onto the bank.

In the middle of the river, a small sampan approached slowly. An old man in a straw cape punted with a long pole, carrying the white-clad Tian Ma.

Tian Ma stood motionless at the bow of the boat, like a legendary stabilizing needle. It was as if his presence alone prevented the river from stirring up stormy waves.

Shopkeeper Yuan tried to escape onto the riverbank, but as soon as he turned, he saw someone squatting on the embankment behind him, grinning as he stared.

The man, dressed in a bright brown robe with a large lapel, rose from the embankment and descended to the mudflats.

His robe was embroidered with dozens of brightly colored pheasants. He had a pale, beardless face and neatly slicked hair, resembling a ‘qingyi’ opera performer making a grand entrance on stage.

Meng Ji.

Shopkeeper Yuan snarled, “Three of the Twelve Zodiacs are here, even the Tian Ma who commands them has appeared. You’ve certainly made a big show, but instead of catching Liu Mingxian, you all came to play with me?”

Jin Zhu chuckled, “The Grand Secretary wants the Liu family dead, so he has no reason to live. Liu Mingxian is just a minor character; the Liu family’s roots are in Yuzhou. Where can he run? Don’t struggle. Surrender.”

Shopkeeper Yuan did not reply. Instead, he turned and lunged at Chen Ji, intending to take the troublesome young man with him before he died.

But when he turned, he realized Chen Ji seemed to have anticipated his intent and had already returned to the river.

The next moment, a meteor flew from the center of the river, piercing Shopkeeper Yuan’s other good leg.

Jin Zhu walked forward with a smile, flipped Shopkeeper Yuan over, and pinned him to the ground.

He pulled a small knife from his sleeve, cut off a lock of Shopkeeper Yuan’s hair, and handed it out. “Meng Ji, interrogate him right here. And that kid in the river, interrogate him here too.”

Jin Zhu squatted on the ground, turned to look at Chen Ji in the river, and said slowly, “Only after he’s interrogated can I feel at ease.”