It was evening in the 31st year of Jianing’s reign, in winter.

The evening glow filled the sky, like red waves slowly receding. In Luocheng, there were no longer armored soldiers coming and going. The common people tentatively came out of their homes, and vendors with shoulder poles were shouting sales along the street. At first, the vendors only dared to keep their voices low, but later their voices gradually became louder: “Tofu! Just pickled fresh tofu!” The marketplace was like wild grass, able to grow wildly from bricks and stones, from rock crevices.

Everything was returning to normal. Time seemed to leave only a long scar on a few people, which was slowly healing.

In the apprentice dormitory of Taiping Medical Hall, the room was full of the smell of wine. Chen Ji lay snoring on the communal bed in an ugly posture. He kicked off the quilt repeatedly, and Wuyun repeatedly pulled the quilt back over him, then put his paws in his pockets and lay down quietly beside him.

After an unknown amount of time passed, Chen Ji slowly opened his eyes and asked, his voice dry and hoarse: “…How did I get back? I don’t remember anything at all.”

Wuyun muttered: “You suddenly went crazy this morning, carrying a wine jar to the Drum Tower to watch the sunrise, saying something about ‘carving a boat to seek a sword’. Later you were drunk and talked nonsense. One moment you were pulling the soldiers under the Drum Tower saying, ‘Second Battalion Commander, where the hell is your Italian cannon?’, and the next moment you were pulling the rickshaw puller saying, ‘Your concubine wants to report Xi Guifei’s private communication and defile the harem.'”

Chen Ji suddenly sat up, his eyes wide and speechless: “Ah?”

Wuyun hesitated for a moment: “Chen Ji, did you used to be a concubine in the Forty-Nine Heavens?”

Chen Ji hurriedly explained: “Those were lines from a play.”

Wuyun was relieved: “That’s good.”

Chen Ji was suspicious and uncertain: “What else did I say?”

Wuyun thought for a moment: “Just some messy things, I can’t remember clearly.”

Chen Ji was also relieved. He lay back lazily, quietly looking at the ceiling. He felt a mix of tears and laughter. If it weren’t for this drunken nonsense, he would have almost forgotten that he actually didn’t belong to this world.

“Wuyun, time really flies.”

In the blink of an eye, he had already been in this world for more than two months. It was still autumn when he first arrived, but now it was already snowing.

The room quieted down. Chen Ji lay on his back on the communal bed, and Wuyun also lay on his back leaning on his arm. One person and one cat looked at the cobwebbed beam, lost in their thoughts. It was as if everything that happened last night was just a dream after a big drink, unrelated to today.

Chen Ji softly muttered: “No wonder so many people like drinking, and no wonder Master said that after getting old, the wine tastes a bit bitter… I don’t know where Master went, he didn’t even want the medical hall anymore.”

Wuyun replied: “Master said he went to a very far place and won’t come back again.”

Chen Ji sighed a little: “They’re all gone. Did Master say anything else?”

Wuyun thought for a moment, imitating Old Man Yao’s tone and said: “Tell that boy not to miss me, this old man. This old man is very happy without him around.”

Chen Ji’s eyes widened: “Master said that?”

Wuyun was doubtful: “Doesn’t sound like it? If you think it doesn’t sound like it, I’ll make up another sentence for you.”

Chen Ji said powerlessly: “…No need.”

Wuyun looked at Chen Ji curiously with his round, slippery eyes: “Chen Ji, Master said you came from the Forty-Nine Heavens. What’s it like there? Are there immortals flying in the sky?”

Chen Ji smiled and replied: “I don’t know what the other Forty-Nine Heavens are like, but in ours, ordinary people can also fly around in the sky.”

Wuyun was shocked: “You’ve flown before?”

Chen Ji said happily: “I’ve flown several times already.”

Wuyun said solemnly and respectfully: “Awesome!”

Chen Ji stroked its head: “Not awesome at all, you just need to have money. Maybe I’ll have a chance to take you to see where I live later, and I’ll take you flying a few times then too.”

“Is it a deal?”

“It’s a deal.” Chen Ji suddenly said: “But before that, we have to change our way of living.”

Wuyun agreed: “Okay.”

Chen Ji was curious: “Aren’t you going to ask what kind of living way?”

Wuyun casually meowed: “No need, you decide the big things in our home.”

Chen Ji was amused: “Wuyun, you’re really good.”

“Of course.” Wuyun asked: “Are you going back to the Chen family today?”

Chen Ji rubbed his temples: “Not yet. There should still be guests coming later.”

Wuyun was doubtful: “Guests?”

“Hmm, people who have come to kill me.”

In front of the kitchen stove, Chen Ji sat on a small stool watching the firewood burn, lost in thought for a moment. The firelight reflected on his face, and the flames flickered in his eyes. The heat from the stove made his cheeks a little red.

Wuyun reminded: “Chen Ji, the pot is hot.”

Chen Ji said “Oh,” and got up. He scooped out a piece of pure white pork fat and threw it into the pot. He stir-fried a dish of pan-fried tofu, a dish of vinegared cabbage, a dish of sour bean sprouts with minced meat, and a dish of dried bamboo shoots stir-fried with bacon. It was simple.

The sky was already late. He carried the dishes into the courtyard, set three sets of bowls and chopsticks, and then sat at the Eight Immortals table and said: “You two have been waiting for so long, come down and eat.”

Jiao Tu’s laughter came from the roof of the main hall: “Last time Hai Dong Qing Master Chen invited us to eat, he almost had us buried in the midst of firearms. This time he’s inviting us to eat again, I wonder if it’s a Hongmen banquet.”

Chen Ji looked up. Jiao Tu stood on the left side of the roof eaves. Under the crescent moon, Yun Yang squatted on the right side, their killing intent rising. He was a little stunned. When he first came to this world, he saw these two wanting to kill him. Two months later, in a circle, these two still wanted to kill him.

Chen Ji sat at the table side and slowly separated the chopsticks: “You two are overthinking. This is not a Hongmen banquet. White Dragon Master arranged for you two to work for me in the future, so we should work together. I sincerely invite you two subordinates to eat. Please don’t overthink it.”

Yun Yang sneered: “You want to be our superior? I’m afraid you won’t have that life!”

“Oh?” Chen Ji pretended to be doubtful: “You two want to kill me? I am now White Dragon Master’s person. Aren’t you afraid of his blame?”

Jiao Tu’s eyes flowed like autumn waves: “We already exposed your betrayal of King Jing early this morning.”

Saying this, she pulled two Emei thorns from her waist and threw them to Yun Yang: “When White Dragon Master asks, we’ll just say that the owner of these Emei thorns killed you. King Jing was his great benefactor. It’s reasonable for him to avenge King Jing.”

Chen Ji laughed: “You two really don’t take White Dragon Master seriously. How could he possibly be fooled by this kind of thing… However, there was originally no need for us to fight and kill each other.”

Jiao Tu tilted her head, a little doubtful: “How so?”

Chen Ji looked up at Jiao Tu: “How long did it take for you two to endure and become Zodiacs?”

Jiao Tu sighed: “Many years. It was so hard to become Zodiacs, and then to be beaten back to our original form after only half a year of glory, it’s really miserable.”

Chen Ji asked again: “You two are now pigeon-level spies. How long will it take to become Zodiacs again?”

Jiao Tu lowered her head and counted her fingers: “Kill ten people for the Inner Minister, and you can return to the position of Hai Dong Qing. Kill twenty more, and you can mix into the ‘Jia’ section within the Hai Dong Qing. Kill fifty more… But the people the Inner Minister wanted to kill in recent years have all been killed. It’s really a bit troublesome to return to the position of Zodiac.”

Chen Ji said with a smile: “Now the positions of Sheep and Rabbit are vacant. Who can guarantee that these two positions will definitely be left for you? I presume others coming out of Wu Nian Mountain are all coveting these two positions.”

He continued: “You two have been stagnant in the Innate realm for many years, and you are only one step away from the Dao Seeking realm. If you cannot exchange merit for the next level of cultivation before the age of thirty-six, I fear you will experience birth, old age, sickness, and death like ordinary people.”

Jiao Tu smiled and didn’t speak.

Chen Ji looked up at her, and his voice hit the ground: “If you two work for me, I guarantee that you will both return to your Zodiac positions within a year. How about that?”

Under the moonlight, on the roof eaves, the air solidified. Jiao Tu’s slender fingers played with her hair, and a thought flashed through her eyes.

Chen Ji asked: “How long did it take you two to go from sparrow-level spies to Hai Dong Qing?”

Jiao Tu calculated the time: “Six years.”

Chen Ji asked again: “How long did it take me?”

Jiao Tu’s fingers paused in the wind in her ear, and her eyes lit up: “…Two months. Yun Yang, it seems like helping us return to our Zodiac positions is not a bad proposal. I just said, how good would it be if everyone didn’t fight and kill, but cooperated happily.”

Yun Yang’s face sank: “This boy has many tricks. Keeping him around at night will lead to many dreams.”

Yun Yang held the Emei thorns in both hands and leaped down from the right side, pouncing towards Chen Ji like a flying wild goose. Chen Ji was not flustered, his face didn’t change, and he gently pushed with his hands, pushing the Eight Immortals table two chi away.

Just as he was negligent, he suddenly stood up, hooked his foot, and picked up the whale knife hidden under the table. He slashed upwards to the right with one stroke. The blade was like a sharp waning moon, reaching Yun Yang’s front in an instant. Although the Emei thorns were one chi and two cun long, the whale knife was five chi and five cun long. In a hurry, Yun Yang retracted the two Emei thorns to block in front of him. With a clang, both his hands were numb.

“Innate!” Yun Yang exclaimed, and his body tumbled backward, continuously retreating towards the apprentice dormitory. He threw the Emei thorns in his hand like hidden weapons, trying to force Chen Ji back, but the Emei thorns whistled through the air and missed, embedding themselves in the kitchen wall with a buzzing sound.

When Yun Yang looked for Chen Ji’s figure, Chen Ji’s knife was already resting on his neck. Yun Yang felt the cold blade on his neck and couldn’t move. Chen Ji pulled him, slowly retreating towards Jiao Tu, saying as he retreated: “Yun Yang Master, even a lion uses its full strength to fight a rabbit. Don’t be so careless next time.”

In the small courtyard, killing intent was everywhere. The black cat crouched low on the roof eaves, its eyes fixed on Jiao Tu not far away. A fight was on the verge of breaking out.

Yun Yang was held by Chen Ji and sneered: “This boy is really hidden deep. He’s actually in the Innate realm.”

Jiao Tu clapped her hands on the roof ridge: “Didn’t you just recently receive cultivation from the Inner Minister? How did you reach the Innate realm so quickly?”

Chen Ji said calmly: “Exceptional talent. Jiao Tu Master, now Yun Yang Master is in my hands. Can we talk now?”

Jiao Tu smiled charmingly, tucking her hair behind her ear: “What does him being in your hands have to do with me? People from our Wu Nian Mountain may not have old feelings. You kill him. After you kill him, we’ll drink and chat. If you can help me return to my Zodiac position, I’ll properly repay you.”

Chen Ji also smiled: “Okay, since Jiao Tu Master said so, then I’ll kill him first.”

Saying that, he turned the edge of the knife in his hand, cutting into Yun Yang’s neck skin, drawing blood.

“Wait!” Jiao Tu suddenly cut open her brow with her thumbnail and closed her eyes. A mass of black cloud mist drilled out from her brow and instantly turned into Jiao Tu’s appearance, landing on the roof. Only then did he see her body wearing black armor, a black feather plume swaying in the wind on her head armor, and holding a crescent moon knife upside down in her hand.

Chen Ji’s heart tightened. He guessed correctly. Jiao Tu was always the more dangerous one of the two. The Inner Minister arranged Yun Yang by Jiao Tu’s side, in fact, to let Yun Yang protect Jiao Tu.

Yun Yang looked up at the roof, his expression startled: “Jiao Tu, you…”

Chen Ji held the knife to Yun Yang’s neck and retreated into the shadow under the roof eaves of the main room: “Jiao Tu Master, didn’t you say you don’t have old feelings? How are you willing to expose your own cultivation technique?”

Jiao Tu said casually: “I just saw that your knife skills are extremely good, and I want to spar with you.”

Chen Ji stood in the shadow under the roof eaves: “I’ll say it again, there’s no need for us to fight and kill each other. Follow me and I guarantee you two will become Zodiacs again within a year. Otherwise, we’ll fight until one of us dies today.”

Saying this, he slowly put down the edge of the knife, pushed Yun Yang several steps away, then swaggered to the side of the Eight Immortals table and sat down, as if no one else was there, picking up his chopsticks: “I have already shown my sincerity. Come down and eat.”

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