Alas, a colt glimpsed through a crack, a spark struck from stone, a life lived in a dream...
Amid the inexplicable echoes, Chen Ji had no idea how long he had wandered in the darkness. It was as though he had trudged through a glacier for a century, unable to part the mist before his eyes.
Yet the darkness also seemed to last only an instant, as fleeting as a spark struck by colliding stones.
Chen Ji could not control his body. He could only listen.
The wind, the rain, even the sound of oars sweeping across water-it was as if someone were carrying him in a little boat through a black sea of clouds.
Chen Ji wanted to break through the darkness, but everything around him was as thick and sticky as glue, leaving him unable to struggle free.
Beyond the darkness, someone suddenly spoke in a relaxed tone. "Lord Zhou, we wouldn't have come in person if we weren't absolutely certain. From the moment you saw us, you had two choices: cooperate and help us capture the Jing Dynasty spies in Luo City, or we make you wish you were dead. There is no other choice."
A middle-aged man thundered in response, "I don't know what offense I've committed to trouble you two to come to my residence and go on a killing spree. I don't know any Jing Dynasty spies!"
The relaxed voice replied, "On the twenty-seventh of last month, you treated Lord Li of the Directorate of Works to wine at the Famous Bamboo Garden in White Robe Lane in the East Market. During the feast, you bought Miss Cuihuan's freedom from the Famous Bamboo Garden and presented her to him. As it happens, Miss Cuihuan is a Jing Dynasty spy... I don't need to go on, do I?"
"What does Miss Cuihuan being a spy have to do with me? I'd never had any dealings with her before!"
"You want evidence?"
"Yes!"
A girl in the room laughed. "Since when has our Secret Intelligence Directorate needed evidence to kill a spy?"
Lord Zhou, who was being interrogated, said nothing more. The room fell silent except for his heavy breathing.
Shattered porcelain covered the floor, and the display shelves that had held ornaments were smashed as well. The room was a ruin.
Amid the wreckage, seven or eight corpses lay twisted on the floor. Only a middle-aged man remained, slumped on the ground, his hair disheveled and his appearance wretched.
Opposite him stood a young man in sleek black combat attire, his expression relaxed and amused. Not far away, a slender girl in black squatted on an armchair, watching the show.
The man and girl in black looked to be only around twenty, yet they had killed a roomful of people.
In the darkness, Chen Ji suddenly felt as though their voices were a hand, grabbing him as he sank into the abyss and dragging him back from hell into the mortal world.
"Lord Zhou, who else works with you in Luo City? It's all right if you don't want to tell the truth now. We have all night to pass the time," the young man said with a smile. "Just wait. Once we bring in the family you've hidden in Firewood Lane, we'll see if you're willing to talk..."
The next moment.
One of the corpses in the room abruptly sat up!
Hiss!
Chen Ji drew a sharp breath, breathing greedily like a drowning man brought back to life. His breathing was especially piercing in the silence, breaking the heavy stillness in the room.
Chen Ji sat up from the floor, his head muddled and heavy.
He instinctively reached for the knife wound at his waist, but there was nothing there.
The girl squatting on the armchair whipped her head around. "Huh? Cloud Goat, are you getting rusty? How come you can't even finish killing someone properly?"
Cloud Goat argued, "Impossible. His heart must be in the wrong place!"
"If you botched it, you botched it. Can't stand losing face?"
"Then what do we do?"
"Kill him again."
At that moment, Chen Ji had too many questions. Why had he been reborn, and where had he been reborn? Could he still find his way home? If something as miraculous as rebirth could happen, could he still see his family again?
He opened his eyes. "Wait, I have something to say..."
As soon as he spoke, footsteps sounded outside, drawing everyone's attention.
More than ten men in the same black combat attire escorted seven or eight people into the courtyard, along with two children of eight or nine, a boy and a girl.
During the lull, Chen Ji quickly surveyed his surroundings. The room was small, with a rosewood writing desk on the left and two armchairs and a table in the middle.
Books, brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones lay scattered in a mess across the floor.
Had I transmigrated?
Was this the dream world Li Qingniao had spoken of?
He seemed to have transmigrated into someone who had just died, but he had no idea who the dead man had been in life.
Chen Ji badly wanted to stop and think about his situation, but the crisis before him was unfolding too quickly, giving him no chance to think.
As he pondered, the men in black combat attire forced Lord Zhou's family to their knees. One of them cupped his fists and reported, "All the family members Zhou Chengyi had hidden away have been brought here. This woman was bought out of White Robe Lane by him ten years ago. The two children are theirs, a boy and a girl. The others are the steward and maids."
The men in black all had resolute expressions, and each wore a sheathed long saber at the back of his waist.
Cloud Goat smiled and squatted in front of the woman. "Madam, did you know Lord Zhou was a Jing Dynasty spy?"
The woman clutched the little boy tightly in her arms and shook her head in terror. "No, we don't know anything!"
Cloud Goat drew a slender silver needle from his sleeve and stabbed it into the woman's chest as fast as lightning. She could not make a sound and toppled sideways to the ground.
Dead.
Wails erupted in the room. The steward cried out at the top of his lungs, "Master, what's going on, Master?!"
Zhou Chengyi did not answer. He merely watched the scene with a dark expression.
Cloud Goat glanced at him, then squatted in front of a maid. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me?"
The maid stammered, "I... our master only comes two or three times a month. It's hard for us... us even to see him."
Cloud Goat thrust the silver needle at her. The maid tried to dodge, but it was too fast. All she could do was watch as it pierced her chest.
Chen Ji instinctively touched his own chest.
Cloud Goat killed his way down the line until he reached the little boy. He squatted with a smile, but instead of looking at the boy, he stared straight at Zhou Chengyi. "Kid, has your father told you anything?"
Zhou Chengyi's face twitched. "Your Ning Dynasty was founded on learning and propriety, yet you would torture a child to death?"
Cloud Goat sneered. "This spring, Jing Dynasty cavalry rode south and slaughtered who knows how many innocent people of our Ning Dynasty. Why should I talk poetry and propriety with you? Lord Zhou, if you still won't talk, your child is going to die."
"Father, save me!"
But Zhou Chengyi merely turned his head slightly away, refusing to listen to the child's pleas.
Cloud Goat whistled. "Such a hard heart. Looks like we've caught a major spy of Gyrfalcon rank or higher. It's truly embarrassing to have let you lie low right under our noses for so many years."
A stab.
The boy fell dead.
Chen Ji watched silently. The child's eyes had not had time to close and were staring wide at him.
The veins on Zhou Chengyi's forehead throbbed.
At that moment, the girl named Bright Rabbit came over to the little girl, squatted down, and said softly, "Just now, your mother only held your little brother. Did you see that?"
The little girl nodded in terror.
Bright Rabbit went on, "If you're willing to come with me, call me big sister, and go to a place called No-Thought Mountain, I won't kill you."
But the little girl did not agree. She only looked at her father, bewildered, helpless, and afraid.
"In this world, a weak girl will suffer a great deal." Bright Rabbit smiled and drew the little girl into her arms. "Don't be afraid. It'll be quick."
She drew a silver needle like Cloud Goat's from her hair and stabbed it into the back of the little girl's neck with her own hand. The girl instantly went limp in Bright Rabbit's arms and made no further sound.
Chen Ji's pupils contracted slightly.
Cloud Goat watched without concern. He came to the steward and Chen Ji, the only ones left. "Young fellow, you were lucky just now. Let's play a game. Whichever of you gives me information first gets to live."
The steward immediately shuffled forward on his knees, tears and snot streaming down his face. "My lords, I'll talk! I'll tell you everything you want to know! Let me live!"
Cloud Goat was delighted. "I just love watching someone sell out his master for personal gain!"
Chen Ji spoke up as well. "I don't have any information, but give me half an hour and I'll find it for you."
The steward hurriedly explained, "He's just an apprentice at a medical clinic. What could he possibly know? Listen to me!"
Cloud Goat looked at Chen Ji, his expression sincere. "I'd have to wait half an hour for your information, and there's no telling whether you'd find any, so I'm terribly sorry... ah, you!"
As he was teasing him, Chen Ji suddenly lunged at the steward and pinned him firmly to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, a shard of porcelain that had somehow found its way into Chen Ji's hand sliced open the steward's neck. Unfortunately, Chen Ji had little experience killing, and his first cut missed the artery.
Neither Cloud Goat nor Bright Rabbit moved to stop him.
In a panic, the steward lay on the ground and swung his fists desperately at Chen Ji's face. But Chen Ji neither dodged nor flinched. He tightened his grip on the shard and slashed again.
The second cut finally severed the artery in the steward's neck, and blood spurted out like a fountain.
The steward was dead.
Chen Ji slowly rose. The steward's blows had split the skin at the corner of his eye, and his palm had been cut from gripping the shard too tightly. Blood dripped onto the floor.
Bright Rabbit's eyes lit up.
Cloud Goat's interest was also piqued. "You really want to live?"
Chen Ji panted. "I don't have any information, but give me half an hour and I'll find it for you."
"Oh?" Cloud Goat raised his eyebrows. "Deal, but I'll only give you a quarter of an hour."