Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

However, both times Li Ji saw Zhen Sui, but Zhen Sui did not see him. The second time, Zhen Sui only saw Cui Qi beside Li Ji and came to visit him late at night. As for Li Ji, he shaved his beard, pretended to be a eunuch, and deliberately avoided the other party's gaze. It is estimated that Zhen Sui could not recognize him after just a quick glance.

So, the two of them actually only had a friendly relationship and no real animosity. But for some reason, Li Ji felt an immediate displeasure upon seeing Zhen Sui... Could it be because of the little maid Cui Qizhi? Zhen Sui was deeply surprised by this and questioned him directly: Have I offended you? Why do you turn your back on me now that you've risen in status?

Fortunately, Li Ji was quick-witted and immediately countered, "Weren't those rebel soldiers on Tanshan Mountain lured here by the secret marks you left along the way?"

Zhen Sui sighed, "So you already know the whole story..." He bent his knees, sat down cross-legged, and beckoned Li Ji to sit with him before slowly continuing, "I didn't mean to frame you, otherwise why would I have risked my life to cover your brother's retreat? It was all a twist of fate that led to this..."

He then recounted how he received instructions from Li Fuguo to leave a secret signal on the road in hopes of gaining Cui Guangyuan's assistance. However, Cui Guangyuan escaped Chang'an City ahead of time, and the spy was captured by Tian Qianzhen. Tian Qianzhen then gathered the warriors of the army and pursued him all the way up to Tanshan Mountain. He explained the whole story from beginning to end.

In fact, Li Ji had already pieced together the fragmented intelligence through Li Bi's relay of Tian Qianzhen's words, and it wasn't too different from what Zhen Sui was saying at this moment. However, he didn't interrupt, but silently let Zhen Sui explain the past, and then poured out his grievances—

"If it weren't for this, why couldn't I return to Tang? My promising future as a Qianniu Beishen has been ruined... In the Tanshan incident, you, my brother, escaped unscathed, but I was the one who suffered the most!"

Li Ji sneered, "What do you mean by 'no surprises or dangers'? My brother and I almost died at the foot of Tanshan Mountain!" Of course, the actual situation was much more serious than that. The real Li Ji could be said to have already passed away. However, it was neither necessary nor possible to tell Zhen Suiyan about his family's secrets.

Li Ji then glared at him again: "Besides, you have now joined the rebels, so you are naturally an enemy, not a friend!"

Zhen Sui was taken aback when he heard this: "You know that too?" Then he curled his lip: "If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be here to save your life today."

"What do you mean by saving my life?"

Zhen Sui deliberately kept everyone in suspense, smiling and saying, "An old friend has come to visit, do you not even have a sip of water?" He glanced sideways at Cui Qi behind Li Ji and said, "That boy, go and get some hot water for me to drink."

He assumed Cui Qi was one of Li Ji's personal guards—because that was exactly how Cui Qi was dressed—but seeing that Li Ji didn't shy away from discussing some past secrets, he figured he was probably a confidant, so he followed suit, not afraid of offending him. Li Ji, however, couldn't help but feel anxious—he was well aware that Cui Qi harbored some ulterior motive, and he also understood that "the king may have intentions, but the goddess may not dream of them." Since Cui Qi didn't even want to mention this person, it was best for them to avoid each other.

He immediately ordered, "Go and fetch some hot water." Before Cui Qi could answer or get up, he suddenly swayed his body to block Zhen Sui's view and slammed his hand heavily on the floor, saying, "You're talking nonsense. Why would I need you to save my life? Just say what's on your mind, or I'll have to see you out!" to attract Zhen Sui's attention.

Zhen Sui indeed withdrew his gaze, focusing only on Li Ji's face. A sincere expression appeared on his face as he shook his head and sighed, "Alright, to make a long story short. I am indeed currently in the rebel army, but not willingly; I am acting under orders, as the saying goes, 'My body is in Cao Cao's camp, but my heart is with Han'... I cannot reveal who specifically ordered me. But you are different now, Li Er of Jingzhao. You fiercely defended against the barbarian bandits in Longyou, and have now come to Henan, where you captured Gao Tinghui and Yu Wenjing, two fierce generals under Shi Siming..."

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cui Qi turned sideways, covered her face, and circled around behind Li Ji. With a leap, she quickly darted out of the house and closed the door behind her. The little girl was skilled at this kind of stealthy action. Her movements were swift and seemingly extremely natural, as if they did not arouse the slightest suspicion from Zhen Sui.

Zhen Sui continued, "...Shi Siming was furious and offered a huge reward for your head. Now that I heard you left the Tang camp and rode back to Chang'an alone, Zhou Zhi sent men to chase after you—that's why I came ahead to deliver the news. Wasn't I here to save your life?"

Li Ji frowned and asked, "Where did Zhou Zhi get this information?"

Zhen Sui scoffed, “How would I know? But it’s not surprising that there are Yan army spies and informants in the Tang camp, is it? Besides, Zhou Zhi is good at using Jianghu people. If he is paying attention to you, you probably won’t be able to hide your tracks.”

"The area north of the Yellow River is still occupied by government troops, so how could Zhou Zhi send someone to harm me?"

Zhen Sui laughed and said, "If I can get this far, what about Zhou Zhi's 'Divine Machine Guards' and those other strange martial artists?"

Chapter Thirty-One: Venting Anger

Zhen Sui was ordered to infiltrate the rebel army and serve under Zhou Zhi. He had been there for more than two years and gradually gained Zhou Zhi's trust and was given important responsibilities.

Zhou Zhi originally joined An Lushan's rebellion and was one of An Lushan's three chief strategists—the other two being Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang. Two years ago, the Tang army recovered the two capitals, and An Qingxu fled Luoyang. For a time, the people were in chaos. Yan Zhuang defected to the Tang before even reaching the river. Zhou Zhi also falsely claimed to be seeking reinforcements and ran all the way to Fanyang to join Shi Siming.

—As for Gao Shang, he remained loyal to An Qingxu and eventually died alongside him, being executed on Shi Siming's orders.

From the time of An Lushan's rebellion, years of warfare ensued, with the Tang and Yan armies locked in a protracted stalemate. Within the Yan state, a non-Han group gradually formed, centered around Shi Siming. Virtually no Han Chinese remained among the high-ranking officers—the Han Chinese had either defected to the Tang or been killed by non-Han generals in successive internal conflicts. Therefore, Shi Siming consistently sought to win over Zhou Zhi, a Han Chinese scholar.

When he proclaimed himself the Great Sage King of Yan, he appointed Zhou Zhi as the military commander. After he became emperor, he directly put Zhou Zhi on the throne of prime minister. There were few Hu people in Hebei. If he wanted to stabilize the situation in Hebei, he would not be able to do so without such a high-ranking "traitor".

Zhou Zhi thus gained immense power, much like Gao Shang during the time of An Lushan.

However, Zhou Zhi was ultimately just a scholar. Although he loved martial arts and enjoyed recruiting extraordinary individuals from the martial world, he was still somewhat of an amateur when it came to military campaigns. Therefore, he searched everywhere for fierce generals to serve him. That's how Zhen Sui caught Zhou Zhi's eye and was able to infiltrate his side.

Upon receiving news that Li Ji had left the Tang camp alone—though not entirely alone, as even the messenger hadn't counted the small, scrawny guard—Zhou Zhi summoned the old guard of the "Divine Machine Guard" and told them, "The Emperor greatly hates Li Ji and has offered a reward of a thousand gold pieces for his head. However, Li Ji is unparalleled in bravery, and it would be difficult to find him on the battlefield. Fortunately, he has left the Tang camp and is returning to Chang'an. With your skills, you will have the opportunity to strike along the way."

"If we can capture Li Ji alive, that would be best. If not, we can take his head. Not only will the Emperor reward us handsomely, but I will also be more favored by the Emperor. Go quickly and be careful not to fail!"

Zhou Zhi did not deliberately hide this matter from Zhen Sui, whom he already considered a confidant. So Zhen Sui pretended to go to find out the movements of the Tang army, and rode alone to find Li Ji to inform him.

This wasn't just because he was a Tang family spy, but also because he cherished his old friendship with Li Ji. Back then, he had traveled a long way to Yingyang to welcome Li Bi, and he and Li Ji had gotten along quite well. They were both fond of martial arts and had even sparred a few times, developing a mutual respect. At the time, Zhen Sui had even thought, "Li Ji is a prodigy; it's a pity he didn't receive a proper inheritance. Perhaps when I escort them to the imperial court, I'll have the opportunity to take Li Ji as my disciple and impart all my knowledge of warfare, archery, and horsemanship."

In this way, Li Ji will most likely have the opportunity to roam the battlefield and become a great general; and I can use this relationship to get closer to Li Bi, and my future will be incredibly bright.

However, things rarely go as planned. He was ambushed at Tanshan, and not only was he separated from the Li brothers, but he also almost lost all hope of returning to Tang. He wanted to go to Li Mi to explain, but because it involved powerful officials in the court, he was met with numerous obstacles... As a result, he was forced to go to Yan as a spy, while Li Mi almost became prime minister, but then resigned and went into seclusion...

Because of their clandestine connections with the Tang Dynasty, Zhen Sui had heard of Li Ji's role in defending Longyou against the barbarians—a fact far more perceptive than that of Wen Jing and Li Riyue. The moment Li Ji mentioned that Li Erlang was Li Changyuan's younger brother, Zhen Sui knew exactly who he was referring to. On one hand, he was pleased that he hadn't misjudged Li Ji; on the other hand, a pang of jealousy arose within him: Changwei had the potential for a meteoric rise, while his own future remained uncertain…

On the battlefield, Zhen Sui changed his name and identity to aid Yan in the fighting. In his heart, he hoped that the Tang Dynasty would eventually quell the rebellion, but he also hoped that the chaos would last a little longer. Because his status was not high enough, even if he assassinated Zhou Zhi and returned with his head, he probably wouldn't be promoted by many ranks, unless he could kill Shi Siming... that would be too difficult.

Now, Zhou Zhi regards Zhen Sui as a confidant and has entrusted him with several thousand troops. Zhen Sui hopes to use this opportunity to further elevate his official rank and power in Yan. "If I become a military commander or even a military governor in Yan, it would be embarrassing for Tang to give me only a minor fifth or sixth-rank post when I return. But if I can bring back tens of millions of troops and one or two prefectures, I might even be able to obtain a third-rank title, or even the highest rank of Yitong Sansi!"

However, mindful of their past friendship, he still made a special trip to remind Li Ji. Of course, finding that lone rider in the midst of two vast armies would be no easy task. If things went smoothly, at least he would have done his best and have no regrets. If he could find Li Ji, it would be a stroke of luck; if he couldn't, well, "man proposes, God disposes," and even if he became a ghost, he wouldn't be able to blame him.

Zhen Sui may appear rough and boorish, but he is actually quite shrewd—perhaps that is why he and Li Ji of the past took a liking to each other—he estimated that Li Ji would be traveling north of the Yellow River to return to Chang'an, and that his first night's lodging would not be in Xin'an City, but at the post station in the west of the city.

It's inconvenient for me to go into Xin'an City, so I'll try looking at some of the post stations outside the city. I've been traveling all night, and this morning I only came to inquire at the first post station, only to run into Li Ji right there—if I had been a little later, Li Ji would probably have already set off.

Although the Tang and Yan armies were positioned across the river, with checkpoints and patrols frequently along the surrounding dozens of miles, making it difficult for large forces to secretly cross or launch surprise attacks, a few individuals or even a dozen or so could always find opportunities to penetrate deep into enemy territory. Those so-called江湖奇人 (jianghu qi, a term referring to martial arts masters or eccentric individuals) who were adept at hiding, traveling at night, and engaging in all sorts of petty theft and thievery need not be mentioned. As for Zhen Sui, he was originally a Tang general, extremely familiar with the Tang military system, and even carried his former Qianniu Beishen (千牛备身) credentials.

In those days, official documents were actually very easy to forge, especially for ordinary soldiers who had no skill to distinguish between genuine and fake documents. Besides, the certificate of success was real, it had just expired and been cancelled... In addition, he was bold and careful, and tried his best to avoid checkpoints and patrols, which is why he was able to run smoothly to Li Ji.

Who would have thought that his well-intentioned tip-off would be met with such a cold reception from Li Ji? At that moment, Zhen Sui truly felt the frustration of "I offered my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shone on the gutter"—of course, he didn't know those two lines—and was about to storm off. However, he couldn't help but ask: Why are you treating me like this? Have I offended you? But then Li Ji revealed the whole story of Tanshan in a single sentence…

Oh, it's because of that misunderstanding. It's understandable. It's okay. I've been wanting to explain things to you two brothers for a while now. I've finally got the chance.

After the conversation, Li Ji's expression seemed to soften slightly, and Zhen Sui then revealed his purpose, saying that Zhou Zhi had sent people to kill you. Those martial arts masters were probably no match for you in a direct fight—regardless of what happened in the past, at least you were able to capture Gao Tinghui and Yu Wenjing alive now, so your abilities need no further explanation—they will most likely set up an ambush on the road and carry out a sneak attack, so you must be very careful.

Li Ji asked him, "How many people are there? And what kind of people are they?"

Zhen Sui shook his head: "I don't know either, and I ultimately don't care about that 'Divine Machine Guard'..."

He said that the "Divine Machine Guard" established by Zhou Zhi originally had two commanders and deputy commanders, twenty or thirty extraordinary individuals, and more than a hundred soldiers to assist him. After the defeat in Luoyang, and perhaps due to some secret operation that resulted in the loss of manpower, there are now less than ten extraordinary individuals left, while the number of soldiers has increased to five hundred, becoming Zhou Zhi's personal guard.

Sending out those soldiers would be useless; the only ones who might be mobilized are the so-called superhumans. Considering that it's impossible to wager all their resources on one operation, they'd probably only send five or six people to kill you at most. As for who these people are and what their supernatural abilities are, Zhen Sui has absolutely no clue.

Li Ji bowed to him and said, "I am deeply grateful for your kind words, Brother Zhen. If I live, I will repay this kindness."

Zhen Sui waved his hand and said with a smile, "No need." Then he frowned and asked, "Why hasn't anyone brought me any water yet?"

Li Ji pretended to be angry and said, "Is that child slacking off somewhere again? Let me drag him back and punish him properly!" His attitude successfully fooled Zhen Sui, who immediately laughed and said, "In that case, there's no need to trouble yourself. I'd better hurry back to avoid arousing Zhou Zhi's suspicion."

Li Ji finally breathed a sigh of relief after Zhen Sui left, never managing to resemble the Prime Minister Cui Qi.

Actually, he really wanted to find out why Cui Qi disliked him so much, and what he had done to her. However, Cui Qi was still nearby, and might even be eavesdropping outside the door. Li Ji dared not cause any trouble, lest he offend the little girl as well.

After Cui Qi returned to the house, Li Ji recounted everything Zhen Sui had said. Cui Qi frowned slightly: "If there are five or six people... even three or four, I'm afraid I alone cannot protect you..."

Li Ji laughed and said, "Am I some weak scholar who can't even kill a chicken? Why would I need you to protect me?"

Cui Qibai glanced at him: "How many tricks of the martial world have you seen? Back then between Xinfeng and Weinan, if I hadn't drawn my sword to warn you, but instead intended to take your life, you probably wouldn't have been able to escape!"

The suggestion at the moment was: "If we can't win in battle, we can always avoid it. We might as well take a detour, cross Wangwu Mountain, and enter Hedong first..."

Unexpectedly, Li Ji curled his lip and said, "I'll still go the same way. I'll wait for them to come and see what those Jianghu tricks can do to me!"

Why was he so reckless? Actually, Li Ji was itching to do something.

Yu Chaoen wanted to frame him, and the scoundrel Wei Sun even set an ambush, binding him with ropes at one point. Li Ji, being young and impetuous, had a bellyful of anger with nowhere to vent it. Although he shouted a few words at Wei Sun before leaving the Tang camp, getting revenge on him, he couldn't see what would become of that scoundrel, could he? How could his anger possibly subside?

Then Zhen Sui arrived with the news, and upon meeting him, immediately tried to grab his wrist—Zhen Sui was somewhat jealous of this young man's meteoric rise to fame and wanted to test his strength against him. Li Ji instinctively parried, but gained no advantage. Although he had never liked Zhen Sui, the man had come to deliver a message, and since the past had been laid bare, it was inappropriate to continue glaring at him…

The original owner of this body may have shared a deep mutual respect with Zhen Sui, perhaps even a profound bond of friendship. However, the soul has been replaced, and the current Li Ji is entirely different. Since transmigrating, Li Ji has been searching through his past memories, discussing the ambush at Tanshan with Li Bi. For a considerable period, he mistakenly believed that Zhen Sui was a feigned friend but a true enemy, and that the assassins were simply those he had recruited, thus harboring resentment. Although the truth was gradually revealed, proving that Zhen Sui's actions were unintentional and that he himself was a victim, the preconceived notion made it impossible to shake off the bad impression.

Furthermore, the young girl Cui Qi doesn't seem to have much affection for Zhen Sui, which naturally affects Li Ji's likes and dislikes.

So, I clearly wanted to glare at you, but you came here with good intentions this time... Li Ji's anger inevitably grew stronger and stronger, and he urgently needed to find someone to vent it on—to put it bluntly, I want to beat someone up, or even kill someone!

Now that Zhou Zhi has sent assassins, how can I simply hide and take detours? Let's fight first!

Of course, Li Ji had a certain assessment of the dangers of the assassins and the mission, and he felt that the risk factor was not too high.

He explained to Cui Qi, "If it were just one or two people, they would surely flee if they missed their target; but since there are five or six of them, they will most likely spare no expense to capture me, which would give me a chance to fight back."

At this point, he waved his hand to stop Cui Qi from interrupting and continued his analysis: "So-called Jianghu methods are nothing more than scaling walls, hiding one's tracks, assassination, poisoning, and the like. As long as we take strict precautions, we can certainly evade them. Besides, they can't possibly go too far into Tang territory. Even if our fine horses can't defeat them in battle, surely we can escape? You know the road ahead better than I do, so if you were to set an ambush along the way, where would you choose?"

Cui Qi rolled his eyes and said, "From here to the west, it's a journey of several days, and ambushes can be set up everywhere. How can we possibly defend against them?"

Li Ji smiled and gestured to his forehead: "Don't just spout off, use your brain first." He then asked, "If we set off immediately, where will our next lodging be?"

Cui Qi said, "South of Wangwu County, there are post stations along the road..."

"And the next place to stay?"

"Then we'll be close to Yuan County."

Li Ji nodded and said, "There are postmen inside the post stations, and there are also houses for cover. As long as we sleep soundly, they will not have a chance. Therefore, they will not dare to make a move in the post stations. Besides, whether we are fast or slow, if we miss the post stations where they have set up an ambush, wouldn't that be a complete waste of effort?"

"They will most likely set up an ambush on the road during the day."

Li Ji said yes, but—"Do you remember the grain transport from Hedong that you saw when you passed Baiya on the way here?"

Baiya is a small mountain on the north bank of the Yellow River. Hou Jing once built a city on the mountain. In the third year of Xianheng in the Tang Dynasty, the Baiya Granary was set up on its old site, which regularly stored 200,000 shi of grain. Of course, the granary is now empty, but grain from Hedong is still transported to the Baiya Granary in accordance with the old practice, and then people from Heqing County transport it to the front line.

Therefore, Li Ji judged that although there were not many travelers along the way, there were still some, and grain convoys would pass by at any time, or even envoys sent by Heyang to Hedong to urge the delivery of grain. In that case, those "Divine Machine Guard" assassins would most likely not dare to block the road and rob...

Chapter Thirty-Two, The Khitan General

As Li Ji said, their horses were strong and swift, so even if they encountered an enemy, if they couldn't win, could they at least escape?

Therefore, what he was worried about was what tricks those assassins would play on the streets, such as digging traps or setting tripwires...

Actually, tripwires aren't hard to avoid, especially on official roads. A rope lying across the road is bound to be conspicuous and easy to avoid—the previous entrapment of Gao Tinghui was achieved by taking advantage of his eagerness to pursue Li Guangbi and hiding the rope in the grass. But if a trap is dug and disguised, it becomes much harder to dodge.

Fortunately, this road is busy with people, so it's unlikely that the other party would dig a hole in the road. Besides, north of the Yellow River, although the section between Heqing and Yuanxian is not a major thoroughfare, it is still a medium-width official road that has been trodden out by people and horses over hundreds or thousands of years. It hasn't rained much recently, so it's not so easy to dig with a shovel.

Theoretically speaking, once I leave the Tang camp, I will immediately ride westward, and those assassins will not be able to catch up with me at all. Only if they take advantage of my overnight rest and rush ahead in one go will they have a chance to set up an ambush—will there still be time to dig a trap?

He shared his analysis with Cui Qi, who glared at him and said, "Why bother digging a trap when we can just lie in wait by the roadside?"

Li Ji laughed and said, "I'm afraid they'll dig a pit, but I'm not afraid they'll set an ambush..."

On the main road, in a direct confrontation, Li Erlang showed no fear, unless the assassins were also skilled in spears and bows, each possessing the abilities of Gao Tinghui and Yu Wenjing. Therefore, the only way to increase his chances of capturing or assassinating them was by taking advantage of the terrain.

"Looking at both sides of the road, although it's not a flat plain and the terrain is uneven, most of it has been cultivated into fields. It's late autumn, the rice and wheat have all been harvested, and the stalks are less than two feet long. Where can anyone hide nearby? That means they can only ambush someone from twenty paces away with crossbows, darts, and the like. I'm a veteran of many battles, but with proper precautions, I can evade both crossbows and arrows; as for darts..."

At this point, Li Ji smiled at Cui Qi: "If it hadn't been at night and you hadn't been caught off guard, it wouldn't have been easy for you to shoot my saddle."

Cui Qi reminded him, "Do you only remember that Jingjing? What if four or five, or even six, people suddenly appeared by the roadside, each wielding darts and crossbows?"

Li Ji replied, “If there were so many skilled archers, Zhou Zhi would have renamed the ‘Divine Machine Guard’ to ‘Archery Guard’ long ago. Besides, I only need to wear armor to protect my head and face, which is more than enough.”

Leaving aside flying swords and darts, crossbow bolts can reach great distances, but their flight speed is relatively slow. The more powerful the crossbow, the slower it flies. Based on Li Ji's battlefield experience, he would dodge at the sound of the bolts. Unless thousands of crossbow bolts were fired from all directions simultaneously, it would be difficult to injure him. Even if they did hit him, he was protected by iron armor. From his previous encounters with Jingjing'er and subsequent battles, he knew that projectile weapons in this era actually had limited penetrating power.

Of course, if it hits the gap between the armor plates, it can still injure the skin and flesh, but the chances are too small. Li Ji felt that this small risk was worth taking.

Cui Qi was still uneasy: "What if they poison the darts or arrows?"

Li Ji still smiled: "Even when they plotted to assassinate Marshal Li Yu, there was no poison on Jingjing'er's darts. And since they wanted to capture me, they probably wouldn't use poisoned darts or arrows right away."

He had once inquired about poisons from Jia Huai and knew that not just anyone could use them; without specific skills, it could easily harm oneself. Moreover, poison coated on weapons would easily lose its effectiveness upon contact with air; even if it broke the skin, it wouldn't cause instant death like in novels, and with timely treatment, one could most likely be saved.