Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

Of course, it's possible that the other side has some master of poisons, or even possesses potent poisons that Jia Huai has never even heard of. But Li Ji has already made up his mind to take the risk and kill the traitors to vent his anger, so there's no need to tell Cui Qi about these concerns.

He simply asked Cui Qi, "If we head west from here, all the way to Yuan County, there probably won't be many places along the way where we can set up an ambush. Can you delineate the area?"

Cui Qi stared at him for a long time without saying a word, finally letting out a soft sigh: "Do you really have to take this risk?"

Li Ji said solemnly, "Since Zhou Zhi has his eye on me, who knows if he won't send Jingjing and the others to infiltrate Chang'an again to assassinate me? At that time, I would be caught off guard and attacked in a narrow place, which would be ten or a hundred times more dangerous than today! It would be better to thwart his plot here first, or even kill one or two assassins. Perhaps this can deter Zhou Zhi and force him to give up." He then flattered the little girl, "And having you by my side today is a hundred or a thousand times better than those imperial guards and thugs in the capital!"

Cui Qi did not agree with Li Ji's words. He did not believe that any capable person would dare to or be able to sneak into the capital of the Tang Empire to assassinate an important figure. Touching the Ding'an Imperial Palace, which was not heavily guarded, was already the limit. Otherwise, if Zhou Zhi had just assassinated the prime minister or minister, wouldn't the Tang Dynasty have been thrown into chaos?

—Of course, she couldn't have known that more than fifty years later, that bloody scene would actually appear on the streets of Chang'an…

However, Cui Qi had been a maid in the Cui household since childhood, and had developed a habit of obeying orders. Since her master ordered her to travel east to Luoyang to retrieve Consort Shen, she naturally had to obey Consort Shen's orders; conversely, Consort Shen's subsequent order for her to look after Li Ji meant she should also obey Li Ji's orders. Specifically, she could disobey the order for Li Ji to charge forward alone and for her to retreat; but if Li Ji wanted to lead her to her doom, and she refused to listen to his advice, then they could only walk side-by-side into the abyss…

In particular, Li Ji even went so far as to provoke him: "If you are afraid of death, you might as well part ways here and take a detour to Wangwu Mountain."

Cui Qi couldn't help but glare at him angrily: "The assassin wanted to kill you, not me. What do I have to be afraid of? Besides, I still have to collect your corpse!"

Li Ji sighed softly: "I also hope that in the future—not in the near future—when I die peacefully in my old age, you can mourn and hold a funeral for me..."

Soon, the two rode away from the post station, but unlike yesterday, Li Ji donned armor and a helmet, his hand on his lance, fully alert. Cui Qi, on the other hand, resolutely refused to wear armor, because her strength lay in agile leaps, and armor would hinder her from utilizing her strengths.

Therefore, Li Ji refused to walk alongside Cui Qi anymore and made the little girl follow behind him, about ten steps behind him. Otherwise, if a dart or crossbow suddenly appeared by the roadside, I would be fine with my armor, but you would be hit, injured, or even killed. What would that be like?

If the other side intends to capture me, their first attack will likely be relatively mild, but it's hard to say what they'll do with my entourage...

However, Li Ji's grand and righteous reason was: "If I go first, I will attract the assassin's attention; if you go behind, you can find their tracks and quickly kill one or two of them, then we will have a chance of winning."

From Heqing to Yuan County, bordered by the Yellow River to the south and the Taihang Mountains to the north, the road stretches for about thirty li. The terrain on both sides is mostly low hills, with crisscrossing fields and little tall grass or dense forest—not ideal for an ambush at this time of year. Based on his memory, Cui Qi had identified four or five relatively dangerous locations beforehand, either with small hills to the north or woods to the south. Whenever they passed these places, Li Ji would keep his eyes wide open, ears perked, and be on high alert, ready for any sudden attack or flying darts or arrows.

As for the other locations, just keep your eyes scanning the road ahead from time to time to watch out for tripwires and to see if there are any places to hide by the roadside—a person's nerves can't be on edge for long.

According to Li Ji's assessment, he would encounter the assassin today, without having to wait until tomorrow. This was because the assassin would have to rush ahead of him overnight to set up an ambush along the roadside, and if the distance grew too great and time dragged on, the assassin would be more likely to be exposed as they penetrated deeper into Tang territory. Besides, who knew if he might change his route halfway for some reason?

As expected, it was just past noon. They were probably separated from Hengshui County by the Yellow River, and they were passing through a dangerous area. There were small hills to the north and woods to the south. Just as Li Ji became wary, he suddenly heard a whistle from a poplar tree on his left, and then a lasso came swooping down on him!

This was indeed far beyond Li Ji's expectations.

He had originally estimated that if the assassin did not set up a tripwire, he would most likely use a crossbow or throwing darts to injure the horse first and then the person. With Li Ji's skills, it was simply a pipe dream to think that he could capture him without inflicting some injury first. But to his surprise, the other party actually used a lasso!

The lasso was originally a tool commonly used by nomadic tribes on the grasslands to lasso horses and catch sheep. However, it is said that the Khitan cavalry in Northeast China were also adept at using lassos to capture generals.

During the Wu Zhou period, Li Jinzhong, the leader of the Khitan Dahe tribe, raised the banner of rebellion and proclaimed himself "Supreme Khan." Empress Wu Zetian dispatched twenty-eight generals, including Cao Renshi, General of the Left Eagle Guard; Zhang Xuanyu, General of the Right Golden Guard; Li Duozuo, General of the Left Might Guard; and Ma Renjie, Vice Minister of Agriculture, to lead troops to suppress the rebellion. However, they suffered a crushing defeat. On the battlefield, Li Jinzhong's general, Li Kaigu, was skilled in using the "lasso," a type of noose. It was said that "deer, foxes, and rabbits, even when on horseback, could be caught by the lasso, leaving no one untouched." He even "lassoed" two Zhou generals, Ma Renjie and Zhang Xuanyu…

Li Ji had heard about this and knew that Shi Siming commanded many Khitan cavalry. He had been wary of lassos on the battlefield. But who would have thought that a lasso would come from the side while walking on the main road? Aren't you supposed to be martial arts masters? How did you manage to infiltrate with Khitan soldiers?!

Is it true that "wherever there are people, there is a martial arts world," so the Khitans also had their own martial arts world, and the Khitans could also be martial arts figures...?

Caught off guard, he was caught by the lasso around his shoulder. The person holding the lasso pulled hard, tightening the slipknot and binding Li Ji's arms firmly. Li Ji's instinctive reaction was to release his lance, grip the saddle tightly with both hands, squeeze his legs against the horse's belly, lower his body, and use the momentum of his mount to continue leaping forward.

—You may be able to trap me, but you may not be able to subdue me. Let's have a contest of strength and see if you can push me off the horse or I can pull you down from the tree!

With a "whoosh," the fine steed from Longyou beneath me shook its head and neighed, its four legs slipping as it came to an abrupt stop. Then, due to inertia, the horse lost its front hoof and fell forward.

Li Ji thought to himself, "This doesn't make sense. How could you possibly move me and my horse? Are there four or five people huddled in the tree, pulling on the rope together?" He was afraid that the horse would fall and crush him, and with his arms restrained, he would have no power to fight back and would be helpless to surrender. So, he instinctively let go of his hands and legs, and at the same time, his feet came off the stirrups, and he leaped off the horse's back.

And so, the mighty Li Erlang, like a kite, was pulled by a thin string and flew diagonally through the air...

While in the air, Li Ji finally realized that the other end of the rope was indeed in someone's hand. However, that person had tied the lasso to a tree branch and was pulling the rope down himself. Using his own weight and the acceleration of the fall, he not only forced his mount to stop but also sent Li Ji flying like a kite...

Then the subsequent development should be a foregone conclusion: this person will fall to the ground, while Li Ji will climb the tree... When his arms are bound and he is suspended in mid-air with nothing to hold onto, won't Li Ji be at the mercy of others?

The only problem is that the rope is a bit long.

A typical lasso can only be thrown five or six steps, enough to lasso a horse or capture a general. But the lasso this man used was five zhang long, and he could throw it nearly ten steps. Without such amazing skill, he wouldn't have been recruited by Zhou Zhi. There were at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, of people in the Khitan tribe who knew how to use the lasso. Only this man could lasso people on the road from a considerable distance.

Therefore, the man landed on the ground, while Li Ji hadn't even climbed the tree yet; his feet were only four or five feet off the ground. While in mid-air, Li Ji twisted his waist and used his feet to push off the tree trunk. The man's feet had barely touched the ground before he was pulled up.

As he stood up, Li Ji suddenly bent down and squatted down under the tree roots and in the grass.

No sooner said than done, a figure flashed behind the tree, a cold glint in the eye, and a blade slashed down towards Li Ji's shoulder. Li Ji had just landed and, unable to dodge, simply rolled away to avoid the attack. He was in quite a sorry state, but the person using the rope was in an even worse predicament, finding no foothold in mid-air and forced back up into the tree…

Suddenly, branches and leaves swept across the man's face, causing him to cry out "Ouch!" and let go of his grip. He then tumbled and fell back down from the tree, this time landing on his back first, nearly killing himself and unable to get up for a moment.

Li Ji rolled on the spot, and just as he was about to straighten up, the blade flashed before him again like a leech. So Li Ji gritted his teeth, swung his arm horizontally to parry the blade—let's see how sharp your blade is, enough to pierce my heavy armor!

With a sharp "crack," the blade pierced through the armor plate, penetrating the lining and wedging itself directly into Li Ji's right arm. Of course, Li Ji wasn't stupid; he hadn't parried the blade head-on, but at an angle of about forty-five degrees. Therefore, the blade didn't penetrate deeply into his flesh, and certainly didn't damage any tendons or bones. More importantly, even the armor was broken; the lasso wasn't made of fine steel, so how could it not break?

Li Ji rolled to the side again, the blade leaving his flesh, and blood naturally seeped out. At the same time, he struggled with both arms and broke free of the lasso. He then pressed his left hand to the ground, leaped into the air, and naturally brought his right hand behind his back, drawing out an iron mace.

The man wielding the knife lunged again, but Li Ji struck with his mace, and with a clang, the knife broke in two. He then steadied himself, drew his own mace with his left hand, and smashed the man's head to pieces...

Li Ji thought to himself, "Huh, what kind of extraordinary person is this? Or is it that you haven't had a chance to use your 'extraordinary ability' yet?"

In the blink of an eye, a flash of silver light appeared, and a dart came straight at his face...

Chapter Thirty-Three: A Dream of Clear Autumn

Li Ji had been practicing with the "Azure Lotus Four-Sided Mace" for some time and felt quite confident in himself. Even if he couldn't say he had maxed out his skills, he should be able to take on Qin Huan or two without any problem. However, within Chang'an City, he couldn't actually use the mace to fight people. On the battlefield, apart from fighting Yu Wenjing once and throwing it at Li Riyue once, he basically hadn't had much opportunity to use it.

Because cavalry combat in those days mainly relied on spears and lances, and unless it was close-quarters melee, halberds were rarely used, let alone maces. Otherwise, how could Qin Shubao have been so skilled with the mace, but truly famous for "leaping forward on horseback with a spear in hand, always stabbing into the midst of ten thousand men and horses, causing them to flee in terror"?

Only today did Li Ji have the chance to wield his iron mace and smash a human head. The feeling in his hand was quite wonderful—damn, so crisp and clean, like cracking open a watermelon, it was simply a fucking pleasure!

Still preoccupied with "opening the watermelon," Li Ji was caught off guard when a dart flew straight at his face. With no way to dodge, he instinctively twisted his neck, and then felt a sharp pain beside his ear—a "clang"—presumably hitting the phoenix wing protecting his ear.

A chill ran down his spine. Before he could even straighten his head, his vision blurred, and he heard another sharp crack. Li Ji didn't react for a moment. A full quarter of a second later, the afterimage on his retina entered his mind, and he realized that a flying sword had struck a dart from the side, and both had changed their trajectories, bouncing off somewhere unknown.

Li Ji understood; it was Cui Qi, the little girl, who had finally arrived.

The dart looked familiar; it must be Jingjing'er. Whether it was the lasso used to "slap" him or the knife used to chase and slash, the other party must have still intended to capture him alive—otherwise, even with all their might, the knife-wielding assassin might not have been able to smash his head with a single blow—and Jingjing'er's first dart was aimed directly at his face, indicating that the other party probably figured capturing him alive was impossible and planned to kill him outright.

One dart is easy to dodge, but two are hard to defend against. Li Ji hadn't expected the interval between the two darts to be so short. If Cui Qi hadn't intervened with his sword in time, he might not have been able to dodge the second dart, and at the very least, his nose would have been hit...

However, if such a trick catches me off guard the first time, it probably won't work the second time. After all, I have a helmet on my head and armor on my body. Unless it hits my face or throat directly, such a two-inch-long thing probably can't break through my armor. And how big are my face and throat? I only need to dodge slightly, just like before, and I can deflect the dart with my phoenix wings.

Li Ji was invigorated: "Your petty tricks in the martial world, let's see how I counter them with battle formations! You may be agile, but my defense is even higher. If you can't break through my defense, it's like using a saber to cut through a tank; I won't be the first to die!"

However, first they needed to find where the other party was… Li Ji looked closely and saw that Cui Qi had dismounted and was squatting in the ditch by the roadside. With a flick of her wrist, she launched a sword strike towards the small hill opposite. Following the trajectory of the flying sword, however, she couldn't see anyone…

Then a flash of silver light appeared, and Cui Qi exclaimed in surprise, "Oh dear!"

Li Ji panicked and, without even paying attention to the person who had fallen from the tree, rushed over to check on Cui Qi. He heard Cui Qi shout, "Don't come any closer!" Li Ji ignored her, leaping forward and pulling the little girl beneath him. Then, he felt a jolt in his back; he guessed she had been hit by a dart.

Cui Qi turned his head to the side, reached his right hand behind Li Ji, and unleashed another sword strike. There seemed to be a sound on the hill, followed by a voice calling out, "So you're a fellow practitioner. Would you be willing to register?"

Upon hearing the sound and identifying the location, Li Ji immediately turned around, brandishing his double maces and charging straight at the enemy, shouting, "Tell your mother's name! Jingjing, come and die!"

A cold laugh echoed from the mountain: "Come on, come on!"

Cui Qi shouted, "Don't chase them!"

Li Ji thought to himself, "Why not give chase? If he throws darts, I'll use my armor to carry them and see just how many darts he's brought!" However, he had only just crossed the official road and hadn't even climbed the mountain when he suddenly stopped.

Hearing Cui Qi's exclamation, Li Ji assumed she was injured and panicked, rushing to her aid before giving chase up the hill. But then he heard Cui Qi shout, "Don't chase!" Her voice seemed strong enough, and Li Ji felt relieved, his mind clearing. Yes, he wasn't afraid of Jingjing'er's darts, but what if the enemy had reinforcements on the hill, or dug a trap, or prepared logs and stones? Rushing after them might not be wise.

So he shouted from the foot of the mountain, "If you're someone of importance, come down and fight me for three hundred rounds!"

There was no response from the mountain. Then Cui Qi said, "There's no need to provoke them anymore; they've already left."

Li Ji smiled: "This fellow is clever." Yes, the enemy can't break through my defenses, nor can they lure me up the mountain, so why not retreat? Still wary, he turned around and approached Cui Qi: "Are you injured?"

Cui Qi said, "These are just minor injuries, nothing serious. We can't stay in this dangerous place for long. Let's get on our horses and leave this place quickly."

Li Ji nodded: "Wait while I go get another watermelon."

However, when they reached the poplar tree, they found no trace of the "scratcher," only a mangled corpse lying in the grass.

Li Ji had just smashed the man's skull with his mace, finally relieving the frustration and unease he had felt for the past few days. If it weren't for Cui Qi's sword assistance, he probably wouldn't have been able to dodge Jingjing'er's second dart... Therefore, he dared not be careless anymore, and hurriedly found his mount, which had already gotten up, and mounted it with Cui Qi. They rode along the official road and sped westward.

After running for a while, Cui Qi glanced at him sideways: "Are you satisfied this time?"

Li Ji sighed, "It's my fault that you were injured. I'm filled with remorse." He turned around and asked, "Where are you injured? Let me see."

Cui Qi revealed his left arm, a spot of crimson blood seeping from his sleeve, directly opposite Li Ji's wounded right arm.

Although Li Ji felt a pang of heartache, seeing that the wound didn't seem deep—otherwise the little girl wouldn't have dared to pull the dart out so quickly—he couldn't help but feel slightly relieved. He sighed, "Fortunately, only three people came..."

Cui Qi glared at him: "There are four!"

As Li Ji was being lifted into the air by the lasso, a man leaped up from the roadside and threw a grappling hook with a rope attached. Judging from its trajectory, it was aimed at Li Ji's thigh—clearly intending to injure him first before capturing him. Cui Qi, seeing this from behind, didn't even dismount before throwing a flying sword at the man. The man's entire focus was on Li Ji, and he was completely unprepared—who would have thought that a lowly guard could instantly use a flying device? He was immediately struck by the sword and fell to the ground.

According to Cui Qi's assessment, even if this person doesn't die, he'll only be half-dead.

This caused a pause, as Cui Qicai was unable to arrive to help Li Ji before he landed. Fortunately, he was still able to fend off Jingjing'er's second dart.

Both of them rode magnificent steeds, covering more than ten miles in one go. They figured that even if Jingjing rode up to chase them, she wouldn't be able to catch up easily. So they loosened the reins, dismounted to rest, and helped each other bandage their wounds.

They naturally carried wound medicine with them, which Li Ji didn't think was very useful, but it should be able to disinfect and stop the bleeding. As long as the wound wasn't big or deep, he might as well apply some. He tore off a change of clothes he had brought and bandaged Cui Qi first, thinking to himself: I didn't realize the little girl's arms were so fair...

He then removed the armor from his right arm and had Cui Qi bandage his wound—the cut hadn't penetrated deep, leaving only a three-inch-long gash. Cui Qi said, "This will probably leave a scar..."

Li Ji smiled and said, "How can a man go into battle without scars? I have quite a few scars on my body. Do you want to see them?"

Cui Qi glared at him, tightening his grip, causing Li Ji to gasp. Cui Qi spat, "Who told you to spout nonsense again!"

Li Ji shook his head: "I was just saying these crazy things to you, and you don't even appreciate it?"

Cui Qi was furious and said, "Go back to Chang'an and tell your little Xing!" He tied a knot in his cloth and then turned and left.

After that, there were no further incidents, and they arrived at the designated post station without incident. That night, they naturally slept in the same room again. Along the way, Li Ji flirted with the little girl a few more times, but Cui Qi simply kept a straight face and pretended not to hear.

That evening, one person huddled in the west wing of the room wrapped in a blanket, while the other lay on the east wing, clutching a mattress. After a long silence, Li Ji sighed and asked, "Are you still angry with me?"

Cui Qi did not answer.

“As expected,” Li Ji said, “if you weren’t still angry with me, why wouldn’t you even respond to my apology?”

Cui Qi then said in a low voice, "Why would I be angry with you?"

Li Ji said, "It's because I suffered humiliation in the Tang camp and was resentful. I wanted to kill one or two thieves to vent my anger, so I didn't listen to your good advice... But I really didn't expect that you would be injured because of this—does the wound still hurt?"

Cui Qi ignored it.

Li Ji slowly said, "You saved my life again, I will repay you!" He paused, then added, "If I don't talk nonsense or joke, how about I ask Lord Cui for you?"

Cui Qi reiterated his stance: "I will not become someone's concubine!"

“Of course not as a concubine, who would bear to let you be a concubine?” Li Ji hurriedly said, “I will ask Lord Cui to release you and adopt you as my daughter, so that you can marry into my Li family in a dignified and aboveboard manner, how about it?”

Cui Qi sneered, "What a pipe dream you're having!" From then on, no matter how Li Ji tried to probe her, she wrapped herself tightly in the blanket and refused to utter a single word in response.

Three days later, following the river, they finally passed through Yuan County, Jijincang, and Yancang, and arrived at Dayang Bridge. Cui Qi asked Li Ji, "Do you still want to cross Dayang Bridge to go to Henan to inquire about the Luoyang Palace?" Li Ji shook his head solemnly, "If you don't allow me to go, then I won't go."

Cui Qi gritted his teeth and said, "You rest for a moment, I'll go to the bridge to find someone and ask around."

He didn't stay long, and when he returned, he told Li Ji, "The government troops in Shanzhou are undergoing a major relocation, and martial law is in effect on the bridge. It's not easy to cross."