Chapter 7 Exploring the Earthen Kiln
After much deliberation, Zhao Ji decided to explain the fire in the earthen kiln to Di Renjie.

"If you ask others about this matter, you really won't get the answer. I only know the inside story because of my position. The guards in the capital were dispatched, ostensibly saying that the palace was robbed and they were arresting the thieves. In fact, it was because of a fire in the earthen kiln."

"Oh? The earthen kiln caught fire?" A doubt flashed in Di Renjie's eyes.

Di Renjie realized that this earthen kiln was not simple. When a kiln caught fire, he mobilized all the troops in the capital to search the entire city.

Zhao Ji slowly explained the whole story: "Three years ago, several colleagues carried out a top-secret mission together. Since then, they have been mysterious and have disappeared without a trace."

"It's not unusual for Qianniu Guards to do things. It wasn't until the day when the kiln caught fire that these people were unfortunately killed. General Hu Jinghui led people to clean up the mess, and only then did we know that they had been in the kiln the whole time."

At this point, Zhao Ji sighed, as if mourning for his dead colleague.

Zhao Ji had indeed heard this news from his colleagues. They worked together every day, and suddenly many of their colleagues were gone. It was impossible to hide this kind of thing.

"That's right... Well, do you know where this earth kiln is?" Di Renjie continued to ask.

Zhao Ji shook his head. He didn't know the location of the earthen kiln. "On the day of the incident, I was on duty in the palace and never went to the earthen kiln."

"It is said to be in Chang'an City. We just need to ask where there was a fire recently, and it should not be difficult to find the location of the earthen kiln."

Di Renjie stood up and said, "There is no time to lose. We should split up and look for this earthen kiln immediately."
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Hard work pays off. After several inquiries, Zhao Ji, Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang spent a whole morning and finally determined the location of the earthen kiln ruins.

The three of them raced against time and arrived at the earthen kiln at noon without waiting to eat.

The earthen kiln was located in an inconspicuous corner of Chang'an City. It had just been burned down by a fire and there were few people around.

Most of the traces at the scene had been cleaned up by the Qianniu Guards, leaving only the collapsed kiln, rubble, bricks, and some mottled bloodstains.

Standing in the ruins, Zhao Ji lowered his head and searched carefully.

He remembered that Viper had left a handkerchief in the remains of the earthen kiln, and it was this handkerchief that made Di Renjie connect the earthen kiln case with the diplomatic mission case.

If it weren't for Viper's performance art, he would wipe his sword with a handkerchief after each killing and throw it at the crime scene, it would not be so easy for Di Renjie to solve the case.

After searching through the rubble for quite some time, they didn't find a viper handkerchief, or even a piece of silk thread.

"Sir, have you found anything?" Li Yuanfang asked.

Di Renjie shook his head: "There is nothing valuable to gain for now."

Zhao Ji couldn't help but feel a little confused, thinking to himself: "This shouldn't be possible, how could it be missing? Could it be that the handkerchief was completely burned in the fire? What should I do?"

Just when he was in trouble, something caught Zhao Ji's attention.

He laughed: "Sir, Yuan Fang, come and see!"

Zhao Ji leaned over and carefully picked up a few things on the ground, which turned out to be a few broken arrows.

The wooden part had been burned to pieces and the arrowhead was also burnt black.

Li Yuanfang looked at the arrows in Zhao Ji's hand, somewhat confused: "Aren't these just a few arrows? What's so special about them?"

"Yuanfang, look carefully." Zhao Ji said again.

"The twelve guards and the Qianniu Guards of the Great Zhou are equipped with double-hook light-feathered arrows. These arrows don't look like those used in the army."

Di Renjie took a closer look and smiled. His doubts were resolved.

"But what does this prove? Isn't it just that someone attacked the earthen kiln?" Li Yuanfang still didn't quite understand.

"Brother Yuan Fang, have you forgotten how you were attacked in Shihechuan and Lanqiaoyi?"

"It's a bow and arrow!" Li Yuanfang patted his head, suddenly realizing, and looked at Zhao Ji with admiration.

"The methods used by the criminals who attacked the earthen kiln were very similar to the other two times. They first attacked with bows and arrows, and then sent out assassins to attack."

"Princess Yi Yang was killed in the same way, and her guards were also shot to death by these wolf-tooth arrows." Zhao Ji added.

"Four raids, all with exactly the same tactics. How could there be such a coincidence? This must have been done by the same group of people. Now that we have investigated this far, we can almost go to the capital to meet the Emperor." Di Renjie concluded with a smile.

Just when Di Renjie was feeling happy, Zhao Ji suddenly noticed some movement around him.

Li Yuanfang had obviously heard the noise, and he shouted, "Who is it? Come out!"

Then a black shadow fled to the east, and Li Yuanfang jumped up to chase it.

"Hey, Yuanfang!" Di Renjie wanted to call Li Yuanfang, but he had disappeared.

Zhao Ji saw Li Yuanfang chasing after him and wanted to go over to help, but after thinking it over, he gave up.

This didn’t happen in the original world line. I don’t know if other unexpected events will happen, so we have to be prepared.

The incident happened suddenly, so it is better to be cautious and protect Di Renjie's safety. Besides, Li Yuanfang can't catch up with him, so it may not be a good idea to chase him by yourself.

Facts have proved that Zhao Ji's caution was right.

In a short while, killers rushed over from the west, south and north.

A dozen assassins wearing bamboo hats, hemp clothes, holding long swords, and masked their faces, tried to surround Di Renjie and Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji's face was as cold as frost. He protected Di Renjie and retreated to the remaining wall of the earthen kiln, saying, "Sir, you stay here. I will deal with them."

After saying that, he drew out his sword and flew up.

The sword flashed, and the two closest killers fell to the ground behind him.

When the killers saw their own people falling to the ground, they rushed forward shouting, wanting to kill Zhao Ji first.

Zhao Ji swung his sword to block the assassin's weapon, making a clanging sound. Several sharp blades stabbed at his chest, but Zhao Ji dodged them with a simple move, then swung his sword back and chopped down several more people.

Di Renjie was watching from the sidelines, terrified and worried about Zhao Ji.

Fortunately, Zhao Ji's body movement was as fast as the wind, and his long sword was as swift as lightning. He dodged left and right among the killers as if he was in an empty space.

One of the assassins, seeing that he was no match for Zhao Ji, tried to use his companions to hold Zhao Ji back and go straight for Di Renjie, and was about to kill Di Renjie.

Seeing that it was too late to rescue, Zhao Ji threw the sword in his hand, which pierced through the killer's chest and spilled blood onto the wall beside Di Renjie.

Seeing that Zhao Ji had lost his weapon, the besieged assassins seized the opportunity to attack him from behind, stabbing Zhao Ji's heart with their swords.

Di Renjie shouted, "Be careful."

In the critical situation, Zhao Ji moved sideways and dodged as much as possible, only his sleeve was scratched.

Then he turned over and kicked the killer in the heart, sending him flying and killing him instantly.

The remaining two or three killers saw that Zhao Ji was covered in blood and looked like a ghost, so they dared not attack anymore and fled in all directions.

Zhao was afraid that there might be more assassins coming, so he stopped chasing.

He turned around and quickly came to Di Renjie's side: "Sir, are you okay?"

Di Renjie did not answer. He noticed that Zhao Ji's bright red blood was dripping down. His heart sank suddenly, thinking that Zhao Ji was injured.

He immediately became nervous and looked Zhao Ji up and down, his eyes full of concern.

"How are you? Are you hurt?" Di Renjie's voice trembled slightly.

Zhao Ji felt Di Renjie's nervousness, and a warm current surged in his heart. He smiled and shook his head, saying, "I'm fine. These assassins can't hurt me."

Di Renjie was not relieved by Zhao Ji's words. He carefully checked Zhao Ji's whole body, fearing that he might have missed any injuries.

Non-vegetation, ruthless Practice makes perfect.

Di Renjie recalled how Zhao Ji had taken care of him and helped him solve his problems along the way, and this time he even saved his life.

The way he looked at Zhao Ji already seemed a bit like he was looking at his own nephew.

"Are you really okay?" Di Renjie confirmed again.

"It's okay." Zhao Ji stretched his body to comfort himself, "These are all the enemy's blood, don't worry."

After hearing Zhao Ji's explanation, Di Renjie finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He patted Zhao Ji on the back and said with a smile, "That's good, that's good."

"Sir, I guessed wrong this time. It seems that this group of criminals does not always need archers to lead the way. If there were archers this time, we would be in trouble." Zhao Ji deliberately made a joke to comfort Di Renjie.

Di Renjie couldn't help but smile after hearing this: "The more brutal the criminals are, the more it proves that the direction of our investigation is correct. Once they start to move, they will naturally reveal their flaws."

"Your Excellency is absolutely right. But we cannot stay in this dangerous place for long. Let's leave here as soon as possible." Zhao Ji felt that the crisis had not been completely resolved, so he spoke out to persuade them.

"There's no rush. Let's wait for Yuanfang to come back." Di Renjie was relieved to see that Zhao was not injured, but he became worried about Li Yuanfang.

"I beg you, please listen to me. I will either take you directly to the palace to see His Majesty. Or you can go to the Right Thousand Bull Guard Mansion first, and I will bring people to escort you to see His Majesty."

Zhao Jike couldn't wait for Wu Zetian to go to Yuanjue Temple to burn incense, and he wished Di Renjie would grow wings and fly into the palace right now.

After all, this time the other party acted in the capital Chang'an in broad daylight, and was determined to kill Di Renjie.

If he fails this time, it’s hard to say what crazy thing he will do next.

"Oh, don't worry, Yuan Fang's martial arts is better than mine, he will be fine. If you don't leave, I will have to carry you away." Seeing that Di Renjie was still hesitating, Zhao Ji couldn't help but act like a spoiled child.

"Okay, okay, I'll do as you say. Let's go now, let's go now." Di Renjie said.

Di Renjie naturally knew that Zhao Ji was thinking about his safety, and his sincerity was evident in his words.

But Li Yuanfang has been chasing for so long and hasn’t come back yet, so no one knows what happened.

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(End of this chapter)