Green Mountain

Wu Yun meowed softly: "That old fellow suspects you."

Chen Ji seemed oblivious to Mr. Feng’s gaze, casually picked up some food, and said, "How can Mr. Feng be so sure that the Sword Seed Inheritor is from the Ning Dynasty?"

"Enough," Mr. Feng laughed in exasperation. "I heard that although the Sword Seed Inheritor covers his face, he should be about the same age as you. If I hadn’t seen you in Shangjing City, I wouldn’t have guessed. But you suddenly appeared in Shangjing City, and the answer is almost laid out for me. Where in the world is there such a coincidence?"

Chen Ji continued to play dumb: "Same age as me, then he really is a young hero."

Mr. Feng threw his chopsticks on the table and said with irritation: "Lord Prime Minister gave you the Shrouding Cloud Gate Path, show me a Sword Qi if you can. If you can display even one strand of Sword Qi, I’ll accept it wholeheartedly. There’s no need to beat around the bush; if I wanted to kill you, you would have died hundreds of times already. I ask you, are you the Sword Seed Inheritor?"

Chen Ji sighed: "It’s me."

Mr. Feng was nine-tenths sure before, but now having the answer, he was still astonished: "Where did you learn the Sword Seed Path from, boy?"

Chen Ji thought secretly, Old Yao knew he practiced the Sword Seed Path and knew he was Lu Jin’s nephew. But Mr. Feng didn’t know he practiced sword seed, and the previous incidents indicated that the other party didn’t know he was connected to the Jing Dynasty.

It seemed his master had kept it all a secret for him.

Mr. Feng didn’t wait for his answer, got up, and paced in the courtyard, muttering: "Sword Seed Path, truly the Sword Seed Path... Strange, how is it that you practice the Sword Seed Path?"

He suddenly turned to Chen Ji: "Do you know how many people in the Jing Dynasty are looking for you these days? Six units of the Twelve Central Forbidden Armies were dispatched, and checkpoints are set up along Tokyo Road, Western Capital Road, Shangjing Road, and Zhongjing Road. As of yesterday, the mountains and plains are full of scouts. The Jing Dynasty is about to decide the heir; whoever captures you can go to the Temple of Martial Arts and claim credit, and winning the struggle for the throne would be more than half accomplished. Why aren’t you running for your life but instead coming to Shangjing City?"

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "I initially came to find Princess Liyang, to have her arrange my departure from the Jing Dynasty, and also to ask her if she knew where my master and Liang Gou were."

Mr. Feng laughed: "You really found the right person; your master is enjoying good food and drink at Princess Liyang’s Mansion with Liang Gou right now."

Chen Ji was instantly spirited: "Really?"

Mr. Feng changed his tone: "But trying to sneak into Princess Liyang’s Mansion is as hard as reaching the sky. Many people have their eyes on that residence: the Fourth Prince’s people, Lu Jin’s people, the Sixth Prince’s people. Any little disturbance would catch the attention of countless people. The Imperial Guard Marquis on the watchtower isn’t just for show."

Chen Ji suddenly realized: "Maybe I had already gotten close to Princess Liyang’s Mansion earlier, which is why I was stopped and checked by the Marquis and blocked back."

Mr. Feng stared at Chen Ji: "Don’t see your master yet; you’ll eventually meet. Return to the Ning Dynasty, for now, nothing is more important than your safe return to the Ning Dynasty. In a thousand years, the Sword Seed Path has landed in the hands of the Ning Dynasty for the first time!"

Chen Ji remained silent.

Mr. Feng’s tone softened: "Do you know that throughout history, the Ning Dynasty hasn’t lacked opportunities to unify the two dynasties? 712 years ago, there was a military rebellion on the Tokyo Road and Western Capital Road of the Jing Dynasty. Our Zhongzong personally led troops north, but when the large army pressed down on Datong Prefecture, Zhongzong was injured ten miles away by the sword seed and had to withdraw to Chongli Pass. Three months later, Zhongzong succumbed to his injuries and passed away."

Chen Ji frowned: "With a twenty-step defensive barrier of magic around the Emperor, how could he be injured by the sword seed?"

Mr. Feng said meaningfully: "Because that sword was, in fact, the Human Emperor’s sword. The imperial aura and Sword Seed Path share the same lineage and origin and are indistinguishable. Only one thing in the world could ignore the imperial aura, and that is the sword seed. It was a lesson for our dynasty; we learned that the sword seed was not suppressed by the imperial aura."

Chen Ji was startled. Xuanyuan was the Human Emperor, and both the imperial aura and Sword Seed Path originated from one person, Xuanyuan.

He had heard stories of a Martial Temple Mountain Master charging into the Jing Dynasty Imperial Palace and breaking a plaque before, and thought it was a storyteller’s fabrication, but now it seems it wasn’t all fiction.

Chen Ji then asked: "What injury did Zhongzong suffer that even the Taoist Court Elixir couldn’t heal?"

Mr. Feng said again with meaning: "Precisely that time, the Dao Court claimed the elixirs were stolen and couldn’t produce them."

Chen Ji contemplated: "The Dao Court doesn’t want the two dynasties unified?"

Mr. Feng ignored this topic and switched to another: "Over the years, our Ritual Supervision gathered ancient texts and finally discovered an ancient tomb from the previous dynasty in Yangqu County, Taiyuan Prefecture, uncovering an ancient manual. According to the manual, the Sword Seed Path was once suppressed by imperial aura. The Emperor of Bei Wei, holding the Imperial Jade Seal, had stagnated energy within two li, preventing the sword seed from approaching. The Imperial Jade Seal acts like a weight on a scale, whichever side it’s tipped to, that side wins."

Chen Ji tapped his fingers on the stone table: "I’ve heard Jin Zhu talk about it, how our Grand Ancestor stormed into the Bei Wei Palace City, captured Old Tuoba alive, and on that day, the Imperial Jade Seal was stolen... Could it have been the work of the Martial Temple, to steal the Imperial Jade Seal from Bei Wei’s imperial palace, it must have been a Great Grandmaster at the Divine Realm? Someone once taught me that when you can’t see something clearly, think about who benefits. With the theft of the Imperial Jade Seal, the benefactor should be the Martial Temple Mountain Master."

Mr. Feng said slowly: "You’re not the only one to think so. Both our dynasty and the Jing Dynasty have pondered this, but no one has evidence, nor are there any clues."

Chen Ji asked with curiosity: "Before you hid in the Liu Family, you first went to Jing Dynasty Shangjing City and posed as a traveling Taoist to lay groundwork... You took great pains to hide in Jing Dynasty Shangjing City, was it also for the Imperial Jade Seal?"

Mr. Feng nodded: "There was a rumor that the Imperial Jade Seal was seen in the depths of the grasslands on Shangjing Road. Xu Shu had come to the Jing Dynasty previously to look for the Imperial Jade Seal on Shangjing Road, but after searching for a whole year, he found nothing. Likely, someone moved the Imperial Jade Seal to another location. However, this person never left empty-handed and, to avoid returning empty-handed, snuck into the Bai Family Ancestral Land and stole one of the Bai Family’s Dragon Horses, yes, the one that Second Miss Zhang calls Zaozao."

Chen Ji was impressed: "So it was stolen; no wonder it was similar to Zhaolei... So Mr. Feng came to the Bai Family to see if the Bai Family clan knew the whereabouts of the Imperial Jade Seal. Have you found anything?"

"No. But my hiding in the Bai Family wasn’t just for the Imperial Jade Seal," Mr. Feng grabbed a handful of deep-fried peanuts and openly said, "The Bai Family isn’t well-known in the Ning Dynasty because their Left Guard was left in Shangjing to guard the Imperial City, never approaching Chongli Pass, and rarely involved in party struggles. But the Bai Family clans hold sway over Shangjing Road, have the most horses and the largest pastures, secretly raising countless subordinates. Even the Military Governor of Shangjing Road has to be humble... And crucially, the Left Guard guards the Imperial City. For those seeking power, one must consider the Bai Family."

Mr. Feng continued: "The Bai Family has the emperor’s favor; even if Duke Huang talks to a prince a few more times, that prince will be viewed differently, and by night, ministers will quietly switch allegiances. So an old saying goes in the Jing Dynasty: ’He who gains the Bai Family gains the Divine Artifact.’

Chen Ji joked: "Coming to the Jing Dynasty, Mr. Feng seems more open, no longer hiding."

Mr. Feng looked up at him: "Who else can I say this to... do you really want to see your master?"

Chen Ji replied resolutely: "Yes."

Mr. Feng was silent for a moment: "I’ll find a way, but after you meet, you must leave. I’ll arrange for your return to the Ning Dynasty. Princess Liyang can’t do it, but I can."

Wu Yun meowed softly: "Bold move!"

Chen Ji was somewhat surprised: "Why is Mr. Feng suddenly willing to help me, you’re not planning to use me, right?"

Mr. Feng stood up and said calmly: "Rest assured, though I have many things I want to do, I won’t gamble your life on Jing Dynasty ground... Because this is my path, my destiny, not yours."

It was late at night, the brazier in the East Wing had already gone out, and outside the Duke Mansion, the night patrol’s call sounded: "Midnight!"

Mr. Feng turned to Chen Ji, surprisingly held his hands in salute, and smiled: "It’s New Year’s Eve. Young man, may the start of the year bring renewal, prosperity, and joy."

Chen Ji was bewildered for a moment, then stood up and bowed: "Happy New Year and best wishes."

Mr. Feng complimented: "There’s finally a bit of a New Year feeling, thank you. Go back and rest; when I find a way for you to see your master, I’ll come to you."

Chen Ji left the East Wing with him, watched Mr. Feng walk in the opposite direction, and couldn’t help but ask: "Mr. Feng isn’t going to rest?"

Mr. Feng waved without looking back: "Can’t sleep, have to wait until the wine wears off, otherwise if someone approaches while I’m sleeping, I might say the wrong thing in a dream and die."

Chen Ji watched Mr. Feng’s thin back disappear into the distance, holding Wu Yun in his arms, and headed toward the West Wing.

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