Green Mountain

Chen Ji held his gun with one hand, standing calmly on horseback, silently watching Little Fourteen and the others step on the plank to board the ship.

A county soldier saw his gaze elsewhere and crept closer with his gun, but before he could thrust his spear, a silver flash flew past his neck.

The county soldier felt a warm liquid flow down his neck into his collar, soaking his chest. He touched it, and it was shockingly full of blood.

The county soldier looked up in amazement, but standing tall on the warhorse in front of him, Chen Ji still did not glance at him, just like an iron curtain, blocking the entrance of the port arch.

The black Zhaolei snorted, his hot breath turned into two white arrows that scattered upon hitting the bluestone slab, its eyes coldly watching dozens of county soldiers, with a hint of disdain flashing in its eyes.

Only after Chen Ji watched Aunt Li carry Mrs. Lu onto the ship did he turn back, looking down at the county soldiers.

Zhaolei and Chen Ji, one man and one horse, their gazes exactly alike.

More soldiers and horses gathered behind the county soldiers, the Yingkou Military Officer leading two hundred men and horses to oversee the battle, the county soldiers once again surged forward in a dark wave.

Chen Ji didn’t fight to the death, only trying to buy time for Little Fourteen and the others to set sail. He defended with his spear while sweeping the ground with his sword seed, cutting at ankles, causing county soldiers to fall in droves.

The Military Officer sat on horseback looking at Chen Ji from a distance, calmly raising his hand: "Command."

Crossbowmen beside the Military Officer simultaneously drew their bows and lined up arrows, ready to shoot.

As Chen Ji knocked down another group of county soldiers, the Military Officer watched Chen Ji exposed in the crowd and calmly said: "Fire!"

Dozens of crossbowmen released their bowstrings simultaneously, black arrows like swarms of locusts covering Chen Ji, forcing him to immediately drive Zhaolei to retreat, and pull the sword seed back to cut down arrows.

Even so, an arrow managed to penetrate through the sword seed barrier, piercing into Chen Ji’s left shoulder.

Chen Ji cut the arrow shaft with the sword seed, leaving the arrowhead in his body to block the wound. He withdrew his horse, retreating before the next wave of arrows arrived.

"Command!"

"Fire!"

"Command!"

"Fire!"

Three waves of arrows forced Chen Ji back over a hundred feet, exposing the ship carrying the lamp to the county soldiers.

The Military Officer raised his whip, pointing to the large ship with the lamp: "Board the ship, leave none of them on it, force him to come back."

The frontline county soldiers holding guns received orders, ignoring Chen Ji, and stepped on the plank to board the large ship.

Su Zhou, holding two Emei daggers, stood on the deck repelling the oncoming county soldiers one by one.

She shouted angrily: "Come and throw the plank!"

Several lamp attendants stepped forward together, lifting the plank and shaking it hard, sending the county soldiers into the sea, then tossing the plank into the sea as well.

But at this moment, some county soldiers had already climbed onto an adjacent ship. They jumped from the neighboring deck onto the lamp’s ship, causing chaos onboard.

Little Fourteen shouted sternly: "Not good! Drive them away!"

He endured the pain, leading the lamp attendants back to the deck to cut down the county soldiers. But there were too many county soldiers, with only four or five Executive Officers among them; how could they resist?

The next moment, Chen Ji rode back.

Seeing him return, the Military Officer sneered coldly: "Command!"

Dozens of crossbowmen drew their bowstrings again, Little Fourteen looked up and saw this, immediately warning Chen Ji: "Don’t come over!"

But Chen Ji disregarded everything and came back regardless.

The Military Officer’s whip fell: "Fire!"

Arrows rained down like a torrential downpour towards the path Chen Ji was charging.

At the critical moment, Zhaolei suddenly halted, rows of arrows landed just in front of it, a yard closer and its legs would have been severed.

Following this sudden stop, Zhaolei galloped forward again, so smooth it seemed it never paused.

Zhaolei charged into the county soldiers like a war chariot, knocking over soldiers lining up to board the ship. A county soldier approached to kill, but Zhaolei raised a hind leg and kicked, sending him flying five or six steps, knocking down a group.

Chen Ji maneuvered the sword seed on the deck, slaying the county soldiers attempting to climb up one by one.

He speared and severed the mooring rope, shouting loudly: "Set sail, hurry and leave!"

Little Fourteen clung to the edge of the deck, anxiously saying: "What about you?"

Chen Ji glanced back at him: "I’ll handle it! Remember your promise to me, take your Landlord back to the Ning Dynasty!"

Little Fourteen gritted his teeth and immediately shouted at the attendants behind him: "Set sail! Row hard!"

A resounding chorus came from inside the ship, in the oar room, over twenty ship workers gripped long oars, rowing forcefully, the ship slowly departed the Berth Pier.

Chen Ji quietly watched the ship sail into the dark sea, silent.

...

...

The Military Officer on the Berth Pier shouted orders: "Set off fast ships, stop that ship, don’t let it leave the port!"

The county soldiers went to find fast ships, but Chen Ji tightened his reins and turned his horse, gun in one hand, looking down at the dense mass of unending Jing Dynasty county soldiers before him.

He clamped his legs on the horse’s side, Zhaolei understood, charging at the county soldiers with him.

With a long spear in hand, Chen Ji swept through the battlefield, surrounded by sword seeds, creating an illusion of turbulent seas and overpowering the county soldiers, forcing them to retreat by more than twenty paces, unable to board the ship at all.

Seeing that the big ship could not be pursued, the Military Officer raised his whip and said solemnly, "Command!"

The Deputy General hesitated as he watched the county soldiers engage with Chen Ji in battle, saying, "Sir, I’m afraid we’ll mistakenly kill many of our own men."

The Military Officer sneered, "Womanly compassion, strike!"

A torrential rain of arrows poured down; this time, without Chen Ji pulling the reins, Zhaolei left in advance. The arrows rained down, causing the county soldiers to howl in agony, yet Chen Ji and Zhaolei remained unscathed.

More and more county soldiers arrived, almost all of Yingkou’s county soldiers pressed towards the port, numbering as many as seven or eight hundred.

Chen Ji sent off the big ship, and no longer clashed head-on with the county soldiers, nor did he attempt to break through. He drove Zhaolei to weave back and forth on the trestle bridge, using sword seeds to shred the sails on the large ships into tatters.

The Military Officer’s expression changed, "Stop him! Damn it, stop him!"

The county soldiers stepped onto the interwoven trestle bridge, surrounding him. Chen Ji seemed oblivious, with four sword seeds protecting Zhaolei, and two sword seeds dancing in the night sky, cutting one sail after another. The sails wrapped around the masts all fell, crashing onto the deck with a thunderous sound.

Until no ship in Yingkou Port could go to sea anymore.

At this moment, Little Fourteen and the others leaned against the railing, gazing silently at the port, watching Chen Ji fighting in and out on the pier. Some fellows bandaged the wound on Little Fourteen’s shoulder, but he didn’t feel the pain.

They watched as Chen Ji tirelessly destroyed all the sails; saw Chen Ji wounded by hidden arrows, an arrow piercing his shoulder blade; watched as Chen Ji flipped over dozens of county soldiers, yet was surrounded by more.

Everyone looked at the increasingly distant port, unable to speak.

Rustling sounds came from behind them, Su Zhou turned back and saw Mrs. Lu awake at some unknown time, struggling to get up.

But the strength of the medicine hadn’t worn off yet, she couldn’t get up no matter how hard she tried.

Just as Su Zhou was about to help her, she suddenly looked up at Su Zhou and calmly said, "Get lost."

Su Zhou stood still.

Mrs. Lu took out Si Caogui’s short knife from her sleeve and cut it into her forearm, the extreme pain made her tremble slightly and then she awakened.

She slowly stood up, staggered to the edge of the deck, gazing over the pitch-black sea at the shore.

She heard the shouts and kills on the shore, looked at Chen Ji, who was bathed in blood, and suddenly clutched her chest, unable to speak from the pain, only able to let out a hoarse sound.

A tide of memories surged into her mind, the lost souls behind her faintly visible, emitting a weak glow like double shadows.

These memories intertwined with the words Chen Ji had just spoken to her today.

Chen Ji smiled as he recalled everything she had done, smiled as he consoled her, "You are a very good mother, he always felt very fortunate."

Mrs. Lu took a deep breath, the cold air sliced into her lungs, and her body teetered.

Su Zhou stepped forward to support her but was pushed away again.

Mrs. Lu pushed against the railing, intending to jump into the sea, but Su Zhou hugged her tightly from behind, "What are you doing? Don’t you care about your life?"

Mrs. Lu rasped, "Let go!"

Su Zhou ignored her, holding her back.

Mrs. Lu struggled fiercely, "Let go!"

A surge of strength enabled her to break free from Su Zhou’s grasp, she pushed a palm towards his face, causing him to retreat in shock before retracting her hand.

Mrs. Lu turned back and staggered towards the deck again, but Little Fourteen and the others blocked her path, "Landlord, you cannot go back!"

Mrs. Lu calmly said, "Get lost."

Little Fourteen insisted, "Landlord, if you go back now, won’t his sacrifices be for nothing? He stayed so that you could go back alive! You cannot let him die in vain!"

Mrs. Lu stared intently at Little Fourteen, suddenly saying, "Do you know, he actually remembers everything I did for him, every single thing, not missing a single one."

Little Fourteen and the others stared at each other perplexed, not understanding what Mrs. Lu was saying.

Mrs. Lu pounded her chest, her eyes bloodshot, "But that’s not because I’ve been such a good mother... it’s because there were too few people who treated him well! Because there were so few, he had to remember every bit of kindness others showed him!"

Mrs. Lu felt as if something was lodged in her chest, blocking her speech, she rasped with all her strength, "I hate it! Let me through, my son died here, what’s the point of the mother going back?"

Little Fourteen and the others stood frozen, for the first time realizing that Chen Ji was the landlord’s son.

Mrs. Lu pushed them aside and staggered to the edge of the deck, but at that moment, she looked up and saw Chen Ji looking at her from afar.

The next moment, Chen Ji swung his long spear aside to clear the surrounding county soldiers, shouting, "Mother!"

The world suddenly became silent, the sound of waves, shouts, and kills vanished together, deathly silent.

Tears streamed down Mrs. Lu’s face, her jaw trembling uncontrollably.

Before she could respond, Chen Ji shouted again, "Su Zhou, what are you waiting for, knock her out!"

Su Zhou delivered a knife hand to Mrs. Lu’s neck, carrying her back into the cabin. The sea breeze billowed the sails, taking the big ship into the depths of the sea.

Chen Ji whispered, "Finally shouted it out, it wasn’t that hard after all."

He stopped looking at the sea and instead patted Zhaolei’s neck, smiling as he turned to the county soldiers eyeing him like tigers, "Zhaolei, now they can’t see our blood meter."

Zhaolei didn’t understand.

...

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