Green Mountain

On Bluestone Long Street, the Xing Camp’s personal guards hesitated and exchanged glances, unable to make a decision.

On the desolate street, only Yuan Xing’s curses echoed continuously, "One day I’ll break through Chongli Pass, find your ancestral grave, and dig everyone out to grind their bones to dust!"

Chen Ji remained unmoved.

He used the sword seed to cut the straps on Yuan Xing’s armor, stripping off the collar, shoulder guards, arm guards, chest and back armor, waist guard, skirt armor, and shin guards, finally removing his helmet like a shrimp’s head, throwing it casually to the ground with a clatter.

Yuan Xing was left with only a gray inner garment, furious, "I’ll also tear down your ancestral hall and soak all your ancestors’ tablets in a cesspool to rot with maggots!"

Chen Ji still remained unmoved, tearing off two strips of cloth from Yuan Xing’s inner garment and stuffing them into his ears.

At this moment, Yuan Xing roared, "And your mother..."

Chen Ji pinched Yuan Xing’s chin, applying force with his fingers and dislocated Yuan Xing’s jaw with a crack, abruptly silencing his cursing, leaving him to mumble incoherently.

Chen Ji looked up at the Xing Camp’s personal guards, "It’s much quieter now."

The leading guard calmly said, "You don’t dare to kill him, do you? If you kill him, there’ll be no way out for you."

Chen Ji thought for a moment, "When Yuan Xiang finds out Yuan Xing died here while you returned alive to Shangjing, how will he see you? Don’t even mention a bleak future, your lives might not be spared."

With that, Chen Ji used a sword seed to cut a gash in Yuan Xing’s calf, causing him to bounce on the horse’s back in pain, with Chen Ji pressing him down again.

Chen Ji looked at the guards, "This wound, if not bandaged within an hour, will be fatal for Yuan Xing. Remember, you have only an hour."

The Xing Camp guard shouted angrily, "According to our Jing Dynasty law, if the commander dies in battle and the personal soldiers live, those soldiers are executed, and even their families become government slaves! Do you think we don’t want to let you go? But you’ve killed so many Yingkou county soldiers that even if we want to let you go, the Yingkou Governor might not be willing to let you go, or else how will he explain it to the court?"

"Oh?" Chen Ji said calmly, "Then you should think of a way to persuade this Governor, tie him up and make him order the gate opened. Or you could climb the city tower and seize the gate."

"It’s not that easy," the guard gritted his teeth, "Even if we help you open the city gate, the Hu Ben Army rushing to the outside might not let you leave. The Hu Ben Army is Lu Party’s direct troops, they’ve coveted the Right Martial Guard for years, wishing for the Great Commander to die here. The Hu Ben Army is not just some rabble like the county soldiers, no matter how skilled you are with the sword seed, how many volleys can you escape from?"

Chen Ji’s heart stirred, Lu Jin’s troops?

He thought for a moment, "Then you should find a way to get me out before the Hu Ben Army arrives. Rest assured, as long as you keep your promise, I will let Yuan Xing return alive."

The Xing Camp’s guards exchanged another look, one nodded slightly, and immediately some ran towards the North City Gate while others guarded the current location with vigilance.

Chen Ji urged his horse forward, swaggering up to them, "Make way."

The guards watched as a big halberd was pressed against Yuan Xing’s neck and six sword seeds were affixed around his body, they could only slowly move aside, allowing Chen Ji to pass through them towards the North City Gate.

They followed behind, their footsteps intertwining, trying to find a flaw in Chen Ji’s defense from different angles.

But after following for a distance, they couldn’t find an opportunity: Chen Ji was ruthless, Yuan Xing was hard to save.

Just then, the guard who left earlier returned, somehow on a horse, with the sound of thunderous hooves approaching from behind him.

From afar, the guard shouted, "Hurry, the Hu Ben Army is coming..."

Before he could finish, an iron arrow pierced through his chest, and he fell off his horse, revealing the Hu Ben Army’s surge behind him.

The Hu Ben cavalry was clad in black heavy armor, their horses’ black horse face curtains and body armor perfectly fitted. They maintained precise distances without a single clamor or misstep.

The faces of Chen Ji’s followers turned pale, and they shouted, "Escape to the West Gate, I just saw that the gate is old and disrepair; maybe we can break through! Run!"

The situation turned dire, and Chen Ji immediately wheeled Zhaolei around, galloping back and leaving the guards far behind.

He glanced back, seeing a few guards take a few steps before realizing they couldn’t escape, immediately throwing their swords to the ground, shouting loudly, "The Right Martial Guard Xing Camp personal guards are here..."

But before they could finish, a fierce rain of arrows rained down, pinning them to the ground.

Chen Ji’s pupils contracted, the Jing Dynasty’s factional struggle was far more intense than the Ning Dynasty’s. Just because of faction differences, people could be casually erased in the street, without even a chance to surrender or disarm.

He turned away, waving towards the roof. Wu Yun, who had been hiding with him, jumped down, landing stably on his shoulder before crawling into his arms.

Wu Yun poked his head out from Chen Ji’s collar, meowing once, "The Hu Ben Army is your uncle’s troops, if you explain your identity, they won’t do anything to you."

Chen Ji paused, "No, they might not give me the chance to reveal my identity, and... I don’t trust him."

Wu Yun was puzzled, "But he didn’t send anyone to hunt you or Aunt either."

Chen Ji asked back, "If your sister lost her memory and you saw her alone and helpless, what would you do?"

Wu Yun thought for a moment, "Send someone to find her, bring her back to protect her."

Chen Ji gave a hum, "But he didn’t."

Wu Yun was stunned.

Chen Ji continued, "He has countless experts and generals, but he didn’t send a single person. He just allowed mother to be hunted by the Right Martial Guard alone. If I hadn’t arrived in time today, she would already be dead... And the Right Martial Guard’s response was too quick. Maybe someone sent them information."

"Something does seem off," Wu Yun was curious, "Do you think it was Lu Jin who gave the information?"

Chen Ji shook his head, "I don’t know, we’ll ask Yuan Xing once we escape."

Having spoken, he tugged at the reins, urging Zhaolei towards the West City Gate.

Zhaolei ran faster and faster, the wind nearly making Chen Ji and Wu Yun unable to open their eyes.

Yet the Hu Ben Army’s iron hooves continuously rumbled behind, initially a single unified sound from directly behind, but gradually spreading out, as if forming a net to surround him.

Chen Ji leaned forward to observe, his gaze piercing through the deep long streets, only to see Hu Ben cavalry troops threading through a few streets away, parallel to him.

Initially separated by ten streets, Chen Ji could only see their blurry figures, but as he passed an intersection, his view was blocked by the white walls and black tiles lining the road. By the next intersection, he could see a Hu Ben troop interspersed at the ninth street.

Next, eight streets, seven streets, six streets...

With each intersection Chen Ji passed, the Hu Ben troops drew closer, instilling inexplicable horror.

Just then, a man and a woman suddenly appeared at the road junction on the neighboring street, staring straight at him.

Chen Ji looked intently, and saw the man and woman had yellow talismans affixed to their legs, running even faster than Zhaolei. The talismans were burning on their legs, mostly consumed, leaving only a small remaining strip.

Before he could see more clearly, the view was again obstructed by buildings. He tightened his grip on the Big Halberd, watching the front with vigilance, wary of them suddenly rushing from the next road junction.

Chen Ji looked up. The West City Gate was already in sight, only three hundred paces away. As his followers had said, this gate was indeed dilapidated and mottled, yet several dozen crossbowmen stood ready on the gate tower. How could he storm it?

Listening to the approaching sound of iron hooves behind, Chen Ji’s expression became calm as he allowed Zhaolei to continue charging toward the city gate.

Two hundred paces, one hundred paces...

Upon entering within a hundred paces, arrows rained down from the gate tower like a torrent.

Chen Ji swung the Big Halberd, creating gunflowers with the sword seed, forming an iron curtain before Zhaolei. Amidst the clatter, sparks flew and arrows were deflected, scattering everywhere.

At that moment, the man and woman unexpectedly arrived at the West City Gate ahead of Chen Ji, their leg talismans finally burning out, disintegrating into flying ash.

The crossbowmen, unfamiliar with the duo, raised their arms, unleashing a rain of arrows.

"Damn it!" The man, with a face full of pain, pulled out a talisman from his chest and threw it skyward, igniting on its own.

A powerful force descended out of nowhere, as if Taishan itself pressed upon everyone, rendering the guards at the gate unable to support their knees, dropping to them to the ground, ultimately crushed flat by the invisible force.

Arrows fired from the city head were forced to change trajectory, plummeting weakly to the ground.

Chen Ji felt as if he were submerged in the sea at a hundred meters depth, gasping for air, the weight also bearing down upon Zhaolei’s steps.

He tightened the reins, and Zhaolei suddenly twisted, the iron horseshoes scraping long sparks along the bluestone boardwalk. Man and horse slid several yards down the long street before coming to a halt.

Chen Ji clenched the Big Halberd and looked up: "Move, or Yuan Xing will die."

The man, panting heavily, bent over, supporting a knee with one hand, weakly waving the other: "Go ahead and kill him, bury him along with my Mountain Talisman."

The woman didn’t spare Yuan Xing a glance, loudly asking Chen Ji: "Where did that woman go?"

Chen Ji hesitated, suddenly realizing the ones before him were Chang Sheng and Qiubai, who had been pursuing Mrs. Lu. His heart tightened: "I don’t know."

Aunt Qiubai spoke in a deep voice: "Has she escaped from Yingkou?"

"I don’t know."

"Has she fled to the Southern Dynasty?"

"I don’t know."

"What is her name?"

"I don’t know."

Aunt Qiubai sneered: "She guards you with her life, and you claim not to know her name? Boy, let’s make a deal. You tell me her name, where I can find her, and Aunt will let you go."

Yet Chen Ji remained silent, hearing the increasingly audible iron hooves of the Hu Ben Army, gripped the reins and Big Halberd.

Aunt Qiubai was about to press further when a meteor suddenly streaked through the sky, illuminating all of Yingkou momentarily.

She paused, unexpectedly changing her tone, looking down at Chen Ji: "Boy, deliver a message to her: tell her this life of yours was saved by me, Qiubai. If she wishes to repay, let her come north to fight me, to see whether her purportedly gentle Eight Trigrams Dragon prevails, or my resolute Eight Extremes Shattering Fist reigns supreme."

Chen Ji was astonished.

The next moment, Qiubai abruptly turned and rushed to the West City Gate. As she pressed herself against the mottled gate, one half of it trembled, dust cascading down.

Qiubai stepped back half a pace, and leaned forward again, causing the precarious half of the gate to collapse outward.

She turned back to Chen Ji: "Go now."

Chen Ji hesitated, staring at Qiubai in the gate aperture, reluctant to move.

Qiubai glanced at the surging Hu Ben Army behind him and shouted: "Go!"

Without further hesitation, Chen Ji spurred his horse, passing between Chang Sheng and Qiubai, disappearing into the night outside the city gate.

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