Green Mountain

At the end of Vermilion Bird Street, in front of Mingde Gate, a crowd of people was milling about, and Chen Ji slipped through them heading out of the city.

Just a few dozen steps from the city gate, he saw the Imperial Guard pulling aside some eighteen or nineteen-year-olds for questioning from those leaving the city. Dozens of youths already stood by the gate, and not one of them matching the age range was allowed to pass.

Chen Ji glanced up at the crossbowmen on the gate tower and immediately sent the sword seed flying out of his sleeve, skimming the ground towards both sides of the street. With a flash of the sword light, the lanterns on the lamp wheels had their ropes severed, dropping like raindrops.

The light, airy lanterns fell to the ground, and the candle flames ignited the paper, making people dodge and flee in alarm, surging out of the city.

The slow-moving crowd suddenly began to flow.

A few Imperial Guards split from the crowd, heading against the flow to investigate the burning lanterns. Chen Ji was jostled outwards by the crowd, brushing past the oncoming Imperial Guard.

As he passed through the city gate, a Vice General of the Imperial Guard pointed at Chen Ji from outside the crowd, "You, come out!"

Chen Ji pointed to himself amidst the crowd, "Are you talking to me, Lord?"

The Vice General of the Imperial Guard sternly shouted, "Yes, you! Come out!"

However, Chen Ji was already swept into the archway by the crowd, feigning a struggle to push towards the Imperial Guard but to no avail.

The Vice General of the Imperial Guard was initially inclined to let it be, but the next moment, the Imperial Guard investigating the lantern returned, "The lantern ropes were cut by sharp weapons! Someone’s trying to sneak out of the city!"

The Vice General of the Imperial Guard realized with alarm, turned, and ran up the city wall, flipping the copper mirror on the gate tower to reflect the firelight outside the city.

In the darkness, a beam of light swung over the heads of the people on the road. The Vice General of the Imperial Guard squinted, scanning the backs of the crowd, and suddenly pointed at Chen Ji, shouting, "Stop him!"

Upon his orders, the Imperial Guards outside the city spurred their horses in pursuit of Chen Ji.

The Vice General of the Imperial Guard snatched a bow and arrow from an armored soldier beside him, draw and shot.

A feathered arrow whistled towards Chen Ji, who suddenly exerted himself, veering off the road into the open field. The arrow thudded into the packed earth of the road behind him, its shaft vibrating with a hum.

The Vice General on the city wall fired arrow after arrow, but watched as his quiver emptied, the arrows landing futilely behind Chen Ji.

He simply returned to the copper mirror, using the beam of reflected light to chase Chen Ji and guide the other Imperial Guards.

Chen Ji ran like mad, the Molten Flow coursing through the meridians of his left leg, each step covering a distance of three zhang. But his right leg’s meridians were not yet clear, so his pace fluctuated, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, as if one leg were disabled.

Yet despite this erratic pace, the Imperial Guard’s warhorses strangely could not close the distance.

One Imperial Guard shouted loudly, "Shed your armor!"

At once, over a hundred Imperial Guards shed their heavy armor onto the ground, quickly closing the distance until they were only a hundred paces apart. One of them roared, "Fire!"

The snapping of bowstrings resounded, and over a hundred arrows rained down on Chen Ji.

At this moment, a black shadow shot out from the sidelines like lightning, heading straight for Chen Ji.

Chen Ji shouted, "Zhaolei!"

As Zhaolei reached Chen Ji, he didn’t stop running. Chen Ji stretched out his hand, catching the saddle horn with precision and leaping onto the horse, allowing Zhaolei to carry him away at a gallop.

Within two breaths, before the rain of arrows could land, Zhaolei had already carried Chen Ji fifty paces away. The sounds of arrows hitting the ground echoed behind him, so dense the ground was hard to discern.

Chen Ji looked up at the shadow above Zhaolei’s head, "How did you come?"

Wu Yun meowed, "We couldn’t rest easy, came to keep watch yesterday."

Chen Ji praised, "Impressive!"

Wu Yun asked curiously, "Did you see your master?"

Chen Ji nodded, "I did. Not only my master, but I saw the Princely Heir, Liang Gou’er, Liang Mao’er, and had a reunion meal with them."

Wu Yun grumbled, "How can it be a reunion without me? How about we go back for another meal? I miss the master too."

Chen Ji looked back at the fading outline of Shangjing City, "Don’t worry, we’ll be back."

Wu Yun’s eyes lit up, "When?"

Chen Ji pondered, "When I’ve reached the Divine Dao Realm, and like Old Ears, I travel the world. Then everyone will have to be polite to us, no one will dare to hunt us down. We’ll stroll through Shangjing City during the Lantern Festival, and someone promised to treat us to a whole roast lamb on Shangjing Road..."

Wu Yun asked curiously, "Where are we off to now?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment, "We can’t go to Lushun or Yingkou, the Hu Ben Army must be guarding those roads. Going to Guyuan means passing through Jiang Xianzong’s Western Capital Road, which won’t do either... Who knows where the Jing Dynasty will set up their troops to intercept us."

As they spoke, a sliver of the morning sun burst from the horizon.

Chen Ji gazed at that golden-red light, recalling Master Lingyi’s words to him, and immediately patted Zhaolei, "Let’s head east, take a ship from Korea across the sea, where we came from, we’ll return!"

Zhaolei swiftly turned around and galloped east.

After racing east for another thirty minutes, Chen Ji suddenly saw a familiar silhouette, limping through the fields.

The person turned at the sound of hoofbeats. When he saw the approaching Dragon Horse, he was terror-stricken.

Hitching up his clothes, he limped away hurriedly, cursing aloud, "Grandpa is truly cursed to have such bad luck for eight generations. How on earth did he catch up to me?"

Yuan Xing looked at the distant outline of the encampment on the horizon. He had come to the Right Guard for protection, but the camp seemed just three or four li away and yet was unreachable.

For the first time, he realized how far three or four li could feel.

Hearing the thundering hoofbeats drawing even closer, Yuan Xing dropped all the jade from his clothing onto the ground, flailing his arms as he sprinted away.

But he had only run a hundred steps when the hoofbeats were dangerously close, and Zhaolei’s breath seemed to strike the back of his head.

Yuan Xing stopped immediately as if nothing was wrong, turning back with a wide smile towards Chen Ji, trying to appeal to a fatherly bond: "Godfather? What a coincidence to meet again."

Chen Ji rode his horse in circles around Yuan Xing, smiling wryly: "Isn’t this the Right Martial Guard Commander? What brings you here?"

Yuan Xing took a deep breath: "I followed your advice, Godfather, sneaking out of the city once the candle burned through the rope."

Chen Ji let out a long "oh": "You didn’t come looking for revenge?"

Yuan Xing proclaimed earnestly: "I didn’t meet you without a fight, Godfather, we became good friends, so why would I seek revenge? Didn’t we agree that when you returned to Shangjing, I’d treat you to a drink?"

Chen Ji looked back: "What did you just throw away?"

Yuan Xing appeared baffled: "Huh? I didn’t throw anything!"

Chen Ji raised his hand and released six sword seeds from his sleeve, surrounding Yuan Xing.

Yuan Xing’s expression changed: "What are you doing, Godfather?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "Pick it up."

Yuan Xing inwardly cursed his bad luck, lowering his eyes and turning back to pick up the jade and gold bars scattered on the ground. He pouch them in his clothing as if presenting a tribute: "Godfather, these were specially collected for you as travel funds."

Chen Ji looked at the jade and gold bars he held, speculating with interest: "After freeing yourself from your constraints, you should have immediately gathered reinforcements, hoping to trap me in my private residence. Then, when the Imperial Guard arrived, you fled in panic."

Yuan Xing, heart-wrenching, protested: "How could you think so of me, Godfather? Am I such a backstabbing traitor? I worked hard to bring you these funds, yet you slander and wrong me. Never mind about these funds then!"

With that, Yuan Xing tossed the jade and gold bars back onto the ground with a jingle, his expression filled with indignation.

Chen Ji said calmly: "Pick it up."

"Alright, Godfather," Yuan Xing obediently stooped to gather the jade and gold bars again, stuffing them into the leather pouch by Chen Ji’s saddle: "Keep it safe, Godfather. I wish you to soon become a Divine Dao Realm Grandmaster and good health."

"Next life, be born in peaceful times and be a good person," Chen Ji commanded the sword seeds to move toward Yuan Xing for the kill.

Yuan Xing shouted in panic: "Godfather, in fact, I am Yuan Xiang’s illegitimate son!"

The six sword seeds halted in front of Yuan Xing.

Yuan Xing stared at one sword seed just a finger’s length away from his eye, trembling as he said: "This matter is a shameful secret of the Yuan Family hence kept hidden. Godfather, if you take me to the Right Army Camp and have them inform Yuan Xiang, they would pay ten thousand taels of gold!"

Yet, Chen Ji remained uninterested: "Even with ten thousand taels of gold, one needs life to spend it."

Yuan Xing looked up at Chen Ji on Zhaolei’s back and spoke once more: "Give me to the Ning Dynasty then. As the Right Martial Guard Commander of the Twelve Central Forbidden Armies, delivering me back there can gain you a noble title. You are now Viscount Wuxiang; handing me over would make you Earl Wuxiang!"

Chen Ji fell into thought, but it wasn’t about noble titles.

Seeing his hesitation, Yuan Xing pressed on: "Handing me to the Ning Dynasty court could trade for an entire county in the Jing Dynasty, or two thousand warhorses. That’s far better than killing me in these desolate lands!"

Chen Ji directed the sword seeds into Yuan Xing’s cotton clothing, one resting against his heart, one against his back, and two concealed at his neck under the collar.

Feeling the cold touch of the sword seeds against his skin, Yuan Xing hesitantly asked: "Is it necessary to be this cautious, Godfather?"

Chen Ji removed the rope from the Victory Hook and dismounted to bind Yuan Xing anew, throwing him onto the horse’s back: "Don’t invite trouble, or you won’t even reach the Ning Dynasty."

Yuan Xing hurriedly said: "I promise, no deceitful thoughts!"

Chen Ji mounted the horse swiftly, heading straight for Changbai Mountain with Yuan Xing in tow.

Yuan Xing watched the Right Army Camp shrink into the distance, wearily closing his eyes.

...

Sorry, I fell asleep because I was too drowsy halfway through the night, hence the late update.