Green Mountain-Chapter 539 - 401: Slay This Traitor Together

At the end of the red leaves, the stone turtle swallows the sword.

Chen Ji was certain about the location of the two mountain peaks, but he wasn’t sure which one had the stone turtle. He could only search each mountain one by one until he found it.

The Five Mad Soldiers surrounded and blocked him, aggressive and menacing.

The sound of four horns echoed incessantly, as if the Five Mad Soldiers were the ones coming for a spring hunt, while Chen Ji was their "trapped game."

Chen Ji closed his eyes suddenly as he crossed a small creek. He sensed the clusters of wildfires approaching in the air. The wildfires behind him were spreading like a net, and two clusters on the sides closed in rapidly from left and right, tightening inward with the sound of horns.

When he landed after crossing the creek, Chen Ji reopened his eyes and suddenly dashed eastward.

After thirty minutes, two Death Soldiers closed in on a spot, bewildered as they held the severed heads in their hands. One asked harshly, "Where is he?"

The other replied angrily, "You followed the horn; why are you asking me? Ask the person blowing the horn!"

In the night forest, two blood-soaked headless bodies raised a White Bone Banner with one hand and held the heads with the other, arguing strangely.

When the Centurion arrived, he questioned sternly, "Didn’t you intercept?"

One Death Soldier retorted loudly, "It’s not that we didn’t fight, but we didn’t see him!"

The Centurion sensed Chen Ji’s escape path, with wildfire flickering in his eyes, and spoke solemnly to the left Death Soldier, "That kid hid on your path earlier. He ran north only after you passed by... Strange, how did he know you’d cross from the east?"

The Five Mad Soldiers converged from all directions in the forest, wildfire densely packed under the White Bone Masks like a gathering of dozens of tigers and leopards, with beasts evading.

One Mountain Hunter whispered, "We’ve been chasing him since morning, yet the kid always eludes our search, running us in circles. The last time, he used the Tripster’s hand to fire a signal arrow, then waited on Jiang Ming’s path, killing three who came to assist, as if... as if..."

The Centurion calmly continued, "It’s like he knew in advance from where Jiang Ming’s trio would approach."

Mountain Hunter nodded, "Yes."

The mountain range was vast, and the Five Mad Soldiers traversed it back and forth without a fixed path, making an ambush challenging.

Even on a hillside extending over hundreds of meters, if Chen Ji did anticipate reinforcements, how could he precisely lay in ambush on the incoming path? A small mistake in positioning could lead to an error spanning several yards.

In such an environment, who could happen to hide precisely beside a tree path the Five Mad Soldiers needed to pass?

Yet Chen Ji could not only precisely ambush but also accurately know the encircling path of the Death Soldiers, as if he’d opened heavenly eyes.

The Centurion hesitated slightly, "The bald one’s heavenly eye ability? No! The killer’s heavenly eye leads to extinction; Lin Mo Niang’s Sea Viewing Eye? Nope, doesn’t relate to this boy; Hao Tian Mirror? Nah, if this boy had that true Hao Tian Mirror, he wouldn’t need to run; who else..."

At that moment, the wildfire in the Centurion’s eyes flickered suddenly, "Forget how he did it, cast a net to capture him; don’t let a net slip, go!"

...

...

Under the silvery moonlight, like a layer of frost, the deeper the night, the colder the forest grew.

Chen Ji led dozens of Five Mad Soldiers in circles, the cold mountain wet and chilly, yet his sweat soaked his hair. As he sprinted, the sweat beads from his strands splattered to the ground, mixing with the soil.

Chen Ji sensed the wildfires hot on his trail. He glanced at his wrist wound, which had healed into a red line. Perhaps in another hour, it would fully recover.

Just endure for another hour.

By now, Chen Ji reached the foot of the western mountain. He ascended the slope, wanting to see if there was a stone turtle, as Xuanyuan mentioned, on the mountain top. If not, he’d then go to Incense Burner Peak.

However, just as he climbed halfway up, Chen Ji suddenly saw lights flickering atop the mountain.

His first thought was that the lights were the wildfires of the Five Mad Soldiers, already intercepting on the mountain. But he quickly realized these were not the wildfires seen in the eyes of the Five Mad Soldiers; they were bonfires lit by people.

The wildfires of the Five Mad Soldiers were still at the mountain’s foot.

Who? Who else remained in Fragrant Mountain?

Crouching, Chen Ji continued climbing. As he got closer, he gradually heard someone say, "Rest assured, Chen Ji has no chance of surviving that hunt of ghosts; Prince Fu can’t possibly make it back alive either, there are our people both at Fengtai and the official road... Just a pity for Second Miss Zhang."

Chen Ji recognized this voice’s owner, Mr. Liao!

He climbed to the mountain top, stealthily poking his head out from behind a rock.

There he saw in the Clear Snow Pavilion of the western mountain, a bonfire burning, the Crown Prince draped in a white large cloak sitting inside the pavilion, holding a copper hand warmer, his cheeks lit bronze-red by the flames. His hiding stone was just five steps from the Clear Snow Pavilion, close enough for Chen Ji to discern the entwined lotus pattern on the Crown Prince’s cloak.

Next to the Crown Prince, Mr. Liao stood quietly in a brown robe.

Outside the pavilion, more than twenty men with hands on sword hilts, vigilantly scanning around.

Chen Ji recognized one among them, none other than the Tripster from outside the Fengtai courier station: it turns out that escort agency consisted entirely of Eastern Palace’s Death Soldiers.

At this moment, the Crown Prince spoke softly, "Though Second Miss Zhang is important, we can’t afford her now. I suppose Lord Zhang and I are ultimately not meant to be, sadly, considering Lord Zhang’s talents in governance and statecraft."

Mr. Liao pondered, "If Second Miss Zhang is gone, Second Miss Qi is dignified and educated, a suitable match." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

The Crown Prince gazed at the bonfire, "The Qi family..."

Mr. Liao reassured, "Your Highness, rest a while. When daylight comes, I’ll investigate, then have the Death Soldiers fake a scene of combat here so we can report back." He sighed, "Having nurtured the Death Soldiers many years, this time they’ll likely be entirely spent. Afterward, Mr. Liao will arrange for them to go Northwest, exit through Guyuan to Jing Dynasty’s Fengsheng State, to weather the situation, using our business there to obscure their identity, and they shall not return to Ning Dynasty without an order."

Mr. Liao glanced at the Death Soldiers outside the pavilion, paused for a moment, and said: "Your Highness, do not worry, I have already prepared an escape route for them."

The Crown Prince nodded: "That’s good."

Chen Ji had no interest in listening to their conspiracy. He sensed the increasingly close wildfires behind him and hurriedly surveyed the mountaintop to see if there was a stone turtle here.

But as he looked around, except for Mr. Liao, there was not a single object that resembled a "turtle."

This wasn’t the place.

Just as he planned to quietly leave, he noticed the Five Mad Soldiers had spread a large net behind him, with a person every five steps, heading toward the mountaintop.

Run the other way? But Mr. Liao blocked the route.

Chen Ji’s expression calmed down, and he silently pondered a countermeasure.

In the next moment, he took off the horn bow from his back, suddenly charged out from behind the rocks, aimed the empty bowstring at the Crown Prince: "Die!"

Mr. Liao was startled: "Who?"

When he saw the bowstring drawn in Chen Ji’s hand, he instinctively swiped his sleeve to change into a red-faced fanged mask, transformed into a black mist to protect the Crown Prince, flying far away until he stopped ten zhang from Chen Ji.

But when Mr. Liao looked again, he saw Chen Ji passing through the Xishan Snow Pavilion, running toward the opposite slope, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Mr. Liao was filled with uncertainty, not knowing what Chen Ji intended: "How is he still alive?"

The Crown Prince spoke softly: "Mr. Liao, we cannot allow this person to return to the capital."

Mr. Liao immediately cupped his hands: "Your Highness, rest assured, I will go and take his head at once..."

Before he finished speaking, thirty or so Death Soldiers suddenly drew their swords, looking towards the direction of the Xishan Snow Pavilion, slowly retreating to stand beside the Crown Prince, firmly surrounding him from behind.

The Crown Prince looked up and saw dozens of wildfires flickering in the darkness, like densely packed wild beasts.

The Centurion, holding a long knife, led the Five Mad Soldiers slowly out of the darkness, standing by the Xishan Snow Pavilion. He turned his head to look at the bonfire, then looked towards the Crown Prince.

The Eastern Palace Death Soldiers gripped their sword hilts, their palms sweating.

Mr. Liao said in a deep voice: "This is the Crown Prince of the Ning Dynasty, we have no intention of becoming your enemies..."

The Centurion laughed loudly: "Crown Prince? What a pile of crap! Years ago, we dared to besiege even the ruler of the world, who do you think you are? We spared your lives earlier, yet you linger in the mountains, unsatisfied? Get lost quickly!"

Mr. Liao pondered for a couple of breaths, then suddenly said: "Just now, we too wanted to kill that kid. If you are willing, we can assist you in killing this traitor together."

The Centurion raised his long knife, pointing at Mr. Liao: "Who do you think you are? Get lost, or I’ll cut off all your heads."

Mr. Liao pulled the Crown Prince back, slowly retreating down the mountain path, allowing the Five Mad Soldiers to continue pursuing Chen Ji.

As they descended, the Crown Prince suddenly said: "Mr. Liao, I don’t know if these ghostly beings can kill Chen Ji, please see for yourself, alive I need to see the person, dead I must see the corpse."

Mr. Liao paused for a moment, then said: "Your Highness, rest assured, I will take people there at once. If those ghostly beings cannot kill him, I will personally end Chen Ji’s life."

With that, he selected twelve men, bowed deeply to the Crown Prince, and turned to silently trail behind the Five Mad Soldiers.

The Crown Prince stood in the forest, silently watching Mr. Liao’s departure.

...

...

The Five Mad Soldiers pursued Chen Ji down the mountain.

But at that moment, the Centurion suddenly halted: "The scent of blood and living souls has disappeared."

He looked up at the moonlight; there was only an hour left until dawn.

A Mountain Hunter said: "The scent of blood can disappear, but the scent of a living soul can’t hide no matter where it is unless the wound heals. But he was only injured for a couple of hours, how could it heal? Did he carry those Taoist priest’s medicines?"

Everyone looked at each other in dismay: "If he had the medicine from the Dao Court, why hadn’t he used it sooner?"

"Maybe his previous injuries were not severe, but now he realized we were tracking him by his injuries, so he used the medicine."

"No, we haven’t smelled the medicine on the way, even if he just used it, it’s impossible to heal immediately. Besides, haven’t you noticed? The scent of blood has been fading constantly, he is self-healing!"

A Soul Collector carrying a head suddenly said: "Wait, I know someone who not only heals quickly but also knows our whereabouts like the back of his hand..."

The Five Mad Soldiers were all shocked!

The Centurion sneered: "Shut your damn mouth, or I’ll tear it apart, does this brat even deserve to be compared?"

The previously speaking Five Mad Soldier said sulkily: "I was just saying... Now how do we catch him, we can only rely on the Mountain Hunter to slowly find clues."

The Centurion looked at the mountain terrain, thought for a moment, then suddenly used his long knife to draw the mountain ridges on the ground: "Ordinary people wouldn’t climb the mountain when escaping; it’s exhausting and offers no escape route, plus it’s easy to encounter cliffs, so they’d mostly follow the valley. This guy deliberately climbed to this mountain, he must be up to something."

The Centurion looked up at the distant mountains, pointing with his knife toward Incense Burner Peak: "Search that way."

But recalling what the Soul Collector said earlier, he felt a slight hesitation.

The events of tonight have already had too many incredible occurrences.