Green Mountain-Chapter 543 - 405: Undying Relentlessness

The sunlight flooded the valley, dispelling the chill of the night.

Chen Ji paused in the forest, looking back, watching as dozens of the Five Mad Soldiers stood calmly under the sun, turning into wisps of bone ash and drifting away with the wind.

Now that the wildfires have returned to their owner, Chen Ji felt only a sense of loss.

The faces beneath the white bone masks seemed to be the voices and faces he was most familiar with, yet he couldn’t remember a single one of those names.

He should remember them.

He didn’t know if these people would be summoned back to the human world by a blood sacrifice after they dissipated. Where did they live before coming to the human world? Would they return to that place after dissipating?

Chen Ji didn’t know; he would have to ask Zhang Xia when he returned.

But he couldn’t go back now.

Chen Ji looked down at the blood in the soil and dead leaves, extending drop by drop into the depths of the forest. He followed the blood trail to the north, and all along the way, the bloodstains went from abundant to sparse, yet they never completely disappeared.

Heading north from Incense Burner Peak, he walked on, then suddenly stopped.

Chen Ji stood firmly in the woodland, looking at a large tree’s canopy ten feet away, neither approaching nor retreating.

The canopy was dense; from a distance it seemed to gather shadows within, as if hiding someone, or perhaps nothing at all.

A full hour passed.

Mr. Liao slowly leapt down from the canopy, missing his right arm, his face pale. The wound on his arm seemed to have been treated, girded tightly with a belt, yet blood still trickled down the strips of cloth.

He hadn’t expected Chen Ji to be so patient.

Mr. Liao leaned helplessly against the tree, looking towards Chen Ji from afar: "Young Master Chen, have you come to save this old man?"

Chen Ji remained calm: "I just saw those ghostly apparitions chasing Mr. Liao and came to assist."

Mr. Liao’s voice was weak as he slowly sat beneath the tree: "This old man was also fighting those apparitions to save you... and got injured."

Chen Ji sincerely said: "Mr. Liao’s justice is admired and remembered by me."

Mr. Liao raised his remaining left arm, gesturing for Chen Ji to come over: "I would trouble Young Master Chen to help this old man up; I’m gravely wounded and must return to the Imperial Capital for treatment."

Chen Ji sincerely replied: "Mr. Liao, I will not come over."

His sword seeds moved like three venomous snakes on the ground within the forest, surrounding Mr. Liao and waiting for an opportunity, but this person, though appearing weak, left no openings.

Nurturing swords with swords, the third sword seed.

When the mountain-stabilizing sword nurtured for ten thousand years by Incense Burner Peak turned into sword ash, the third sword seed condensed in the third stripe of Chen Ji, transforming together with the other two Black Iron sword seeds into a brass color.

Chen Ji observed carefully, wanting to end it with a single lethal strike using the sword seeds. But after a long time watching, he couldn’t be sure of a clean kill.

If he unleashed the sword seeds and Mr. Liao escaped, he would face more than just the Crown Prince and Mr. Liao.

The forest quieted down again as the wind blew the leaves across the ground between them, and Mr. Liao’s face grew increasingly sullen.

Mr. Liao asked with a firm voice: "How did you survive? And why did those ghostly apparitions turn to attack me?"

Chen Ji stared unblinkingly at him: "I don’t know."

Mr. Liao grimly said: "Did you instigate those ghostly apparitions to attack me?"

Chen Ji, having stood for a long time, found a place to sit as well, calmly suggesting: "If I had instigated them, none of you would have survived. Mr. Liao, don’t overthink; if you’re tired, take a rest."

The two sat watching each other from a distance, saying nothing.

Blood seeped slowly from the wound on Mr. Liao’s arm, while Chen Ji remained unharmed.

Suddenly, Mr. Liao stood up, and Chen Ji also rose at the same time.

As Mr. Liao took two steps towards Chen Ji, Chen Ji retreated two steps.

The atmosphere was eerie, each harboring their own thoughts.

Finally, unwilling to let his injuries persist, Mr. Liao turned and walked northward: "Chen family brat, don’t follow, or this old man will surely kill you."

Yet Chen Ji acted as if he hadn’t heard, continuing to slowly follow behind Mr. Liao.

Mr. Liao suddenly broke into a run, and Chen Ji followed him, running a dozen or so miles, eventually crossing the boundary of Fragrant Mountain.

Mr. Liao turned back, glaring angrily: "What grudge or enmity do I have with you, for you to chase me without relenting?"

Chen Ji calmly replied: "Mr. Liao, don’t play dumb. Why you appeared at Incense Burner Peak, you and I both know."

Mr. Liao softened his tone: "This was originally a misunderstanding..."

Chen Ji interrupted: "For the sake of Second Miss Zhang?"

Mr. Liao fell silent.

Chen Ji looked distantly at Mr. Liao: "In Guyuan, I once saved the Crown Prince’s life. Isn’t it rather vicious of him to want to kill me over Second Miss Zhang?"

Mr. Liao bore the pain in his shoulder and frowned: "After His Highness returned to the Imperial Capital, he invited Zhang Zhuo, Lord Zhang, several times, and even asked highly revered figures to act as mediators. But Lord Zhang, with his keen insight, guessed His Highness’s intentions and always avoided meeting him. Later, I found out that Lord Zhang favored you."

He suddenly shifted the topic: "But His Highness has changed his mind. After returning to the capital, I will have someone petition Your Majesty for a marriage grant between him and Second Miss Qi."

Chen Ji laughed: "Second Miss Qi fancies the scholar Huang Que. I doubt she would agree to that."

Mr. Liao dismissed it: "How can this matter be decided by a woman?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "Mr. Liao, you and the Crown Prince are indeed the same kind of people. You care little for others’ lives. With you alive, I can’t sleep well at night."

As Chen Ji spoke, Mr. Liao transformed into a cloud of black smoke, surging towards Chen Ji.

Yet Chen Ji stood ten zhang away, unmoved, quietly staring at the black smoke, his face unchanged.

The black smoke floated six zhang before it had to land, revealing Mr. Liao’s figure.

Mr. Liao gasped for breath, staring straight at Chen Ji. This young man seemed to have calculated that he could only fly this far, unable to kill from a distance of ten zhang.

He silently calculated the distance between himself and Chen Ji, only four zhang left. With a burst of energy, he might reach Chen Ji, but if Chen Ji retreated again, he would miss, and upon landing would face Chen Ji’s counterattack.

This four zhang distance... seems like bait left by Chen Ji.

Mr. Liao silently schemed for a while, watching the calm and composed Chen Ji, reluctant to make a move.

The next moment, he turned around and continued fleeing north.

In a confrontation between the Executive Officer of the Seeking Dao Realm and the Innate Realm, it’s the Seeking Dao Realm that flees in panic.

Mr. Liao ran ahead, while Chen Ji followed behind.

Mr. Liao suddenly recalled how wild wolves hunt, driving their prey for days and nights until exhausted and cornered before beginning the hunt.

Now, he was that prey, and Chen Ji was trying to be that wolf.

But all of a sudden, Mr. Liao had a scheme in mind. He discerned the direction and veered east, running another five li before hearing the urgent sound of splashing water.

A few hundred steps further, a rushing river flowed through the valley.

The stone banks had a large drop to the water, like a cliff, with ten zhang between the banks.

This river is named Sword Spring River.

It was said that the springs in the river came from Incense Burner Peak, and the water carried a hint of Sword Intent, slicing the ground into valleys, as if a sword had cut a fissure into the earth.

Some had meditated by the river to comprehend Sword Intent, gaining a bit and rising to the Innate Realm.

Others had followed the springs to Incense Burner Peak to seek the source of the Sword Intent, but to no avail.

Mr. Liao ran faster upon hearing the water sound, he leapt beside the cliff, crossing several zhang, yet unable to span the ten zhang river.

Just as he was about to fall into the river, he suddenly transformed into a clump of black smoke flying to the opposite bank.

The black smoke rolled, reaching the opposite bank but still one step away, forced to disperse.

Mr. Liao’s form emerged, a left hand clutching at a slanted willow on the cliff, his wound tugging painfully as cold sweat covered him.

He glanced at the rapid river below, then with a single-arm pull, flung himself up, rolling clumsily onto the bank.

Mr. Liao lay on the bank, gasping for breath, too long before rising.

On the opposite shore, Chen Ji watched silently, the ten zhang gap an insurmountable chasm.

Mr. Liao rose slowly, dusted himself off, and leisurely looked towards the opposite bank: "Young Master Chen, please return, today’s events, I will repay in time."

Chen Ji chuckled: "Mr. Liao, the Crown Prince is still on Fragrant Mountain. I’m off to kill the Crown Prince now, care to come back and save him?"

Mr. Liao’s heart skipped.

The Crown Prince’s Death Soldiers number twenty, but if Chen Ji truly wanted to keep the Crown Prince on Fragrant Mountain forever, he couldn’t be sure of the outcome.

Mr. Liao sneered: "Dare you kill a nation’s Crown Prince?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "Mr. Liao, do you dare guess whether I would?"

Mr. Liao fell silent, he knew Chen Ji dared, he only needed to look into Chen Ji’s eyes to know this young man truly dared.

Chen Ji laughed heartily: "Mr. Liao, loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, you probably possess none of them."

Mr. Liao flared with anger, retorting across the river: "What do you know of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness? I’ve assisted His Highness for over ten years, done so many things for him, how could you possibly know?"

Chen Ji asked: "Including poisoning the thirty-four members of the Chen family?"

Mr. Liao narrowed his eyes: "Are you seeking revenge for those thirty-four worthless lives?"

"I have no intention of revenge. I have my reasons for killing you. But I wish to correct you on one point, their lives are not worthless," Chen Ji gestured to Mr. Liao, "Mr. Liao, please return to continue assisting the Crown Prince."

Mr. Liao’s expression shifted repeatedly but did not return across the river.

Chen Ji came to the cliff’s edge, gazing at Mr. Liao: "Mr. Liao, I said you and the Crown Prince are of the same ilk, your proclaimed righteousness is merely a guise for your misdeeds."

Mr. Liao chuckled coldly, retreating: "Say what you will, we will not meet again."

He couldn’t return to the Imperial Capital.

The Fragrant Mountain affair was full of unforeseen incidents and involved vast connections. He had too many matters unexplained. If the Poison Minister in Jiefan Building had him thrown into the Imperial Prison for interrogation by Meng Ji, the secrets in his mind would suffice for a hundred deaths.

He must leave the Ning Dynasty.

Just then, Chen Ji suddenly leapt into the rushing Sword Spring River: "Mr. Liao, don’t be in such a hurry to leave, we’ll meet again momentarily."

Chen Ji’s voice submerged in the rapid currents, carried away by white waves.

Mr. Liao was startled, rushing to the riverbank to look into the water, just in time to see Chen Ji surface, swimming vigorously towards him.

"Madman! Madman!"

He turned and fled northward.