Green Mountain-Chapter 550 - 412: Masks and Ancient Texts

The mine tunnels beneath Changping County were extremely low, only allowing passage when bent over.

Mrs. Lu held an Everlasting Lamp and followed the triangular mark as she walked out.

Chen Ji noticed that at every crossroad there were round, triangular, and cross marks. If someone unfamiliar came down, it seemed the probability of survival was only a little over thirty percent.

With each crossroad they passed, Mrs. Lu would erase all the marks.

As she walked, she advised Chen Ji: "When walking the Three Mountains Association’s secret path, erasing marks is essential. Don’t worry about successors being unable to find their way; the people in the Granary God Temple have memorized the route by heart. If the Ritual Supervision doesn’t find the Granary God Temple, in a while, they will come down and mark it again."

Chen Ji whispered, "I don’t have Qigong’s seal."

Mrs. Lu casually replied, "Then knock out the temple guardian and choose a mark yourself, mentally. You still have at least a thirty percent chance of survival. If you are ruthless, you can interrogate the temple guardian. If that doesn’t work, just kneel and beg him; some temple guardians are soft-hearted... There is no shame in wanting to live."

Chen Ji was astonished and couldn’t help but ask, "Who was this secret path originally prepared for?"

Mrs. Lu bent down and turned at a fork: "Everyone has a time of misfortune. The figures on the surface like to use people’s lives as chess pieces, but the pieces below the surface also need to find a way to live and occasionally assist each other. Changping County is the closest to the Imperial Capital, so many have taken this road; some went to the Jing Dynasty, while others went to the Western Regions, Annan, Siam, Java... If you have the chance to go to sea, you’ll find a broader world there."

Chen Ji realized that on the surface, the Ning Dynasty was governed by the Ministry and cabinet ministers, but beneath the surface, it resembled the interwoven mine passages, unknown to most.

And this guide seemed to be intentionally hinting at him, suggesting he didn’t need to remain in the Ning Dynasty.

Even if he didn’t want to go to the Jing Dynasty, going overseas was still an option.

Curious, Chen Ji asked, "Sister Guide..."

Mrs. Lu affably replied, "My age could make me... your elder, call me Aunt Ping."

Chen Ji acknowledged: "Aunt Ping, have you been overseas?"

Mrs. Lu, without turning her head, said, "I haven’t, but someone from the Three Mountains Association has. The Three Mountains Association and the Lamp are both trying to mainstream their business outside, unfortunately, the Chen family and Xu family heavily guard against it; they can only transport goods by land to Annan and Siam."

At this moment, a glimmer of light appeared ahead, the destination reached, Chen Ji could already hear the flow of the Yongding River.

Mrs. Lu emerged from the mine tunnel, yet at the tunnel mouth, Chen Ji saw a poem carved by ’predecessors’: "Chen’s resentments long bore ambitious aspirations, A sea of injustice with consuming waves, Waiting for the mysterious armor to ignite the stove, Snow quenches the green blade to illuminate sycophants."

The literary merit was ordinary, but it was an acrostic poem of "Chen’s Resentments Await Snow."

He looked around other places and found several other poems, clearly left by predecessors.

Mrs. Lu coldly said outside the mine path, "No need to look, they’re nothing but some useless poems by failures. They hope someone can see these poems and see their innocence, but even if someone puts these poems on the Emperor’s desk, the Emperor in Renshou Palace wouldn’t spare them a glance."

Chen Ji crawled out of the tunnel and saw a long anchor bolt stuck by the riverside, tied to a small wooden boat.

Mrs. Lu untied the hemp rope and pushed the small boat into the river, "Get in."

The three of them sat in the boat, and Mrs. Lu gently rowed upstream with the oars, stirring the river water, creating a soothing splash in the silent night.

For some reason, this sound of rowing brought a sense of peace.

...

...

As a dense fog slowly rose over the water, the small boat glided through it, almost like crossing a mystical realm. Suddenly, Chen Ji felt like he was back in the dark sea of clouds, drifting with the small canoe.

Mrs. Lu, with her back to Chen Ji, asked, "Speak, why capture Liao Zhong?"

Chen Ji pondered, given that she had saved him, there was nothing he couldn’t say: "The assassination of the Crown Prince was the Crown Prince framing me. The only way to resolve this is to capture Liao Zhong back to the Capital for interrogation, thereby clearing my name."

Mrs. Lu hesitated, "Why did the Crown Prince frame you?"

Chen Ji chose his words, "The Crown Prince instructed Liao Zhong to execute me in Fragrant Mountain."

Mrs. Lu became more puzzled, "From what I know, you saved him in Guyuan, why would he want to kill you?"

Chen Ji did not answer. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The matter involved Zhang Xia, and he didn’t wish to disclose too much. If others knew the Crown Prince was so insidious for Zhang Xia, even without Zhang Xia’s fault, idle rumors could arise, which was not good.

Seeing his reluctance to answer, Mrs. Lu didn’t press further, "Liao Zhong in the Seeking Dao Realm , and yet you survived and even severed his arm? That’s impossible."

Chen Ji explained, "When Liao Zhong was chasing me, he never expected someone to summon the Five Mad Soldiers. It was they who severed his arm."

Suddenly, Mrs. Lu said, "That’s not right."

Chen Ji was startled, "What’s not right?"

Mrs. Lu casually replied, "The Five Mad Soldiers are ancient fierce souls, summoned through blood rituals, only killing the person the blood ritualist wants dead. If they don’t kill that person, the Five Mad Soldiers dissipate at dawn. Clearly, Liao Zhong is not worth using such a weapon."

Chen Ji was taken aback.

In his mind, only one sentence remained, "If they don’t kill that person, the Five Mad Soldiers dissipate."

Recalling the resoluteness of the centurion as they charged down Incense Burner Peak, a faint pain grew in Chen Ji’s heart. The pain wasn’t intense, more like an inflammation burning quietly inside.

After a long time, Chen Ji softly asked, "Aunt Ping, how do you know of this matter? Are you sure?"

Mrs. Lu, detecting the gloom in his words, gently explained, "In the 11th year of Jianing, the Spy Department’s Tomb Dog unearthed twelve ancient scrolls in the western suburbs of Changsha Prefecture, recording the secrets of the Five Mad Soldiers. That dragon mask on Bai Long’s face was also excavated then."

Chen Ji felt a shock in his heart, "Bai Long’s mask?"

Mrs. Lu nodded, "Once the mask was worn, it could change voice and body; the white robe was impervious to fire and weapons. Initially housed in the Jiefan Building, after Bai Long’s face was scarred during a rebellion, Emperor Ning bestowed the mask upon him."

Wait, Chen Ji startled.

There was no injury on Mr. Feng’s face, so this mask must have been given to the first Bai Long, and Mr. Feng was the second, now it’s the third.

Bai Long.

Who on earth is Bai Long?

However, Chen Ji was more puzzled as to why Aunt Ping knew so much about the secrets of the Spy Department. Could it be that Lamp also had internal agents in the Spy Department?

It was as if Mrs. Lu guessed his thoughts and explained, "After the Tomb Dog unearthed the ancient site, knowing that the twelve volumes of ancient scrolls were extraordinary, he secretly copied them overnight. This act was uncovered by Hai Dongqing under him, who intended to report it to the Poison Minister. Tomb Dog had no choice but to kill and silence him, yet this murder was discovered by Xuan Snake..."

Su Zhou gloated, "What an unlucky guy."

Mrs. Lu ignored her and continued speaking on her own: "The Spy Department is a place where Gu are raised. The people who came out of Wunian Mountain saw that Tomb Dog had shown a flaw and went mad chasing him to become one of the Twelve Signs. Tomb Dog, carrying the copied twelve volumes of ancient scrolls, fled all the way to Jinling. He released the first three volumes’ general outline to the Jianghu to divert the pursuers while he took the latter nine volumes and continued to flee.

Mrs. Lu continued, "In the end, he escaped to Yangzhou and was intercepted and killed by an Executive Officer of the Hidden Python Path. Since then, the whereabouts of the copied latter nine volumes of ancient scrolls are unknown. It is said that they contain the cultivation path of blood rituals for Five Mad Soldiers. And the first three volumes’ general outline left in the Jianghu, one of which is in Lamp’s hands."

Chen Ji lowered his head in thought. The latter nine volumes of ancient scrolls fell into the hands of that Hidden Python Path’s Executive Officer, so where might they have gone afterward?

While he was pondering, Mrs. Lu asked, "The person who summoned the Five Mad Soldiers, was it to assassinate the Crown Prince... or to hunt you down?"

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "To hunt me down."

Mrs. Lu was puzzled: "Then how did you survive?"

Chen Ji replied calmly: "Luck."

Mrs. Lu smirked, "It’s fine if you don’t want to say, I just want to remind you that finding that person on the Hidden Python Path who is cultivating may lead to finding out where those nine volumes of ancient scrolls ended up, and also who wants to kill you."

"Hidden Python?"

Su Zhou was puzzled: "How do you know nothing? The Hidden Python Path isn’t much of a secret in the Jianghu; they mix blood from the tip of their tongue with four-leaf clover juice and Golden Ink to tattoo patterns on their bodies for daily visualization. It’s said that visualizing with dragon, tiger, Buddha, or Immortal tattoos can easily lead to losing sanity, so generally, people only dare to tattoo pythons."

Mrs. Lu also said, "There are quite a few people cultivating this path, and when they meet, they fight each other relentlessly. I recall that there were two by Official Liu’s side, who were killed by Heavenly Horse not long ago in Luocheng City."

Chen Ji suddenly remembered that he had seen more than just those two Executive Officers of the Hidden Python Path but also another one!

...

...

The moon hung high in the sky, the small boat slowly moved through the white mist on the river.

The information Aunt Ping provided today was too much; Chen Ji might need a long time to digest it. The three of them all quieted down, each lost in their own thoughts, leaving only the sound of Mrs. Lu rowing the oars.

After a long while, Mrs. Lu asked, "Why are you unwilling to leave the Ning Dynasty?"

Chen Ji’s gaze passed over Mrs. Lu’s shoulder and looked at the thick fog ahead: "I still have unfinished business."

Mrs. Lu remarked casually, "What matter is so important that you’re willing to risk your life to return to the Imperial Capital? Is it worth it? If you really die in the Imperial Prison, wouldn’t your family regret it?"

Chen Ji raised his head to look at the moon in the sky: "It doesn’t matter, I have no family."

Mrs. Lu was taken aback and then fell silent again.

At this moment, Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Why is Aunt Ping helping me?"

Mrs. Lu replied indifferently, "Naturally, it’s because of your Chen family identity. If you could inherit the main branch of the Chen family and take over the family business, I need you to investigate a matter for me."

"What matter?"

"Find out who Long Whale is, and if the Chen family is connected with him. If you can uncover his identity, I owe you a favor."

Chen Ji’s heart tightened.

Long Whale?

Is it the Long Whale I know? If it is, why does Aunt Ping want to find a Si Cao from the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department?

Chen Ji said calmly, "Alright, even without inheriting the Chen family business, if Aunt Ping is in trouble, I would put myself in danger to help."

Mrs. Lu smiled, "You talk big. Survive first."

Chen Ji changed the topic, "Let me row the oars for a while."

"No need, you both should sleep for a while, we need to dock and hit the road again when it’s daylight."

"Mm."

The small boat went upstream, and Su Zhou fell into a deep sleep on the boat.

After an unknown amount of time, she slowly woke up: "Where have we... huh?"

Su Zhou suddenly sat up on the boat: "Where are they?"

She saw herself still on that small boat, drifting down the river along the Yongding River. Now the contour of the Imperial Capital was visible, yet Mrs. Lu and Chen Ji were nowhere to be seen!

The sun was high in the sky, scorching so that she couldn’t open her eyes.

Su Zhou shielded her eyes with her hand to create a shade and looked around: the oars of this small boat had also been taken away by someone, as if fearing she might row back and catch up.

Su Zhou sat in the boat and cursed loudly, "Where is that wretched woman? Where? It was bad enough to encounter that wretched girl Yao Man, and now there’s this damned woman!"