Green Mountain-Chapter 555 - 417: Three Souls and Seven Spirits

The alley filled with Jiefan Guard and spies, the sounds of firefighting, horse hooves, and curses were chaotic as they drove away the onlooking citizens.

On the roof in the alley, Mrs. Lu remained unmoved by the sounds outside, like a patient owl.

Under the gray tiles, the main house was quiet except for the constantly engulfing flames and the smoke blowing chaotically. The people inside seemed to have guessed that someone was ambushed outside, reluctant to come out.

Two Seeking Dao Realm Executive Officers knew that once they fought, it would be life or death.

So they competed in patience, cunning, and courage, calculating everything that could be calculated.

Chen Ji stood guard in the alley, staring unblinkingly at the door of the main house, while the woman who had been shocked back by Mrs. Lu earlier slowly came to, knelt again, and silently kowtowed to Chen Ji.

Three silent people, a silent house, silent gray tiles.

The eerie scene seemed almost as if someone had extracted the sound from this little alleyway.

In the next moment, twelve gray-clad, masked Death Soldiers rounded the corner at the end of the alley, holding two-foot-two-inch short knives and staring fiercely.

They were drawn by the firelight, coming to silence any witnesses. Upon seeing Mrs. Lu on the roof and Chen Ji in the alley, they charged forward at once.

Mrs. Lu initially wanted to help, but she suddenly noticed that Chen Ji’s eyes showed no fear in the narrow alley, so she crouched back down again.

Standing in the alley without evading or retreating, Chen Ji quickly pondered; these people were neither Jiefan Guard nor spies.

Were they the Crown Prince’s men? Or from the second house of the Chen family?

Were they here to kill him? Or to kill Liao Zhong?

Chen Ji couldn’t figure it out.

But now, with the two Seeking Dao Realm about to strike, Chen Ji didn’t want some inexplicable people alarming Liao Zhong inside, nor did he want the Jiefan Guard or spies to be drawn by the sounds of killing and clashing weapons.

White walls, gray tiles, narrow alley.

A Death Soldier swung a short knife at him head-on; Chen Ji sped into the opponent’s arms, curling his index and middle fingers to strike the knuckles against the Adam’s apple.

Simple, direct.

With a crack, the Death Soldier’s Adam’s apple shattered, lodged into the trachea, causing his face to flush red.

The Death Soldier’s short knife slipped from his hand, and as it fell, the hilt was caught mid-air by Chen Ji’s steady hand, who then used a reverse grip to slash open the Death Soldier’s chest and abdomen.

The Death Soldier wanted to cry out in pain but could only make a hoarse sound.

Chen Ji ignored him, pushing his head aside, advancing towards the next. The Death Soldier slowly fell, trying to grasp Chen Ji’s robe but caught only air.

Mrs. Lu’s gaze flickered on the roof.

Having killed before, she knew that killing wasn’t easy. It wasn’t that taking a life was hard, but a normal person wouldn’t resort to killing unless absolutely necessary.

In her memory, Chen Ji was still the child who came home covered in mud from playing outside, the kind-hearted child who wouldn’t retaliate even if bullied.

It wasn’t until she saw Chen Ji expressionlessly slashing open someone’s chest and abdomen did she realize that the child in her memory had grown up.

During his solitary growth, who knows how many times he was forced to become like this.

...

...

The second Death Soldier swung his knife horizontally, aiming for Chen Ji’s throat. Though Chen Ji had a knife, he didn’t use it to block, wishing not to create a clanging sound of metal.

Once more deceiving his way forward, he suddenly dropped when nearing the Death Soldier, narrowly dodging the blade slicing above his head.

His knife cut through the inside of the Death Soldier’s knee, severing the ligament in one swift motion.

The Death Soldier’s leg went limp, causing him to topple sideways uncontrollably. Chen Ji rose, cradling his head into his arms as if he had intentionally fallen into his embrace.

He muffled the Death Soldier’s mouth with his chest, stifling the impending cry of pain. With slight pressure, the Death Soldier’s head twisted bizarrely, breaking.

The Death Soldier didn’t even have the chance to wail or cry out in pain.

Crouching on the roof, Mrs. Lu silently watched; Chen Ji’s fighting technique was clean and efficient, the weapon in his hand moved like a knife peeling meat from bones, flowing smoothly without pause.

No wonder they say it’s too slow to kill with fists and feet.

In less than 15 minutes, over a dozen Death Soldiers lay dead in the alley, leaving only Chen Ji standing. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

A gash on Chen Ji’s forearm bled, the blood running down his wrist before dripping onto the dirt road.

Mrs. Lu steadily watched as he tore a strip from his clothes, simply wrapping it around the wound to staunch the bleeding. Then he turned his head, smiling at her on the roof, signaling that the problem was solved.

Like a rough, hard stone on the wall of Guyuan City.

Just then, the sound of horse hooves from Dao Yi Alley approached.

Liao Zhong seemingly couldn’t hold back any longer; the door beneath Mrs. Lu suddenly swung open, thick smoke poured along the beams, rolling upwards.

The owner of the house coughed as he rushed out, immediately scanning his surroundings before looking towards the roof: "On the roof!"

The words were barely out.

Mrs. Lu stretched her body into a backward flip just as a chair hurled from inside, smashing through where she previously stood, sending tiles flying.

Liao Zhong threw the chair, carrying Ping Er as he charged out of the main house.

This place couldn’t be stayed anymore; the fire would destroy the house and draw the Eunuch Party here, no longer a suitable hiding spot.

He didn’t know who was on the roof, nor what realm they’d reached, but fought he must not.

As he ran, he lowly growled to the man, "Stall the person on the roof for Ping Er’s life!"

Liao Zhong sprinted away, leaving the man alone to face Mrs. Lu.

Mrs. Lu executed an aerial flip to dodge the chair’s surprise attack and landed lightly on the roof ridge. She didn’t stop, descending swiftly by stepping on the tiles.

The man glanced back at the Ping Er in Liao Zhong’s hand, gritted his teeth, drew his dagger, stepped on the table in the courtyard, and leapt into the air to meet Mrs. Lu.

But he was too slow; when he was airborne, Mrs. Lu spun like a swallow and kicked his wrist, breaking bones and tendons.

As Mrs. Lu twisted around, she stepped on his head and launched herself towards the distant Liao Zhong.

At that moment, Liao Zhong had just reached the courtyard gate.

Just as he was exiting, he suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound rushing towards him. Chen Ji was hiding outside the door and slashed at his chest and abdomen, forcing him back into the courtyard!

"Courting death!" Liao Zhong roared in fury.

But before he could rush out of the courtyard again, Mrs. Lu had already leapt over his head. Her slender arms were like a recoiling spear, and she turned back to strike at his head.

This palm strike was overwhelming, with the outer edge of her hand suddenly erupting with an Eight Diagrams yin and yang fish image. The symbols of Qian, Kun, Zhen, Gen, Dui, Li, Xun, and Kan rotated in succession, finally settling on the Zhen symbol, shining brightly.

"Who are you?!" Liao Zhong’s face changed, not daring to confront it directly. He immediately flicked his sleeve and donned the red-faced mask with fangs, transformed into a cloud of black smoke, and flew back with Ping Er.

In a flash.

"Leave him!" Mrs. Lu shouted in a low voice, reaching out to grab Ping Er’s ankle, pulling him forcefully out of the black smoke.

She grabbed the child’s ankle and tossed him outward: "Catch!"

"Thank you, madam, thank you, madam!" The previously injured woman caught the flying child with her hands, picked him up, and started running away. But before she could leave the alley, she collapsed to the ground, crying bitterly. When she looked down, the child in her arms had already lost his facial features.

The "Saint Aspect" technique that seizes one’s face is incurable, beyond remedy.

The woman’s cries echoed far away, the man in the courtyard looked ashen.

Liao Zhong transformed into a cloud of black smoke and shot into the sky, intending to fly over the roof ridge and escape. But the man suddenly lunged at the black smoke, using his body to forcibly block its path.

The black smoke passed over the man, writhing as if extracting something from his body. In just three breaths, the man’s corpse emerged from the black smoke, his features completely gone, and the black smoke continued to fly towards the rooftop.

But at this moment, Mrs. Lu was already waiting on the rooftop, blocking Liao Zhong’s inevitable path.

Chen Ji instinctively warned: "Be careful!"

Mrs. Lu’s expression remained unchanged, calm as a mountain.

"Die!" Liao Zhong enveloped Mrs. Lu with the black smoke.

In the next moment, Mrs. Lu drew the Eight Diagrams yin and yang with her hands, suddenly pressing downwards, imprinting her palms on the oncoming black smoke. A powerful and intangible force emanated from her palms, forcing the invisible black smoke to be pushed back into the courtyard.

Liao Zhong was incredulous.

From afar came the Jiefan Guards, arriving at the alley’s entrance, they saw Mrs. Lu on the rooftop, and drew the hand crossbows from their waists to shoot.

Mrs. Lu ignored the crossbow arrows, chasing Liao Zhong back into the courtyard for a kill.

She landed lightly beside the black smoke, drawing the yin and yang fish pattern at her feet, circling around the black smoke.

Her steps were like trudging through mud, her waist swiveling like an axis, her palms moving in a spiral, her body like a swimming dragon.

With every step she took, she struck out a palm at the black smoke. With a clang, the palm and the smoke collided, sounding like a Hong Bell.

At the moment when palm and black smoke collided, the outer edge of Mrs. Lu’s palm once again erupted with an Eight Diagrams yin and yang fish image, then vanished.

Before the extinction, Chen Ji saw the Xun symbol on the Eight Diagrams shine like a star.

He looked at Mrs. Lu’s steps, as if each step corresponded to a different symbol, with North as Qian, South as Kun. As she moved, it seemed like the stars and constellations were shifting!

...

...

Mrs. Lu’s palm strikes were exceedingly swift, so much so that time seemed to slow before her.

She struck the black smoke with a palm imbued with the Xun symbol, and from within the black smoke came Liao Zhong’s furious roar.

Xun represents wind, wind and thunder unite, heaven and thunder manifest.

After one palm strike, Liao Zhong’s phantom flew out from the black smoke, appearing not as his true self, but gray and black all over.

Mrs. Lu struck the black smoke with a second palm.

The outer edge of her palm once again revealed the Eight Diagrams yin and yang fish image, the Li symbol dazzling.

Li represents fire, fire and mountain travel, heavenly fire commune.

After the palm strike, another Liao Zhong phantom flew out from the black smoke, the phantom’s face pale, expression despondent.

Third palm strike.

Zhen represents thunder, thunder and water resolve, marsh and wind exceed!

After this palm, another phantom flew out of the black smoke, its face fierce and terrifying.

With each palm strike Mrs. Lu made, as palm and black smoke collided, the Eight Diagrams yin and yang fish image would faintly appear at the point of impact. With each palm strike, the black smoke emitted a howl from Liao Zhong.

In a flicker, six palms were struck, sending Liao Zhong’s six phantoms flying in six entirely different directions.

Mrs. Lu’s six palms shattered Liao Zhong’s Corpse Dog, Fushi, Sparrow Shadow, Swallow Thief, Not Poison, and Expel Filth six souls out of his body, leaving only three souls and one spirit within the black smoke.

With a thud, Liao Zhong’s body fell from the black smoke, landing heavily on the ground, eyes closed, life and death uncertain.

Chen Ji showed surprise, moving forward and placing his fingers together as a sword to check the breath.

There’s still breath.

Mrs. Lu panted heavily: "The six souls have scattered, the three souls and foul lung remain, he won’t die. After sunset, the six souls will return to the body, and he will wake up on his own, won’t delay the interrogation. Quick, the Jiefan Guard and Spy are coming."