Green Mountain-Chapter 607 - 464: Night Parade of One Hundred Demons
The styles of the Jing Dynasty and Ning Dynasty cities are completely different.
The Ning Dynasty’s towers are strict, orderly, and intricately ornate, with colorful carvings on the dougong depicting auspicious plants, sea creatures, grapes, and landscapes. The Jing Dynasty towers are bold and vigorous, grand in appearance, with just the vermillion red color on the dougong and black tiles always.
If the buildings of the Ning Dynasty resemble scholars from Jiangnan, then the buildings of the Jing Dynasty are like armored soldiers, with bloodstained blades.
However, for Zhang Xia and the little monk, the most pressing issue is that Baidadan City is much more formidable than the cities of the Ning Dynasty.
If they haven’t reached the Festival Hall or met Jiang Xianzong before the curfew, they might be hacked to death by indiscriminate blades.
Under the sunset, with the sound of the evening drums.
Zhang Xia and the little monk walked with their heads down on the street. Listening to the drums, the little monk nervously asked, "How long until curfew?"
Zhang Xia calmly replied, "Three hundred and twenty-one more drumbeats."
Precise, without error.
The little monk asked again, "Do you know where the Festival Hall is?"
Zhang Xia answered again, "I do."
The little monk was slightly stunned; he hadn’t expected Zhang Xia to know the layout of Baidadan City.
Zhang Xia ignored the little monk and instead looked up towards a distant lookout tower, then lowered her head again.
Baidadan City has twenty-four lookout towers, with crossbowmen patrolling in all directions. Each tower communicates with others using flags, drumbeats, and lights.
Below the lookout towers are "Wu Hou’s Shops."
The Wu Hou’s Shops are usually guard posts meant for maintaining order, providing disaster relief, and firefighting, staffed by as few as five or as many as thirty people.
Once the lookout towers detect enemy activity, the marquises inside immediately rush out, surrounding and attacking according to the flag signals and lighting signals from the towers.
The evening drumbeats near their end, just eighty-two beats remain. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
Zhang Xia headed towards a certain spot in the city, counting the drumbeats in her mind. The drumbeats felt like the remnants of the sunset, also setting beyond the distant hills outside the city.
The pedestrians in Baidadan City hurried along, afraid the drumbeats would end before they reached home, and Zhang Xia and the little monk did not stand out among them.
But when the final drumbeat sounded, there were no pedestrians left on the street.
On the empty, long street, only the two of them remained, conspicuously out of place.
Zhang Xia was just about to keep walking forward regardless, when she heard two crisp drumbeats from the lookout tower, dong dong!
Without hesitation, the marquis on the lookout tower drew a bow and fired an arrow towards her.
In Baidadan City, after curfew, there is no questioning the reasons or identity; anyone caught outside is killed without mercy once the drumbeats have ended and they haven’t returned home!
The feathered arrow flew through the air.
Zhang Xia pulled the little monk to a sudden halt on the long street, narrowly avoiding the arrow which pierced the rammed earth ground in front of them, the arrow shaft humming.
Seeing the first arrow miss, the marquis on the lookout tower did not draw another but began pounding urgent drumbeats.
Zhang Xia heard the dense sound of footsteps, the clanking of armor, and hurled curses and cries from the Wu Hou’s Shop beneath the lookout tower, contemplating whether she should present the envoy waist tag to prove her identity.
But she recalled the conspiracy between the Life-catcher General and the Night Patrol, and the lax checks at the city gates, and immediately suppressed the thought.
Zhang Xia hissed under her breath to the little monk, "Hurry up!"
The two of them turned into an alleyway, sprinting wildly, with the deafening sounds of pursuit behind them.
Zhang Xia hissed under her breath at a junction in the alley, "To the left."
The little monk followed panting heavily, but soon noticed that by following Zhang Xia, they quickly moved out of the line of sight of the previous lookout tower.
Zhang Xia seemed exceptionally familiar with Baidadan City, as if she had meticulously studied the map of this city.
But before the little monk could catch his breath, another lookout tower’s marquis raised a long iron rod, hanging a solitary white lantern on an iron hook under the eaves.
This lantern was not for illumination, but hung in the direction they were fleeing, guiding all nearby marquises to pour out in pursuit.
The twenty-four lookout towers in the city were arranged astutely, no matter where they ran, there was always a tower that could see their movements.
In the dim Baidadan City, lanterns being hung on each lookout tower were like brilliant stars, clearly marking the paths they had taken, resembling the map of Seven Stars of Big Dipper in the sky.
Zhang Xia still had energy, but when she looked back at the little monk, he was already gasping as if about to collapse.
She asked in a low voice, "Are you alright? Otherwise, I can distract the pursuers? The Jing Dynasty venerates Bodhisattva, revealing your identity as Bodhisattva should keep you safe."
The little monk couldn’t speak through his gasps, but waved for Zhang Xia to keep leading the way.
Zhang Xia said no more.
At the alley’s entrance, she paused for a moment, then said, "Turn right."
Just as she led the little monk into a narrow alley, a blinding knife light came rushing at them.
It was the Jing Dynasty marquis lying in ambush there.
Zhang Xia sidestepped to dodge, a trace of Sword Qi shot from her fingers. The Cloud-Veiling Sword Qi did not injure but struck the knife handle, knocking the broadsword from the marquis’s hand.
The marquis retreated in shock, "Innate Official!"
Zhang Xia caught the fallen broadsword, pressing it against the marquis’s neck, driving him out of the alley.
Yet the marquis was fearless of death, even with a knife to his neck, he still shouted furiously, "They’re here, kill!"
Zhang Xia’s eyes turned cold. After rushing out of the alley, she kicked someone down and led the little monk to run in another direction. The Marquis, having several ribs broken by the kick, climbed up again, trailing behind relentlessly, paying no heed to the fact that Zhang Xia had shown mercy.
It’s not that Zhang Xia was afraid to kill, but that she needed to persuade Jiang Xianzong. If she went on a killing spree in Baidadan City, negotiations would become impossible.
However, being restrained like this would only cause the number of pursuers to increase, making it impossible to reach the Festival Hall.
All twenty-four watchtowers were now lit up with white paper lanterns, each pointing in Zhang Xia’s direction. Hundreds of guardians from Baidadan City surged forth like a flood, attempting to swallow the two of them.
Zhang Xia stood at a crossroads, watching the guardians charge from all directions.
No way out.
Isolated and without aid.
The little monk bent over, "What do we do now?"
Zhang Xia replied without answering, merely sighing, "So this is how it feels... he has already experienced this many times before."
The little monk was puzzled, "Huh?"
But at that moment, a shadow enveloped them from above.
The little monk suddenly looked up to see a burly figure standing on the rooftop. The figure wore a bamboo hat, face covered with a black cloth, eyes hidden in the shadow under the hat, indistinct.
Zhang Xia recognized the figure and whispered, "Third Master Hu."
Third Master Hu looked down at them, "What are you doing here?"
Zhang Xia hurriedly replied, "Chen Ji was held hostage outside the city by the Jing Dynasty envoy. I must go to the Western Capital Road Festival Hall to persuade Jiang Xianzong to support the envoy, and escort him to the Ning Dynasty."
Third Master Hu nodded, "Understood."
Suddenly, he formed a seal with his hands and began chanting softly.
The little monk, watching the hand seal, exclaimed, "The Seal of the Great Wheel Vajra Dharani?"
Recite this Dharani twenty-one times and you will enter all Mandalas, and all deeds will be accomplished.
If virtuous men or women uphold this Dharani after the Tathagata’s extinction, they will attain the status of the Bodhisattva Vajra Treasury. All sentient beings will be freed from the suffering of shackles, delivering them from the karmic path. All ghosts and spirits, and those suffering in the Avici Hell, will be released from suffering.
The next moment, the shadow beneath Third Master Hu, illuminated by moonlight, twisted and decomposed, with the shadow of the head and bamboo hat distorting and struggling into a Taotie.
The shadow of the left arm twisted and struggled, transforming into a Zhen, resembling a red leopard, with five tails and a horn, sounding like striking stone.
The shadow of the right arm twisted and struggled, turning into a Taowu, tiger-like, with long hair, human face, tiger feet, pig-like mouth and teeth, and a long tail.
The upper body shadow transformed into a Fei Yi, the left leg shadow into a Xiezhi, and the right leg shadow into a Bi’an.
These ghostly spirit beasts emerged from Third Master Hu’s shadow, like a parade of spirits at night, tossing the guardians in the alley about, but causing no mortal harm.
As the parade of spirits unfolded, the nearby four watchtowers began beating drums simultaneously, and a murderous aura surged forth.
Upon the watchtowers, guardians held iron poles, hanging two more white lanterns: hanging one indicates capturing ordinary people, two indicates Innate, and three indicates a Seeking Dao Realm official.
In the distance, the sound of hoofbeats rose; more were coming.
Third Master Hu looked down at Zhang Xia, "Go, don’t worry about me."
Zhang Xia pulled the little monk through gaps made by the Bi’an’s rampage, running north, escaping the layers of encirclement, heading straight for the Western Capital Road Jiedu Envoy’s Festival Hall.
They drew closer to the most magnificent building in the city center.
But upon seeing the road in front of the Festival Hall, the little monk’s heart was struck with fear.
Before the Festival Hall, the road was broad, with dozens of armored soldiers holding long spears, standing under the plaque of the Festival Hall. The white lanterns emitted a faint light, illuminating the solemn and dignified soldiers.
The armored soldiers saw Zhang Xia and the little monk emerging from the alley opposite the Festival Hall but did not rashly advance, merely observing coldly.
The little monk shivered, "This envoy is truly unreliable, how can we get in?"
Unable to even enter, how could they test Jiang Xianzong’s intentions?
Zhang Xia and the little monk stood across from the Festival Hall, gazing at the armored soldiers. After aiding them in escaping, Third Master Hu had once again concealed himself, and the guardians, having lost their target, pursued Zhang Xia once more.
In front were the armored soldiers, behind were the pursuing guardians.
Zhang Xia closed her eyes in thought, and upon reopening them, she suddenly said, "Jiang Xianzong doesn’t want to kill the envoy."
The little monk widened his eyes, "Hmm?"
Zhang Xia said softly, "If he wanted to kill the envoy, there would be no need for the Life-catcher General to make deals with the Night Patrol. With the support of the Military Governor, the Life-catcher General could simply intercept openly... someone is doing this behind Jiang Xianzong’s back."
The little monk hesitated, "But these armored soldiers want to kill you."
Zhang Xia calmly replied, "They wouldn’t dare."
The next moment, she took a waist tag from her sleeve and walked toward the Festival Hall, saying loudly, "Envoy from Shangjing, seeking an audience with the Western Capital Road Jiedu Envoy Jiang Xianzong!"
The armored soldiers watched her approach coldly, holding the waist tag as she halted before them. The little monk glanced back, the guardians pursued them to the Festival Hall like a tide, their eyes fierce and intent.
At a single order, they could be cut to pieces.
The armored soldiers before the Festival Hall did not speak, their gazes fixed on Zhang Xia, like a black wall, obstructing her path, making Zhang Xia’s figure appear even more frail.
Yet Zhang Xia neither retreated nor relented, holding the waist tag on the steps, calling out again, "The envoy from Shangjing is here, and the Western Capital Road Jiedu Envoy Jiang Xianzong avoids meeting. Does this signal rebellion?"
At this moment, the vermilion doors behind the armored soldiers slowly opened, and a middle-aged scholar stood within the doorway, speaking calmly, "The Commander invites you."
