Green Mountain

"Where is Tiger’s Mouth?"

"Lushun."

"Where is Niu Zhuang Port?"

"Yingkou."

Chen Ji and Old Ears exchanged questions and answers, and these were place names in the secret language of Old Ears and Old Li. If Chen Ji understood this maritime slang, he should have realized that this ship was headed for the Jing Dynasty.

Chen Ji asked again, "Then what is the place you mentioned later, Kui Long’er?"

Old Ears said gleefully, "Goryeo Mirror City Port. You kid, how come you know nothing? Did the person arranging for you to board the ship deliberately keep you in the dark?"

Chen Ji ignored his schadenfreude and asked again, "So where is this ship heading now?"

Old Ears shook his head: "No idea, it depends on how the ship owner decides. I only told them that Lushun and Yingkou are in chaos right now; the forces of Yuan Xiang, Princess Liyang, and Lu Jin are at odds. Today the ports might belong to Lu Jin, and tomorrow they could belong to Yuan Xiang. Some officials loot cargo amid the chaos, and business people are angry but dare not speak. Especially hard currency like cow horn and cow tendon, cow tendon is for bowstrings, cow horn is for the lining of horn bows, and all thirteen Jiedu Commanders of the Jing Dynasty want them."

Chen Ji pondered, "What about Korea?"

Old Ears casually replied, "The Korean Crown Prince died in the Ning Dynasty, and now the king is seriously ill. The Crown Prince’s two uncles are covetously looking to raise troops and seize the throne. Mirror City Port is the territory of Shouyang Great Monarch; this man does things methodically and with credibility, and he has plenty of silver. Doing business with him is most dependable... I guess the ship owner will head to Korea’s Mirror City Port."

Chen Ji was momentarily perplexed.

He faked his death to escape, only to seek the sword Xuanyuan hid everywhere; these swords have nourished for ten thousand years, allowing him to transform.

Thus, the first station heading south should be Huangshan Mountain, his only confirmed Land of Hidden Swords.

Chen Ji climbed up to the lookout atop the mast, gazing back, seeing neither distant mountains nor land, further and further from home. He stood on the lookout, his cloak fluttering in the sea breeze, like a letter without an address.

Wait a minute.

Chen Ji suddenly leapt down from the mast, heading toward the stern’s poop deck.

Old Li looked at him impatiently, "What are you doing at the poop deck?"

Chen Ji ignored him and kept walking forward. Old Li drew a short knife from his sleeve, blocking him, "Kid, don’t seek death."

At the moment they met, Old Li slashed the knife straight, Chen Ji sidestepped with ease, grabbing Old Li’s wrist and pulling, causing him to lose balance and stagger out.

By the time he steadied himself and turned, Chen Ji was already standing before the ship owner’s door, knocking.

Old Li squinted his eyes, "You son of a..."

Chen Ji turned to him, calmly saying, "Don’t curse my mother."

Old Li was taken aback.

Chen Ji saw there was no response from inside and continued to knock on the door persistently.

Old Li signaled the deck, and crew members withdrew blades from the crevices of cargo, surrounding the poop deck.

Old Ears perked up, pulling peanuts from his sleeve, leaning against the railing intently watching, "Tsk tsk, a ship full of desperados, isn’t this more interesting than listening to stories?"

Just as the crew was about to surround Chen Ji, the door finally opened, Mrs. Lu stood at the threshold wearing a black hat, waving at Old Li and others: "It’s okay, go back to work."

Without a word, Old Li turned and dismissed the crew, "Get back to your tasks, are your hands idle or what?"

The crew mumbled quietly, "Weren’t you the one who called us over?"

Chen Ji looked at Aunt Ping, ever since he met her, her attire seemed unchanged, like the immutable Quwu Mountain outside Guyuan City.

He recalled boarding the ship while the crew hurriedly loaded cargo, evidently departing hastily.

Chen Ji considered and asked, "Why is Aunt Ping on the ship too?"

Mrs. Lu paused: "Just by coincidence, this is the first time lamp is taking the sea route. I didn’t trust others to oversee it, so I personally accompanied it."

Chen Ji was surprised: "Lamp’s never been to sea before?"

Mrs. Lu explained, "In the past, all coastal ports were dominated by the Chen and Xu families. Others had no chance to do business at sea, only watching silver flow into their pockets, then throughout the Ning Dynasty. Now that Official Xu is seriously ill, Zhang Zhuo has severed ties with the Xu Family, leading to a feud between the Jinling Xu Family and Huqiu Xu Family. Someone made a deal with Huqiu Xu Family, allowing them to relinquish Tanggu Port."

Chen Ji pondered, Lamp is just a gang in Jianghu and couldn’t offer the court chips Huqiu Xu Family wanted. The person making Huqiu Xu Family give up Tanggu Port must be...

He looked up at Aunt Ping, "Is Lamp cooperating with Bai Long?"

"To be precise, it’s a collaboration with the Inner Court," Mrs. Lu said to Chen Ji: "Come in and talk."

She turned back into the house, picked up the teapot on the table, and poured Chen Ji a cup of tea: "How did you guess it was me?"

Chen Ji sat down by the square table and took a sip of tea: "It wasn’t hard to guess."

Mrs. Lu smiled as she sat across from him: "Are you angry that I tricked you into going to sea?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "I’m not angry, it just doesn’t quite match my original plan... Aunt Ping wants me to go to the Jing Dynasty?"

Mrs. Lu also poured herself a cup of tea: "The matter for which you need to fake your death and escape must be of great terror. I used the lamp to investigate on your behalf but found nothing, so I thought it’d be better to send you to the Jing Dynasty, to a place where no one knows you, until the storm passes. If you’re willing, I can smuggle Second Miss Zhang and Xiao Man out with you. The lamp has helped many people from the Ning Dynasty flee northwards safely before, there won’t be any problem."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Mrs. Lu shifted the topic: "But now we need to change course to Korea."

Chen Ji was puzzled: "Are we really going to Korea?"

Mrs. Lu nodded: "The news from Old Ears is very important. He’s reputed as the Gossip God of the Jianghu, his sources are broader than the lamp, and in previous years those who didn’t believe him got into big trouble."

She scrutinized Chen Ji’s expression: "Moreover, you’ll be safer in Korea; you can find a secluded village to rest and recuperate."

Chen Ji pondered for a moment: "I don’t want to waste time in Korea, I need to go to Longyou Road in the Jing Dynasty to find something."

Mrs. Lu smiled: "I’ve never been to Korea, but it’s very close to the Jing Dynasty, just a few days of trekking through the mountains and you can cross the border. The large ship will first dock at Mirror City Port, then you can head to the Jing Dynasty if you wish... By the way, don’t you need ginseng?"

Chen Ji’s expression changed: "Hmm?"

Mrs. Lu leisurely held her teacup: "Old Three mentioned that you bought a large batch of ginseng in Guyuan. I originally thought this batch would be transported with you to the Imperial Capital, but when you left Guyuan, you didn’t bring anything... So, can you instantaneously convert ginseng into cultivation realm prowess?"

Without waiting for Chen Ji’s response, she continued: "Do you know how much a well-aged Korean ginseng can sell for in the Ning Dynasty?"

Chen Ji was taken aback: "How much?"

Mrs. Lu set down her teacup: "Four taels. A well-aged Korean ginseng collected from Korea costs only four silver taels. It’s smuggled by sea to the Ning Dynasty’s coast, with clearance and shipping costs at twelve taels. Then it’s further transported inland, faced with continuous exploitation and mark-ups, turning it into thirty silver taels."

Chen Ji reacted with surprise: "That low?"

Mrs. Lu chuckled: "That’s what I heard. Whether it’s that price, we’ll have to see for ourselves when we get to Korea. It won’t be long, if things go smoothly, it takes seven days to reach Mirror City Port."

Chen Ji regretfully said: "Unfortunately, I don’t have that much silver."

Mrs. Lu tapped the table with her fingers: "Don’t worry, the cargo on this ship is worth eighteen thousand silver taels in Korea. After excluding the goods for the return trip, there should still be ten thousand taels remaining, lending it all to you is no problem."

Chen Ji asked in return: "Aunt Ping just lends me the ten thousand taels like that?"

Mrs. Lu laughed as she said: "We are, after all, comrades who have weathered hardships together. Although ten thousand taels is a lot, I’m not afraid of you running away."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and accepted: "Thank you, Aunt Ping. These ten thousand taels are indeed of great use to me."

At that moment, Chen Ji suddenly noticed Aunt Ping exhaled slightly behind the black veil of her curtain hat, as if fearing he wouldn’t want to use those ten thousand taels of silver.

He changed the subject: "Aunt Ping, how much do you know about Old Ears?"

Aunt Ping seemed puzzled: "What’s with Old Ears?"

Chen Ji got up, subtly observing Old Ears outside leisurely peeling and eating peanuts on the deck inside the room: "I just thought he’s a bit suspicious, so I asked another question as a precaution."

Aunt Ping recalled: "Old Ears has been a famous Jianghu figure for a long time. I heard of him when I first entered the Jianghu. He’s very peculiar, loves to pry into others’ business, and has strange rules. Just bring any interesting matter to him, and you can exchange for useful information. In the early days, the lamp dealt with him once to help exonerate General Wen Tao. I exchanged a Jing Dynasty secret for a piece of information from him, which eventually helped trace the document that framed General Wen Tao."

Chen Ji moved his gaze from Old Ears back to Mrs. Lu: "Aunt Ping, is this person the same one you met back then?"

"Yes, without a doubt," Mrs. Lu frowned: "Do you suspect his identity?"

Chen Ji did not answer.

He had previously doubted the identity of this Old Ears; the timing and location of his appearance were too coincidental, so much so that Chen Ji couldn’t help linking him to that identity. Just after discovering the Sword Seed Pathway Practitioner in the Imperial Capital, the other party appeared beside him...

Mountain Master, Lu Yang.

Mrs. Lu pressed further: "Who do you suspect he is?"

Chen Ji smiled: "I must have guessed wrong. After all, the person I guessed shouldn’t be so idle."