Green Mountain

Mrs. Lu carried Chen Ji on her back, weaving through the rime ice. Every so often, she would turn her head and press her cheek against Chen Ji’s forehead, which remained icy.

Old Ears held Wu Yun in his arms, stepping unevenly alongside Mrs. Lu, remaining silent as if fearing he might provoke Mrs. Lu and get kicked.

He quietly observed Chen Ji, occasionally creeping forward to carefully lift Chen Ji’s sleeve for a look, then trying to lift Chen Ji’s clothes hem, scratching his head in anxiety.

Just as he was about to lift Chen Ji’s clothes hem, Mrs. Lu lost her patience, turned her head and glared at him: "What are you doing?"

Old Ears shrank his neck: "I just want to see how this kid managed to evoke the Five Sounds of Martial Arts Roar. Back when the Mountain Master Lu Yang nurtured the sword seed, it was only one sound, yet he’s made it like a grand parade with gongs and firecrackers, even bringing out the bronze bells... Aren’t you curious? If he is indeed the sword seed inheritor that the Temple of Martial Arts is looking for, then where is his sword seed? If it’s not on him, could it have fallen to the bottom of the Heavenly Pool?"

Mrs. Lu fell into deep thought.

Old Ears saw that he swayed her, and immediately fanned the flames: "The sword seed doesn’t come easy, if it fell to the bottom of the Heavenly Pool, we might need to find a way to retrieve it... How about we search him?"

Mrs. Lu sneered: "You must be kidding me, old man. How could a sword seed be lost? Not to mention that he may not have even cultivated the sword seed, but even if he did, the sword seed should be in a place like his Dantian, how could it be dropped at the bottom of the lake?"

Old Ears said helplessly: "The sword seed is such a sharp thing, how can it be stored inside the body? It can only be carried along."

Mrs. Lu changed her tone: "Did the Mountain Master tell you this?"

Old Ears hesitated before grinning: "Just a guess."

Mrs. Lu suddenly thought of something, turned her head, and stared at Old Ears with a grim look: "Besides you, who else knows he went up Changbai Mountain?"

"Eh, eh?" Old Ears felt the murderous intent in her gaze, hurriedly dodging several steps in the snow: "Want to kill me to silence me, huh? I suggest you think twice, without me, you can’t escape."

Mrs. Lu said solemnly: "As soon as we reach Mirror City Port and set out to sea, I don’t believe the people from the Temple of Martial Arts can pursue us on the sea!"

Old Ears patiently explained: "But do you know where to go once you set out to sea? You need to follow the ocean currents and wind directions to Wokou first, and after lying low there, detour to a port on the southern part of the Ning Dynasty; do you know where the Jing Dynasty’s Black Flag Ship will intercept you? The Jing Dynasty’s pirates are firmly under Lu Jin’s control, colluding with Xu and Chen Families from the Ning Dynasty, recently even hooking up with the Qi family fleets. By then, the sea will be full of people wanting to kill you, how many ships can you fend off?"

Mrs. Lu was silent.

Old Ears sighed: "I know you’re capable, but your first venture out to sea lacks deep foundations; you’ll still need my help here and there. Besides, if we take the shortcut, and if Wu Kezhi takes the main road to Mirror City Port himself, he will definitely be faster than you... Whether you can even set out to sea is still uncertain."

As they spoke, voices arose from afar, unmistakably the arguing of Uncle Changsheng and Aunt Qiubai, descending the main road and heading towards Korea.

Mrs. Lu and Old Ears both crouched behind a pine tree, holding their breaths to eavesdrop as Uncle Changsheng complained: "What’s the rush, Xiao Wu can go to Korea on his own, have Korea seal off Mirror City Port, and once the Central Forbidden Army arrives, the fugitives won’t be able to escape..."

After they left, Old Ears quietly said: "Chang Sheng and Qiu Bai are both Grand Officials of the Seeking Dao Realm, along with Wu Kezhi, and Korea’s Heartless Sword Dao, plus the Jing Dynasty’s Central Forbidden Army, how can you escape such a thorough net by just yourself?"

Mrs. Lu stood up, slowly retracting her murderous intention, her tone softening: "Sir, you misunderstood earlier, I had no intention of killing you to silence."

Old Ears forced a smile: "You, woman, have a much darker heart than that boy, whether you had murderous thoughts or not, only you know."

Mrs. Lu once again pressed her cheek to Chen Ji’s forehead, shifting the topic: "With your vast knowledge, sir, do you know what condition Chen Ji is in, did something go wrong in his cultivation?"

Old Ears scratched his earlobe: "This is the first time I’ve seen him in such a state... if he is willing to tell me what’s going on, I’d trade ten secrets for it, otherwise, I’d open my eyes in the coffin, unable to rest in peace!"

Mrs. Lu, carrying Chen Ji, no longer descended the mountain towards Korea, but instead turned back towards the depths of Changbai Mountain: "We can’t head to Mirror City Port, the Temple of Martial Arts has already guessed where we plan to set out to sea from. Escaping from Jing Dynasty, for me, offers a chance of survival."

At this moment, Mrs. Lu suddenly sensed something amiss; Chen Ji on her back was no longer ice-cold but was gradually heating up, yet before his body was fully warmed, it turned cold again.

Wu Yun seemed to think of something; it started to struggle in Old Ears’ arms, unwilling to let go, he patted it: "Don’t pitch a fit, we’re on the move."

Wu Yun had no other recourse and simply lifted its right leg, urinating on Old Ears’ lap, startling him to let go quickly.

Old Ears bent down to grab a handful of snow, rubbing out the urine stains on his gray cloth clothes, huffing in annoyance: "This little thing has a lot of tricks... hey, what are you doing?"

He saw Wu Yun sniffing left and right in the snow, then sniffing hundreds of steps along the way, eventually digging at a certain snowy spot.

Mrs. Lu and Old Ears followed behind, watching as it dug out an old ginseng from the snow and climbed onto Mrs. Lu’s shoulder with it, using the old ginseng to touch Chen Ji’s left hand.

The old ginseng instantly melted, transforming into sparkling translucent beads that fell in the snow, which Wu Yun hurriedly jumped down to find and swallow one by one.

Mrs. Lu and Old Ears exchanged glances, both at a loss.

Old Ears tugged at his graying hair: "Wait, isn’t he cultivating the Sword Seed Path? What is this about? It normally takes an Executive Officer a month or two to digest an old ginseng, how can he do it so quickly?"

Mrs. Lu, however, crouched down and stared intently at Wu Yun in front of her, eagerly asking: "Will aged ginseng save him?"

Wu Yun nodded.

Mrs. Lu asked again, "How much do you need?"

Wu Yun straightened up and spread his arms, Old Ears crouched beside him to translate: "A lot."

Mrs. Lu replied irritably, "I can understand."

She decisively turned around and walked down the mountain with large strides, Old Ears hoisted Wu Yun and followed, "Old ginseng is easy to handle, there are plenty in Changbai Mountain. An old man like me can dig up a dozen in a day."

Mrs. Lu didn’t turn her head, "How long would it take to dig them up one by one? My people are already collecting old ginseng at Mirror City Port, they should have gathered enough by now, head to Mirror City Port!"

Old Ears reminded, "You just heard, the Temple of Martial Arts will block Mirror City Port at first notice. Wu Kezhi might even personally go there, we can’t head to Mirror City Port."

Mrs. Lu continued without turning back, "We can’t worry about that now."

Old Ears shouted from behind her, "Even so, you can’t just rush down the mountain, there are footprints all over the snow, once the fog clears they’ll be traced by the Temple of Martial Arts."

Mrs. Lu turned her head, "What method does the Eldest Master have?"

Old Ears veered east and said, "Follow me."

After roughly ten miles of mountain road, they arrived by a small river, the river water, sourced from the mountain’s hot springs, never froze and steamed with rolling heat.

Old Ears uncovered a raft from beneath a pile of branches and pushed it into the river, "Take the raft and follow the river down, it’s not far from Mirror City Port."

Mrs. Lu scrutinized him, "Truly? You’re not leading us into another dragon’s lair and tiger’s den, are you?"

Old Ears coughed once, "No, no, it’s about this kid’s life, I wouldn’t mess around. Let’s get him alive first."

Mrs. Lu hesitated for a moment, then ultimately decided to step onto the raft.

Old Ears sat at the front, rowing, while Wu Yun lay on his head, and he didn’t seem to mind.

Mrs. Lu laid Chen Ji flat on the raft, lightly placing her palm on his forehead, lost in thought.

The small raft flowed downstream, the river’s mist condensing on the branches by the banks to form hoarfrost that hung from the trees. Mrs. Lu’s body gradually relaxed, and her fingers softened a bit.

Old Ears, with his back to her, suddenly asked, "Since you care about your son, why would you fake your death for twelve years?"

Wu Yun pricked up his ears on Old Ears’ head, while Mrs. Lu’s fingers instantly stiffened, she feigned nonchalance, "What is the Eldest Master talking about? I don’t understand."

Old Ears sighed, gazing at the hoarfrost by the riverbank, "Wild boars turn back to fight fierce tigers to protect their offspring; fierce tigers make sure their cubs eat first, even when starving; black bears use their bodies to shield their young from winter storms during hibernation; wolf packs sacrifice themselves to feed their pups in dire straits. All love in this world has conditions, except a mother’s love, which can’t be hidden... Hey, why do you want to kill to silence me!"

Mrs. Lu withdrew the murderous intent in her eyes, remaining silent.

Old Ears lazily rowed, "I love listening to Chen Ji’s stories at a teahouse in the Imperial Capital, hearing how he broke in to rescue Prince Jing’s heir, hearing how he walked all the way from Luocheng City to the Imperial Capital to save Princess Bai Li. I wondered at the time why this kid was so unfortunate, so painfully unlucky, surely some wicked person was behind it..."

Old Ears shifted the topic, "I watched him tirelessly haul water from Gate Tower Alley, standing by the well’s edge in a daze, and I thought he must be homesick then. You think you’ve missed twelve years, unworthy of being called ’mother’ by him, but you should ask how he feels first."

Mrs. Lu whispered, "I had no choice; someone saw me as a thorn in their side, I couldn’t not fake my death."

Old Ears responded, "Then the person who saw you as a thorn, when they saw the thirty-six lift betrothal gifts, they should know you’re alive, too. What are you planning to do?"

Mrs. Lu’s expression was obscured by the black veil of her hat, and she spoke no more.

The small raft descended into silence until dusk fell, Old Ears guided the raft to the riverbank, "Here we are, a two-mile walk ahead, and you’ll see Mirror City Port."

Mrs. Lu carried Chen Ji onto the bank, trudging through the snow downhill, yet she soon saw Mirror City Port teeming with soldiers, searching every harbor ship.

Old Ears pulled Mrs. Lu to squat down in the woods, "It’s Shouyang Great Monarch’s Zhongwu Guards... Wu Kezhi must have arrived. Otherwise, the Great Monarch wouldn’t send his direct Zhongwu Guards. Mirror City Port is not feasible now; we should head to the Jing Dynasty before the Central Forbidden Army seals the mountain."

Mrs. Lu placed Chen Ji in the snow, "Please have the Eldest Master look after him, and I’ll repay you with ten secrets later."

Old Ears was stunned, "Where are you going?"

Mrs. Lu stood and headed down the mountain, "Wait until dark to get ginseng, then we’ll proceed to the Jing Dynasty once we have the ginseng."

...

Another Chapter to come tonight, read in the morning