Green Mountain

Offer it to the Commander?

Chen Ji sighed inwardly. He had just managed to escape from Changbai Mountain, and now he was going to be taken back there, only to be offered to some so-called Commander?

He glanced at Old Ears, his eyes questioning whether there was a way out, but Old Ears averted his gaze, glancing east and west.

Chen Ji, helpless, could only bow his hands to the middle-aged armored soldier and said: "Esteemed soldier, we..."

The middle-aged armored soldier ignored what he was about to say and turned to walk out: "You two, my Commander is eager for talent. As long as the person is useful, they will be treated well. Once we find that Sword Seed Inheritor, we will immediately return to Huanglong Prefecture to see the Commander and grant you wealth and honor."

Yet Chen Ji remained standing inside the room, not moving, and said with difficulty: "Esteemed soldier, my small family of three lives in Erdao Baihe Town. If both the young and old of our house go out to work, there will only be one old mother left alone and dependent... I’m afraid I cannot serve the Commander, and I hope for your understanding."

As soon as Chen Ji finished speaking, all the armored soldiers in the courtyard looked at him, their armors clattering in unison, the shadow of the armor on the ground like a mountain pressing down on this small courtyard.

The middle-aged armored soldier suddenly stopped, turning back to look sideways at the three people in the room with wolf-like eyes, his gaze chilling: "Do you not want to live?"

In the silence, the woman pushed Chen Ji’s back, trembling and saying: "You two should go, I’ll be fine alone at home."

Chen Ji: "..."

Old Ears turned away, his shoulders shaking.

Chen Ji was truly at a loss and had to once again speak to the middle-aged armored soldier: "Esteemed soldier, this is at the foot of the Martial Temple, even the elite of Tokyo Dao cannot..."

The middle-aged armored soldier placed his hand on the sword handle, interrupting with a sneer: "I am under the Tokyo Dao Jiedu Envoy, Yaqian Cavalry Commander, Jiang Zhuang. These Changbai Mountains are the territory of Tokyo Dao, and even the Martial Temple should be under my Commander’s jurisdiction. Even if the Mountain Master is here, I would dare to say so."

Chen Ji took a deep breath and sincerely said: "Esteemed soldier, my Hu Family’s skill is only effective within the Changbai Mountains, it requires us to guard the mountains. It won’t work outside."

Jiang Zhuang said in a deep voice: "As long as it works within the mountains, it’s enough. These Changbai Mountains are vast, trying to find a person is as difficult as climbing to the sky, and we need your skills for this task. If you continue to refuse, don’t blame us martial artists for being rough."

As he spoke, a group of armored soldiers subtly surrounded them, and Old Ears came forward to mediate: "No, no, no, my son is young and ignorant, we will go with you."

Old Ears leaned in and pointed to his own head: "My son caught a chill when he was eight, it fried his brain, the whole town knows he’s a bit stubborn and not very humane, please don’t take it to heart."

Jiang Zhuang glanced at Old Ears, snorted coldly: "Keep him in line."

Old Ears tugged Chen Ji out of the yard, halfway through he remembered something, went back inside to gather the corncobs from the kang into his clothes, and looked at the woman: "Is there any more food?"

The woman hurriedly went into the stove room to bring him a plate of steamed cornbread, all poured into his clothes.

The armored soldiers grew impatient, promptly shoving Old Ears and Chen Ji out.

At the gate of the courtyard, Old Ears suddenly shouted: "Wait, I forgot something!"

Chen Ji said exasperatedly: "What did you forget?"

The next moment, Old Ears went back inside to pick up the King Wen Drum and Martial King Whip and stuffed them into his hands: "Aren’t you taking the magic artifacts?"

Chen Ji took the drum and whip expressionlessly, squeezing the words out through his teeth: "... I’ll just summon Grandmaster Hu San to take you away in a moment."

At this moment, the sound of iron hooves echoed outside Erdao Baihe Town, more densely than ever before.

Jiang Zhuang stood silently at the gate of the courtyard, watching as thousands of troops charged into Erdao Baihe Town, not stopping despite the crossbow blockade of the Tokyo Dao elite.

From atop the roof, the crossbowmen shouted warnings: "Halt!"

Yet the man leading the troop at the front sneered back: "If you dare, shoot your elders with arrows, extinguish your nine tribes!"

Jiang Zhuang squinted, remaining silent.

Old Ears saw the military flag behind the approaching troops and immediately whispered to Chen Ji: "One of the Twelve Central Forbidden Armies, Right Martial Guard Commander, Yuan Xing. This person is the direct nephew of Yuan Xiang, the hereditary Marquis Changping."

As they spoke, Yuan Xing rode up to Jiang Zhuang, looking down at him with a superior air: "Who dares to block my way with such boldness? So it’s you, Zhuang Zhuang. Your Commander’s compulsion has clouded his judgment and he’s no longer useful. Why not come under my command instead, and I’ll make you a Fourth-rank Lieutenant General?"

Jiang Zhuang replied with an expressionless face: "Do not slander my Commander, or one of us will surely spill blood within five steps today."

Yuan Xing tilted his head back and laughed loudly: "Alright, alright, you remain loyal as ever. But the happenings within Changbai Mountain are not something your Tokyo Road can meddle in, hurry back to your Huanglong Prefecture."

Jiang Zhuang calmly retorted: "Changbai Mountain falls under our Tokyo Road’s territory, why can’t we get involved?"

Yuan Xing ignored his argument, casting his gaze past Jiang Zhuang, and upon seeing Chen Ji holding a drum in his left hand and a whip in his right, he immediately mocked: "Tokyo Road is just grabbing at straws in desperation, believing that this ridiculous show will lead them to the Sword Seed Inheritor? You might as well believe he is the Sword Seed Inheritor!"

With that, Yuan Xing snapped his reins, leading the Right Martial Guard soldiers into the mountain, the thousands of soldiers tramping down the thick snow in the town to muddy slush.

Jiang Zhuang watched the Right Martial Guard depart, speaking in a deep voice: "Into the mountain!"

...

...

The elite of Tokyo Road trudged into the mountain overnight amidst wind and snow, with Chen Ji and Old Ears caught up at the end of the procession, while four armored soldiers walked behind, escorting them forward.

Chen Ji glanced back at the armored soldiers a few steps away and whispered to Old Ears: "What do we do now?"

Old Ears, chewing on a corn cob, casually answered: "Not much we can do, unless you use the Sword Seed to fight our way out?"

Upon hearing him mention the Sword Seed, Chen Ji immediately gritted his teeth and whispered: "Keep it down."

Old Ears pulled a corn cob from his hem and handed it to him: "Take it easy, now we’re hidden in plain sight. Who would think we’d dare to mix among Tokyo Road’s elite? That Yuan Xing didn’t even catch on earlier. Want some corn?"

Chen Ji took the corn cob and bit into it: "Our identities can only stay hidden for so long, eventually, we’ll be exposed. Don’t forget, you’re not the real Old Xianggen, once the real Old Xianggen shows up, your identity will naturally be uncovered."

Old Ears chuckled happily: "It’s our identities that will be uncovered."

Chen Ji continued to eat his corn and ignored him.

Old Ears finished gnawing on a corn cob and casually tossed the cob husk by the roadside, dusting off the remnants on his hand: "Right now we can only counter motion with stillness, don’t worry, Tokyo Road’s elite and Yuan Hengli Zhen’s Tiger and Leopard Cavalry are like fire and water. Once they meet again, it’ll be our chance to slip away."

Chen Ji pondered: "What’s the issue between Tokyo Road and Yuan Hengli Zhen?"

Old Ears’ eyes shifted as he sighed: "Military Governor Wang Yu of Tokyo Road took a liking to a woman, but this woman was persecuted by Vice Minister Lu Jin, hence his hatred for Lu Jin. Yuan Hengli Zhen is now allied with Lu Jin, thus he’s considered one of Lu Jin’s, so they’re fire and water."

Old Ears continued: "Previously, Lu Jin relied on the mountain road of Changbai Mountain to engage in maritime trade with Shouyang Great Monarch of Korea. It’s not too much to say that Mirror City Port was covertly controlled by Lu Jin. However, after that incident, Wang Yu sent troops to intercept and kill the commercial teams under Lu Jin, intercepting them over twenty times in half a year. But since what the commercial team did was smuggling, Lu Jin couldn’t do anything about it. Yet Lu Jin is capable, as he managed to grab hold of Wang Yu’s own brother Wang Jia’s weakness and got Wang Jia executed."

Chen Ji sighed: "The internal chaos of Jing Dynasty is actually this severe."

Old Ears sneered: "As long as there are people, there will be power struggles. Now Yuan Xiang and Lu Jin of Jing Dynasty are subtly at odds, but neither has the means to destroy the other, so they haven’t torn things apart. But it would be different if they got the support of the Temple of Martial Arts; once the Temple chooses a side, those who are on the fence in court will immediately follow."

Chen Ji pondered: "I always thought the Temple of Martial Arts would remain aloof."

Old Ears let out a mocking laugh: "Everyone thinks the Wu Temple Mountain People are transcendent beings who don’t partake in worldly matters, but they have parents and relatives too, who can truly forsake the secular world? True Martial Fools are rare, what’s abundant are ambitious people. They climb the mountain to learn martial arts, not to be sold to the Emperor’s family. Most who become Seeking Dao Realm officials descend the mountain to exchange their skills for fame and fortune in Jing Dynasty, few can bear to stay on the mountain in solitude."

Old Ears shifted his tone: "Moreover, Jing Dynasty can tolerate the Temple of Martial Arts only because the Temple has always been on Jing Dynasty’s side. Every time Jing and Ning dynasties go to war, Temple practitioners descend the mountain to join the fight. If the Temple sided with Ning Dynasty instead, those few dozen people wouldn’t stand a chance against the encirclement of the Twelve Central Forbidden Armies."

Chen Ji suddenly asked: "Who do you think will win, Yuan Xiang or Lu Jin?"

Old Ears suggested cryptically: "People think whoever helps Mountain Master Lu Yang find the Sword Seed Inheritor will win the Temple’s support. With the Temple’s backing, one can defeat the other. Why else do you think they’re all here in Changbai Mountain? Of course, they want to capture you as a bargaining chip... you are quite the prize now."

Chen Ji asked again: "What does Mountain Master Lu Yang think? Will he really side with whoever helps him kill the Sword Seed Inheritor?"

Old Ears shrugged: "How would this old man know what that old scoundrel thinks? Why don’t you ask him yourself?"