Green Mountain
Chapter 151: Betting

Chapter 151: Betting

Luocheng City at night was like a huge chessboard, with straight flagstone paths that divided the buildings into neat and orderly rows and columns of twenty-one.

The spies, dressed in black with waist knives in hand,

were like black chess pieces, moving along different paths toward their assigned destinations.

From the sky, the silent web of spies resembled a black dragon, coiling across the chessboard.

On the quiet street of Xinglong Village, West Wind, wearing a newly carved dragon mask, walked at the forefront, with Chen Ji and Jin Zhu wearing masks side by side.

Behind them, two spies arranged by Jin Zhu constantly shadowed Chen Ji, blocking any potential escape routes.

As they walked, Chen Ji suddenly stopped and turned around.

In an instant, the two spies drew their waist knives halfway, their eyes coldly fixed on him.

Chen Ji, puzzled, asked, "Lord Jin Zhu, are you protecting me, or are you detaining me? Treating me like a criminal now, is the next step to throw me into the inner prison?"

Jin Zhu sighed, patting him on the shoulder, "We’re all smart people, why bother making things explicit?"

Chen Ji, with a calm tone devoid of emotion, said, "Lord Jin Zhu, I’ve helped you find a way to catch the Liu Family red-handed, and just when success is in sight, you’re burning bridges! When can you trust me?"

Jin Zhu smiled and replied, "When you can explain all the doubts about you, then I can trust you."

Chen Ji asked in a concentrated tone, "What doubts?"

Jin Zhu thought for a moment and said, "You are a medical apprentice, yet you can crack Jing Dynasty secret messages; you have the strength of a chicken, yet you survived in the hands of a Jing Dynasty spy at Chao Cang Gambling House; you’re not good at investigation, yet you managed to shake off two of my subordinates. Do you know, even among my Spy Department, there are few who can achieve these things, let alone a mere medical apprentice?"

Jin Zhu stood with his hands behind his back, asking with interest, "So, can you help me answer these questions?"

Chen Ji did not respond.

Jin Zhu laughed heartily, "It’s fine if you don’t want to answer. Once this matter is settled, Meng Ji will naturally ask for a clear answer."

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Aren’t you afraid that when you’re dealing with Liu Mingxian later, I might suddenly speak up and ruin your plan? You still need me to play along, so why don’t we make a deal?"

Jin Zhu asked leisurely, "What kind of deal?"

However, just then, a spy suddenly whispered, "Why should you make any deal with him, my lord? Every time you meet with Liu Mingxian, you’re wearing masks, and now Liu Mingxian doesn’t even know who is behind the masks. Anyone can wear them. I might as well wear his mask, and as long as I keep silent, Liu Mingxian will never notice anything unusual."

Jin Zhu looked at Chen Ji with a smile, "I’m sorry, but at this gaming table, the one with the most chips laughs last. You no longer have any chips left, but I do."

With that, Jin Zhu suddenly removed the tiger mask from Chen Ji’s face.

He looked into Chen Ji’s calm eyes and observed his involuntarily clenched fists, then sighed, "I know you must be angry, but there’s no need to be. I know betrayal is hard to swallow, but if you really are innocent, I will personally apologize and give you a satisfactory answer. Take him down and keep him aside, gag his mouth, and do not allow him to make any noise and cause trouble."

Two spies stepped forward and tightly gagged Chen Ji’s mouth with a cloth strip.

Jin Zhu smiled, weighed the wooden tiger mask in his hand, and eventually handed it over, "Liu Tiao, put on the mask. From now on, you are Si Cao of the Military Intelligence Department."

With that, Jin Zhu, West Wind, and Liu Tiao, wearing their masks, continued on their way toward Mudan Bridge, while another spy took Chen Ji into an alley to meet with other spies hiding in the shadows.

Inside the alley, Chen Ji slowed his pace, trying to buy time.

But just as he slowed down, a spy behind him struck him hard with the scabbard, admonishing, "Walk faster, don’t get any funny ideas."

Chen Ji felt a burning pain in his back, but his expression became even calmer.

AM, the fourth watch of the night.

The saying goes: one watch for the watchman, two watches for fire, three watches for ghosts, four watches for thieves, and five watches for chickens.

During the fourth watch, the night was darkest and people slept deepest—perfect for committing crimes or setting fires.

Jin Zhu had already seen Mudan Bridge from a distance. He slowed his pace and whispered a reminder, "Remember, later you must wait for my confirmation whether Liu Mingxian is present. If Liu Mingxian doesn’t show up, tonight’s operation is canceled. We continue to earn their trust... With the court in such chaos, we must catch Liu Mingxian red-handed to silence all critics."

"Understood!"

Jin Zhu checked once more to make sure all three were properly masked with no oversights before slowly walking toward Mudan Bridge. In the distance, the night patrol’s distant cry echoed, "All is well, no sickness, no disaster!"

Jin Zhu shook his head, thinking that everyone views the night patrol’s job as hard for having to wake up five times a night for the patrols, never getting a full night’s sleep. But wasn’t the Spy Department just the same?

However, as he approached Mudan Bridge and just caught sight of the waiting carriage, he suddenly felt as though he had overlooked some detail, "Something doesn’t seem quite right."

"Where doesn’t it seem right?"

"Too quiet..."

"My lord, our people have surrounded the area. Quiet is as it should be."

"No, that’s not right!"

Jin Zhu suddenly looked up at the stars, "The ’All is well, no sickness, no disaster’ cry belongs to the third watch of the night, yet we have clearly entered the fourth watch. Why would he get it wrong?"

West Wind instantly tensed all over, "Night watchmen and drummers who report the wrong time can end up in prison; the time cannot be incorrect!"

"The person who just reported the time was not a real night watchman!"

"There’s an ambush!"

...

On Anxi Street, an old man wearing a pair of white-soled black cloth shoes, carrying two packages of pastries, sauntered up to the side of the Grocery Store.

When he gazed into the dim alleyway, dozens of glowing green eyes turned to look at him.

In the midst of the silent standoff, the old man smiled and waved, "Heavenly Master Nine Heavens Yingyuan Universal Thunder."

At the end of his words, a pair of eyes stepped out from the crowd, moving from the shadows into the moonlight, revealing a furry black figure.

Wu Yun looked up and meowed, "Master, why haven’t you gone to rest?"

Old Yao lamented, "With all the rubbish Chen Ji is up to, how can I sleep? I’m afraid I’d wake up to find the sky has fallen. Here, I brought you two packages of pastries; you share them with the cats behind you."

Wu Yun bit the string on the paper package and disappeared into the darkness.

The next instant, all those pairs of eyes became even rounder and greener.

Meowing again, Wu Yun saw the eyes in the alley disappear one by one, and the pastries ended up who knows where.

It returned to the moonlight, gracefully leaping into Old Yao’s arms, "May you live a long life, master!"

Old Yao smacked his lips, "That sounds as if I don’t have many years left."

Wu Yun: "..."

Having not dealt much with humans, it knew it was time to compliment someone, but it still didn’t quite know the best way to do so.

Changing the subject, Wu Yun asked, "Master, why did you come?"

Old Yao stroked Wu Yun’s head, "Tonight I cast a divination for Chen Ji... But ever since he learned the Sword Seed Path, my divination skills seem to have lost their effect on him, unclear, sometimes accurate, sometimes not. Now I can only tell that he is in danger tonight, but I don’t know the outcome."

Wu Yun paused, "He said that he was not in danger. I wanted to follow him, but he wouldn’t let me."

Old Yao smiled, "He probably doesn’t want you to run into danger either."

Wu Yun quickly said, "Then you should help him!"

Old Yao fell silent for a few seconds, "Why should I help him? I’ve said before, I have no mentor-pupil kinship with him."

Wu Yun puzzled, "Then why are you going out so late at night?"

Old Yao pondered, "I’m just going to see if I need to collect his corpse."

Wu Yun solemnly saluted, "You have a kind heart."

"If you can’t compliment, then don’t," laughed Old Yao, "My heart is not kind; if it were, I wouldn’t have lived to this age. Wu Yun, the bigger they are in this world, the colder the blood in their hearts."

Old Yao looked down at Wu Yun, "He came to you before he left, what did he say?"

Wu Yun thought for a moment and said, "He told me to tell you at dawn that he might not be back for several days, but he would be fine."

Old Yao lightly gasped, "Did he guess that he wouldn’t be able to return in the next few days? But now Jin Zhu is beginning to suspect Chen Ji, and he has even brought in Meng Ji specifically for this. How can Chen Ji be so sure nothing will happen to him?"

Wu Yun didn’t understand, "Jin Zhu previously said he wanted to invest in Chen Ji, why would he doubt him now? Was he lying before?"

Old Yao said with a laugh, "Wanting to invest was true, as Jin Zhu’s Cultivation Path involves making heavy bets on others. As long as the person he bets on improves their cultivation, he can benefit from it. After succeeding in betting on Heavenly Horse, Heavenly Horse reached the threshold of the Divine Realm within ten years, and Jin Zhu’s cultivation level also advanced a whole new level."

"Having tasted the sweetness, Jin Zhu wanted to find the next Heavenly Horse day and night. However, after several failures in a row, not only did his level not rise, but it also fell from the Seeking Dao Realm back to the Innate Realm... Now seeing Chen Ji’s potential, he naturally wants to make another bet, helping Chen Ji obtain Cultivation Paths and resources."

"I see."

"Let’s talk about serious matters," Old Yao asked, "Three days ago, after Chen Ji met with you, you disappeared, where did you go that night?"

Wu Yun hesitated.

Old Yao scoffed, "Can’t tell me?"

Wu Yun honestly answered, "Chen Ji said, only if you ask me repeatedly can I tell you, and you’ve only asked twice so far."

Old Yao laughed, "... Then now I’m asking you for the third time, where did you go that night?"

"I went to deliver a note to the Liu Mansion."

"What was written on the note?"

"The Division Head is an imposter, seek verification from the Shopkeeper of Bailu Pavilion."

Old Yao’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The gaunt old man stood on the long street, turning his head to gaze at the endless stretch of bluestone slabs disappearing into the night as if he could see the end of the world, "Does he intend to perform Healing Solitary Swallowing Dragon?"