Green Mountain
Chapter 156 - 114, Just There for the Excitement

Chapter 156: 114, Just There for the Excitement

"Interrogate now?"

"Interrogate now!"

In the distance, a fierce blaze reddened the dawn sky, while the nearby river flowed like ink.

Lord Jin Zhu, shedding his usually jovial demeanor, stared intensely at Chen Ji in the river and growled fiercely, "Today, the Liu Family suddenly set an ambush to kill me. Had Heavenly Horse not arrived in time, I’m afraid I would have died on the bridge. How can I sleep without figuring out who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes?!"

After speaking, Lord Jin Zhu, ignoring Manager Yuan’s curses, brutally broke the man’s limbs, crushing his neck and radius bones before finally letting out a long breath of relief.

Tonight, he truly thought he was going to die.

Chen Ji stepped on the riverbed’s cobbles and slowly waded ashore. "Lord Jin Zhu wouldn’t suspect me of anything, would he? If I were a Jing Dynasty spy, why would I risk my life to catch up? Without my delaying them, it would not have been so easy for you to capture him."

"What if you two were acting in collusion?" Lord Jin Zhu sneered viciously, "The Liu Family set an ambush on the bridge today, and coincidentally, you switched masks just before crossing the bridge. I have every reason to believe that you knew there would be danger on the Mudan Bridge in advance."

Chen Ji calmly said, "Sir, the idea to change masks was not mine. Moreover, if I were truly a cohort of the Jing Dynasty’s traitors, or of the Liu Family, I should have crossed the bridge with you. They were after you, not me."

Lord Jin Zhu hesitated.

Indeed, if Chen Ji were a Jing Dynasty traitor, there would be no danger for him on the bridge.

But Lord Jin Zhu steeled his heart, "Today, I trust no one! Don’t blame me for being suspicious. Anyone who escapes death would suspect everyone around them. Same as before, if my suspicion is misplaced, I will find a way to compensate."

After speaking, he turned to Meng Ji, "Interrogate! Once it’s done, we’ll know the truth!"

Meng Ji looked at the mire and dead grass strewn about on the shore, lifted a hand to his nose in a dainty gesture, and disdainfully said, "Must we interrogate now? Can’t we find a slightly cleaner place?"

Lord Jin Zhu was impatient to wait. He removed a string of Buddhist Treasure from his left wrist and handed it over, "Interrogate!"

Meng Ji accepted the Buddhist Treasures and examined the carvings on the beads closely before slipping them onto his wrist, smiling broadly, "Tsk tsk, this payment is enough for me to perform a Class A Dream. Lord Jin Zhu is quite generous, being in charge of the Spy Department’s funds does come with its perks."

With that, he sat cross-legged on the ground, lifted the hem of his robe, bit his finger to draw blood for a talisman, then wrapped Manager Yuan’s hair in the talisman paper and swallowed it.

Chen Ji saw the talisman paper the size of an egg slide down Meng Ji’s throat, and then Meng Ji’s eyes suddenly rolled back, showing only the whites.

Manager Yuan, who lay on the ground, stopped cursing abruptly, his eyes turning white just like Meng Ji’s.

Lord Jin Zhu cut to the chase, "What is your position and affiliation?"

Manager Yuan replied with a vacant gaze, "I am ’Xin,’ a new Si Cao under the command of Lu Guanwu, the Jing Dynasty Military Strategist. Using my identity as the shopkeeper of Bailu Pavilion, I’m stationed in Luocheng and oversee all its affairs."

Lord Jin Zhu asked in a grave tone, "When and how did you re-establish contact with the Liu Family?"

Manager Yuan answered, "The day before yesterday, Liu Family’s Zhang Guo’er came to visit Bailu Pavilion. They said that somehow, someone sneaked into Liu Mansion and left a note exposing your identities, instructing Liu Mingxian to verify directly with me."

Lord Jin Zhu’s expression changed. He glanced at Chen Ji, then solemnly asked, "Did the Liu Family say who left the note?"

Manager Yuan calmly replied, "The Liu Family doesn’t know either."

"The Liu Family doesn’t know? Their mansion is tightly guarded; how could they not know someone sneaked in?" Lord Jin Zhu exclaimed in surprise, "Do you know then?"

Manager Yuan hesitated this time, "It must be the Division Head; only the Division Head would have such incredible power."

Lord Jin Zhu tensed up. The Military Intelligence Department Chief had come to Luocheng?

He pressed, "Who is the Division Head? Where is he?"

"I don’t know. The Division Head’s identity is mysterious; only he can contact me, I cannot contact him."

Lord Jin Zhu glanced at Manager Yuan, then at Chen Ji. This apprentice from the Medical Hall definitely wasn’t skilled enough to sneak into Liu Mansion...

Suddenly, he asked, "Since you oversee affairs in Luocheng, you should recognize all the spies. Let me ask you, do you recognize Chen Ji?"

Manager Yuan frowned slightly, "Who is Chen Ji?"

"The boy who was just chasing you down!"

"I don’t recognize him."

Lord Jin Zhu was not content, "Isn’t he one of your Jing Dynasty spies?"

"No."

Lord Jin Zhu was at a loss.

He had suspected Chen Ji of being a Jing Dynasty spy every day, but if even the Military Strategist Envoy in charge of Luocheng’s affairs claimed Chen Ji wasn’t, what was there left to suspect?

...

...

Under the shadow of the willows by the riverbank, Old Yao held Wu Yun in his arms, silently watching the riverbank below.

Wu Yun was a bit puzzled, "Why was Chen Ji so determined to kill Manager Yuan? They seemed to have no feud."

Old Yao scoffed, "That lad’s probably got his eye on the ginseng in their storeroom... Who’d kill a shopkeeper to scheme for the ginseng in their medical shop?"

But at that moment.

Old Yao pondered for a moment, "Wait, the note he had you deliver to the Liu Family earlier said, ’The Division Head is an impostor, inquire with the Bailu Pavilion shopkeeper for confirmation.’ He could have just written, ’The Division Head is an impostor,’ to trap Lord Jin Zhu. Why bring the Bailu Pavilion shopkeeper into it?"

Wu Yun said, "I know that!"

"Oh?"

Wu Yun explained, "Chen Ji said Lord Jin Zhu is suspicious. He needed to find a ’certificate’ to prove he wasn’t a Jing Dynasty spy. And the best candidate for this certificate was Manager Yuan from Bailu Pavilion."

Old Yao fell silent.

Indeed, what testimony could be more convincing than that of a Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department Si Cao?

Was Chen Ji a Jing Dynasty spy? Yes.

Did Manager Yuan of Bailu Pavilion know Chen Ji’s identity? He truly did not.

No wonder Chen Ji, as if staking his life on it, insisted on sticking to Manager Yuan. He was worried that his living evidence might escape.

Old Yao chuckled, "Chen Ji’s calculations are indeed loud and clear, but I’m afraid he never imagined how suspicious that youngster Jin Zhu could be. Let’s wait and see."

...

At this moment, with hands clasped behind his back, Jin Zhu paced back and forth around Manager Yuan. "How could it not be so? Hey, Meng Ji, is your divination reliable at all?"

Meng Ji slowly opened his eyes and sneered, "If you doubt me, then simply don’t ask me here. If you ask me and yet don’t believe me, what’s the point? Even the Lord Prime Minister has never doubted me. Are you even more impressive than the Lord Prime Minister?"

Jin Zhu said irritably, "Never mind all that, continue interrogating Chen Ji!"

Meng Ji tidied his hair, "Are you sure about this? I’ve already interrogated this lad once before, and that’s when I already confirmed he’s not a Jing Dynasty spy. I advise you to rein in your suspicious nature and not waste money."

Jin Zhu then removed another string of Buddhist Treasures from his right wrist, "Interrogate!"

Meng Ji drew out a ’yo’ with a twist, "Are you out of money to live on? For the sake of interrogating an apprentice from a Medical Hall, you’re really digging into your savings, huh?"

Chen Ji frowned and said, "Lord Jin Zhu, even this Jing Dynasty Cao has said I’m not a spy. Do you still doubt me? Do you have to pin a crime on me to be satisfied?"

Jin Zhu grimaced with a smile that was not a smile, "True gold is not afraid of the refiner’s fire. If you truly have no issues, then cut a lock of hair for Meng Ji to prove your innocence."

As he spoke, he handed a short knife to Chen Ji.

At the center of the river, Heavenly Horse stood sternly at the prow of the ship, watching the riverbank coldly. Chen Ji and Jin Zhu locked eyes for a long time before Chen Ji finally took the short knife and cut off a lock of hair.

Meng Ji began to draw another talisman and wrapped Chen Ji’s hair in talisman paper before swallowing it.

The next moment, Chen Ji felt a wave of drowsiness come over him.

In a daze, Chen Ji found himself back in the study room of Zhou Mansion.

With a boom, the twenty-six stoves within him erupted into flames.

Chen Ji remembered that this was how he regained his senses last time. Now, he could only bet that this time would work the same way.

Wait a minute.

Chen Ji suddenly found this odd: he hadn’t lost his senses at all this time.

He remembered that he was Chen Ji and that he was being interrogated. This had clearly not been the case last time!

And within this dreamscape, a grand voice, resounding like a copper bell, echoed through the skies, "Are you a Jing Dynasty spy?"

Chen Ji answered, "No."

"Were you the one who sent the note to the Liu Family?"

"No."

"Do you know who sent the note to the Liu Family?"

"I do not."

"Do you know if the Liu Family is setting an ambush tonight?"

"I do not."

Jin Zhu fell silent and asked no further questions.

Chen Ji was astonished in his heart; this was too strange. He had thought that he could only bet his life assuming all was lost, but the reality was he wasn’t bound by the dream at all.

Was it because he had already solved the dream last time that Meng Ji could no longer control him?

Or was there another hidden reason?

But he heard from outside the dream, Jin Zhu’s voice suddenly asking, "Do you know who was the one that used Firearms to attack me last time?"

Chen Ji replied, "I do not."

Jin Zhu said, "Alright, there’s nothing more to interrogate."

It wasn’t until then that Meng Ji slowly stepped into the study room of Zhou Mansion, asking with interest, "Lad, what kind of stroke of fortune did you have to gain favor from that person?"

Chen Ji frowned, "Who?"

Meng Ji paused, "Really hit by luck and still clueless about everything. Boring."

The dream suddenly dissipated, and the world of Zhou Mansion gradually faded away. Chen Ji then heard the flowing sound of the Luo River and saw the flickering lights in the distance.

He instinctively looked towards Meng Ji but saw the other party wasn’t looking at him, merely stood up, brushed off the dust, and spoke leisurely, "Alright, the questioning is done. Can I return to Kaifeng Prefecture now? Cloud Sea Master will be performing a play in Kaifeng Prefecture the day after tomorrow, claiming it will feature Dingxi Mountain. I don’t want to miss it."

After a long silence, Jin Zhu said, "You may, thank you for your trouble."

Meng Ji scoffed, "Our Spy Department hasn’t caught a Cao-level spy yet. Clearly, you stumbled upon a huge achievement, yet you look so glum. How uninteresting! I’m off!"

With that, he cast a meaningful glance at Chen Ji and turned to walk towards the riverbank.

From the shadow of a distant willow tree, Old Yao laughed as he patted Wu Yun’s head, "The show is over, let’s go home."

Wu Yun momentarily blanked, "Master, did we just come to watch?"

"What else?"

"I thought you might help him..."

Old Yao scoffed, "Why should I help him? I, an old man, have no interest in meddling with his misfortunes!"