Green Mountain
Chapter 172 - 127, A good show

Chapter 172: 127, A good show

Midnight.

The iron door of the inner prison let out a creaking noise, resembling a gaunt claw scratching at the depths of one’s heart, causing a toothache-like sensation.

Lord Jin Zhu walked out from the door first, and outside, over twenty black-clad spies stood solemnly with their hands on their hilts.

He stood in front of the spies in black tight-fitting clothing, expressionless as he said, "The battle at Mudan Bridge has resulted in heavy losses for our brothers. But we dine on this livelihood; we kill the most vicious thieves and sleep with the most beautiful women in Hongyi Lane. Tonight, tuck your heads into your belts and follow me to achieve merit."

After speaking, he turned his head to West Wind and said, "Bring out Manager Yuan."

Manager Yuan stumbled out of the inner prison with iron shackles on his hands and feet; blood oozed from the wound on his thigh caused by Heavenly Horse’s arrow as he walked.

Standing outside the door, disheveled and filthy, he looked up and greedily took several breaths of fresh air, exclaiming, "How delicious!"

Lord Jin Zhu, with his hands clasped behind his back, replied with a smile, "If you can capture Long Whale tonight, you’ll never have to return to the inner prison."

Manager Yuan responded with a chuckle and a shackle-bound salute, "I’ll take those fortunate words of yours!"

Lord Jin Zhu pushed him onto a carriage.

Just as Chen Ji was about to step on and follow, Lord Jin Zhu turned back to stop him, "Tonight, you and West Wind will stay on the periphery, do not get too close."

Chen Ji, puzzled, asked, "Do you not trust me?"

Lord Jin Zhu laughed from inside the carriage, "How could I not trust you? But tonight, the closer you get to that Jing Dynasty traitor, the greater the danger. You haven’t even stepped onto the Cultivation Path and have the strength of an unfettered chicken; you should not risk your life."

He continued earnestly, "Tonight, if the situation turns sour, immediately find a place to hide, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely do not act recklessly!"

Hearing Lord Jin Zhu repeat "absolutely" three times, Chen Ji’s expression grew complicated, "My lord, without me on the carriage, who will provide you with strategies? I’m not afraid of danger."

Lord Jin Zhu was somewhat moved, "No, I appreciate your sentiment, but having just received the Cultivation Path, you cannot die."

After speaking, he let down the carriage curtain and called out loudly, "Depart!"

The carriage slowly headed towards East Market.

Chen Ji stood in front of the inner prison door, silently watching the carriage grow further and further away. It was good that Lord Jin Zhu didn’t want him near danger, at least there was no need to constantly worry about being backstabbed.

But he had planned to take advantage of tonight’s chaos to kill Manager Yuan, to avoid implicating Consort Yun; now, he would have to adapt to the circumstances.

As he was pondering.

West Wind looked at Chen Ji and said, "Chen... my lord, shall we also depart? We’ll follow the carriage from a distance, in case Lord Jin Zhu encounters danger, so we can provide timely support."

Chen Ji glanced at him, "We are both Pigeon-level Spies, no need to call me Lord."

West Wind offered a flattering smile, "With your wisdom and intelligence, promotion to Hai Dongqing is just a matter of time."

The next moment, he produced a copper whistle and blew it; the spies dispersed in an instant, moving through the alleys.

Only West Wind remained by Chen Ji’s side, occasionally blowing a bird call to adjust the formation of the spies, crossing to provide cover for the carriage as it advanced.

During command intervals, West Wind sneakily glanced at Chen Ji, "What grade is the Cultivation Path that the Lord gave you?"

Chen Ji glanced at him, "The Lord didn’t tell me, if you want to know, you can go ask the Lord yourself."

West Wind shrank his neck, "I won’t ask him; I’d definitely get scolded."

As they were speaking, the carriage suddenly sped up and took a left turn onto Baining Street.

Chen Ji exchanged a look with West Wind and spoke, "Something’s wrong, Manager Yuan said he was meeting with Long Whale at Caoyun Pier at 1 AM tonight, but this isn’t the way to Caoyun Pier."

West Wind asked, "What should we do?"

Chen Ji said, "Blow the copper whistle and ask Lord Jin Zhu."

West Wind blew the copper whistle, but heard a whistle in response from inside the carriage; West Wind’s expression turned grave, "The Lord ordered us to keep up."

Chen Ji took a deep breath, "Let’s listen to the Lord."

The spies continuously crossed through the alleys, unrelentingly chasing the carriage.

But before they could catch up, the carriage suddenly took another turn, changing direction!

The group sped up to keep behind the carriage, each spy panting heavily, knowing that if they kept running like this, they’d arrive at the destination without any energy left.

Chen Ji frowned, "Use the copper whistle to signal the Lord to stop; we can’t keep being led by the nose by that Jing Dynasty traitor!"

West Wind blew the whistle, but this time only two brief bird calls came from inside the carriage.

Chen Ji asked, perplexed, "How do you distinguish the message sent by the whistle?"

West Wind explained while panting, "The copper whistle can imitate three kinds of bird calls. The first is the magpie; one call signals gathering, follow, two calls for an encirclement, a surprise attack, three calls to retreat, four calls means screw this."

Chen Ji arched an eyebrow, "That emotional, huh."

West Wind continued to explain breathily, "This is my casual explanation. The second type of bird call is a bamboo pheasant, each chirp represents a different formation; the third type is the long cry of an eagle or falcon, which is only blown in extreme danger..."

His words were interrupted by an eagle’s cry coming from the alley ahead as if a raptor from the heavens was diving down.

Chen Ji paused and asked, "Is it that sound?"

West Wind confirmed, "That’s the sound... fuck! Enemy attack!"

On the brisk and solemn cobblestone street, polished enough to reflect the moon, a long spear launched from a rooftop as if puncturing the reflection of the moon itself.

With a buzzing sound, the long spear soared through the sky, piercing through the carriage with precision, and with a loud boom, the wooden compartment burst into pieces!

Clang!

After shattering the carriage, the long spear embedded itself in the cobblestone street, still vibrating.

Amidst the scattering debris, Lord Jin Zhu and Manager Yuan were thrown out, one to the left and the other to the right, and crashed onto the ground.

West Wind exclaimed in alarm, "My lord!"

He was about to rush forward to rescue when he saw several masked assassins burst out from the rooftop. Sending their long spears flying, they blocked all routes of reinforcement from the spies, though not as terrifying as the first long spear.

Chen Ji pulled West Wind into a corner and peered toward where the first long spear had come from, only to see a masked man standing on the ridge of the roof, with several long spears tied to his back with hemp rope.

The man knocked his heel backward, hitting the tail end of a long spear. The long spear shot out from his back and fell into his hands.

In the next moment, the long spear left his grip.

With a buzz, the spear did not fly toward Jin Zhu but instead aimed straight for Manager Yuan’s chest and abdomen! The enemy aimed to silence the severely wounded Manager Yuan first!

At the critical juncture, Jin Zhu rolled and scrambled to Manager Yuan’s side, yanking him up by the collar with a fierce tug.

The long spear, which was supposed to nail Manager Yuan in the chest and abdomen, instead pierced his calf and stuck into the ground.

"Ah!" Manager Yuan cried out in pain.

Jin Zhu shouted angrily, "What are you wailing for! You were hoping those colleagues of yours would come to your rescue, and now it’s not me from the Spy Department wanting to kill you—it’s those colleagues of yours!"

Manager Yuan trembled, "Save me! Lord Jin Zhu, save me!"

In an instant, West Wind yelled, "My lord, be careful!"

Jin Zhu suddenly twisted his body to the side, only to see another long spear whistling through the air, surging past in front of him with a loud bang as it embedded itself in the stone pavement behind him.

He bellowed, "Heavenly Horse, this man is a high-level expert in the Seeking Dao Realm. If you don’t act now, I’m going to die!"

But this time, there was no brilliant meteor shower streaking across the night sky.

The change in route had left Heavenly Horse waiting in vain.

Jin Zhu gritted his teeth, leaped onto the building, and charged at the man on the second floor, "West Wind, go help the other brothers. Stall until Heavenly Horse arrives!"

Chen Ji hid in the corner, silently observing the battlefield.

With long spears crisscrossing across the stone pavement, Manager Yuan took a deep breath and forcefully yanked the long spear out of his calf.

Despite the pain, he crawled up, used the long spear to support himself, and seized the moment when nobody was watching to hobble into the alley!

Chen Ji slowly retreated into the shadows, following in the direction in which Manager Yuan had fled.

Swiftly weaving through the alleys, he heard heavy breathing from around the next corner. He came to a sudden stop.

Listening as the breathing grew closer and closer, until...

He burst out of the alley, slamming his shoulder violently into his target.

With a clang, the long spear fell to the ground, and Manager Yuan was knocked rolling onto the pavement.

Chen Ji silently sized up the other man lying motionless on the ground.

Feigning death?

No, it wasn’t feigned.

Upon closer inspection, Chen Ji saw that Manager Yuan’s complexion had turned black—the telltale sign of a body drained of life.

The long spear had been coated with poison!

He picked up the long spear from the ground, approached Manager Yuan, and as he was about to deliver another blow with the spear, he suddenly stopped.

Something was off.

Chen Ji felt that something wasn’t right.

He slowly lowered the spear and leaned against the wall, "To die at the hands of your own people, truly a pitiful end. In your next life, remember not to become a man of the Jing Dynasty."

At that moment, he looked around and noticed Heavenly Horse seemingly appearing out of nowhere, standing on the eaves above, silently watching him.

A shock passed through Chen Ji’s heart.

Heavenly Horse didn’t greet him but lightly jumped down from the wall and took out an elixir from his sleeve, pushing it into Manager Yuan’s mouth.

Within a few breaths, Manager Yuan’s breathing grew louder and the blackness from his face quickly faded away, returning to a healthy color.

Messy footsteps approached, and Jin Zhu hobbled into the alley. Squatting next to Manager Yuan, he picked up his collar, "Dared to trick me?"

Manager Yuan slowly regained consciousness, "Spare my life, my lord!"

Just as Jin Zhu was about to punch him in the face, Heavenly Horse seized his fist.

Looking up, Heavenly Horse silently shook his head.

Jin Zhu’s expression changed several times but eventually, he lowered his gaze to Manager Yuan, "Now that the people of the Jing Dynasty wish for your death more than we do, where in this vast world can you find refuge? Tell me, are you willing to cooperate with us?"

Manager Yuan quickly said, "Willing! I am willing!"

Jin Zhu asked gravely, "Who exactly is Long Whale?"

"I really don’t know!"

Chen Ji silently watched this scene unfold, exhaling softly.

Only now did he confirm that everything that had happened tonight was merely a play, self-directed and acted out by the Spy Department.

The assassins’ long spears were fierce, but no spy other than Manager Yuan had died; the first long spear had the chance to kill Jin Zhu, yet it deliberately flew across the very center of the carriage; Jin Zhu, so fearful of death, and who had fallen to the Innate Realm, dared to confront an expert in the Seeking Dao Realm...

Every detail was tinged with strangeness.

But the most crucial detail was this: West Wind said, one bird call is for rallying and following, two calls are for encirclement and ambush, three calls are for withdrawal, and four calls are for damn all.

The second time Jin Zhu replied to the whistle inside the carriage, it was clearly two calls.