Green Mountain
Chapter 193 - 148, Stranger

Chapter 193: 148, Stranger

The fierce flames surged like red waves, and a scorching hot blast spread across the face, causing strands of hair to curl slightly in the orange-red light and shadow.

Chen Ji looked at Jin Zhu retreating and called out in confusion, "Lord Jin Zhu, didn’t you just say that you were going to abandon the Heavenly Horse?"

Jin Zhu ran off into the distance, "I’ve offended so many people over the years. The Heavenly Horse is my biggest support in the Ritual Supervision. If he dies, my fate won’t be any better."

Chen Ji sincerely shouted, "Lord Jin Zhu, thank you for coming to save me."

Jin Zhu, with his back to him, waved his hand impatiently: "Get out of here."

Chen Ji stood at the edge of the sea of fire, listening to the wails of the soldiers behind him, watching Jin Zhu return to the battlefield.

He knew very well that Jin Zhu had come day and night to save him because he had placed his bets on Ji. It was interest that drove him.

But if it hadn’t been for Jin Zhu and the Heavenly Horse arriving in time, he wouldn’t have survived until now. To have saved him was to have saved him, and he accepted this favor.

However, as Chen Ji looked at Jin Zhu’s retreating figure, he was unsure whether Jin Zhu returned to save the Heavenly Horse to avoid falling from grace or out of friendship.

Perhaps, sometimes even Jin Zhu himself couldn’t tell.

The Princely Heir looked at Chen Ji, "Let’s go. The wildfire is picking up fast; it can burn ten miles in the blink of an eye. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late."

Chen Ji turned to look at the Princely Heir’s outstretched hand but said, "I can’t go yet."

"Hm?" The Princely Heir was surprised, "You want to help them?"

Chen Ji looked around hurriedly and answered, "No."

His gaze searched all around but couldn’t find the figure he wanted to see. Zaozao, anxiously pacing in the heatwave, was ready to bolt at any moment.

Not wanting to delay Bai Li and the others, Chen Ji immediately slapped Zaozao on the rump: "You go first!"

But Zaozao, unlike ordinary horses would do when startled, calmed down and inexplicably turned to look back at him.

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, "...Second Miss Zhang, your horse?"

Zhang Xia replied irritably, "Zaozao won’t be scared off easily. What exactly are you staying behind for? We can help you!"

The situation was urgent, and Chen Ji could no longer afford to worry about anything else as he shouted out, "Wu Yun! Wu Yun, where are you?"

The Princely Heir paused, "Wu Yun is also here?"

Chen Ji looked towards the wildfire, feeling an ominous premonition. If Wu Yun were all right, he would definitely be by his side. The fact that Wu Yun wasn’t responding meant he must have been trapped by something.

The wildfire!

At this moment, a meow came from within the sea of fire, and following the sound, he saw Wu Yun pacing anxiously on a branch of a withered tree, right above the sea of flames, with the fire climbing up the bark towards him.

Chen Ji rushed toward Wu Yun, only to be beaten back by a wave of fire. The smoke rose thickly, choking him until he could hardly open his eyes.

Gradually, Wu Yun’s anxiety ceased, and it just sat quietly on the branch letting the flames spread.

Wu Yun watched Chen Ji’s frantic appearance and meowed softly; the man and the cat locked eyes twenty steps apart.

The Princely Heir shouted anxiously, "Chen Ji, hurry up and leave!"

Zhang Xia yelled, puzzled and uncomprehending, "What are you doing at a time like this, caring about a cat? Human life is more important than a cat’s! Three people risk their lives to find you, and you’re delaying for a cat?"

"Sorry, you go first!" Chen Ji glanced at Zhang Xia. He no longer charged into the fire but started frantically looking for something.

The next moment, he grabbed the Whale Blade and ran towards a tall cypress, wielding the knife with both hands and hacking vigorously at the trunk. With each strike, a great deal of sawdust was produced.

The Princely Heir asked in confusion, "What is Chen Ji doing?"

Zhang Xia calmly explained, "He’s trying to fell that tree to make a bridge for the cat."

Halfway through the tree felling, Chen Ji looked back to where Wu Yun was situated. When he turned around again, his hands gripped the axe, striking precisely at a particular spot, "Fall!"

The creaking sound of wood fibers snapping rose as the towering cypress tree, unable to bear the weight, tilted over and fell.

Zhang Xia watched the direction in which the cypress tree was falling, silently calculated for a moment, then suddenly exclaimed, "The direction is wrong, we need to veer more to the north!"

Chen Ji glanced back at her, took a deep breath, stepped back a few paces, and then charged forward, ramming the falling cypress tree with his shoulder!

The force of this collision could only make the massive tree shift slightly... but it was enough.

With a thunderous crash, the cypress tree fell not far from Wu Yun, forming a long bridge.

Wu Yun leaped down from the tree branch, landing gracefully on the cypress trunk from several meters away. It trotted across the cypress trunk through the sea of fire and ran towards Chen Ji, leaping straight into his embrace.

Chen Ji looked down and saw Wu Yun’s fur was already charred and curled from the burn. He tucked Wu Yun into his arms and turned to sprint, "Run fast!"

The Princely Heir shouted, "Get on the horse too!"

Without looking back, Chen Ji replied, "Four people are too heavy, those soldiers have already been driven away by the wildfire, we just need to race against time now."

Zhang Xia gently flicked the reins and urged the horse to catch up. Zaozao, extraordinarily magnificent, could keep pace with Chen Ji through the forest even carrying three people.

However, with the wildfire spreading far and wide, the fierce wind stirred up rolling thick smoke. The four of them bumped chaotically through the gray smog, but no matter what, they couldn’t outrun the fire’s pursuit. It was as if they were constantly running on the edge of the inferno, never leaving it behind.

Chen Ji stopped in his tracks.

They couldn’t run blindly anymore; they had to carefully observe the fire’s behavior.

Wildfires are classified as surface fires, crown fires, and ground fires. Surface fires are divided into creeping fires and running fires. When facing a surface running fire, the only way to survive is to get away from the direction the fire is spreading because you can’t outrun fire.

But how to get away?

Chen Ji only pondered for a few seconds, "Head northwest!"

"Head northwest!" Zhang Xia almost simultaneously echoed him.

Zhang Xia glanced at Chen Ji, flicked her wrist to control the reins, and without hesitation galloped northwest.

After a mad dash of several hundreds of steps, the four of them burst out of the thick smoke, and the world suddenly brightened!

The Princely Heir exclaimed in amazement, "Why has the fire intensity decreased so much here?"

Zhang Xia replied, "This area is on the leeward side, with less influence from the mountain winds. Also, this is the mountain’s shadowed side, where the vegetation is sparse and there are fewer accumulated dry leaves over the years, so naturally, the fire spread will be slower."

The sea of fire was still surging up the mountain with the wind, but their location was much more peaceful.

The group looked back only to see the land behind them scarred, the ashes of the wildfire like black scars on the mountain’s body.

The fire was still burning higher up the mountain. Chen Ji wanted to find traces of Mr. Feng and the battle with the Heavenly Horse, but he could not see any sign of them, nor did he know where the soldiers chasing them had retreated to.

A narrow escape from disaster.

In the midst of thought, Zaozao’s front leg suddenly bent, nearly throwing the three riders on its back to the ground.

The three hurriedly jumped off the horse, and Zhang Xia explained, "Zaozao has been carrying us for a whole night and is a bit too tired."

She held Zaozao’s head with some distress, "Zaozao, we owe you a lot."

Having said that, Zhang Xia took out an oil-paper packet from the saddlebag, which unfolded to reveal more than ten pieces of pastries. She held the pastries in the palm of her hand and fed them to Zaozao, speaking softly, "Eat up, eat up."

She hesitated for a moment, then looked at Chen Ji, "...Will your cat eat food given by strangers?"

Chen Ji touched Wu Yun’s head poking out from his arms and said calmly, "It won’t eat, it eats strangers."

Zhang Xia: "..."