Green Mountain
Chapter 194 - 149, Wish

Chapter 194: 149, Wish

"Chen Ji, do you have a prejudice against me?"

"No."

Zhang Xia’s eyes widened, "Then why are you so kind and gentle in front of the Commandery Princess, but you’ve never shown me a kind face? When I asked if your cat would eat food from strangers, you said it eats strangers, how can you say that?"

Chen Ji leaned on his sword against a large tree and fell silent; the mountains and forests became deathly quiet.

Previously, sounds of Mr. Feng fighting with the Heavenly Horse could sporadically be heard from the mountain, and the sound of the trees’ fibers tearing when they fell could be heard from afar.

Now, even the sounds of fighting had disappeared.

The four of us looked at each other, each of our faces smeared with the ashes of the fire, as black as if we had just crawled out of a coal kiln.

The Princely Heir suddenly spoke up to lighten the mood, "Bai Li, let me wipe your face for you."

As he said this, he reached to pull up his sleeve, but Bai Li weakly blocked him, saying irritably, "Are you trying to write the character ’Prince’ on my forehead again?"

We looked at each other and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

The Princely Heir looked at Zhang Xia and then at Chen Ji, suddenly feeling sentimental, "We’ve all been through life and death together, if there were any barriers between us in the past, let’s put them aside."

After a moment of thought, Zhang Xia patted the dust off herself boldly and came before Chen Ji to say seriously, "I’m sorry, I know you were angry at me for saying ’human life is more important than a cat’s.’ Now that I think about it, if Zaozao were in a fire, I’d probably try to save it too. My apologies."

She stuffed the oilpaper-wrapped package into Chen Ji’s hands, "All for you to eat."

Chen Ji looked down at the snacks in his hand, not expecting Zhang Xia to be so candid. After a moment of silence, he said, "Thank you all for coming to find me. If it wasn’t for you all knocking over so many soldiers and causing this forest fire, I might not have been able to escape alive."

Zhang Xia shook her head, "No need for that, if it weren’t for you leading us into the Military Town earlier, we would have frozen to death in the mountains."

The Princely Heir couldn’t help but laugh and cry, "Stop, stop, why are we taking turns being polite? You’re giving me goosebumps... Where do we go now?"

Chen Ji offered a piece of snack to Wu Yun, "We must head to Lu Hun Manor as soon as possible. With scholars gathering there, and both the Dao Court and the Buddhist Sect present, even if the Liu Family tracks us down, they wouldn’t dare make a move there. Princely Heir, Second Miss Zhang, you and the Commandery Princess mount the horse, I will lead the way."

Zhang Xia looked troubled, "But Zaozao can’t carry us anymore."

Chen Ji looked towards Zaozao and saw the chestnut-colored warhorse drenched in sweat, standing in the faint light of the winter dawn, steam rising from its body.

A horse will be in a state of high temperature and dehydration after intense exercise, which is hard to recover from. It needs to be bathed in copious amounts of cold water to cool down, to avoid organ failure.

Zaozao, having carried three people up the mountain for so long, was already at the end of its strength. To carry someone further, it would likely collapse from exhaustion on the road.

Chen Ji looked at Bai Li, somewhat hesitantly.

Previously in an emergency, he could carry Bai Li since she was semi-conscious. But now that she was awake, it seemed inappropriate for him to carry her again.

The Princely Heir quickly offered, "I’ll carry Bai Li!"

With that, he bent over in front of Bai Li. Insisting, she said, "Brother, I can walk a bit by myself."

The Princely Heir smiled and said, "You’re still feverish and can barely stand. How can you escape? If I don’t bring you back in one piece, father will surely hang me from the beams and beat me for a year. Come on, be good."

Bai Li murmured assent and lay on the Princely Heir’s back.

Chen Ji suddenly thought that perhaps the Liu Family’s conspiracy truly had nothing to do with Prince Jing.

The Liu Family wanted to capture the Princely Heir and the Commandery Princess solely because they knew Prince Jing cared about these two, so they wanted to use their lives as leverage.

If Prince Jing had colluded with the Liu Family, there would have been no need for them to do this.

The four of us set off downhill. As we walked, the Princely Heir’s strength gave out, and he slipped backward, but thankfully Chen Ji quickly grabbed Bai Li’s back, preventing them from falling to the ground.

Chen Ji said softly, "Princely Heir, let me carry the Commandery Princess. You’re just an ordinary person; you can’t carry her far or fast."

The Princely Heir looked back at Bai Li, embarrassed.

After a moment, Bai Li did not insist on getting down to walk but said weakly, "Brother, let Chen Ji do it."

The Princely Heir sighed, "Alright..."

Chen Ji tied the Whale Blade to Zaozao’s saddle, then lifted Bai Li by her legs and carried her on his back, walking steadily downhill.

Bai Li gently rested her head on his shoulder, "Chen Ji, thank you."

Chen Ji laughed, "What’s there to thank? Didn’t the Princely Heir say it? We’re now friends who have shared life and death."

Bai Li hummed, then after a long time, she reflected, "I never thought we could survive. By the way, they say you only know what your biggest wish is when you’re about to die. Brother, Zhang Xia, did you have any wishes earlier?"

The Princely Heir laughed heartily, "I’m quite greedy; I had two wishes. Back there in the Iron Refining Workshop of the Military Town, I wished that we hadn’t encountered this ambush, so we could’ve been at Lu Hun Manor drinking all night right now. I’ve heard there are quite a few extraordinary women there..."

Chen Ji asked, "And now?"

The Princely Heir’s smile gradually faded, "Now, I want to find a Cultivation Path as soon as possible to become an Executive Officer. Otherwise, I can’t even protect my own sister."

Chen Ji remarked, "Then you can’t be a Princely Heir anymore."

Princely Heir scoffed, "If it’s not appropriate, it’s not. My father is only forty-five, it will be another twenty-plus years before it’s my turn to become Prince Jing. If he lives too long, he might just outlive me..."

Bai Li snapped, "Aren’t you cursing our father to live only into his sixties? Spit it out, spit!"

Princely Heir: "Spit, spit, spit!"

Bai Li looked at Zhang Xia, "Zhang Xia, what is your wish?"

Zhang Xia, leading Zaozao by the reins, said offhandedly as they descended the mountain, "My greatest wish right now is to prepare a large wooden tub and enjoy a nice hot bath."

After pondering for a moment, Bai Li suddenly asked Chen Ji, "Chen Ji, previously my father said he owed you a favor and could grant you a request. Have you decided what you want from him?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "I would like to ask Prince Jing to find the best craftsman to create a scabbard for my blade. The Prince mentioned it in passing, but to ask for too much would seem like I’m overstepping my bounds."

Bai Li softly uttered an ’oh’ and after a long pause, she said, "That’s not difficult. I will have someone make the scabbard and give it to you."

Chen Ji was startled for a moment: "Alright."

When it came to the Whale Blade, Princely Heir curiously asked, "Chen Ji, where did you get this blade from?"

Chen Ji answered with a smile, "Picked it up in the mountains, as it suited my hand, so I’ve kept it."

As Princely Heir examined the Whale Blade, he saw its blade gleamed without a trace of rust and its mouthpiece, with a golden tiger, looked lifelike. It didn’t seem at all like an unclaimed item in the mountains.

Just as he was about to press further, they heard Wu Yun softly meow.

Chen Ji tensed up instantly, leading the Princely Heir and the others to hide behind a clump of bushes, while Zhang Xia, without asking questions, lay down with Zaozao.

Chen Ji whispered, "Don’t speak, no matter what."

The next moment, Mr. Feng emerged from the forest, strolling leisurely, followed by Jiang Yan limping along, leading two warhorses.

Seeing the two men, Chen Ji’s scalp tingled, and he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave!

He surveyed the forest behind them closely but saw neither Jin Zhu nor the Heavenly Horse.

Dead? Or escaped?

Chen Ji could not fathom how, after they had fled so far, they could still encounter them here!

Were they tracking him, or was it just coincidence they took the same path?

At that moment, Mr. Feng hummed a tune, walking past them without turning his head, seemingly oblivious to their presence.

The tune was a bit strange, "Building, planning, wedding, Gen Palace murmurs, Kun Palace reflects, Xun Palace enters the tomb, Zhen Palace receives subjugation, the cycle of life continues..."

Chen Ji suddenly wondered, were they not after him to kill him? Could it just be a chance meeting? Indeed, there weren’t many paths in the mountain to avoid the fire, so it was reasonable that they could cross the same path.

Fortunately, Wu Yun’s hearing and sense of smell far exceeded that of a human’s, or they would have run into them right there!

Upon close inspection, he noticed a bloody hole in Jiang Yan’s left shoulder, likely pierced by an arrow from the Heavenly Horse. And this Mr. Feng had no wounds on him, not even a crease in his green robe.

Jiang Yan led the warhorses, expressionless, as if the wound on his body didn’t hurt at all. He seemed like a puppet, with only the cold intent to kill in his body.

As Chen Ji was about to take a closer look, he saw Jiang Yan glancing unintentionally towards the forest. He quickly crouched lower before the other man’s gaze could fix on him.

Everyone held their breath, daring not even to breathe too loudly, feeling as though a mountain pressed down on them all, immensely heavy.

It was uncertain how much time had passed, but Mr. Feng’s humming gradually faded into the distance.

Chen Ji cautiously raised his head to look over the bushes, and there was no one in sight.

He sighed in relief, whispering, "This Mr. Feng looks like a frail scholar. But facing him in person, there’s a strange sense of oppression. One cannot fathom what he’s thinking, nor what he might be scheming."

Zhang Xia said, "It is said that this Mr. Feng’s real name is Feng Zhang, and he was the runner-up in the Ji State’s village examinations in the 18th year of Jianing. Coming from humble beginnings, yet writing excellent articles, his green words especially outstanding. Many people said that during the palace examination he would surely gain His Majesty’s favor. However, the following spring, he ranked at the very end in the palace examination and then disappeared from public view after resigning."

She continued, "Then, for six years, Mr. Feng vanished like evaporated steam. Seven years ago, he reappeared as the first staff member under Official Liu’s command, wielding great power, and mysteriously became an Executive Officer."

Chen Ji sighed, "Facing such an opponent, one must be cautious, and then even more cautious."

With that, he stood up carrying Bai Li and walked out of the bushes, planning to take another path down the mountain.

However, they hadn’t gone far before they heard Wu Yun meow again.

Chen Ji stiffened and slowly turned around, only to see two warhorses tied to trees, idly stamping their hooves... with no one around them.

Mr. Feng and Jiang Yan, both had disappeared without a trace.

Chen Ji asked in a low voice, "Wu Yun, is there anyone else nearby?"

Wu Yun meowed, "No, just these two horses."

Chen Ji gave a soft exclamation. Why had Mr. Feng left, yet insisted on leaving the two warhorses here?

Was it because leading them down the mountain was cumbersome... or had the other party long since discovered their traces and deliberately left these warhorses for them?!