Green Mountain
Chapter 248 - 193, where the story begins

Chapter 248: 193, where the story begins

Eight months ago.

Luocheng City, Government Road, Xishu Bookstore.

On a spring day, Chen Ji, wearing a high school uniform and carrying a backpack, stood under the parasol tree on the sidewalk.

He looked up at the old bookstore’s sign, then turned his head to glance at the cars passing behind him. Everything was as usual, as if the story had not yet begun, and the world had not yet been overturned by cicada’s serenades.

Chen Ji stepped into the bookstore and hesitated, "Hello, I’m here for the army’s foreign language qualification retest. Is the retest being held here?"

The dilapidated bookstore, the elderly proprietor, the cluttered bookshelves—it hardly seemed an appropriate venue for a military academy’s reexamination.

The owner behind the glass counter lifted his head, his gaze peeking through the gap above his reading glasses.

Instead of answering Chen Ji’s question, he lightly asked, "Name?"

"Chen Ji."

"Age?"

"17 years, 1 month, 21 days."

"ID card."

Chen Ji handed over his ID card, then hesitated again, "Am I the only one retesting?"

The owner squinted at the ID card and answered offhandedly, "No one else, this year you are a special case."

Chen Ji acknowledged with an ’oh.’

The owner returned the ID card to him and gestured with his mouth towards the inside of the building, "Go ahead, the room there."

Chen Ji, skeptical, walked further inside. He pulled open the wooden door and entered a small room of about ten square meters which had only a single chair. When the curtains were drawn completely, the sunlight was utterly excluded.

As the door closed, Chen Ji sat upright on the chair, and the world plunged into darkness.

He did not know how much time had passed, his posture remained unchanged.

Speakers hanging around the room came on, "Student Chen Ji, you participated in our special recruitment earlier this year but failed the psychological assessment and stress test."

"Yes."

The speakers came on again, "Considering your outstanding interview scores, we’ve decided to give you another opportunity."

"Thank you."

"In the stress test, during a group task, why did you decide to abandon your two comrades in Zheng City and proceed alone?"

In the darkness, Chen Ji was silent for a long time, "I assessed that Chen Liang and Zhou Fang had been exposed and could no longer carry out the mission."

"So you decided to use them to distract the instructors’ attention while you completed the mission alone?"

"Yes," Chen Ji replied.

The voice from the speaker quieted, leaving only Chen Ji in the encompassing silence and darkness.

When the speaker sounded again, the middle-aged voice asked, "Do you know that in a real battlefield, your actions could have resulted in the death of your two comrades?"

Chen Ji, head bowed in reflection, then raising his head, replied, "I assessed that failure to deliver the intelligence would result in the deaths of tens of thousands at Zheng City train station..."

The middle-aged man interrupted him, sternly asking, "Do you realize that in a real battlefield, everyone would despise you for using your comrades like that?"

Chen Ji softly answered, "I am aware."

"And you would still do it?"

"Yes."

The middle-aged man spoke more sternly, "Chen Ji, it’s because of your excellent written exam scores that I gave you this retest opportunity. I’ll ask you once more, if faced with the same situation, would you still abandon your comrades? Don’t rush your answer; this concerns whether or not you’ll be admitted. Don’t misjudge."

Calmly, Chen Ji said, "To complete the mission, I am willing to face judgment for my discipline and morals."

The middle-aged voice from the speaker suddenly asked, "Aren’t you afraid of being eliminated?"

Chen Ji looked up into the darkness, "No, I understand the kind of person you are looking for. And now, this is my second stress test."

The sound of a lighter clicking came from the speaker, followed by a long breath.

Listening to that sound, Chen Ji could almost see a disheveled middle-aged man sitting across from him in the darkness, just having exhaled a pale blue puff of smoke.

The next moment, the middle-aged voice in the speaker muttered, "The kid’s quite arrogant, acting like he knows everything. Today, consider your retest passed. You can go back."

Chen Ji stood up, preparing to open the door and leave.

From the speaker, the middle-aged voice casually asked, "One more question, do you drink? What’s your alcohol tolerance?"

Chen Ji frowned, "Shouldn’t one always stay sober in this profession and not consume alcohol?"

The middle-aged man laughed and scolded, "Dummy kid, knows nothing. How else would you endure those damned days without drinks?"

Chen Ji was somewhat puzzled; this interviewer, hidden in darkness, seemed different from what he had imagined.

He did not dwell on that, pulling open the wooden door.

Just as he was about to leave, the sound of someone stubbing out a cigarette came from the speaker, "Kid, people like us don’t need to adhere to those strict rules, because your opponents will never follow them either. Go back, remember your decision today. I’ll see you in Jerusalem in three years."

Chen Ji turned to look at the speaker hanging on the wall one last time before he left.

He had passed the retest, but ultimately, he did not go to Jerusalem; instead, he ended up in a place called the Ning Dynasty.

Where the story began.

...

...

The 31st year of Jianing, winter, evening.

The sunset glowed like a red tide slowly ebbing.

The streets of Luocheng no longer saw armored soldiers coming and going; the common people tentatively stepped out of their homes, and some vendors started calling out along the streets with their shoulder poles.

At first, the vendors kept their voices down, but gradually they grew louder, "Tofu! Freshly seasoned tofu!"

The marketplace grew like wild grass, emerging savagely from the crevices of brick and stone. Everything would return to normal, time seemed to leave only a long scar on a few people, which gradually healed.

In the apprentices’ sleeping quarters of Taiping Medical Hall, the room was filled with the smell of alcohol, and the lukewarm sun shone through the paper windows, leaving only dim light.

Chen Ji lay sprawled on his bed in an unsightly manner, snoring loudly. He kicked off his blankets repeatedly, and Wu Yun would dutifully pick them up and cover him again, then he would pocket his hands and quietly lie beside him.

After an unknown period, Chen Ji slowly opened his eyes, his head splitting, "...How did I get back here? I don’t remember anything."

Wu Yun muttered, "This morning, you suddenly went crazy, grabbed a jar of wine and went to the drum tower to watch the sunrise, talking about futile efforts. Later, you were speaking nonsense while drunk, at one moment pulling a soldier at the base of the drum tower and saying, ’Squad leader, where’s your damn Italian cannon,’ and at another pulling a rickshaw puller and saying, ’Your consort wants to expose Princess Consort Xi’s private affair, bringing chaos to the harem.’"

Chen Ji sat up in shock, wide-eyed, "What?"

Wu Yun hesitated and then asked, "Chen Ji, were you ever a consort for someone in Forty-nine Heavens?"

Chen Ji grinned wryly, "What nonsense is that, those are lines from a play."

Wu Yun sighed in relief, "That’s good then."

Chen Ji suddenly lay back down and quietly stared at the ceiling.

If it wasn’t for these drunken ravings, he might have almost forgotten that he actually didn’t belong to this world.

Time passed so quickly, in the blink of an eye, he had already been in this world for over two months.

Wu Yun looked somewhat worried, "Chen Ji, are you alright, why did you suddenly drink so much?"

Chen Ji looked at the ceiling, his voice low, "Wu Yun, I caused Brother Gou’er to lose an arm, and also damaged his Du Meridian, rendering him unable to wield a knife again."

"Hmm."

"I killed the Commandery Princess’s mother."

"Hmm."

"I forced She Dengke to live in anonymity."

"Hmm."

"I used the Commandery Princess’s birth father, Han Tong, to lure away Jiao Tu and Yun Yang."

"Hmm."

"Do you think I’m somewhat unscrupulous?"

"The master said that the purpose of making friends is to have someone who can stand by your side against their conscience."

"What has master been teaching you..."

The room fell silent, Chen Ji lay on his bed, and Wu Yun lay beside him, resting on his arm. A man and a cat gazed at the cobweb-laced beams, lost in thought.

Wu Yun suddenly asked, "Chen Ji, do you have any regrets?"

Chen Ji shook his head, "No regrets. Wu Yun, we need to find a new way to live."

"What kind of way?"

"One that lets us survive... Get up, there might still be guests coming later."

Wu Yun puzzled, "Guests?"

"Yeah, guests coming to kill me."

...

...

In front of the kitchen stove, Chen Ji sat on a small stool, lost in thought as he watched the firewood burn. The flames lit up his face and flickered in his eyes.

The heat from the stove made his cheeks slightly swell.

Wu Yun reminded, "Chen Ji, the pan is hot."

Chen Ji oh-ed, stood up, and scooped some pure white lard into the pan, then cooked a plate of fried tofu, a plate of vinegar-flavored cabbage, a plate of minced meat with pickled long beans, and a plate of dried bamboo shoots with cured meat - all very simple dishes.

It was getting dark; he carried the dishes into the courtyard and set three pairs of chopsticks before sitting at the square table and said, "You two, after waiting so long, come down and have dinner with me."

Laughter came from the main hall’s roof, Jiao Tu joked from above, "Lord Hai Dongqing Chen, the last time you invited us to dine, we nearly died amidst the firearms. Now you’re inviting us again, I wonder if this is meant to be a setup?"

Chen Ji looked up, Jiao Tu was on the left side of the roof under the crescent moon, and Yun Yang squatted on the right. The two effectively blocked all his routes of escape.

He felt a bit dazed. When he had first arrived in this world, these two had wanted to kill him. After wandering for two months, it was still these two who wanted to kill him.

Chen Ji sat at the table, calmly distributing chopsticks, "You are both worrying too much, this isn’t any sort of setup. Lord Bai Long has arranged for you to work under me from now on. We should be working together wholeheartedly. I am sincerely inviting my subordinates to a meal, please don’t overthink it."

Yun Yang scoffed, "Kid, you want to be our boss? I’m afraid you don’t have the fate for it!"

"Oh?" Chen Ji feigned confusion, "You two want to kill me? I am now a man of Lord Bai Long, aren’t you afraid of his wrath?"

Jiao Tu’s eyes shimmered, "We’ve already exposed your betrayal of Prince Jing."

She then pulled out two Emei daggers from her waist, handed them to Yun Yang, "When Lord Bai Long asks, we’ll say the owner of these Emei daggers killed you. Prince Jing is his benefactor after all, avenging him is only right and proper."

Chen Ji laughed, "You two don’t take Lord Bai Long seriously enough, such a scheme couldn’t possibly deceive him... However, there’s no need for us to resort to violence."

Jiao Tu tilted her head, slightly puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Chen Ji looked up at Jiao Tu, "How long did it take you two to become zodiac spirits?"

Jiao Tu sighed, "Many years. It was tough finally becoming zodiac spirits, only to be demoted after half a year, quite tragic."

Chen Ji then asked, "You are now Pigeon-level Spies, how long will it take for you to become zodiac spirits again?"

Jiao Tu counted on her fingers, "Killing ten people for the Prime Minister will get us back to Hai Dongqing’s rank, another twenty kills to make it to Hai Dongqing’s A Class, then fifty more... but over the years, those the Prime Minister wanted dead are already gone. It’s truly troublesome trying to return to the rank of zodiac spirits."

Chen Ji smiled, "The positions of Sheep and Rabbit are currently suspended, who can guarantee they will remain available for you? I suppose others from Wunian Mountain are also coveting these positions."

He continued, "You have stagnated in the Innate Realm for many years, only a step away from the Seeking Dao Realm. If you can’t earn a new Cultivation Path by the time you turn thirty-six through your merits, I fear you will have to endure the ordinary human cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death."

Jiao Tu laughed a bit, but said nothing.

Chen Ji looked up at her, earnestly saying, "Work for me, and within a year, I’ll help you return to the positions of zodiac spirits, how about that?"

...

Sorry, I’ve still had a bit of a fever these days.