Green Mountain
Chapter 279 - 221, Er Dao and Brother Pao

Chapter 279: 221, Er Dao and Brother Pao

"Escaped?"

"Just escaped?"

Chen Ji stood stunned among the ox-carts.

When he heard the names "Daozi" and "Chongzi", he was certain these men were Er Dao and Brother Pao, because as he was dying, Brother Pao had introduced himself, "My real name is Chen Chong, and my friends like to call me Brother Pao."

Chen Chong.

Chongzi.

It couldn’t be a coincidence.

But Chen Ji never expected that Brother Pao would escape so cleanly.

In the cold wind, Chen Ji suddenly shouted, "Zaozao!"

The sound of horseshoes came from the stable. Liang, the escort leader, turned his head in surprise only to see Second Miss Zhang’s chestnut horse, with its reins in its mouth, gracefully jumping out of the stable’s fence and stopping beside Chen Ji.

The mystical horse breathed out in the cold night like two white arrows. It lowered its head and released the reins from its mouth into Chen Ji’s hand.

"Liang, wait here for me," Chen Ji climbed onto the saddle with a light flick of the reins, and Zaozao, like an arrow leaving its string, carried him away.

He raced his horse through the dirt roads of the county, from the south to the north without spotting any trace of Er Dao and Brother Pao, then from the west to the east.

The people of the county had long since gone to sleep. He alone roamed back and forth through the town but still never saw any sign of Er Dao and Brother Pao, not knowing if they had already left the town or were hiding in one of the residences.

Chen Ji slowly reined in his horse in the dark streets, his expression gradually calming.

Once, he thought he was the only one from Earth who had arrived in the Ning Dynasty; from then on, he wouldn’t be able to discuss "Zhen Huanchuan", "Bright Sword" or "Soldier Assault", nor could he excitedly talk about Ronaldo’s divine hat-trick in the 18 World Cup.

Because no one would understand.

Perhaps Er Dao and Brother Pao didn’t watch "Zhen Huanchuan" and "Bright Sword", or like Ronaldo. But that’s okay, everyone can still find some common language.

When Chen Ji recognized Er Dao and Brother Pao, it was as if he saw a faint light in the dark night, but this light quickly extinguished.

He gently patted Zaozao’s back, "Let’s go, back to the post station."

Zaozao did not sprint anymore; it slowly carried Chen Ji back.

Upon returning to the post station, Chen Ji rode up to Liang, sitting calmly on horseback, and asked, "Liang, these two people must be hiding some secret, otherwise why would they run?"

Liang looked up at Chen Ji and saw the young Third Master of the Chen Mansion, his eyes profound.

Having traveled far and wide, he knew who was easy to fool and who was not, just by catching the hint in one’s eyes. To a Jianghu wanderer, there were only two types of people in the world—sheep and wolves.

Some people might look fierce, but their eyes are shifty, such individuals are just sheep in wolf’s clothing; some appear frail, but their gaze is sharp, as if ready to cut a piece of flesh from your body, these are wolves in sheep’s clothing.

This young Third Master, right now, didn’t seem like a scholar but more like a hawk-dog from the Ritual Supervision.

Liang forced a smile and said, "Third Young Master, maybe they just couldn’t endure the hardships of being an escort and ran away? You may not know, being an escort is tough, and it’s common for them to sneak away."

Chen Ji hummed a response, dismounted, and led Zaozao towards the stable.

He had only taken a few steps when he stopped, turned back, and faced Liang calmly, "This time the Zhang Family is transporting their wealth to the Imperial Capital, it’s a major event, yet you allowed unknown people to join, what are your intentions? Are Daozi and Chongzi Taihang Mountain bandits? Is your Liang’s Escort Agency colluding with the Taihang Mountain bandits to rob the Zhang Family’s wealth?"

Liang’s face paled slightly, and he said nervously, "Third Young Master, some words should not be spoken carelessly, they can lead to death."

Chen Ji changed the subject and asked, "Liang, do you know Liang Gou’er and Liang Mao’er?"

Liang promptly replied, "They are my two younger brothers; we separated some years ago and haven’t seen each other since."

Chen Ji nodded, "I am friends with Liang Gou’er and Liang Mao’er. For their sake, I can let this matter rest for now, but we need to clarify things first."

Liang hastily nodded, "Please, speak."

Chen Ji asked, "You called them ’Daozi’ and ’Chongzi’. What are their real names?"

Liang said, "They are called Daozi and Chongzi. We escorts here don’t use formal names, just nicknames for each other."

Chen Ji folded his hands in his sleeves and smiled, "Liang, you don’t even know their real names? Are they truly escorts from your Liang’s Escort Agency?"

Liang hung his head silently.

Chen Ji calmly said, "It seems I will need to have Lord Zhang personally interrogate you before you’ll tell the truth."

Saying this, he pretended to leave, but Liang, in a hurry, grabbed him, "To answer Third Young Master, they are not my escorts. They came from Luo Wei Escort Agency. Two months ago, something unknown happened to Luo Wei, and the escorts scattered, and some disappeared. These two came to me, and because I was short of hands, I took them in to work at Liang’s Escort Agency."

Chen Ji smiled, "Liang, are you still pretending to be oblivious?"

Liang’s eyes flickered under the moonlight, and at the back courtyard of the post station, layers of ox carts were parked like a constructed maze. In the darkness, an escort stealthily moved closer, his hand reaching into his sleeve, gripping the handle of a dagger.

Chen Ji, seemingly oblivious to the danger, still stood his ground.

Liang noticed the movement of the escort and burst out angrily, "Get back, all of you, do you want to kill me?"

At that moment, a voice came from afar, "Chen Ji? Where are you?"

Chen Ji responded with a smile, "I am here."

The escort masters took cover behind the ox carts, and Liang, the escort leader, looked sharp.

Zhang Xia and Zhang Zheng approached together. Zhang Xia spoke, "I went to your house to play chess, but only Xiao Man was there... Why are you here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Chen Ji explained, "I found out that two people from the escort agency had secretly left, so I came to ask about it."

At that moment, Chen Ji noticed that Zhang Xia was still wearing his black large cloak. Zhang Xia placed the cloak on his shoulders and cautioned, "The sandstorm is fierce; don’t catch a cold. If you get sick on the road, it will be terribly uncomfortable."

Chen Ji whispered a thank you, then turned to Liang, the escort leader, "Liang, I can forgive whatever is on your mind, but if you don’t clarify the matter about these two men, I’m afraid you can’t escape jail."

Liang, the escort leader, sighed softly, "I’ll tell you everything, Third Young Master, just don’t alarm Lord Zhang. It was like this, a while ago the Luo Wei Escort Agency was escorting Landlord Yao and ten carts of goods to Jinling. However, while passing through Langya Mountain, they encountered regular bandits. The bandits were numerous, and knowing they were outnumbered, the Luo Wei escort masters abandoned their employer in Langya Mountain."

"Is that so simple? If it were that simple, they wouldn’t have needed to flee," Chen Ji questioned, "The saying goes that the escort agencies dine with both the lawful and the underworld; since they dared take that route, didn’t they know the bandits of Langya Mountain?"

Liang, the escort leader, explained, "Originally, they did know them. The Luo Wei escort leader and the main leader of Langya had sworn brotherhood. However, the floods in Henan Province caused many locals to be displaced. A group of these victims ran southward, drove away the original bandits of Langya Mountain, and settled there themselves. These refugees don’t understand the rules of Jianghu; they rob anyone they see, and it won’t be long before they’re rounded up by the government."

Chen Ji doubted, "The bandits didn’t kill any of the Luo Wei escort agency people?"

Liang, the escort leader, spoke softly, "Third Young Master, you might not know, bandits aim for wealth, not lives; if they can coexist peacefully with the escort masters, there’s no need for life-threatening fights. It is said the bandits gave the Luo Wei Escort Agency two choices, one was a deadly battle, and the second was for the escort agency to leave but take a chest of Landlord Yao’s goods."

Chen Ji nodded, "So they chose to split the money... How do I know you aren’t bluffing me?"

Liang, the escort leader, said quietly, "Third Young Master, there are still people from the Luo Wei Escort Agency in our group, let me catch one for you."

He whistled, and between the ox carts, several escort masters put down their rice bowls, drew short knives from their sleeves, and surrounded a corner. Shortly after, they dragged a young man over to Chen Ji, "Third Young Master, this man is a Tripster from the Luo Wei Escort Agency, responsible for calling out during the journey; you’ll know everything once you ask him."

The young Tripster struggled fiercely, "Liang, you son of a bitch, you took our gifts and betray us? Didn’t we agree earlier that we would follow you until we passed Linfen and then each goes our own way – you to the Imperial Capital and us to Guyuan, you motherfucker, what is this?"

Liang, the escort leader, looked somewhat embarrassedly at Chen Ji, "Third Young Master, don’t listen to his nonsense, I never agreed to that."

Chen Ji thoughtfully asked, "Why go to Guyuan?"

Liang, the escort leader, spoke softly, "Although Guyuan is a military camp of our Ning Dynasty, there are more people from the Jing Dynasty living there than from the Ning Dynasty. It’s a mixed group, with numerous smugglers, and our Ning border army doesn’t interfere much. I heard there’s an inn in Guyuan managed by a former subordinate of General Wen Tao, where people can be sent to the Jing Dynasty."

Chen Ji turned to the young Tripster, "Let me ask you, after you left Langya Mountain, where did you go?"

The Tripster stiffened his neck, "We went to Jinling."

Chen Ji asked again, "And the money that was split?"

Tripster replied, "Spent it all on the Qinhuai River!"

Zhang Xia widened his eyes, "After such an incident, you still had the heart to enjoy yourselves?"

Tripster, with a stern face, said, "We figured we’d eventually be settled by the government, so might as well be pleasure-seeking ghosts on the Qinhuai River before we die. Little did we expect, the government never came for us."

Chen Ji counted the days, then Luocheng was transferred Lin Chaojing of the Jiefan Guard from Jinling, along with Jin Zhu, Jiao Tu, Yun Yang, Bai Long, Meng Ji, and Heavenly Horse, all aiming for the Liu Family. Who would have spare time to care about a mere landlord...

He pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you know Daozi and Chongzi well?"

Tripster spat on the ground, "Well, I knew them too well, calling each other brothers every day, but they turned their backs on me in the blink of an eye! To think I took such people for good brothers, I was blind!"

Chen Ji curiously asked, "Turned their backs?"

Tripster scoffed, "Indeed, when my Silver ran out, I went to borrow money from Chongzi. That turtle son-in-law suddenly forgot how he used to borrow Silver from me and had the audacity to demand exorbitant interest, trying to suck my blood! I never asked him for such high interest when I lent him money!"

Chen Ji was slightly taken aback; Brother Pao has taken his old trades to the Ning Dynasty.

Yet, Tripster continued to say, "Third Young Master, have these two caused you trouble? If I tell you more about their affairs, could you let me go?"

Chen Ji smiled and asked, "You want to betray them?"

"Not betraying or anything," Tripster shrank his neck, "They have abandoned me, why should I cover for them?"

Chen Ji nodded, "Go ahead and tell me."

Tripster whispered, "Originally, they weren’t called Daozi and Chongzi but Li Baocheng and Wang Duo. When we returned to Luocheng from Langya Mountain, they suddenly decided to change their names to Er Dao and Chen Chong, out of the blue."

Chen Ji then asked, "Do they have family?"

Tripster hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, Li Baocheng... I mean, Er Dao, has an older sister, and Chen Chong has a younger brother. Those two damn people, even their own families they forsake."

Chen Ji knew; like himself, Er Dao and Chen Chong came into this world without any familial relations, certainly not caring about any sister or brother.

He pondered for a moment then asked, "When did they start denying people?"

Tripster recalled, "It started from the time at Langya Mountain. We just had an encounter with the bandits, many were ambushed, Daozi and Chongzi were knocked unconscious with a hoe by the bandits, after which they recognized no one, even forgetting their own names. We all said their brains were damaged."

Chen Ji bowed his head in thought, like himself, Er Dao and Brother Pao’s fates also fell on the deceased. But he himself had been smuggled down by Li Qingniao and the master, how did Er Dao and Brother Pao come down?

Imperial Capital.

Chen Ji suddenly remembered Brother Pao once said, the splendor of the Imperial Capital, it would be a pity not to make a name there.

There should be another meeting.