Green Mountain
Chapter 309 - 249, Big Fire

Chapter 309: 249, Big Fire

"Chop him down!"

Xiao Wu had a busy night. First he was reprimanded by the Shopkeeper, then he had to grab a kitchen knife and personally chop down a Dancing Girl who had been intimate with him at the neighbor’s Red Sleeves, splattering blood all over himself.

At this moment, while still enraged, he threw the formidable Bone Knife with great force. The knife spun and buzzed in the air, heading straight for the Crown Prince’s face.

In the urgency of the moment, Li Xuan drew his sword from its scabbard, and with a deft touch on the handle of the spinning knife, his wrist gave a slight shake, causing the Bone Knife to rotate around his sword tip.

With another flick of his wrist, Li Xuan sent the Bone Knife back where it came from, straight at Xiao Wu’s chest and abdomen.

Xiao Wu, shocked and pale, arched back in a back bend, narrowly avoiding the Bone Knife as it whizzed past the tip of his nose.

With a thud, the Bone Knife embedded itself in the wooden board outside the counter, its handle still trembling incessantly.

"What the hell!" Xiao Wu cursed.

But the Shopkeeper chided him without sympathy: "Get out of the way and stop making a fool of yourself here."

"Oh," Xiao Wu straightened up, pulled his own kitchen knife from the counter and, along with Xiao Liu, retreated to the Shopkeeper’s side.

The Shopkeeper first sized up Li Xuan; his effortless Swordsmanship had certainly been dazzling. But even more eye-catching than his swordplay was the young man standing next to Li Xuan, who wore a white robe with flowing sleeves, his hair held up by a silver crown.

In the moment Xiao Wu threw the Bone Knife, this young man’s smile didn’t falter, not even a blink of the eye. As if from the very beginning, he was certain that the Bone Knife couldn’t hurt him.

Such confidence was rare to see.

Xiao Wu quietly asked the Shopkeeper, "What’s their background?"

The Shopkeeper calmly said, "With such demeanor and such a master by his side, they must be the distinguished figures from the Imperial Capital."

The Crown Prince, with a smile, broke the awkward standoff, cupping his fists and said, "Shopkeeper, we are merely passing by and mean no harm. Is there a misunderstanding between us? If we have somehow spoken out of turn, I hereby offer my apologies."

The Shopkeeper returned the smile and saluted with his hands, "It’s my employee who was senseless and caused the misunderstanding. It has nothing to do with you, Guest."

Stepping forward with evident interest, the Crown Prince examined the inn and said, "Shopkeeper, all the staff in your establishment are Executive Officers of the Innate Realm. No wonder the Dragon Gate Inn has such a resounding reputation in Guyuan City. However, I wonder, why did your employee act against us the moment I mentioned Chen Ji’s name? Could it be that Chen Ji did something to offend your establishment while staying here?"

The Shopkeeper explained, "You misunderstand, Guest. The young master of the Chen family is a valued guest at our inn. Just tonight, a spy from the Jing Dynasty tried to assassinate him, even leaving a big hole in the roof of the Superior A Room. So when you inquired about Chen Ji’s stay here, the employee thought you came to assassinate Master Chen of the Chen family as well."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince reflexively exclaimed with shock and suspicion, "A Jing Dynasty spy attempted to assassinate Chen Ji? Why?"

The Shopkeeper glanced at the Crown Prince and spoke indistinctly, "Perhaps it’s because Master Chen had previously foiled their plans. These Jing Dynasty spies fear his keen insight and worried he might uncover more clues, so they chose to strike first for fear of being exposed."

The Crown Prince turned to Qi Zhenzhuo and asked, "Did he mention anything about this tonight?"

Qi Zhenzhuo shook his head, "No, he didn’t say anything."

The Crown Prince muttered to himself, "We are only concerned with the messages he sent us, without realizing he is still in danger, how shameful. Chen Ji is truly patient and discreet, not breathing a word about his own perilous situation. Nowadays, there are too few who just get things done without complaint."

Qi Zhenzhuo’s face turned red, and he dared not say a word.

Meanwhile, Li Xuan changed the subject. Sheathing his sword, he asked the Shopkeeper in a clear voice, "Would you trouble the Shopkeeper to tell us if you heard any disturbances coming from the neighboring Red Sleeves? Where have their people gone?"

Xiao Wu said brazenly, "We chopped them down, what of it?"

Li Xuan: "?"

Just like that?

Li Xuan, puzzled, asked, "Why did you chop down the people from Red Sleeves?"

The Shopkeeper replied with a mild smile, "They had nothing better to do at midnight than to come here and try to assassinate the young master of the Chen family. It’s their own fault for seeking death; it’s not others to blame. That’s also because Master Chen didn’t have a scratch on him. If he had been injured, it would be hard for them to wish for death."

Qi Zhenzhuo was taken aback.

The Crown Prince and Li Xuan couldn’t help but look at each other: Was Chen Ji really so well-acquainted with the Dragon Gate Inn? They barely mentioned his name and the inn staff immediately fought them.

The staff from Red Sleeves came to assassinate Chen Ji, and the inn staff went to chop them down overnight?

How long had Chen Ji been in Guyuan?

How could this be?

After a moment of silence, the Crown Prince whispered to Li Xuan and Qi Zhenzhuo, "If we are to succeed in our mission in Guyuan, it appears we will need Chen Ji’s help. I hope both of you can put aside any prejudices and later make peace with Brother Chen Ji."

Li Xuan quickly clasped his fists, "Your Highness need not worry. As long as it helps you achieve your goals, I will do whatever is required. Moreover, Chen Ji does have extraordinary abilities; I will certainly put aside any contempt and arrogance."

Seeing that Qi Zhenzhuo was still rigid and reluctant to speak, he quickly glanced at him.

Reluctantly, Qi Zhenzhuo said, "Likewise for me."

The Crown Prince smiled and said, "That would be good. Perhaps after returning to the Imperial Capital, you all might become colleagues."

After speaking, he turned to the Shopkeeper and clasped his hands, saying, "Shopkeeper, we did not come to assassinate Chen Ji; we are his friends. Please trouble one of the clerks to go upstairs and deliver a message, just say an old friend is visiting."

Xiao Wu looked at the Shopkeeper, who gave a subtle signal with his eyes: "Go on."

Xiao Wu clattered up the stairs, and after a moment, Chen Ji followed him down, seeing the Crown Prince, he immediately clasped his fists and said: "Your High..."

The Crown Prince shook his head slightly, and Chen Ji immediately corrected himself: "Young Master Zhu, I apologize for not greeting you from afar. What brings you here so late at night?"

The Crown Prince smiled: "Shall we step outside for a word?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and picked up the hem of his robe as he walked outside.

Once everyone had left, Xiao Wu, leaning on the counter, said listlessly: "Shopkeeper, are those people friends of the Chen family’s young master?"

The Shopkeeper scoffed coldly: "No. I mentioned earlier that Young Master Chen was attacked, but these people didn’t ask about his well-being immediately. Instead, they were only concerned about why a Jing Dynasty spy wanted to assassinate him. Could these be true friends? If I were attacked, what would be your first reaction?"

Xiao Wu pondered for a moment: "Is it time for me to become the Shopkeeper?"

The Shopkeeper cursed angrily: "Get lost! Even if I die, it won’t be your turn!"

...

...

Outside the door, under the night sky of Qiu Ci Street, over a hundred Imperial Army soldiers stood still, leading their horses.

Chen Ji clasped his fists and asked: "Your Highness, how come you’ve arrived?"

The Crown Prince explained with a smile: "Tonight, you came to deliver news but didn’t even make it into the Governor’s Mansion. I rushed over immediately after hearing about this, fearing you’d take offense. Just now, I also heard you were targeted for assassination, you’ve had it tough."

Chen Ji said in a low voice: "It is my duty to share Your Highness’s worries, I dare not speak of suffering."

The Crown Prince looked around. Li Xuan immediately understood and stepped forward to clasp his fists: "Brother Chen Ji, I have offended you earlier, my biased judgment is my fault. I hope you can let bygones be bygones and continue to assist the Crown Prince with us."

Chen Ji quickly said: "Lord Li overstates it. I am not a narrow-minded person and have not taken the previous incident to heart."

After speaking, he looked at Qi Zhenzhuo.

It’s your turn.

Qi Zhenzhuo raised his eyebrows.

He was silent for a long time, finally gritting his teeth, he clasped his fists and said: "I, Qi Zhenzhuo, also admire capable people. I have offended you before, but I won’t in the future."

The Crown Prince smiled, smoothing over the situation: "Alright, everyone will be working together in the future. We should unite and cooperate... Brother Chen Ji, do you still have any clues about the Jing Dynasty traitors?"

Chen Ji thought of the clerk from the glass shop and the Shopkeeper from the fur shop that Xiao Wu had mentioned, but he responded: "Reporting back to Your Highness, not at the moment."

The Crown Prince was slightly disappointed but quickly smiled again: "No matter, I’m sure that while you stay at the Dragon Gate Inn, you will still make some headway..."

However, before he could finish his sentence, an enormous fire broke out in Guyuan City, sending up towering flames. A massive cloud of dust rose into the sky, carrying with it the smell of ashes.

Noise erupted from within Guyuan City as families and residents climbed onto rooftops to look out for what was happening.

Li Xuan, with a furious push, leapt up like a hawk taking to the sky, reaching the roof of the Octagonal Building of the Dragon Gate Inn in just a few strides.

Standing atop the grey tiles, propped against the double eaves of the Octagonal Building, he peered into the distance and saw three places within Guyuan City engulfed in raging flames, not at all looking like they were "accidentally" set on fire.

If it was an accident, three fires wouldn’t have broken out all at once!

Once Li Xuan identified where the fires were, his complexion changed instantly, and he turned to the Crown Prince, shouting: "Your Highness, something’s wrong—it’s the direction of the Governor’s Mansion, the border army’s grain depot, and the armory!"

They had guarded against poison in the water but hadn’t anticipated the grain depot being set on fire. Not only were the stored grains in Guyuan City destroyed, but the bamboo armor that the border army was already short on was also gone in an instant.

No, even the armor of the Yulin Army was among the flames of the Governor’s Mansion.

Guyuan was doomed.

Chen Ji immediately looked at the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, there must be spies within the border army, otherwise it would have been impossible to succeed."

The Crown Prince ordered: "Yulin Army, heed the command—return to the Governor’s Mansion and put out the fire!"

Chen Ji shouted loudly: "Zaozao!"

The next moment, the sound of a battle horse’s neigh came from the inn’s backyard. Zaozao charged through the inn’s hall, knocking over the cotton curtains and coming onto Qiu Ci Street, breathing out heavy white puffs.

Chen Ji grabbed the saddle and swung himself up. A window on the third floor opened, and Zhang Zheng shouted: "Chen Ji, catch!"

As he spoke, he threw the Whale Blade out of the window, and Chen Ji caught it securely in his hand, dashing ahead like a racing wind.