Green Mountain
Chapter 331 - 271, Transfer

Chapter 331: 271, Transfer

Heavenly Strategy Army!

Behind the counter, soldiers clad in black armor continuously emerged from the secret passage, one by one, ten, twenty, and still there were more to come.

An armored soldier, annoyed by the counter, wielded a broadsword and chopped the counter to pieces.

Another armored soldier, finding the entrance to the passage too small, simply started hacking at the wooden floor.

After several chops, half of the hall’s floor collapsed downward, expanding the originally one-person passage to reveal more waiting armored soldiers inside.

The smooth, scale-like armor of the Heavenly Strategy Army soldiers glistened, and the densely packed armored soldiers below resembled beetles, making Chen Ji’s scalp tingle.

Zhang Zheng murmured, "So many?"

The shopkeeper of Dragon Gate Inn had not lied; there was truly a secret passage leading outside the city here, but this passage was no longer a route of escape—it was a death trap!

At that moment, the surface-reached Heavenly Strategy Army soldiers charged towards the stairs, and the local Yulin Army soldiers roared, "Protect His Highness," drawing their long swords to guard the staircase.

Chen Ji, caught in a dilemma on the stairs, turned around and led Zhang Xia, Chen Wenzong, and others upstairs, kicking open a door on the second floor to rush inside.

In the room, Chen Liqin and Mrs. Liang’s expressions changed: "Chen Ji? What’s going on, what’s this clamor of killing outside?"

Chen Wenzong said urgently, "Father, Jing Dynasty scoundrels are storming up from downstairs!"

Chen Liqin was startled, "I thought they had reached Xuwei Lane just now, how did they get here?"

After speaking, he looked to Chen Ji, but Chen Ji had no time to deal with him.

Chen Ji walked to the window sill and said, "Zhang Xia, Zhang Zheng, I will escort you downstairs to leave through the backyard..."

Before he could finish, he saw something outside the window and was instantly frozen in place.

Zhang Xia came up beside him and looked outside through the just-opened window to see Xiao Wu holding a kitchen knife, bloody all over, limping out from the stable, waving at Chen Ji on the second floor, screaming at the top of his lungs: "Guest, run! Run, Jing Dynasty scoundrels are here!"

Chen Ji fell silent; the black dealings at Dragon Gate Inn were real, and so was this secret passage in the stable.

The next moment, more Heavenly Strategy Army soldiers stormed out from the stable, not pursuing Xiao Wu but first enclosing the inn to prevent the crown prince from escaping.

Chen Wenxiao burst in from the next room, stuttering, "Father, these... these... where did these armored soldiers come from?"

Zhang Xia looked at Chen Ji and said, "If these men precisely know the crown prince is here, there must be a traitor... I haven’t seen the shopkeeper since last night, perhaps he’s the biggest Jing Dynasty spy."

Zhang Zheng anxiously said, "That doesn’t seem right. It was he who told us the spy news about Yang Family Fur Shop and Liuli Workshop staff, wasn’t it? If he’s a Jing Dynasty spy, why would he tell us all that?"

Chen Ji calmly replied, "No, that information came from Xiao Wu, not the shopkeeper. Second Miss Zhang is right; it must’ve been the shopkeeper who went to tip off and even deceived Xiao Wu."

Chen Wenxiao quickly said, "Chen Ji, aren’t you an executive officer? You should go out and help the Yulin Army fight."

Zhang Xia looked coldly at Chen Wenxiao, then to Chen Ji, "You go out, hide in the cellar. You can get away alone, you definitely can’t escape if you take us."

Chen Wenxiao became anxious: "No way, father and brother are still here, how can he leave?"

Zhang Xia angrily said, "Jing Dynasty promised not to slaughter the city, and Hu Junxian agreed to open the gates and surrender the city because of that. Now that Jing Dynasty has reneged, someone must return to the Central Plains or tell the world of Jing Dynasty’s betrayal, so that our Ning Dynasty will never again consider surrendering cities!"

Chen Wenzong, taken aback, "Second Miss Zhang has a point, this matter concerns our nation. Chen Ji, you must escape alive and report this to the court in the capital!"

Everyone looked at Chen Ji, but found him unraveling a cloth band wrapped around his Whale Blade.

Chen Ji, listening to the killing shouts outside, said calmly, "Xiao Man, I’ll leave my back to you, don’t let them kill in through the windows."

Xiao Man pursed her lips, hesitating for a moment: "Did you know about this all along, just teasing me?"

Zhang Zheng chortled, "Your deception wasn’t that great either."

Xiao Man glared at him, "Can you still laugh now?"

With that, she pulled a small, delicate pair of silver scissors from her sleeve, crouched down and began cutting towards the ground. Suddenly, she seemed to cut the shadow, severing it as it struggled and swelled.

Gradually, the shadow grew into a creature with a sheep’s body and a human face, a huge gaping mouth stretching from its left to right flank, with black fur curling on its four hooves like four black auspicious clouds.

Taotie!

Mrs. Liang, seeing this spirit monster, retreated repeatedly in fear, not expecting that their household maid of the third rank was also an executive officer!

Chen Ji turned to walk outside; Zhang Xia grabbed him, lowering her voice, "Chen Ji, there’s no one in this inn worth saving. You must survive to meet the Commandery Princess!"

Chen Ji calmly said: "Guyuan might not necessarily fall."

Zhang Xia was startled: "You think Hu Junxian..."

Chen Ji looked down in thought. He didn’t understand Hu Junxian and Zhou You, but he knew Prince Jing and Bai Long well.

Prince Jing, harboring grand ambitions yet suffering from a terminal illness, was not willing to die just like that. Thus, he spent years planning, using his own death to the fullest.

Bai Long, ruthless and cunning, almost demonic in intelligence, Chen Ji did not believe that the Jing Dynasty could disrupt Bai Long’s plans just by burning the granaries...

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Xia: "What is the Jing Dynasty Heavenly Strategy Army famous for?"

Zhang Xia replied: "The Heavenly Strategy Army is proficient in archery and horse riding, known for their long-distance raids, they are regarded as the best in the world along with the Jing Dynasty Hu Ben Army and Tiger and Leopard Cavalry."

Chen Ji then asked: "How can the Heavenly Strategy Army be severely damaged?"

Zhang Xia shook her head: "It’s difficult. Even in the previous battle at Quwu Mountain, the Heavenly Strategy Army only suffered thirty percent casualties. They retreat too quickly, and once they regroup in Jing Dynasty, they are able to return to the battlefield. Unless they are completely surrounded..."

At this point, she suddenly looked at Chen Ji: "Are you saying that Hu Junxian intentionally opened the gates and offered the city, luring the Heavenly Strategy Army into Guyuan City, treating Guyuan as a prison? By now, most likely more than half of the Heavenly Strategy Army has entered the city slaughtering, if there really is an ambush, the Heavenly Strategy Army will suffer heavy casualties, requiring years to recover."

Outside the house, the sound of killing shook the heavens; inside, there was dead silence, everyone exchanged looks, a glimmer of hope rising in their hearts.

However, Chen Wenzong suddenly said: "No, even if the entire Heavenly Strategy Army entered the city, what does Hu Junxian have to kill so many of the Heavenly Strategy Army? Relying on the border army, equipped with bamboo armor, rusty swords, and missing bows? Those border troops can defend the city well enough, but in field battles they are no match for the Heavenly Strategy Army."

Chen Ji was silent, this was also his biggest doubt at the moment.

He naturally knew that Bai Long was secretly manufacturing firearms, but he was well aware of the power of firearms at that time; firearms hastily produced were simply not enough to kill so many of the Heavenly Strategy Army.

Chen Ji looked at everyone and asked: "Where are all the Ning Dynasty armies that can compete with the Heavenly Strategy Army?"

Chen Liqin said solemnly: "The Imperial Three Camps just fought a battle at Chongli Pass, it’s impossible for them to appear here, this must be the confidence for the Heavenly Strategy Army to dare to launch a surprise attack on Guyuan."

The hope that had just risen in everyone’s hearts was once again extinguished.

At this moment, Chen Ji and Zhang Xia suddenly said in unison: "There is still one army..."

The two looked at each other, and Chen Ji grabbed his sword and turned to walk out: "I’ll guard the staircase, you all guard the windows, there might still be a chance!"

Zhang Zheng, puzzled, tugged at Zhang Xia: "What riddle are you playing? What turnaround are we talking about?"

But Zhang Xia did not answer, only watching the back of Chen Ji as he left.

...

...

The inn was completely surrounded by the Heavenly Strategy Army Armor Soldiers.

Inside the main hall, out of thirty Yulin Army soldiers, only five remained, blood-soaked, retreating to the second floor while swinging their swords in the middle of the staircase.

The staircase was narrow, and the Heavenly Strategy Army Armor Soldiers could not rely on numbers to gain an advantage for a moment.

The Yulin Army, swinging their long swords excitedly, roared: "Come on, you sons of bitches, come up if you dare, let’s practice with the men!"

In the hall, a towering armored soldier stood next to the counter, removing his helmet, the only one among all the soldiers with a black pheasant tail inserted on his helmet.

He carelessly opened a jar of Fire Saber wine to pour into his mouth: "Good wine!"

After that, he took another swig, spraying the alcohol on his broadsword and meticulously wiping the blood off with his sleeve.

As he wiped, he didn’t even glance at the Yulin Army on the staircase, simply stating calmly: "They’re down to five men and can still stop my Heavenly Strategy Army? Even if it costs lives, we can take them down!"

Hearing this, the Heavenly Strategy Army Armor Soldiers at the bottom of the staircase exchanged glances, indeed, they rushed up suicidally to swap lives with the enemy.

The first one had his abdomen pierced by a long sword through the armor, allowing the long sword to go through his body, while his own broadsword chopped towards the head of a Yulin Army soldier!

The Yulin Army had never seen such a fierce fighting method, trying to pull the sword out of the soldier’s body, but the blade was jammed by muscle and bone, and in a moment of unpreparedness, his head was chopped off.

In just a few moments, the remaining five Yulin Army soldiers were overwhelmed. The Heavenly Strategy Army Armor Soldiers threw the bodies down the stairs and started charging upstairs.

However, just at that moment, footsteps came from the end of the staircase.

The Heavenly Strategy Army Armor Soldiers looked up, a man standing leaning on a sword.