Green Mountain
Chapter 411 - 326. Civil War

Chapter 411: 326. Civil War

Li Shamao Alley, Chunfeng Courtyard.

The young man leaned against the window yawning, waiting from 5 p.m. to 9 to 11 p.m., bored to the extreme.

He sighed and said, "You shouldn’t have driven the girls from Chunfeng Courtyard away. It would have been nice to let them stay and sing a little tune."

Zhou Kuang sat beside him, eyes also lifeless: "Master, if we keep them here and they find out your identity and talk nonsense, am I supposed to silence them? It’s been five days now; you missed Lord Wu from the Ministry of Rites’ invitation, and you missed Lord Zhang from the Ministry of Personnel’s invitation, how many things have been delayed just to watch this show? If they don’t come today, let’s not come again."

The young man chuckled: "You fool, what do I need to meet so many ministry officials for? It only invites suspicion. Don’t worry, that group of people will certainly come."

Zhou Kuang looked up: "When will they come?"

The young man looked through the crack in the window down the alley: "Heji and Furui Xiang, hundreds of people stopped their business to guard here. How many days can they watch? Don’t they need the business from Chongnan Fang, Zhengxi Fang, Glass Factory? Is the Ghost Market in Panjia Garden still open? Let’s see who can’t hold on first."

Just then, sounds of a quarrel came from downstairs.

Zhu Guan was seen standing in Li Shamao Alley, arguing loudly with Qian Ping: "Don’t block me, it’s already the fifth day. You Heji aren’t doing business, but we at Furui Xiang still need to do business."

Qian Ping stood under the red lantern building and said calmly, "Steward Zhu, you and our Heji Dragon Head have sworn an alliance before Qigong; are you now going to break the promise?"

Zhu Guan sneered coldly: "I’m not breaking the promise, it’s just that business can’t be delayed. If this trivial matter ruins the business in Panjia Garden, I can’t bear the blame if the boss blames me. If that group comes again, just send someone to call me. We at Furui Xiang won’t just stand by and watch."

The young man upstairs laughed: "Zhou Kuang, look, someone’s buckling under the pressure."

Zhou Kuang frowned: "Master, should we replace this Zhu Guan?"

The young man burst into laughter: "Replace him for what?"

Zhou Kuang pondered: "This man is envious and has suppressed many rising talents in Furui Xiang over the past decade, so he’s also harming your interests."

The young man’s arm rested on the window sill, his chin on his arm, looking idly at Zhu Guan leading Furui Xiang’s men away in haste.

He suddenly lamented: "When I was young, Grand Tutor Xu taught me history, saying that evil people always get their comeuppance. Later, I studied Buddhism with Supervisor Xu, who also talked about karma and emphasized accumulating virtue and doing good. But when I met Zhu Guan, I deliberately didn’t act against him, wanting to see when he would face retribution. But Zhou Kuang, you see, Grand Tutor and Supervisor Xu both taught wrong. In this world, the more evil a person is, the better they live."

Zhou Kuang whispered: "But most evil people die a miserable death."

The young man laughed heartily: "They live happily for decades, and their miserable death is just a moment. Trading a moment of discomfort for decades of freedom—is that a loss or gain? I’d say it’s a huge gain! Zhou Kuang, Wenyuan Bookstore didn’t want my story not because it wasn’t good enough, but because it was too true and lacked the hero they wanted."

Just then, calls and shouts erupted outside Li Shamao Alley, and the young man’s eyes lit up: "See what I said? As soon as Furui Xiang leaves, they come! That’s better. If they only knew how to act rashly, I wouldn’t be interested. Now that they’re patient, they must be up to something big, which is intriguing... But how will they deal with the fighting profession’s court official?"

"Zhou Kuang, quickly brew me a pot of tea, and bring a plate of sunflower seeds!"

...

...

Outside Li Shamao Alley, Chen Ji and others, masked, charged in.

Chen Ji, at the end of the group, urged, "Make sure to beat them so they can’t get out of bed for ten days to half a month; that way, they’ll be fewer and fewer."

The ruffians came killing from the other end of the alley, and just as they engaged, a six-foot-long Iron Wolf Brush forced the ruffians to retreat.

Some ruffians tried to grab the end of the Iron Wolf Brush and wrest it away from the Yulin Army, but the end of the Iron Wolf Brush was covered with fine spikes, and a slight touch made several holes in their hands, bleeding profusely.

A ruffian angrily shouted into the brothel: "What are you waiting for?"

Heji’s ruffians repeated their old trick, rushing out of one brothel after another, trying to cut off the Mandarin Duck Formation.

But as soon as they came out, Duobao suddenly roared: "Change formation!"

The Mandarin Duck Formation immediately shrank its formation, like a porcupine bristling, spears standing tall. Ruffians raised tables as shields and charged forward. A Yulin Army member used a trident to prop up the table, making it impossible to advance. Li Cen made a quick decision, crouching and sweeping the spear tail toward the legs of the ruffians under the table.

The screening hand holding the Iron Wolf Brush, trident, and Vine Shield defended the formation flawlessly, while the spearman seized the opportunity to attack.

The young man upstairs looked through the window crack and murmured: "What a formation—born for street fighting. Zhou Kuang, if your Five Armies Camp faces this formation, how would you resolve it?"

Zhou Kuang thought for a moment: "Blast it with cannons."

The young man snapped peevishly: "In such a complex and narrow alley, by the time you drag the cannons over, people would have long hidden away."

Zhou Kuang thought again: "Indeed."

The young man stroked his chin: "This group is strange too; a bunch of military elites treating street ruffians like Jing Dynasty elite fighters—it’s really unfair. Zhou Kuang, can you see which camp they’re from, Divine Machine Camp? Five Armies Camp? Longevity Army?"

Zhou Kuang observed carefully for a moment: "None of the above. Longevity Army fights with overbearing force; Divine Machine Camp dislikes close-quarters combat; Five Armies Camp has precise coordination. The current group isn’t overbearing, and their coordination is far from precise... But they’ve definitely seen blood."

The young man asked in confusion: "Where did this group come from? Could they be the Yulin Army?"

"You mean that group of profligates? Impossible."

The young man looked at the fighting in the alley: "However, although this formation is formidable, it is not much to look at. Breaking it usually just requires piling up lives, such an ugly tactic. Go, have Furui Xiang’s court official intervene, make it more of a spectacle."

Zhou Kuang whispered, "Master, the official pathways of the Zuo Family Brothers are still concealed, exposing them now might spark conflicts... Furthermore, it is Heji that is being attacked currently, there’s no need for Furui Xiang to get involved."

The young man said nonchalantly, "You make a valid point, but without opponents, the martial performances on stage won’t be entertaining. Heji’s court officials are too timid, Furui Xiang must set an example for them, go, have the Zuo Family Brothers make a move."

Zhou Kuang turned and exited the room, waved a black command flag from the second-floor railing of Chunfeng Courtyard.

...

...

In the narrow alley, under the red lanterns, the Yulin Army trampled over the ruffians.

As they turned towards Hanjiatan Alley, Chen Ji suddenly said, "Be careful, officials."

Everyone looked up to see, in the dimness of the night, two people were treading along the ropes used to hang the red lanterns, one in front and one behind, encircling the Mandarin Duck Formation in the middle.

Chen Ji looked up and saw the two wearing black stage robes with four side flags on their backs and painted white-faced fine-featured masks.

The two lightly swayed, standing lightly on the ropes with red lanterns as if weightless.

The next moment, the official in front swiped their face, transforming the white face with fine features into a black face with a bushy beard, lunging at the Yulin Army in the alley. He seized two sweeping Iron Wolf Brushes with his hands, their clash producing the sound of clanging metal, as if his hands were of iron.

The official behind also swiped his face, transforming the white face with fine features into a red face with a bushy beard, and dashed towards the end of the Mandarin Duck Formation’s Yulin Army. The Yulin Army thrust a trident, but it was seized and forcefully wrenched out of their grasp.

Li Cen shouted, "Be careful, this guy has enormous strength, he’s an Innate Official!"

These two officials attacked the Mandarin Duck Formation front and back, forcing the Yulin Army to continually contract their formation.

"Get out of the way!"

Li Xuan and Chen Ji simultaneously passed through the path opened by the Yulin Army, one heading forward and one backward, one wielding a sword and one wielding a spear, as sword and spear light bloomed at the front and rear, forcing those two officials to release and retreat.

The two swiped their cheeks once more, reverting to white-faced, fine-featured masks, floating back onto the ropes standing on a single foot.

One of them looked down at his body, seeing a blood mark across his chest and abdomen from Li Xuan’s strike, had he not retreated quickly, he might’ve been killed on the spot.

The other also felt a lingering fear; he intended to forcibly intercept Chen Ji’s spear, but his hand went numb upon contact and still trembled uncontrollably.

The pair exchanged glances, immediately deciding to avoid the formation’s head and tail, treading along the ropes to drop into the center of the formation.

Mid-air, the two swiped their faces, changing to red faces with long beards.

Qi Zhenzhuo saw through their strategy, angrily cursed, "Think we’re easy targets? Back off!"

In his hand, the ninety-pound Iron Wolf Brush whistled toward one of the two like a banana fan, forcing the person to swipe back to a white-faced, fine-featured mask, once more leaping back onto the rope.

The other, not yet descended, saw a Yulin Army spear sweep angrily toward them, directly striking their face.

The individual quickly swiped their face, becoming a black-faced, bushy-bearded self with a clang, forcibly swatted by the spear to a distance. Before landing, they swiped right hand across the face to turn white, pushing off from the ground with their left, floating back onto the lantern like a feather.

The Zuo Family Brothers hesitated, unsure where to find the breakthrough in this formation.

Upstairs, the young man let out a small sound of surprise, instinctively locking eyes with Zhou Kuang, "All of them are officials?"

Zhou Kuang hesitated, "Surely not all are officials."

At this moment, Chen Ji turned to look at the two face-changing officials. The opponent was at a stalemate with the Mandarin Duck Formation, and the Yulin Army could also do nothing against them.

He shouted, "Furui Xiang is likely coming soon, time to retreat!"

With that command, the Yulin Army swiftly and uniformly adjusted their formation, charging out of the alley. The Zuo Family Brothers were about to stop them when orderly footsteps echoed from outside Li Shamao Alley and another masked group wielding long spears blocked the Yulin Army’s path, numbering around eighty.

Duobao was shocked, "Who are you?"

In the ranks, Li Xuan squinted slightly, "These are spears from the Yulin Army’s armory, does Chen Wenren think I won’t recognize them just because he removed the white tassels? It seems the second branch of the Chen Family is the backer behind Heji, as suspected, the Wang Family loves these sneaky tricks."

Qi Zhenzhuo instinctively tightened his grip on the Iron Wolf Brush, glancing at both the overhead officials and the masked Yulin Army at the mouth of the alley, nervously asking, "Brother-in-law, what do we do? They are also all officials."

Li Xuan looked at Chen Ji.

Chen Ji calmly replied, "Kill."