Green Mountain
Chapter 99 - 77, Ten Si Cao

Chapter 99: 77, Ten Si Cao

The ruins were collapsing, only leaving the house beams crisscrossed at skewed angles.

Under the remnants of broken walls and shattered tiles, bricks and shards ceaselessly rose up, as if burying an indestructible beast about to burst forth from the earth.

Amid the ringing in his ears, Chen Ji crouched low as he approached, withdrawing the short knife from his sleeve. He had made three bamboo tube firearms, one of which he threw to Jin Zhu, and the two remaining were to be used against Si Cao; now, without extra firearms, he could only use the knife to kill.

The next moment, a sudden explosion sent bricks scattering in every direction.

From the rubble, Shopkeeper Yuan stood up, forcefully supporting a thick wooden beam.

His hair disheveled, the golden crown was nowhere to be seen.

Shopkeeper Yuan’s body was filled with shards of iron, blood and flesh on his face blurred together with dust and grime. His bright red satin robe hung in tatters, resembling a midnight demon.

He raised his hand to rub his eyes—the blast had filled them with too much dust and grit for him to open them.

However, it was at this moment that he suddenly realized that his right hand seemed to have been blown off, utterly incapable of being lifted.

"Firearms!"

"These are Ning Dynasty firearms!"

Shopkeeper Yuan, like Jin Zhu, had seen firearms, but they had never witnessed firearms with such immense power!

Firearms had only been used on battlefields in the Ning Dynasty for a little over a hundred years.

Initially, the firearms were made with thick bamboo tubes as barrels, filled inside with gunpowder and projectiles, but at that time the gunpowder’s power wasn’t enough to even burst the bamboo. After several shots, the tubes would be discarded.

It was only in the past few decades that the Ning Dynasty switched to iron barrels that could withstand more powerful gunpowder. However, the gunpowder was still imperfect, lacking in purification technology, and the formula proportions were incorrect; it was only used on front-line battlefields to curb the charges of the Jing Dynasty cavalry.

Facing the bamboo tube, Shopkeeper Yuan knew that he couldn’t dodge in time, but he didn’t think that such a device could kill him; at most, it would break his skin and flesh but not damage his bones.

But the blast from Chen Ji’s bamboo tube was far more powerful than he had imagined!

It even collapsed the building!

Barely opening his eyes, Shopkeeper Yuan’s left eye brimmed with blood, the eyeball excessively red, leaving only the right eye to barely make out his surroundings.

He quickly scanned ahead only to find nobody there: "A high-ranked spy from the Ning Dynasty Spy Department rounding me up alone, and yet still needing to hide?"

Throughout the ordeal, Shopkeeper Yuan hadn’t even seen a glimpse of Chen Ji.

He thought he was bombed by a Spy Department expert with firearms, not suspecting Chen Ji to be behind it!

But there was no one in the yard to answer him, only a short knife cutting through the air toward him.

Shopkeeper Yuan sidestepped, easily evading the knife aimed at his neck, but Chen Ji didn’t relent, stabbing three rapid times in succession at his back, lower back near the spleen, and left leg, then finally retreating.

However, Chen Ji suddenly realized that, except for the thigh, all the other stabs missed!

No, they didn’t miss!

It was because Shopkeeper Yuan’s body had been hardened by cross-training, his copper skin and iron bones making ordinary daggers unable to penetrate—he wondered how the man could still stand after the explosion!

But the opponent shouldn’t have been so tough everywhere, otherwise there was no need to dodge the stab at his neck.

Ignoring the blood flowing profusely from his thigh, Shopkeeper Yuan, with one eye shut, turned around, glaring ferociously at Chen Ji: "How could it be you? Did you secretly hoard the firearms given by the Prince Jing Mansion and the Liu Family?!"

Chen Ji didn’t respond, silently pondering how he could kill this bear-like Shopkeeper Yuan, not knowing what kind of Official Gateway the opponent had cultivated, seemingly impossible to kill.

In the blink of an eye, Shopkeeper Yuan charged like a war chariot, causing Chen Ji to immediately retreat, circling around the courtyard.

But Chen Ji had only run a few steps when Shopkeeper Yuan kicked a piece of brick, sending it whistling towards him.

Bang!

The broken brick flew past Chen Ji’s ear, the whistling wind tousling his hair, smashing into a nearby wall shattering into pieces.

This kick was terrifyingly powerful; if not for Shopkeeper Yuan’s blinded eye, losing his accuracy, Chen Ji would have been killed on the spot!

Frustrated by missing his target, Shopkeeper Yuan continued kicking bricks, each one flying like cannonballs, becoming more precise and fierce!

Bang!

A brick hit Chen Ji’s back, sending him tumbling away with that one strike.

Chen Ji felt as if his heart and lungs had shifted places; he dared not stop for even a moment, and resumed fleeing, only for Shopkeeper Yuan to kick two more bricks in succession, hitting him in the back and right leg.

Chen Ji fell again, the short knife flying five or six meters away; he tried to stand, but couldn’t find his balance.

Shopkeeper Yuan strode over to Chen Ji, his right hand hanging uselessly. He extended his left hand to twist Chen Ji’s neck.

But it was at this moment!

In the silent tension, Chen Ji lying on the ground suddenly rolled over facing Shopkeeper Yuan!

Shopkeeper Yuan, staring into Chen Ji’s eyes, suddenly realized there was not despair in them, only tranquility.

No, this couldn’t be right!

This wasn’t the look of a dying man!

In the space of a breath, the sword seed that Chen Ji had cultivated for days, like a dragon traveling through meridians, reached his fingertips!

"Raise the sword with the stars, break all things, all laws!"

In an instant, at such close range, Shopkeeper Yuan had no way to avoid it.

Invisible Sword Energy burst forth from the artery in Shopkeeper Yuan’s neck, a stream of blood gushing forth nonstop!

Once ridiculed by Old Yao as what She Dengke farted, the sword seed was merely the power Chen Ji had cultivated for two hours.

Yet, for those days, as Chen Ji learned to wield the knife with Feng Huai, he patiently nurtured his sword, letting the Invisible Sword Energy become his final trump card.