Aoyama

Chapter 402 Let's Kill This Thief Together
Where the red leaves fade, a stone turtle swallows a sword.

Chen Ji was certain of two mountain peaks, but he wasn't sure which one had the stone turtle. He could only search one by one until he found it.

The Five Rampant Soldiers pursued and intercepted them with overwhelming force.

The four horns sounded one after another, as if these Wuchang soldiers were the ones who came to hunt in the spring, and Chenji was the prey they were "opening the hunt for".

As Chen Ji crossed a stream, he suddenly closed his eyes in mid-air above the stream. He felt clusters of wildfire approaching, and the wildfire behind him was spreading into a net.

When he landed after crossing the stream, Chen Ji opened his eyes again and suddenly darted off to the east.

After an incense stick had burned, the two soul-collecting and restraining figures gathered together, looking at each other with the heads they were holding, but they couldn't see Chen Ji anywhere.

One of them asked in a stern voice, "Where is he?"

The other man retorted angrily, "You and I follow the horn, why are you asking me? Ask the one blowing the horn!"

In the dark of the mountain forest at night, two bloodied, headless corpses argued while holding their severed heads, a truly bizarre scene.

When the centurion arrived, he asked in a low voice, "You didn't intercept them?"

One of the Soul Collectors said, "It's not that we failed to intercept them, it's that we didn't see them!"

A wildfire flickered in the centurion's eyes: "Strange, how did he know you would flank us?"

The Five Witches' army gathered from all directions through the mountains and forests. The wildfires hidden inside the white bone masks burned densely in the forest, like dozens of tigers and leopards, causing all the beasts to flee.

A hunter, who was out hunting in the mountains, whispered, "We've been chasing him from morning till night, and this kid always manages to evade the search, leading us in circles, it's like... it's like..."

The centurion said calmly, "It's as if he knew in advance where you would come from."

The hunter nodded: "Yes."

The centurion hesitated slightly: "The bald man's Heavenly Eye? No, murderers' Heavenly Eyes are extinguished; Lin Moniang's Eye of the Sea? No, that's not related to this kid; the Haotian Mirror? No, if this kid really had the Haotian Mirror, he wouldn't need to run away; who else..."

At that moment, a flicker of wildfire suddenly ignited in the centurion's eyes: "Never mind how this kid did it, cast a wide net and catch him, don't let any gaps slip by, go!"

……

……

The silvery moonlight was like a layer of frost; the deeper the night, the colder the mountain forest became.

Chen Ji led dozens of Wu Chang soldiers in circles. The cold mountain was damp and chilly, yet his sweat soaked his hair. As he ran, beads of sweat from his hair fell to the ground, mingling with the soil.

Chen Ji felt the wildfire chasing closely behind him. He looked down at the wound on his wrist, which had already healed into a red line. It would probably be fully healed in another half hour.

Hold on for another half an hour.

By this time, Chen Ji had reached the foot of West Mountain. He climbed up the hillside, hoping to see if the stone tortoise that Xuanyuan had mentioned was on the summit.

But just as he climbed halfway up the mountain, Chen Ji suddenly saw a flickering fire on the mountaintop.

He subconsciously thought it was a wildfire set by the Five Witches' army, but he quickly realized that it wasn't a wildfire in the eyes of the Five Witches' army, but a bonfire lit by someone.

Chen Ji crouched low and continued climbing. As he got closer, he gradually heard someone say, "Your Highness, rest assured, Chen Ji has no chance of surviving the pursuit of those ghosts; Prince Fu will not be able to return alive either. We have people at Fengtai Post Station and on the official road... It's just a pity about Miss Zhang Er."

Chen Ji recognized the voice as belonging to Mr. Liao!

He climbed to the top of the mountain and hid behind a rock, peeking out quietly.

Inside the Qingxue Pavilion on West Mountain, a bonfire was burning. The prince, wearing a white cloak, sat in the pavilion, holding a bronze hand warmer in his arms. His cheeks were glowing orange-red from the firelight.

The rocks where Chen Ji was hiding were just five steps away from the Qingxue Pavilion in the West Mountain, close enough for him to see the lotus pattern on the prince's cloak.

Beside the Crown Prince, Mr. Liao, dressed in a brown robe, stood quietly.

Outside the pavilion, more than twenty men stood with their hands on their swords, watching their surroundings warily.

Chen Ji recognized one of them as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort) outside Fengtai Post Station: it turned out that the镖局 (escort agency) was full of assassins from the Eastern Palace.

At this moment, the Crown Prince said softly, "Miss Zhang is important, but we can't worry about her now. It seems that I am ultimately not destined to be with Lord Zhang. It's a pity that Lord Zhang has such talent for governing the world."

Mr. Liao thought for a moment and said, "If Miss Zhang is not available, Miss Qi is dignified and well-educated, and would be a good match for her."

The prince gazed at the campfire: "The Qi family..."

Mr. Liao comforted you, saying, "Your Highness, rest for a while. I will go and investigate when it is light. I will then have my assassins create the illusion of a fierce battle here, so that I can have an explanation when I return."

The Crown Prince sighed, “We have been raising assassins for many years, and I’m afraid we’ll have to use them all this time. Afterwards, Mr. Liao, please arrange for them to go to the Northwest. Let them go from Guyuan to Jingchao Fengsheng Prefecture to avoid trouble. Let us use our business there to cover our identities. They must not return without being summoned.”

Mr. Liao glanced at the assassins outside the pavilion, paused for a moment, and said, "Your Highness need not worry. This old minister has already prepared a way out for them."

The Crown Prince nodded: "That's good."

Chen Ji had no interest in listening to their conspiracy any longer. Sensing the wildfire growing ever closer behind him, he quickly looked up at the mountaintop to see if there was a stone tortoise there. But after looking around, apart from Mr. Liao, he couldn't find a single object that looked like a tortoise.

Not here.

Just as he was about to leave quietly, he discovered that the Five Witches' army had spread out a large net behind him and was rushing towards the mountaintop.

Should we run to the other side? But Mr. Liao blocked our way.

Chen Ji calmed down and silently pondered a solution.

The next moment, he took the horn bow off his back, suddenly rushed out from behind the rocks, drew back the bowstring, and aimed at the prince.

Mr. Liao was startled: "Who?"

When he saw the bowstring drawn in Chen Ji's hand, he subconsciously flicked his sleeve, changed into a red-faced, fanged mask, and transformed into a cloud of black smoke to protect the prince as he flew away into the distance, stopping only when he was ten feet away from Chen Ji.

But when Mr. Liao looked again, he saw Chen Ji pass through the Qingxue Pavilion on the west mountain and run towards the opposite hillside. In the blink of an eye, he jumped down the hillside and disappeared without a trace.

Mr. Liao was filled with doubt and uncertainty, but he didn't know what Chen Ji was going to do: "How is he still alive?"

The Crown Prince said softly, "Mr. Liao, we cannot allow this man to return to the capital."

Mr. Liao immediately cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, this old minister will go and take his head right away..."

Before he finished speaking, the assassins suddenly drew their swords, looked towards the direction of the Qingxue Pavilion in Xishan, and slowly retreated to the side of the prince, surrounding him tightly behind him.

The prince looked up and was shocked to see dozens of wildfires flickering in the darkness, like a densely packed swarm of wild beasts.

The centurion, long sword in hand, led his Five Witches troops slowly out of the darkness and stood beside the Qingxue Pavilion on West Mountain. He turned to look at the campfire, then at the Crown Prince.

The imperial guards gripped their sword hilts tightly, their palms sweating.

Mr. Liao said in a deep voice, "This is His Highness the Crown Prince of Ning Dynasty, and he has no intention of being your enemy..."

The centurion burst into laughter: "Crown Prince? What kind of bullshit crown prince? Countless years ago, we even dared to besiege and kill the ruler of the world. What kind of thing is your crown prince? We spared your lives before and you still dared to linger in the mountains. Aren't you satisfied? Get out of here!"

After pondering for a moment, Mr. Liao suddenly said, "We also wanted to kill that brat when we passed by earlier. If you are willing, we can lend you a hand and help you kill this villain."

The centurion raised his longsword and pointed it at Mr. Liao: "Who do you think you are to lend us a hand? Get out of here, or we'll cut off your heads."

Mr. Liao pulled the prince back slowly, letting the Five Witches' army continue to search for traces of the past.

As they descended the mountain, the prince suddenly said, "Mr. Liao, I don't know if these ghosts can kill Chen Ji. I would like to verify this with my own eyes. I want to see the person alive or the body dead."

Mr. Liao stopped and, after a moment's thought, said, "Your Highness, rest assured, this old minister will lead the men there immediately. If these ghosts cannot kill him, this old minister will personally end Chen Ji's life."

After saying this, he selected twelve men, bowed deeply to the Crown Prince, and then quietly followed behind the Five Witches' army.

The prince stood in the forest, silently watching Mr. Liao depart into the distance.

……

……

The Five Witches' army chased Chen Ji down the mountain.

But at that moment, the centurion suddenly stopped: "The taste of blood and soul has been lost."

He looked up at the moonlight; there was only an hour left until dawn.

A hunter wandering the mountains said, "The scent of blood can be dispelled, but the scent of a living soul can never be dispelled, no matter where it hides, unless the wound heals. But he was only injured a few hours ago, how could it heal? Could it be that he carried some medicine from those Taoist priests with him?"

The group exchanged bewildered glances: "If they brought medicine from the Daoist Court, why didn't they use it sooner?"

"Perhaps the injury wasn't serious before, and now that he's found us searching for him through the wound, he's used the medicine."

"No, we didn't smell any medicine along the way. Even if he just took the medicine, he couldn't have recovered so quickly. Besides, didn't you all notice that the smell of blood has been fading? He's healing on his own!"

Suddenly, one of the soul collectors, who was holding a severed head, said, "Wait, I know someone who can not only heal wounds quickly, but also knows our whereabouts perfectly..."

The Five Witches' army was terrified!

The centurion sneered, "Shut your beak, or I'll tear it to shreds. This kid doesn't even deserve to be compared to you!"

The Wu Chang soldiers who had spoken earlier said sullenly, "I was just saying it offhand... Now, the only way to catch him is to slowly search for clues by hunting in the mountains."

The centurion looked at the mountain range, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly used his long sword to draw the shape of the mountains on the ground: "Ordinary people don't go up mountains when they're fleeing. It's exhausting, there's no way out, and they're likely to encounter cliffs. So most of them will stay close to the valley. This kid specifically climbed this mountain, he must have something in mind."

The centurion looked up at the distant mountains, raised his sword and pointed it at the distant Incense Burner Peak: "Search over there."

(End of this chapter)