Aoyama

Chapter 449 The First Path to Officialdom in the World
On the rugged mountain road, Ah Sheng was carried by a frightened warhorse galloping towards Chongli Pass.

He turned around and saw Chen Ji disappear into the forest, hiding behind a pine tree.

Seeing that Chen Ji was unarmed, Ah Sheng wanted to untie her hard bow and short knife and throw them to him, but the warhorse had already carried her around the mountain pass, and Chen Ji could no longer be seen.

Hong Zu'er, lying weakly on his horse, asked, "What happened to that kid? Do you recognize him?"

While calming the warhorse, Ah Sheng replied, "He's a young nobleman who just arrived here. His silk robe alone costs several hundred taels of silver. But when I asked him if he wanted to buy military merits, he said no, preferring to squeeze in with the others. Fourth Brother said he has a good temper and doesn't get angry even when publicly humiliated... Oh, and he also asked how we could not collect the money that night. I didn't take it seriously yesterday."

“Only those with confidence won’t get angry. The reason we don’t buy military merits is because we’re capable enough to earn them ourselves.” Hong Zu’er groaned as his warhorse jolted him along. He said hoarsely, “Put me down and hurry back to provide support. That general who’s capturing people behind us is ruthless and vicious. We can’t let that kid lose his life because of us.”

Ah Sheng hesitated: "Go back now?"

Hong Zu'er became stern: "Didn't you want to be a night owl? That's your fate if you're a night owl. If you're afraid of death, then don't be a night owl!"

Ah Sheng whispered, "Father, I'm not afraid of death. I'll protect you and get you back inside the pass. I'll go right away..."

Hong Zu'er angrily said, "I told you long ago, don't call me father, I'm not your father!"

Ah Sheng muttered under her breath, "Just go, why are you being so fierce?"

Hong Zu'er softened his tone and said weakly, "If he is not very capable, you can help him and see if you can rescue him back to the pass. If he is really capable... ask him to go and meet your Uncle Baizi. Your Uncle Baizi and Xingxing are trapped in Liutiaogou."

Ah Sheng was startled, quickly calmed the warhorse, and dismounted.

He said to Zhang Tonggou, who was fleeing behind him, "Brother Tonggou, please take Master Hong back. I will reward you handsomely afterwards!"

Zhang Tonggou quickly said, "No need for thanks, just be careful."

Ah Sheng handed the reins to Zhang Tonggou and instructed him, "Go back and ask Uncle Zhou to treat Master Hong's arrow wound first. The arrow is poisoned, and only he knows how to cure it. If we delay any longer, even a god can't save him."

Zhang Tonggou hurriedly replied, "I know."

Ah Sheng took off the hard bow from his back and ventured alone into the mountains and forests.

……

……

At that moment, the sound of horses' hooves grew closer and closer.

Chen Ji hid behind a pine tree, holding his breath, when suddenly, a rapid whooshing sound came from behind him.

Chen Ji suddenly lunged to the side, only to find an arrow embedded in the pine tree where he had just been hiding, the shaft emitting a violent trembling sound.

More than one.

Before Chen Ji could land, two more arrows followed closely, embedding themselves in the tree. The last one barely grazed his right thigh, tearing a gash in his trousers without injuring his skin.

Chen Ji rolled over on the ground to get up, hid behind a tree, and breathed slightly.

The sound of the horse's hooves finally approached. He watched as the warhorse passed by on the rugged path outside the forest, but there was no one on the saddle.

The hunter who was trying to capture the animals had abandoned his horse early on, using the sound of his hooves to attract attention while he circled around from behind.

Chen Ji deliberately did not ask Ah Sheng for weapons, thinking that he would make the hunters careless because he was unarmed. However, he did not expect that the other party was so vigilant, and even a lion would use its full strength to hunt a rabbit.

The general who captures the living is already at the Innate Realm, and is also so skilled in scheming. No wonder the infantrymen at Chongli Pass turn pale at the mere mention of his name. If Chen Ji had reacted even slightly slower, he would probably already be nailed to the tree.

He listened quietly to the sounds in the forest, trying to figure out where the predator would come from.

But after waiting for a long time, the forest remained quiet, as if the hunter had fled far away after failing to capture the prey.

He then turned to look at the arrows not far away, judging the location of the general who was to capture the enemy, as well as the force of the arrows: the arrows came from the east, and the three arrows only penetrated the wood by an inch... The enemy was carrying an eight-dou horse bow for rapid fire.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Ji suddenly ran north.

An arrow shot out from the shadows, and Chen Ji twisted his body, heading straight for the arrow.

An arrow came flying towards him. Chen Ji stared intently at the direction of the arrow, reached out and caught it in his hand, then threw it back.

Chen Ji chased after the arrow and rushed towards the place where it had come from. By the time he arrived, the place was empty.

The opponent immediately changed position after firing an arrow.

Before he could even steady himself, an arrow shot from his left, and he instinctively dodged backward. But before he could even take a proper step, another arrow flew from his right, striking him right where he had landed, heading straight for his waist and abdomen.

Two hunters who came to capture animals!
One of them had been hiding for so long that even Hong Zu'er and Ah Sheng hadn't noticed!

Four words suddenly popped into Chen Ji's mind: ruthless and vicious.

When fighting these two hunters, there are psychological traps everywhere, and you will be outmaneuvered if you are not careful.

The next moment, an arrow came from the right, and Chen Ji fell to the ground without a sound.

The mountains and forests fell silent again, until several dozen breaths later, the calls of orioles echoed from the mountains, one on the left and one on the right, as if they were exchanging some kind of signal.

Once the orioles' calls ceased, one of the hunters stood up from the bushes.

He slung his longbow over his back, looked up into the distance, and watched as his colleague drew back the bowstring and pointed it at the bushes where Chen Ji had fallen. Only then did he draw his short sword from his waist and slowly approach.

Extremely cautious.

When Zhuo Sheng reached the spot where Chen Ji had fallen, he was suddenly shocked to find that Chen Ji was nowhere to be seen.
There was no blood.

It's a trap! The wind howled, and Chen Ji suddenly rose from the bushes ahead, throwing the feathered arrow he had just used, aiming it at the face of the hunter.

The hunter bent backward, forming a plank bridge, allowing the arrows to fly over his face.

A sudden change occurred!

As the hunter bent over backward to catch the fish, the soil in the ground suddenly loosened, and a brass sword seed buried in it suddenly flew out.

By the time the hunter realizes something is wrong, it's too late to escape.

The sword flew past his neck and disappeared into the bushes in an instant.

Blood gushed from Zhuo Sheng's neck; he died without ever seeing what killed him. His colleagues, hidden by the bushes, also didn't see why he had fallen.

The sword seed flashed and disappeared in an instant.

Since Chen Ji nurtured three brass sword seeds on the summit of Xianglu Peak, he hadn't used them when killing Liao Zhong, nor when charging back to the capital. Each time, he was extremely cautious and restrained, fearing that the headmaster of the Jingchao Martial Temple would hear the news and come to kill him.

Now that we are outside Chongli Pass and have the certainty of killing them, there is no need to hide anything anymore.

Just as Chen Ji made his move, another hunter released his grip, and his arrow flew from the bowstring, only to miss its mark.

He turned and ran, and Chen Ji no longer concealed himself, chasing after him into the forest. The sword seed moved close to the ground beside him, passing through clumps of bushes.

Just as Zhuosheng was about to climb over a small mound, he turned back and fired an arrow. After releasing the bowstring, he threw the bow and arrow together towards Chenji.

Zhuo Sheng drew his sword, taking advantage of the terrain on the slope to fight back, intending to fight to the death. But Chen Ji did not engage him in close combat, instead retreating once again.

The two sped along the mountain road, one advancing and the other retreating.

Suddenly, Chen Ji bumped his back against a pine tree and stopped in his tracks.

The hunter was startled; his chance had arrived!

He raised his knife to strike, but he saw that Chen Ji's face showed no panic; he was just staring straight at him.

wrong!

At the critical moment, a brass sword weaved through the branches of the bushes and pierced the Achilles tendon of the hunter.

The hunter reacted extremely quickly, dodging the attack with a kick, and exclaimed in surprise, "Sword Seed?!"

He gritted his teeth and ignored the sword seed, slashing at Chen Ji's head as if his life was at stake, but he didn't notice that two more sword seeds were coming at him from the side.

The next moment, just as Zhuosheng was about to strike Chenji with his long sword, a sword seed pierced his lower back and emerged from his abdomen; another pierced his left rib and emerged from his right rib; the sword seed that had been dodged earlier spun in the air, pierced his left neck and emerged from his right neck.

It was early morning, and sunlight streamed in from afar, filtering through the tree canopy and casting beams of light onto the hunter.

The three swords intertwined like swimming dragons, and in the rising morning sunlight, the figure of the capturer seemed to explode, with blood splattering in all directions, including onto Chen Ji.

The path to mastery of swordsmanship is indeed the best path to officialdom in the world.

It is also the fastest way to kill someone.

The knife that captured the living man veered off course, causing him to stumble. The blade sliced ​​into the tree trunk and stopped an inch above Chen Ji's hair bun.

The sword seed flew back to Chen Ji's side like a shooting star, slipped into his clothes along his sleeve, and returned to the patterns between his ribs.

Zhuo Sheng released his grip on the knife hilt, slowly knelt down, coughing up blood, and mumbled, "How could this be?"

Chen Ji stood before him, looking down at the lifeless general who lay dead with his eyes wide open, feeling a faint stream of ice flowing into his dantian.

The wounds on the corpse were all straight through. If anyone asked, he would not need to answer; the inner minister would naturally assume that they were caused by the Cloud-Covering Sword Qi.

But here's the problem: the military achievements of ordinary infantrymen can be proven by their ears, but what can be used to prove the capture of prisoners?
If only one ear is cut off, how can one prove that the one who captures the animal is the one who captures the animal?
……

……

Ah Sheng leaped through the mountains and forests, holding a hard bow, his eyes warily scanning his surroundings.

As he drew closer to the location of the ruins, he strained his ears, but for a long time he could not hear any sounds of fighting; even the birds in the forest were quiet.

Is the fighting over?
Ah Sheng approached from a distance of ten zhang, crouched behind a bush, and quietly observed the area. Only after confirming that no one was around did she move closer.

He saw where Chen Ji was hiding, looked at the feathered arrows nailed to the pine tree, and then shifted his gaze to the two feathered arrows behind him. He could almost imagine Chen Ji dodging the arrows and causing them to miss.

The hunter launched a surprise attack with a barrage of shots, but the nobleman's son managed to dodge them.
Good skills.

Ah Sheng looked down at the broken grass stems on the ground and followed the trail. Then she saw a hunter lying on his back in a pool of blood, his eyes open and looking up at the sky.

died?

That son of an official actually killed the officer who captured the prisoners?

But strangely, since the general who captured the animals had already been killed, where did that noble son from the capital go?

As I pondered, I heard footsteps and strange dragging sounds coming from the north, as if someone was slowly moving prey.

Asheng instinctively drew her bow and arrow, but then heard Chen Ji's voice from ahead: "It's me."

He lowered his arrow and saw Chen Ji dragging the figure of a hunter by the ankle as he slowly emerged from the forest.

(End of this chapter)