Green Mountain

Chapter 527 390: Seeing Is Believing

"So, I'm worth that much money now." Chen Ji mocked himself.

When the forty-two assassins disguised as Jiefan Guard appeared, Chen Ji, Zhang Xia, and Zhang Zheng instinctively thought these people were targeting the Crown Prince and Prince Fu; others simply weren't worth such a massive mobilization.

But it wasn't until the crossbow arrows were shot down from the Yingluo Rock that Zhang Xia suddenly realized these people were here to kill Chen Ji.

Who could it be?

No matter whether they succeed or fail, these Death Soldiers would have to vanish afterward. The safest way is to die... but who would spend so much to kill a Hundred Households of the Yulin Army?

No time to think more, everyone quickly left Yingluo Rock along the narrow mountain path, ahead was White Pine Ridge.

Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, more crossbow arrows fell like rain from the side slope of White Pine Ridge.

In the nick of time, Yangyang shouted: "Yang Fang, Yang Xian, block the arrows!"

The two members of the Longevity Army led by Yangyang unhesitatingly rushed to the flank of the group, wearing armor they endured more than ten crossbow arrows for them.

In an instant, the two were shot into porcupines with arrows, yet they gritted their teeth, saying nothing and continued to gallop on horseback, covering the group's passage through the mountain path.

Fortunately, they came wearing the Dark Armor of the Longevity Army, only the arrowheads pierced through the armor into the skin and muscles.

Yangyang loudly asked, "Are you okay?"

Yang Fang gritted his teeth and said, "Didn't hit any vital spots, can't die."

Can't die doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.

Qi Zhenzhuo looked at the arrows piercing the two, empathizing deeply. If a moment ago Chen Ji had asked him to block the arrows, he definitely couldn't have done so decisively.

At this moment, there were still people hiding behind pine trees on the side slope of White Pine Ridge, ready to launch a surprise attack at any time.

Yangyang looked ahead, noticing that what lay ahead was a challenging uphill path, hard for horses to traverse.

Zhang Zheng asked breathlessly, "Ditch the horses?"

Zhang Xia affirmed, "We can't ditch the horses! Leaving them now is akin to suicide, after this uphill path lies a flat mountain road, charge through it!"

Qi Zhenzhuo turned back toward the mountain woods, "They will inevitably chase us. Then, we'll be slow sitting ducks going uphill... someone must stay at the bottom to buy time for those climbing up."

With this, he turned to look at the arrow-struck Longevity Army and said, gritting his teeth, "I can stay behind to cover!"

Chen Ji said resolutely, "No, you all go first, Yangyang and I will stay behind."

His voice just fell as Yangyang unhesitatingly slowed his pace, gradually falling to the back of the group.

This is the elite of the Longevity Army.

They can be arrogant, can be domineering, but they can't be foolish, nor fearful of battle. No persuasion is needed; where the military flag points, they charge.

The two slowly halted their horses at the bottom of the slope, coldly surveying the White Pine Ridge slope.

White Pine Ridge does not actually grow white pines, but Yellow Rugosa trees. In autumn, Yellow Rugosa leaves turn red, giving rise to the name Fragrant Mountain Red Leaves.

The assassins were patient, hidden behind trees, wanting to wait for Chen Ji and Yangyang to flee before pursuing them, holding still in a stalemate.

However, the trunks of Yellow Rugosa trees are not thick, there are always places where the figure cannot be completely concealed.

Yangyang's eyes roamed the forest, seeing one assassin hiding behind a tree with the right leg revealing an inch from the trunk.

He immediately drew two feathered arrows, fully pulling back the bowstring.

With the first arrow, the feathered arrow tore through the side of the assassin's calf protruding from the trunk, making his body uncontrollably topple over, letting out a cry of pain.

In a flash, the second feathered arrow arrived, piercing the assassin's throat, abruptly cutting off the cry of pain.

Yangyang glanced at Chen Ji sideways, "How about..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly saw Chen Ji pull the bowstring with no arrow, the ancestral bowstring from the Yang Family making a resonant droning sound.

The assassin behind the Yellow Rugosa tree heard the bowstring sound, immediately dashed out to retaliate in the interval between two of Chen Ji's arrows, but it was at this moment that Chen Ji truly loaded an arrow, piercing through the emerging assassin.

The feathered arrow, with its immense force, pierced through the assassin, carrying his body and straw coat flying backward together.

Yangyang looked Chen Ji up and down, instinctively asking, "Did you really kill that many people in Guyuan?"

Hearing is deceiving, and seeing is believing.

The Longevity Army is used to killing, naturally knowing how hard it is to kill over a hundred of the Heavenly Strategy Army. They encountered the Jing Dynasty cavalry head-on outside Chongli Pass, slaughtering each other for hours until their knives dulled and edges curled; even a Peak of Innate Grand Official couldn't possibly claim more than a hundred heads, only those in the Seeking Dao Realm might have a chance.

Back then, hearing the Crown Prince's request for commendation with triumphant bulletins, they laughed uproariously in the barracks, just thinking the Crown Prince had lost his mind, boasting to the extreme.

All of the Longevity Army had heard of Chen Ji's name, but not favorably—rather infamy for deceit and trickery.

But now Yangyang scrutinized Chen Ji, putting belief in that triumphant bulletin by seven-tenths, otherwise, he wouldn't have switched the Yang Family ancestral bow to Chen Ji: "Strange, if that's true, why has the Crown Prince never come forward to defend for you even a little? Just let others spoil your reputation?"

Chen Ji calmly said, "I don't know."

Yangyang while suppressing the assassins in the woods with his gaze, extended an olive branch: "Kid, how about joining my Longevity Army, the Yulin Army is where pretty ladies stay, doesn't fit you."

Chen Ji looked up the hillside and saw that everyone had already crossed over. He immediately said, "Now is not the time to talk about this, you go first!"

Yangyang did not hesitate any longer and immediately urged his horse up the slope. Halfway up, he seemed to remember something and suddenly untied the arrow quiver at his waist and tossed it to Chen Ji, "You only have three arrows left, not enough. Use mine first, I still have three."

Chen Ji caught the arrow quiver mid-air and stuffed it in the gap between his right leg and the saddle, the quickest place for drawing arrows.

Just as Yangyang was climbing, more than ten assassins hidden behind the Chinese tallow tree suddenly charged out. They were wearing straw coats, bamboo hats on their heads, holding hand crossbows in their left hands, and dragging long knives in their right, brimming with killing intent.

"Kill!" someone shouted in a low voice, "Six arrows, six lives, exchange with him!"

Yet before they reached Chen Ji, the sound of bowstrings came one after another. The assassins rushed forward, but from the corner of their eyes, they saw their comrades being shot by feathered arrows, bodies flying backward one by one.

In an instant, only four out of more than ten remained!

The assassins' pupils shrank suddenly, over ten arrows have been shot, there's a trap!

On the slope, Yangyang laughed mockingly, "Whose death soldiers are you? Courage without strategy won't end our lives, call your Chief to come!"

Yangyang seemed rugged like a mountain, yet was meticulous inside.

Before leaving, he deliberately threw out the arrow quiver and said those words, just to mislead the assassins into thinking Chen Ji only had six arrows left. When the assassins rushed out for a life exchange, they were hunted one by one by Chen Ji.

Yangyang triumphantly, "I was outside Chongli Pass, even the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry..."

While speaking, he saw birds startled not far on the slope, clearly more assassins were converging here, "Not good, run fast!"

With that, he flipped over the slope and disappeared.

Chen Ji hesitated no longer, spurring his horse up the mountain.

He urged his warhorse uphill while looking back, drawing his bow to suppress the assassins behind him, fighting while retreating.

At the halfway point, he already saw more than twenty assassins in straw coats charging from afar, dew from the morning clinging to their coats, shaking off as they ran.

Among them, the two fastest raised their heads to meet his gaze, eyes under the bamboo hats full of murderous intent.

...

...

Zhang Xia crossed the mountain and waited below, waiting for a long time before seeing Yangyang coming to join.

Zhang Zheng looked up and saw Yangyang leaving Chen Ji behind on the other side of the mountain. He was shocked, "Yangyang, why'd you leave Chen Ji alone back there?"

Yangyang retorted irritably, "Zhang Zheng, damn you, isn't my life a life too? We've been brothers for over ten years!"

Zhang Zheng raised his eyebrows, "I didn't mean it that way, but you two were supposed to be covering the retreat together, how come you ran alone?"

Yangyang sneered, "Making a fuss, the best should stay at the end for retreat. Back when our dynasty's founding ancestor fled Luocheng City, he personally covered the retreat against enemy's three hundred cavalry, shooting left and right, making the pursuers collapse at each shot, which made them give up chasing."

Zhang Zheng hesitated for a moment, "Just yesterday, heard that our ancestor was defeated at Ganzhou, today you say he was defeated at Luocheng. How did the Ning Dynasty come to be then?"

Zhang Xia, looking at the slope, said calmly, "Not surprising. Our founding ancestor experienced forty-one defeats in his life, with many ups and downs. At forty-five, he finally established the Ning Dynasty. Only those who tolerate defeat can become an emperor."

As he spoke, Chen Ji had already crossed the ridge and rushed down, "Let's go."

After he descended, Zhang Xia spurred Zaozao to follow him, "Chen Ji, these people didn't just enter the mountain today, they must have ambushed here last night. And there are definitely more than forty-two of them."

The opponents came prepared, without intending to let Chen Ji leave Fragrant Mountain alive... But who could be so determined to kill him?

Who is it?

If they couldn't even figure out who the enemy was, they wouldn't even know where to run next.

Chen Ji lay on the horse's back and closed his eyes in thought, letting the mountain wind tousle his hair.

When he opened his eyes again, he said in a volume only Zhang Xia could hear, "It's the Crown Prince."

Zhang Xia frowned in contemplation.

Chen Ji continued speculating, "Even if these death soldiers are not the Crown Prince's men, the Crown Prince must be involved. For example, outsiders like Yangyang do not believe the news of Guyuan's victory. They don't believe I killed over a hundred Heavenly Strategy Army, so if they wanted me dead, they wouldn't call such a large force, thinking a dozen would suffice."

"Only those who fought with us in Guyuan know how hard I am to kill. Only you all know that I truly killed over a hundred Heavenly Strategy Army."

Of all those who wanted Chen Ji dead, only the Crown Prince knew that killing him would cost more than a hundred lives.

Yet Chen Ji still couldn't understand why the Crown Prince wanted him dead so badly?

Could there be another reason?

Zhang Xia quietly asked, "Capture a few alive, use them as evidence to bring back to the Imperial Capital for the Hu Family, then bribe Meng Ji for interrogation in dreams. The Hu Family would surely push for deposing the heir."

Chen Ji shook his head, "The death soldiers bold enough to be used here would reveal nothing. They may only know to kill me, but not the reason, perhaps not even who raised them... We need captives, but not now."

Zhang Xia thought for a moment and said, "If there's an ambush, we can't continue to Incense Burner Peak. Yangyang and I will follow you back, exit through Red Leaf Villa, maybe there will be fewer pursuers there."

Chen Ji looked back at the circling birds in the sky, suddenly turned his horse towards the 'Eighteen Bend Mountain Road', "We can't return the same way, follow me."

Zhang Xia initially didn't understand where he was heading, but seeing the direction he took, his eyes lit up instantly.