Green Mountain

Chapter 538 400: Crimson Leaves Across the Mountains

Moonlight.

The moonlight shrouded the night forest with a layer of misty glow.

A beam of moonlight pierced through the leaves, illuminating the ground and turning a patch of decaying leaves silver-white.

The next moment, a foot stepped into the moonlight, crushing it along with the decaying leaves.

Chen Ji breathed heavily as he fled, and behind him came the sound of startled birds.

Birds generally fall asleep within an hour after sunset and sleep until the fifth night watch.

They would never fly into the sky unless there was danger.

Chen Ji stood halfway up the mountain and looked back, only to see flocks of birds startled into the air. The flocks, forming a straight line, angrily pointed toward him.

It seemed like a fierce war chariot was climbing over mountains, passing through forests, and heading straight for him.

Why was the opponent's target so precise?

Chen Ji instinctively glanced at the wound on his wrist. The bleeding had long stopped, but the wound had yet to heal. He remembered the Five Mad Soldiers who desperately wanted to leave a wound on him, perhaps that was the crux of why they could pinpoint him.

Escape!

Chen Ji continued fleeing northward; he had been fleeing for a day, his legs aching. Behind him, however, the Five Mad Soldiers seemed like fires that never tired or extinguished.

The startled bird flocks behind him drew closer, and the Five Mad Soldiers showed no concealment, as if they didn't care whether Chen Ji noticed their arrival.

Chen Ji heard footsteps behind him. He looked back and saw the Five Mad Soldiers holding Bone Spears advancing the fastest: the Temple-Destroyer Five Mad Soldiers.

The Temple-Destroyer Five Mad Soldiers with Bone Spears gradually encircled from the sides, until Chen Ji could hear their footsteps in the forest.

At that moment, a Temple-Destroyer Five Mad Soldier suddenly charged out from the woodland, moving far faster than Chen Ji.

Under the moonlight in the forest, the Temple-Destroyer Five Mad Soldier dragged his Bone Spear and ran ahead, with Chen Ji chasing behind.

The two were positioned one in front of the other; it seemed as if Chen Ji was pursuing the Five Mad Soldier.

In the next moment, the Temple-Destroyer Five Mad Soldier abruptly twisted his body, executing a counter-thrust!

He stretched his arms like a bow, and the Bone Spear brushed past his chest like an arrow. This counter-thrust was thunderous and dragon-like, aimed directly at Chen Ji's face!

But the Temple-Destroyer Five Mad Soldier was suddenly startled in his heart!

Chen Ji seemed to know the trajectory of the counter-thrust ahead of time. He lightly leaped and gently landed on the tip of the spear. Chen Ji squatted on the tip, holding a bow in his left hand, and had already fully drawn the bowstring with his right.

With a snap, the bowstring vibrated, and the feathered arrow pierced through the eye socket of the white bone mask.

As Chen Ji stepped on the Bone Spear, he leaped again, over the head of the Temple-Destroyer Five Mad Soldier, continuing his mad dash northward.

Behind him, only the Temple-Destroyer Five Mad Soldier remained frozen in the counter-thrust posture before disintegrating into white ash under the moonlight.

When the wildfire in the Five Mad Soldier's eyes extinguished, a Molten Flow poured from him into Chen Ji's body: the five hundred and sixty-seventh, five hundred and sixty-eighth furnace flames were ignited.

This was the ninth Five Mad Soldier killed by Chen Ji, and the eighteenth furnace flame he acquired.

Nobody knew that when the Five Mad Soldiers appeared, the furnace flames in Chen Ji's body began to flicker wildly, and the Ice Flow surged ceaselessly in the Dantian.

He could see the wildfires in the eyes of the Five Mad Soldiers.

Even across mountains and trees, those flares resembled someone holding a torch in the night, conspicuously bright.

When Chen Ji lured the Five Mad Soldiers to the Crown Prince, he hid under the boulder. He feared most that the Five Mad Soldiers could also see the furnace flames on his body, but he could see theirs, while they could not see his.

Every time he killed a Five Mad Soldier, the wildfire in his opponent's eyes would flow like a Molten Flow into his body, igniting two furnace flames. This was the first time he had obtained Molten Flow from something other than ginseng; it was as if... as if those flames were originally meant for him.

They belonged to him since the dawn of time.

Chen Ji didn't know where these Five Mad Soldiers came from or why their wildfire would ignite his own furnace. He just felt inexplicably melancholic, as if they should have known each other for a long time.

Since the dawn of time, they have known each other.

As he pondered, a horn sounded behind him, the call somber and heavy, yet majestic and commanding. The wildfires within the forest frenzied.

Chen Ji had no time to ponder, continuing his flight north.

...

...

As Chen Ji sprinted, his right hand touched the last two feathered arrows in the Arrow Quiver at his waist, forming a plan in his mind.

While considering, he suddenly drew his bowstring.

The feathered arrow shot straight into the shadowy area in front, piercing the Five Mad Soldier hiding in the shadows, turning them into white smoke and dispersing.

The tenth one!

The formidable presence of the Five Mad Soldiers behind Chen Ji was initially intended to create intimidation and draw Chen Ji's attention allowing their colleagues to ambush ahead, yet Chen Ji foresaw the ambush, rendering it useless.

Just as Chen Ji was about to pass a large tree, a Five Mad Soldier wielding a Broadsword emerged from behind the tree and slashed down.

Chen Ji foresaw it again, sidestepping in advance to avoid the blade. As he brushed past, his hand stabbed a feathered arrow into the opponent's chin.

The eleventh one!

The feathered arrows were exhausted.

The Whale Blade remained in the Chen family's Silver Apricot Garden, previously unable to carry it when urgently sent for the spring hunt; along the way, he only had twelve feathered arrows he took from an Eastern Palace attendant.

And now, not a single arrow remained.

Someone in the forest blew the horn, its call urgent and wild. As the horn fell silent, it seemed all the Five Mad Soldiers knew Chen Ji's feathered arrows were depleted and approached menacingly.

Nine soldiers of the Five Mad Soldiers carrying bone spears flanked from both sides, four on the left and five on the right. They dashed through the mountains and forests, like leopards on the hunt.

As they gradually surpassed Chen Ji, a whistle suddenly pierced through, and the soldiers on both sides closed in towards Chen Ji, as if two palms were about to clap him in between.

Yet, at that moment, a thin, bamboo-leaf-like black sword seed glided out from the patterns on Chen Ji's skin, crawling along his arm and slipping out of his sleeve.

In the dark night, the black sword seed became invisible, accompanied only by a hissing sound as it tore through the air.

In the instant when the Five Mad Soldiers were about to complete the encirclement, the black sword seed struck like a snake's tongue, piercing through the eye socket of a white bone mask.

The twelfth person!

The sword seed turned sharply in the air, stabbing at another white bone mask among the Five Mad Soldiers, whose figure suddenly halted, raising a bone spear in defense.

The speed of the Black Iron Sword Seed was inferior to a feathered arrow, and as the opponent was prepared, they immediately responded, creating a clash of metal as the bone spear collided with the sword seed!

The sword seed retreated, achieving nothing.

Fortunately, these two strikes forcibly created a gap in the encirclement, allowing Chen Ji to narrowly escape the siege by the Five Mad Soldiers.

Strangely, the Five Mad Soldiers paused behind him.

In Chen Ji's perception, each member of the Five Mad Soldiers stopped in their tracks, as if witnessing something incredible.

Someone hesitantly asked, "Is it a sword seed?"

The one who blocked a strike with his bone spear lowered his gaze to the spear, staring at the mark made by the sword, utterly certain: "It's a sword seed!"

The Five Mad Soldiers suddenly erupted, "Sword seed!"

"It's a sword seed!"

With the blaring of horns, four horn blasts echoed one after another, igniting wildfires in agitation.

Upon hearing the words "sword seed," Chen Ji was startled.

He had assumed that this group of Five Mad Soldiers wouldn't recognize a sword seed, so he deliberately used up his feathered arrows, saving the sword seed as his trump card. Unexpectedly, as soon as these Five Mad Soldiers saw the sword seed, they instantly recognized it!

Strange, where on earth did these Five Mad Soldiers come from, and why did they react so excitedly upon seeing a sword seed?

At that moment, a Centurion arrived in front of the Five Mad Soldiers. His hand, marked with corpse spots, gently stroked the bone spear as a furious fire danced in his eyes, "It's a sword seed."

The Five Mad Soldiers roared, "Kill!"

The Centurion abruptly raised his head, gazing at Chen Ji's receding figure, "A heir of the sword seed, no wonder he carries the style of the Feng character camp. It wasn't an illusion earlier; it's indeed the legacy of the Feng character camp's skills. Strange, wasn't the Feng character camp extinct?"

The Five Mad Soldiers surrounded the Centurion, shouting in unison: "Kill or not!"

The Centurion sneered coldly, "Kill him, dismember him, and bury him in the wilderness; otherwise, how can we alleviate the hatred in our hearts?"

As his words fell, the Five Mad Soldiers moved out in full force, pursuing in the direction where Chen Ji fled.

The Centurion, wielding a long knife, surveyed the distant mountains and observed the terrain. He silently gestured to two near him, members of the Five Mad Soldiers specialized in soul-gathering and restriction-setting, caused them to split left and right with white bone banners raised, heading off with severed heads.

…

…

As Chen Ji fled, he felt that the Five Mad Soldiers behind him had gone mad. The wildfires followed like a surging tide, and two flames wound around the mountains from the sides, as if attempting to intercept his path, moving at a tremendous speed.

He couldn't help but wonder if there was some misunderstanding. Could it be that he was bearing someone else's grudge? However, the Five Mad Soldiers would never give him a chance to explain.

Stopping to explain now was tantamount to handing over his life to others.

Chen Ji sensed the two fires encircling him and moved eastward along the mountainside, trying to avoid them. But as soon as he changed direction, the horns sounded again behind him, and the two flames shifted course accordingly.

Relentless.

Chen Ji glanced at the sky; the moon was halfway, and in another four hours it would be dawn.

He quickly contemplated: these Five Mad Soldiers couldn't exist forever; how long must he hold out until they disperse?

It was uncertain; he couldn't place his hopes here.

Chen Ji swiftly surveyed the terrain; this was the Ladder Cloud Peak of Fragrant Mountain, and further north was the Clear Cloud Peak of West Mountain, with a West Mountain Clear Snow Pavilion situated there.

Is there any advantageous terrain ahead that he could use? If he could hold such a position like he did at the Dragon Gate Inn, perhaps there would be a glimmer of hope.

But he was unfamiliar with this place and did not know where to stand firm.

Rely on the sword seed? The sword seed was sharp and cunning, perfect for piercing through the wildfires in the eyes of the Five Mad Soldiers, but the speed of the Black Iron Sword Seed was inferior to feathered arrows, too easily blocked.

Hold on.

Xuanyuan once mentioned a Land of Hidden Swords: "Wherever the red leaves scatter over mountains, a stone tortoise swallows a sword..."

In the autumn, wouldn't the yellow loquat trees of Fragrant Mountain be covered in red? Many people assume that the red leaves of Fragrant Mountain refer to maple leaves, but actually, the red leaves are the scenic creation of round red leaves of the yellow loquat trees in autumn.

But where does the clue of 'wherever the red leaves scatter' point?

Is it directed at the edge of Fragrant Mountain? If it refers to the edge of Fragrant Mountain... that's too vast, requiring a full circle around Fragrant Mountain.

No!

No!

The yellow loquat trees love warmth, so they grow on sunlit southern slopes of Fragrant Mountain, while the shady sides are mostly pines. Therefore, loquat trees often grow in the foothills or slopes, with pines at the mountain tops.

So, the Land of Hidden Swords must either be at the mountaintop or on some shady slope.

Chen Ji pondered, recalling Xuanyuan's final phrase: "A stone tortoise swallows a sword," as stone tortoises typically stand at the foot or summit for placing steles or observing...

The Land of Hidden Swords is at the mountaintop!