Breathing.
The soldiers pursuing Chen Ji had been left far behind. In the vast expanse of heaven and earth, it seemed as if only the sound of his own breathing remained. The mountain wind suddenly whistled past, and the last leaves on the dead branches in the forest left their perches one by one.
As he ran, Chen Ji couldn't help but look sideways. He saw a sky full of dancing gray, withered leaves coming right at him, only to be swept up by the wind and brush past him, like the night rain of the Jianghu, or certain people and certain events. He couldn't resist reaching out to catch a withered leaf, but in his peripheral vision, a sharp black crossbow bolt shot toward him from behind, traveling against the wind. It shattered leaf after leaf until it arrived right in front of him.
The fragments of leaves fluttered about.
Chen Ji slightly tilted his head, letting the crossbow bolt nail itself into the tree trunk ahead with a "thwack." The fletching hummed and trembled ceaselessly. He looked back and saw a man in black attire stealthily following him from over ten zhang away. He was gripping a repeating crossbow and moving at an extremely fast speed.
On the forehead of the black-clad man, the characters "Yansheng" in seal script were written in cinnabar. The man's wide-open eyes were as red as blood. Though shaped like a human, his spirit was like a ghost.
Chen Ji recalled the yellow paper talisman the fisherman had drawn on the awning boat earlier, which shared the same overarching theme as the two characters "Yansheng" he was looking at now. He hadn't expected the enemy to be able to draw talismans directly on people's bodies. Seeing Chen Ji dodge his sneak attack, the black-clad man immediately pulled out an odd-looking, hollowed-out bolt from his waist pouch, preparing to load it into the repeating crossbow's mechanism.
A whistling arrow!
Once a whistling arrow was fired, it would emit a piercing shriek, drawing others to the location. This black-clad man definitely had comrades nearby! Down the mountain, instead of retreating, Chen Ji charged forward against the slope, dragging his blade along. The black-clad man also continued to advance, neither dodging nor evading.
The two drew closer and closer, sprinting like two wild beasts simultaneously. Their footsteps kicked up the fallen leaves, sending them flying in all directions.
Unable to load the whistling arrow in time, the black-clad man simply clamped it in his mouth. Then, he raised his repeating crossbow and pulled the trigger at Chen Ji. With a snap, the crossbow string vibrated on its own, and a bolt shot out fiercely. The long blade Chen Ji was dragging suddenly swept upward.
Time seemed to slow down.
The sharp edge of the blade cleaved evenly straight through the middle of the bolt. The friction between the blade and the iron arrowhead produced dazzling, brilliant sparks. Then, tracing the wood grain of the bolt's shaft, the blade cleanly split the bolt in two! The black-clad man's expression remained unchanged. Continuing forward, he continuously pulled the trigger, intent on firing all five bolts in the mechanism in one breath!
Swing! Swing! Swing!
The long blade in Chen Ji's hand collided with the bolts in mid-air, turning them into clusters of brilliant starlight.
Just as the black-clad man pulled the trigger for the fifth time, the loaded mechanism unexpectedly jammed. He lowered his head to inspect it. When he looked up again, he was shocked to see that Chen Ji had already crashed through the scattered withered leaves in the air and dragged his blade right in front of him! The youth's hair was whipped by the mountain wind, and his robes fluttered up and down.
A glance spanning ten thousand miles, a murderous intent decided for eternity!
Die!
Chen Ji swung the blade upward at a slant. When the edge reached his waist, his one-handed swing shifted to a two-handed grip. The black-clad man dropped his repeating crossbow, drew his waist saber, and chopped downward. But the moment his saber touched Chen Ji's blade, it snapped. The slash cut through the lower left of the black-clad man's abdomen and exited from the right side of his chest. A spray of fresh blood was drawn out by the blade, splashing onto a nearby tree trunk.
The black-clad man's body stiffened, and the whistling arrow clamped in his mouth dropped.
He blankly looked down at his wound. "Good blade skills, better than mine..."
Chen Ji panted heavily and retreated backward, intending to quickly break away from the battlefield.
The black-clad man slowly fell to his knees. His face pale as a sheet, he looked up at Chen Ji. "You're trying to help the Prince Heir and Commandery Princess lure away the pursuers, right? But Mister Feng is smarter than you; he has already sent men to search and capture them in the military town."
Chen Ji's pupils contracted, and his retreating footsteps slowly came to a halt.
Is he bluffing me?
No, there was no reason for the other party to bluff him at this point. Even if he bluffed his way to the truth, he wouldn't survive to pass along the message. This person was hoping to use the Prince Heir and Commandery Princess to restrain him so he could not flee in peace, eventually forcing him to return to the military town to save them. Kneeling on the ground, coughing up blood, the black-clad man smiled and said, "I've passed on Mister Feng's message. What you decide to do is your business."
Having said that, the black-clad man collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The moment the black-clad man fell, a crossbow bolt suddenly flew out from behind a tree trunk over ten paces away. Chen Ji subconsciously swung his blade to block it. With a clang, this time the crossbow bolt was not split in two; instead, the long blade in his hand snapped in response. The bolt strayed off course and scratched past Chen Ji's waist, leaving a line of blood.
Holding the broken blade, Chen Ji stumbled backward down the mountain. A few breaths later, he turned around and began to flee frantically, regardless of everything.
On the way down the mountain, Chen Ji looked at the broken blade in his hand. Only three inches of the blade remained above the hilt; it wasn't even as good as a dagger. This blade snatched from the soldiers was ultimately poorly made and unfit for heavy burden.
Should I return to the military town? I can't. This was Chen Ji's most rational judgment.
That Mister Feng was unfathomable. If he returned, it would surely mean certain death.
Moreover, he had already done everything he should have done. If the Prince Heir and the Commandery Princess still couldn't escape, then the most he could do was avenge them in the future instead of going back to throw his life away. Returning at this time held no meaning.
"Right, it's meaningless. Any normal person wouldn't go back," Chen Ji muttered to himself, as if trying to confirm something. He fled madly down the mountain, covering several meters with each step, leaving the pursuing black-clad men far behind.
However, Chen Ji suddenly stood still. The momentum caused him to slide several zhang down the mountain slope, kicking up a sky full of accumulated leaves before finally coming to a stop. He stood in place, looked up at the moonlit sky, his expression shifting and uncertain.
The mountain wind surged like an ocean tide, blowing his hair and robes backward, flapping noisily.
The next moment, standing halfway up the mountain, Chen Ji surveyed the surrounding terrain. Thoughts raced through his mind, calculating every single action he needed to take.
Chen Ji slowly closed his eyes, withdrew the furnace fire within his body, and allowed the Dantian's ice flow to spread throughout his entire body.
Carrying black cloud qi with him, he plummeted from above the firmament and landed on the Green Mountain. Before Xuanyuan could say anything, he had already picked up the Whale Blade and began running toward the rugged mountain path. "Feng Huai, come! I'm pressed for time!"
Xuanyuan teased, "Another friend to save?"
Chen Ji didn't answer.
Within the mountain forest, carrying the snow-bright Whale Blade, Chen Ji sprinted wildly.
Feng Huai wandered among the mountains, observing Chen Ji's movements from the flank while looking for an opportunity to launch an ambush.
"Wait."
Feng Huai looked at Chen Ji's silhouette and suddenly froze. He realized that this time, Chen Ji wasn't hiding his tracks as he had before, nor was he deliberately avoiding the siege. Instead, he simply dragged the man-tall Whale Blade and charged straight downhill toward the giant-axe-wielding soldier, Feng Lie. The snow-bright blade light resembled a shooting star, continuously plummeting, plummeting, and plummeting through the mountains!
Mountain Lord, tiger as well!
Feng Huai felt a jolt of alarm in his heart. This time, Chen Ji intended to defeat them one by one with paramount speed, refusing to grant them the chance to set an ambush or encircle him. Feng Huai hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs, "Feng Lie, run! Don't fight him head-on! Don't let him defeat us one by one!"
The burly Feng Lie hoisted his giant axe, turned around, and was about to run. But suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit Chen Ji, and he angrily roared, "Courageous martial prowess, ten thousand victories!"
Xuanyuan was taken aback.
Feng Huai was also taken aback. "Teacher."
He snapped his head back to look at Xuanyuan at the peak of the mountain, only to find that he could no longer discern Xuanyuan's expression.
Feng Lie slowly turned around, gripping the axe with both hands. His gaze peered at Chen Ji from afar, and his fighting spirit soared like the high tide of a black ocean crashing against reefs with terrifying waves.
"Ten thousand victories!" Carrying his giant axe, Feng Lie crashed toward Chen Ji. The two of them were like the most reckless and isolated beasts between heaven and earth, one coming down the mountain, one going up the mountain, charging to meet each other head-on in a fight to the death.
The blade dragging in Chen Ji's hand was lifted bit by bit. The forty-one furnace fires in his body began to rumble. Finally, he abruptly leaped high into the air, twirling the blade edge over his head, as if his murderous intent was also climbing to the azure firmament alongside the blade!
Heaven has three treasures: the sun, the moon, and the stars.
Man has three treasures: essence, qi, and spirit!
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing resonated between heaven and earth, deafening like a martial dao sound.
Feng Lie's giant axe clashed with the Whale Blade. The power transmitted from the blade shocked his hands numb, nearly forcing him to drop the axe.
He was pushed backward several paces by the strike. Just as he was about to step forward to engage the enemy again, he discovered that Chen Ji had already brushed past him like a gust of wind, and the back of the Whale Blade trailed across his neck like flowing water.
From utmost hardness shifting to utmost softness, changing at will.
Clean and decisive.
Feng Lie dropped the giant axe and slowly slumped onto the ground. However, he harbored no indignation or unwillingness corresponding to failure; he just chuckled good-naturedly. "Teacher, you've returned."
Chen Ji didn't answer. He turned around, raised the cavalry-lance-like long blade, and pointed it remotely toward Feng Huai up on the mountain.
Before he could say anything, Xuanyuan's grand voice echoed from the mountain peak: "There is no need to fight with Feng Huai anymore. You can take the blade with you."
Chen Ji let out a sigh of relief. Leaning on the Whale Blade, which reached his eyebrows, he bent over and panted.
Xuanyuan walked down the mountain with long strides and gazed at him from a distance of over ten zhang. "Why did you utter the words 'ten thousand victories'?"
Chen Ji let out an "ah" sound. "I don't know why either. I wanted to holler out a shout at the time, so that's just what I yelled."
Xuanyuan shot him a deep look. "With a single strike sweeping all essence, qi, and spirit clean, I don't advise that you return right now to engage in slaughter."
Chen Ji shook his head. "I can't. There are still people waiting for me."
Xuanyuan sneered, "You certainly have quite a few friends these days."
Chen Ji panted for a moment and casually mocked back, "It seems like you don't have many friends."
Xuanyuan's black king's robes fluttered in the wind. He calmly looked down at Chen Ji, a trace of ridicule flashing in his eyes. "The character for 'King' (王) comprises heaven, earth, and man (the three horizontal lines), with a single vertical line running straight through the middle. Isolation runs right through it all from beginning to end. Once a person becomes a king, they will have no friends."
Chen Ji: "Then you're quite pathetic."
Xuanyuan laughed heartily. "Those were your words to me in the past!"
Chen Ji was stunned. "That can't be right; I'm not that kind of person."
Xuanyuan looked silently into Chen Ji's eyes and didn't speak anymore. He gently waved his robe sleeve, expelling Chen Ji from the Green Mountain dreamscape.
At the foot of the Green Mountain, Feng Huai and Feng Lie returned to the military formation, repeating the daily slaughter once again.
Upon the Green Mountain, Xuanyuan leaned on the king's banner and looked at the turbulent sea of clouds outside the mountain. He suddenly found himself musing; if it was the current Chen Ji back then, perhaps everything would have been different.
Deep in the mountain forest.
Chen Ji stood still with his eyes closed, remaining motionless.
A black-clad man with the word "Yansheng" written in scarlet on his forehead was quietly sneaking up behind him, soundlessly drawing his waist saber, and forcefully swinging it down.
In the next instant, Chen Ji suddenly opened his eyes and delivered a backhanded slash. The snow-bright gleam of the blade cleanly bisected the black-clad man's long saber, severed his head, and split his chest and abdomen in halves.
[Author's Note: I received an IV drip for two days, and my fever broke this morning. The doctor suggested I have surgery to remove my gallbladder, but my intention is to keep my gallbladder. I don't want to be a cowardly rat without gall. So, let's treat it conservatively with anti-inflammatories for now. Updates are resuming at present. I might go to Shanghai in a bit to get a checkup.]
(End of Chapter)