Chapter 400: The Mastermind Behind the Scenes

The warhorse galloped wildly through the plum trees, and the biting wind, like a glass of strong liquor, cut into his lungs like a knife as he breathed. The low branches of the plum trees scraped painfully across his face. Chen Ji, hunched on his horse's back, looked back to see the Five Fiends' cavalry close behind. The "Mountain Roamer Hunter" among them was already drawing a bone bow, silently taking aim at him.

He suddenly reined his horse, turning and fleeing northeast. A sharp bone arrow grazed his back, cutting off a lock of his hair.

Feng Dao Jiegou, who carried no bow or arrows, struck a stone with his long saber, sending it whistling towards Chen Ji. Chen Ji instinctively blocked with the horn bow in his hand; the stone shattered with a clang, and his hand was numb with pain from the impact!

He was no match for them.

He wondered how long these Five Fiends' cavalry, summoned by lives and blood, could last. Corpses rot, fires extinguish—eventually, they would dissipate!

But how long could he possibly hold out?

Chen Ji had no answer.

He stroked the warhorse's mane; sweat was already seeping through its fine coat. An ordinary warhorse typically needs to slow to a trot for the duration of one incense stick to recover stamina and lower its body temperature after galloping for three. His warhorse wouldn't last much longer, but the Five Fiends' horses seemed tireless!

Furthermore, he wondered if these Five Fiends' cavalry could sense his location, or if they had to rely on clues to track him. Chen Ji suddenly looked up to get his bearings. The next moment, he squeezed the horse's flanks and accelerated again, charging towards Furongping!

North of Plum Valley, there was only one mountain path. It wound upwards along the ridge, leading to Furongping on the mountainside, and then descended via a small path on the north side.

In just the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Chen Ji saw faint figures moving in the distance ahead on the mountain path. He said nothing, urging his warhorse to go faster.

Ahead, Mr. Liao was frantically carrying the Crown Prince. Hearing the sound of hooves, he looked back to see Chen Ji galloping towards them, with the thundering sound of iron hooves rolling through the forest close behind.

Mr. Liao was enraged: "You scoundrel, this will be our end!"

Chen Ji calmly said, "Your humble subordinate is here to protect Your Highness!"

The Crown Prince looked back. He didn't understand how Chen Ji had broken through the encirclement, nor why those Five Fiends' cavalry had been drawn to their proximity by Chen Ji!

What about the others? Were they still alive?

Mr. Liao was consumed by rage. As the sound of hooves grew closer, he suddenly turned around, his face transforming to don a red, fanged mask! The mask's mouth opened, exhaling a puff of black smoke directly towards Chen Ji behind him! Inside the black smoke, dozens of hands tore continuously, as if trying to rip the smoke apart! The black smoke, like a dark auspicious cloud, swirled and flew towards Chen Ji, but Chen Ji had no intention of getting entangled with it.

He forcefully swung his horn bow, striking the warhorse's flank, then leaped off, rolling down the side of the mountain path, just barely avoiding the swirling black cloud!

When Chen Ji landed at the bottom of the slope, he halted after two rolls, clutching his horn bow tightly and hiding behind a large boulder. The warhorse, startled, bolted, its speed increasing without Chen Ji's weight on its back! It galloped along the narrow mountain path towards Mr. Liao. Just as it was about to collide, Mr. Liao, carrying the Crown Prince, flashed to the side to avoid the warhorse! He originally wanted to chase Chen Ji again to vent his anger, but then heard the approaching hoofbeats of the Five Fiends' cavalry from halfway up the mountain. He had no choice but to continue fleeing for his life.

Chen Ji hid beneath the boulder, clutching the horn bow tightly in his right hand, and nocking a feathered arrow onto the string with his left, ready to shoot at any moment!

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

He silently listened as the hoofbeats of the Five Fiends' cavalry grew closer, his grip tightening until sweat formed in his palms. When the hoofbeats were almost upon him, he suddenly held his breath.

Would he be discovered?

The next moment, the Five Fiends' cavalry swept past, the thunder of hooves galloping right over Chen Ji's head. The Five Fiends' cavalry did not spare a glance at Chen Ji's hiding place, and continued to pursue along the mountain path.

Chen Ji listened in silence again until the hoofbeats faded into the distance. Only then did he let out a long sigh of relief, and began leaping and scrambling down the mountain like mad.

North. Always north.

He didn't know if Mr. Liao or the Crown Prince would die, nor did he know if the Five Fiends' cavalry would pursue him again, or when. He could only use all his might to escape as far as possible before the Five Fiends' cavalry realized what had happened.

Feng Dao Jiegou's Five Fiends' cavalry rode along the mountain path, which ascended along the ridge. Looking south, the mountains below resembled green lotuses.

Feng Dao Jiegou suddenly stopped the pursuit. He reined in his horse and stood still, holding his eight-foot-long saber, quietly looking at the mountains and rivers. His expression hidden beneath a white bone mask, he softly said, "Take a look, everyone. Who knows how long it will be before we see such a sight again!"

Dozens of the Five Fiends' cavalry actually stopped on the ridge, silently gazing at the boundless green mountains and the clouds rolling and unrolling. The mountain wind swept across the ridge, making their straw capes tremble gently.

No possessions, no self.

This scenery, often seen by those living in the world, is rarely cherished. Yet on this ridge, at this very moment, were the "people" who cherished this scenery the most in all the world!

Feng Dao Jiegou chuckled softly: "Let's go. First, we finish our task. This world has no place for us!"

As his words fell, he urged his horse up the mountain again, moving even faster than before, seemingly tireless. The rest of the Five Fiends' cavalry followed close behind, holding their white bone banners high.

After two hours of pursuit, when they reached Furongping, their view suddenly opened up. From a distance, Feng Dao Jiegou saw Mr. Liao frantically carrying the Crown Prince.

At this moment, Mr. Liao looked back to see the Five Fiends' cavalry approaching with chilling murderous intent. Knowing he couldn't outrun them while carrying the Crown Prince, he slowly stopped and put the Crown Prince down.

Mr. Liao whispered, "Your Highness, continue running along the mountain path. In another three miles, you will reach the Xishan Qingxue Pavilion, where our people are ambushed! Your old servant will definitely buy you half an hour, even if it means my death; I will hold them back!"

The Crown Prince whispered, "Mr. Liao, you shouldn't have brought me to flee. Rather than dying here, it would be better for me to die with some integrity!"

Mr. Liao urgently replied, "Your Highness, the rise and fall of the empire rests on you. His Majesty is obsessed with cultivating immortality, and the Prince of Fortune wastes his time with debauchery. When will the thousand-year wars of the two dynasties end? How will the common people survive? Now, the Jing Dynasty faces chaos, and a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity is at hand. Your Highness has endured for so long; what harm is there in enduring a little longer? You cannot die here."

The Crown Prince smiled helplessly, "Mr. Liao, you can't hold them off for that long, and I can't run that far either!"

However, as the two of them spoke, Feng Dao Jiegou, saber in hand, called out from a distance, "Where is the young man who came up on horseback earlier?"

Mr. Liao was startled, and immediately pointed behind the Five Fiends' cavalry: "Just now on the ridge, he abandoned his horse and went down the mountain."

Feng Dao Jiegou slowly turned his head to look behind him, ignoring Mr. Liao and the Crown Prince, and reined his horse to move: "Mountain Roamer Hunters, heed my command!"

Ten 'Mountain Roamer Hunter' Five Fiends' cavalry, carrying bone bows and bone arrows, clasped their fists: "Here!"

Feng Dao Jiegou calmly said, "Bring his head back before sunset!"

"Yes." The ten 'Mountain Roamer Hunter' Five Fiends' cavalry immediately dismounted and, astonishingly, like geckos, climbed down the steep cliff face, disappearing into the forest in a flash, traversing mountains and ridges as if on flat ground. The rest of the Five Fiends' cavalry also dismounted and went down the mountain, but they were not as swift as the 'Mountain Roamer Hunter' Five Fiends' cavalry.

In the blink of an eye, Furongping was empty.

The Crown Prince came to the edge of the cliff at Furongping and stood facing the wind. Looking down, he could only see the mountain shrubs swaying, but could not discern the figures of the Five Fiends' cavalry. For a moment, he felt disoriented, even a sense of absurdity.

Mr. Liao reminded him from behind, "Your Highness, do not get too close to the cliff!"

The Crown Prince replied without turning his head, "At first, I thought these were our men, but then I realized they weren't!"

Mr. Liao whispered, "Our men are still at the Xishan Qingxue Pavilion. It was originally planned for the third day of the spring hunt, to act only after he separated from Miss Zhang! Moreover, Your Highness instructed us to make it look like an accident, so your old servant would naturally not act so ruthlessly!"

The Crown Prince wondered, "Then who could it be?"

Mr. Liao did not answer.

After a long while, the Crown Prince suddenly asked, "Mr. Liao, do you think my imperial brother died a martyr?"

Mr. Liao said gravely, "Certainly not. With Zhou Kuang and Yangyang there, those monstrous things would have to expend some effort even if they wanted to kill the Prince of Fortune! It must be that young man Chen Ji, who used some trick to lure these monstrous things away and relieve the Prince of Fortune!"

The Crown Prince sighed softly, "How unfair!"

Mr. Liao was startled for a moment, "What does Your Highness mean?"

The Crown Prince smiled, "Heaven always seems to joke with me. When I served as an academic official, I selected talents for the court and promoted scholars from humble backgrounds, but I was criticized for building factions. When investigating the private minting of copper coins, I negotiated with those aristocratic families and gentry. My imperial father wanted me to show an iron fist, but if it were truly that simple, wouldn't he have already executed those who privately minted copper coins?

"I've done so much, yet it still can't compare to my imperial brother's indulgence in feasting and merrymaking! My imperial brother can do anything, but I can't even choose a Junior Palace Attendant or a Right Commander! I also wish to bring joy to my parents, and I also wish to be just a filial son! It truly is hardest to be the Crown Prince in this world!"

Mr. Liao's expression was earnest: "Please, Your Highness, just bear it a little longer, just a little longer."

"This time, I will bear the infamy of breaking my integrity, yet my imperial brother can easily live on with the reputation of loyalty, bravery, and righteousness! If only I had left a little later, perhaps everything would have been different!"

Mr. Liao knelt behind him: "Your old servant deserves to die."

The Crown Prince shook his head: "It's not your fault! However, Mr. Liao, they cannot return to the capital alive. Only if they die can my reputation be preserved!"

Mr. Liao was startled: "Your old servant understands, I will go at once!"

The 'Mountain Roamer Hunter' Five Fiends' cavalry searched along the ridge. They were like hounds, their eyes scanning the forest for clues, not missing a single detail. They searched all the way down the mountain until they reached the spot where Chen Ji had abandoned his horse. One of the 'Mountain Roamer Hunter' Five Fiends' cavalry suddenly raised his right hand, clenching it into a fist.

The next moment, the remaining nine Fiend soldiers simultaneously gathered close, looking down at the broken grass stems on the ground—marks left by Chen Ji when he rolled down the mountainside. Their eyes followed the clues downwards. One of the Fiend soldiers silently leaped onto the large boulder where Chen Ji had hidden, squatting down and looking closely.

With just one glance, he made his deduction: "This person was hiding behind the boulder! At that time, we must have been passing right over his head. How audacious!"

Having said that, his gaze then followed the broken grass stems down the mountain, his eyes seemingly leaping with Chen Ji's own jumping rhythm. This 'Mountain Roamer Hunter' squad leader whispered, "He's running fast, but not as fast as us! He's not familiar with the wilderness!"

A Fiend soldier softly reminded him, "Before sunset!"

The squad leader calmly said, "He won't escape!"

Meanwhile, Chen Ji was traversing mountains and ridges, intending to leave Xiangshan first and foremost. At one point, he was pondering, hesitating about who had sent the assassins. Initially, both he and Zhang Xia were certain it was the Crown Prince, but now it didn't seem so.

If they were truly the Crown Prince's people, why would the Crown Prince abandon his reputation and flee?

Strange! Strange! Strange!

Chen Ji's thoughts raced, quickly pondering the causes and effects, feeling as if he had overlooked something. If not the Crown Prince, then who could it be? In the battle at Guyuan, who else knew the inside story of the Dragon Gate Inn?

Zhang Xia, Zhang Zheng, the Crown Prince, Qi Zhenzhuo, Xiaoman, Chen Liqin, Chen Wenzong, Chen Wenxiao, Lady Liang, Wang Gui!

Wait!

Chen Ji suddenly realized that he seemed to have overlooked two inconspicuous people earlier.

Lady Liang, Wang Gui!

Lady Liang.

When Chen Liqin was transferred to Jinling to serve as a vice-prefect, she stayed in the Chen manor on the pretext of looking after Chen Wenzong, but her calculations were definitely not so simple. In Lady Liang's heart, she held a grudge against him for killing her son. Most critically, Lady Liang also knew what he had done in Guyuan, but she lacked the means to keep assassins. She would have to borrow someone else's power to kill him—a power that not only could maintain hundreds of assassins, but also hated him to the core and would not rest until he was dead!

The Chen family's second branch, Chen Lizhi.

If these were assassins sent by Chen Lizhi, everything would make sense. This person was cunning and capable! Given the resources of the Chen family's second branch, maintaining hundreds of assassins and undercover agents would not be difficult.

But there was still one thing that didn't make sense: if Chen Lizhi's only goal was to prevent him from being adopted into the main branch, he wouldn't need to take such a huge risk, even going so far as to have assassins impersonate the Relief Guards! If this matter were investigated, it would be a capital crime leading to the extermination of his entire clan!

If it really was Chen Lizhi, why did Chen Lizhi absolutely have to kill him?

The young monk.

Chen Ji suddenly realized there was only one explanation: the young monk must have seen an enormous secret in Chen Lizhi's mind! What secret did the young monk see in Chen Lizhi's mind that made Chen Lizhi so determined to kill him?

This is bad; the young monk is in danger.