“Chen Ji, do you have something against me?”

“No.”

Zhang Xia widened her eyes: “Then why are you so polite and kind in front of the Princess, but you’ve never given me a pleasant look? When I asked if your cat eats food given by strangers, you replied, ‘Does it make sense for it to eat strangers?’”

Chen Ji leaned silently against a large tree, resting on his sword. The mountain forest fell into a deadly silence.

Earlier, the sounds of Mr. Feng fighting with the Celestial Horse occasionally echoed from the mountain; the tearing of wood fibers as trees fell could be heard from a great distance.

Now, the sounds of fighting had also ceased.

The four of them looked at each other, their faces smudged with burning ash, as black as coal miners who had just emerged from a mine.

The Prince suddenly spoke, trying to lighten the mood: “Bai Li, let me wipe your face for you.”

As he spoke, he began to roll up his sleeve to wipe it.

Bai Li, however, weakly pushed his hand away, grumbling, “Are you trying to write ‘King’ on my forehead again?”

They looked at each other, and as they did, they burst out laughing.

The Prince looked first at Zhang Xia, then at Chen Ji, and suddenly sighed with emotion: “We’ve all faced life and death together, so if there were any past grudges, let’s put them aside now.”

Zhang Xia pondered for a moment, then generously patted the dust from her clothes, walked up to Chen Ji, and solemnly said, “I’m sorry. I know you’re upset that I said ‘human lives are more important than cat lives’ earlier. Thinking back now, if Zaobao were in a sea of fire, I would also try to save it. I’m truly sorry.”

She pressed the oil-paper package into Chen Ji’s hand: “This is all for you.”

Chen Ji looked down at the pastries in his hand, surprised by Zhang Xia’s honesty.

He was silent for a moment before saying, “Thank you also for coming to find me. If you hadn’t knocked over so many soldiers and started this mountain fire, I might not have escaped alive.”

Zhang Xia shook her head: “There’s no need to say that. If you hadn’t led us into the military town earlier, we would have frozen to death in the mountains long ago.”

The Prince looked exasperated: “Stop, stop! Why are we suddenly being so polite to each other? You’re giving me goosebumps! Where are we going now?”

Chen Ji took out a pastry and held it to Wu Yun’s mouth: “We need to get to Luhun Villa as quickly as possible. Many scholars gather there, and both the Daoist and Buddhist sects have a presence. Even if the Liu family finds our tracks, they wouldn’t dare make a move there. Prince, Miss Zhang, you and the Princess should ride the horses. I’ll lead the way.”

Zhang Xia said with difficulty, “But Zaobao can’t carry us anymore.”

Chen Ji looked at Zaobao, and saw the chestnut warhorse, drenched in sweat, steaming in the faint light of the winter dawn.

After intense exercise, horses can enter a state of high temperature and dehydration, making recovery difficult. They need large amounts of cool water to rinse and cool down to prevent organ failure.

Zaobao had been carrying three people up the mountain for so long that it was already at its limit. If it carried anyone else, it would likely be exhausted to death on the road.

Chen Ji looked at Bai Li again, hesitating slightly.

Earlier, in the urgency of the situation, Bai Li had been unconscious, so he could carry her.

Now that she was awake, it would be somewhat inappropriate for him to carry her again.

The Prince quickly said, “I’ll carry Bai Li.”

With that, he bent down in front of Bai Li.

Bai Li insisted, “Brother, I can walk for a while myself.”

The Prince said with a smile, “You still have a fever and can’t even stand steadily. How are you going to escape? If I don’t bring you back safe and sound, Father will surely hang me from the rafters and whip me for a year. Come on, be obedient.”

Bai Li softly hummed in agreement and lay on the Prince’s back.

Chen Ji suddenly wondered if the Liu family’s rebellion truly had nothing to do with Prince Jing.

The Liu family wanted to capture the Prince and Princess simply because they knew Prince Jing cared about them, and they intended to use their lives as leverage.

If Prince Jing had already colluded with the Liu family, there would have been no need for the Liu family to do this at all.

The four walked down the mountain. As they walked, the Prince, exhausted, slipped backward. Fortunately, Chen Ji was quick-witted and grabbed Bai Li’s back, preventing both of them from falling to the ground.

Chen Ji softly said, “Prince, let me carry the Princess. You’re an ordinary person; you won’t be able to carry her far or fast.”

The Prince looked back at Bai Li, embarrassed.

Bai Li thought for a moment, didn’t mention walking on her own, and weakly said, “Brother, let Chen Ji do it.”

The Prince sighed: “Alright.”

Chen Ji tied the Whale Blade to Zaobao’s saddle, then, supporting Bai Li’s legs, carried her on his back and walked steadily down the mountain.

Bai Li gently rested her head on his shoulder: “Chen Ji, thank you.”

Chen Ji smiled: “There’s nothing to thank me for. Didn’t the Prince say it? We’re now comrades who’ve faced life and death together.”

Bai Li hummed in agreement, and after a long while, sighed with emotion: “I can’t believe we survived. By the way, people say that only before death do you realize your biggest wish in life. Brother, Zhang Xia, what were your wishes earlier?”

The Prince laughed heartily: “I’m a bit greedy; I have two wishes. Earlier, in that ironworks in the military town, I wished we hadn’t encountered this ambush. That way, we’d be at Luhun Villa right now, drinking all night, and I heard there are many unusual women there too.”

Chen Ji asked, “And now?”

The Prince’s smile slowly faded: “Now, I want to quickly find a path to cultivation and become an official practitioner. Otherwise, I can’t even protect my own sister.”

Chen Ji said, “Then you wouldn’t be able to remain the Prince.”

The Prince scoffed, “So be it if I can’t. My father is only forty-five. It’ll be at least twenty more years before it’s my turn to be Prince Jing. If he lives long enough, he might even outlive me.”

Bai Li angrily said, “Aren’t you cursing Father to only live to his sixties? Quick, spit, spit, spit!”

The Prince: “Spit, spit, spit.”

Bai Li looked at Zhang Xia: “Zhang Xia, what’s your wish?”

Zhang Xia, holding Zaobao’s reins, casually said as she walked down the mountain, “My greatest wish right now is to prepare a large wooden tub and have a good hot bath.”

Bai Li pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked Chen Ji, “Chen Ji, earlier my father said he owed you a favor and would grant you a request. Have you thought about what you want to ask him for now?”

Chen Ji chuckled: “I want to ask Prince Jing to find the best craftsman to forge a scabbard for my blade. The Prince just said it casually back then; if I make an exorbitant request, it would make me seem unobservant.”

Bai Li softly hummed in understanding, and after a long while, she spoke: “That’s not difficult. I’ll find someone to make that scabbard and send it to you.”

Chen Ji was startled for a moment: “Okay.”

Speaking of the Whale Blade, the Prince asked curiously, “Chen Ji, where did your blade come from?”

Chen Ji replied with a smile, “I picked it up in the mountains. Since it felt quite handy, I kept it with me.”

The Prince examined the Whale Blade. Its body was gleaming, completely rust-free, and the golden tiger on its guard was strikingly lifelike. It didn’t look at all like an ownerless item found in the mountains.

Just as he was about to press further, he heard Wu Yun let out a soft meow.

Chen Ji suddenly tensed up, leading the Prince and the others to hide behind a clump of bushes.

Zhang Xia didn’t ask any questions but led Zaobao to lie down.

Chen Ji whispered, “Don’t make a sound.”

The next moment, Mr. Feng strolled out of the forest, followed by Jiang Yan, who limped along, leading two warhorses.

Upon seeing the two, Chen Ji’s scalp tingled instantly, and he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

He carefully scanned the forest behind them, but saw no sign of the Golden Pig or the Celestial Horse!

Dead? Or had they escaped?

Chen Ji couldn’t have imagined that after escaping so far, they would encounter them here.

Were they being pursued, or was it truly a coincidence that they took the same path?

At that moment, Mr. Feng hummed a tune, passing not far from them without turning his head, seemingly unaware of their presence.

The tune was somewhat strange: “Construction, planning, marriage, Gen Palace Vuyin, Kun Palace Fanyin, Xun Palace enters grave, Zhen Palace constrained, life endlessly flowing.”

Chen Ji was suddenly puzzled. Weren’t they here to pursue him? Was it really just a coincidence?

Indeed, there weren’t many paths to avoid the fire’s spread in the mountain now, so it made sense that they had taken the same one.

Fortunately, Wu Yun’s hearing and sense of smell far surpassed humans’, or they would have run right into them.

He looked closely; Jiang Yan had a bloodied hole in his left shoulder, likely from a Celestial Horse’s arrow piercing through him.

As for Mr. Feng, he had no injuries, and there wasn’t even a single wrinkle on his green robe.

Jiang Yan led the warhorses expressionlessly, as if his wounds didn’t hurt at all, like a puppet, radiating only cold killing intent from head to toe.

Just as Chen Ji was about to examine him more closely, he saw Jiang Yan casually glance towards the forest. He quickly ducked down before the other man could see him.

Everyone held their breath, not daring to even breathe deeply, feeling as if a mountain had pressed down on them, immensely heavy.

After an unknown period, Mr. Feng’s humming gradually faded into the distance.

Chen Ji cautiously raised his head and looked out; there was no one outside the bushes.

He let out a long breath, and said in a low voice, “Mr. Feng looks like nothing more than a frail scholar, but when you truly face him, there’s a strange sense of oppression. You have no idea what he’s thinking or what methods he might have prepared.”

Zhang Xia said, “I heard Mr. Feng’s real name is Feng Zhang. He was the second-place finisher in the Jizhou Provincial Examination in the eighteenth year of Jianing. He came from humble origins but was exceptionally skilled at writing essays. His *qingci* poetry was particularly outstanding, and many people at the time said he was sure to win the Emperor’s favor in the palace examination. However, in the spring of the following year, he was ranked at the very bottom (Class C, last) in the palace examination, and from then on, he resigned from office and disappeared.”

She continued, “For six years, Mr. Feng seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth. When he reappeared seven years ago, he was already Grand Secretary Liu’s chief strategist, wielding immense power, and had inexplicably become an official practitioner.”

Chen Ji sighed: “When facing such a person as an opponent, one must be extremely careful.”

After saying that, he carried Bai Li, stood up, and walked out of the bushes, intending to take a different path down the mountain.

However, they hadn’t walked far when Wu Yun meowed again.

Chen Ji slowly turned his stiff body, only to see two warhorses tied to a tree, idly pawing the ground, with no one nearby.

Mr. Feng and Jiang Yan were both gone.

Chen Ji whispered, “Wu Yun, is there anyone else nearby?”

Wu Yun meowed, “No. Only these two horses.”

Chen Ji let out a soft exclamation of surprise. Why would Mr. Feng leave, yet intentionally leave the two warhorses here?

Did he find leading the horses down the mountain troublesome… or did he discover their tracks early on and intentionally leave these two warhorses for them?

End of chapter.