Green Mountain-Chapter 645 - 502: Farewell for Now

Si Caogui did not pursue Shi San.

He stepped back while touching the wound on his right eye.

Shi San's crescent moon-shaped blade only left a wound on his eyelid, not injuring the eye, but the blood made the world he saw turn red.

He should have dodged this blade: He had long known that someone disguised as Yuan Cheng was ambushed in the carriage, and Hu Shi San was merely an Innate Official, evading the blade should not be difficult, yet he still failed to dodge.

Mrs. Lu patiently waited in the carriage, striking first at the Corpse Dog soul, making him lose his sense of "shock" and vigilance, so much so that he momentarily forgot the "Yuan Cheng" inside the carriage.

The battle seemed destined from the first strike, as if every step he took from then was wrong.

Si Caogui looked up at Mrs. Lu: "No wonder the master advised us to be cautious at every step when fighting you, as one wrong step would lead to eternal damnation. You and your brother should have joined forces, and no one in the world could stand against you. It was wrong of you to betray your brother and hometown for a man from the Ning Dynasty." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Mrs. Lu calmly said: "From the day he schemed to frame Qing Wentao, reconciliation between us became impossible."

Si Caogui stepped back: "The grand endeavor is unfinished, how could you get embroiled in personal affairs? The master wanted you to change your heart and sever your emotional troubles."

Mrs. Lu sneered and approached step by step: "Grand endeavor? When has Lu Jin ever had a grand endeavor in his heart? He only has personal desires! Coming to the Ning Dynasty was for his career, returning to the Jing Dynasty was for riches and honor. At that time, I didn't know he had secretly framed Qing Wentao. He hypocritically shed tears for Qing Wentao in front of me and deceived me by saying it was the Chen family's factional struggle. I later found out it was just part of his plot to use us to assist in assassinating the Ning Dynasty's Minister of Revenue."

Mrs. Lu said deeply: "He knows that with his mediocre skills, there's no way he could assassinate the Ning Dynasty's Chief of Staff, so he plotted such a vicious scheme to use me and the Guyuan Border Army!"

Si Caogui retreated to the edge of Long Street, stopping short as countless hands reached out from the smoke to pull him into the mist.

A panicked merchant was pulled in, and there was the sound of tearing silk and flesh ripping, and in an instant, a pool of blood flowed out from the smoke.

Si Caogui dared not retreat further. He leaned against the smoke and said deeply: "Ah Jie, Qing Wentao deserved to die. If it weren't for Qing Wentao, our dynasty should have already driven from Guyuan, taken the Guanzhong Plain, seized Taiyuan, and unification of the two dynasties was just a matter of time. The master had you approach him in order to kill him, yet you left with him instead. How could you jeopardize the great endeavor of the two dynasties for personal feelings when the Ning Dynasty holds the fertile southern lands, yet the people still can't get enough to eat or wear?"

Mrs. Lu softly countered: "Ah Gui, let me ask you, you came with twenty-seven people, how many are left now?"

Si Caogui contemplated for a moment: "Three, some died unnaturally, some were dealt with by my hand."

Mrs. Lu gazed at the familiar stranger before her: "How many people died for Lu Jin's personal desires, and how many died for the grand endeavor he spoke of?"

Si Caogui pressed his lips for a while: "All died for the grand endeavor."

Mrs. Lu shook her head: "Bailu Pavilion is your Military Intelligence Department's asset, isn't it? It was destroyed by the Spy Department last year."

Si Caogui's expression shifted.

Mrs. Lu looked at the patches on Si Caogui's clothing and continued: "Do you know where the silver earned by Bailu Pavilion went?"

Si Caogui said deeply: "Naturally, it was used for the Military Intelligence Department's salaries and pensions. Our Military Intelligence Department has been entangled with the Ning Dynasty's Eunuch Party for twenty years with countless casualties, ninety percent of Bailu Pavilion's silver was used here to ensure the soldiers have no worries."

Mrs. Lu sighed: "I really want to tear off Lu Jin's face and show you all the filth it hides underneath. As far as I know, not only Bailu Pavilion, but eighty percent of the silver you gathered from other places was smuggled via Chen family's second branch through Dongying Port to Lushun and then given by Lu Jin as a tribute to Minister of the Secretariat Yuan Xiang. Otherwise, how could he gain the favor of Yuan Xiang? Did you really think it was because he had wisdom and talent? Otherwise, how could the second branch of the Chen family's business use Lushun as a transit and expand to Japan?"

Si Caogui's face changed: "Don't talk nonsense, even if these things were true, they'd be top secret, how could you know? Ah Jie, it's been years since we've met, and you've started using such psychological tactics."

Mrs. Lu looked at him with sympathy: "You know nothing about the lamp... never mind, it's pointless to say more."

The next moment, Mrs. Lu leapt forward, intending to press Si Caogui into the smoke with a palm, letting the countless grudging hands inside tear him apart.

But this time, Si Caogui stepped forward to meet the palm, Mrs. Lu once again traced the Eight Trigrams Dragon steps around Si Caogui, as if Si Caogui was the center of the Taiji Eight Diagrams, and Mrs. Lu's every step landed on the edge of the Eight Diagrams.

With each step, the eighth hexagram around her palm would emerge and vanish, transforming into a new hexagram as Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, Dui replaced each other, footwork, body movement, palm technique endlessly repeating and renewing.

When the hexagram around Mrs. Lu's palm froze at Qian, Si Caogui, like knowing the future, accurately predicted where Mrs. Lu's next step would land and thrust his short knife forward, forcing Mrs. Lu to twist to evade.

This happened three times, and Mrs. Lu's three palms all failed to land on Si Caogui.

The two Seeking Dao Realm officials maneuvered nimbly around the edge of the smoke, neither landing a hit on the other during their exchanges.

The hands of grudging spirits inside the smoke moved chaotically, seemingly ready to touch them at any moment.

Mrs. Lu calmly said, "Lu Jin went to great lengths, but he actually taught you all to fully understand the Eight Trigrams Dragon. I blame myself for being careless back then, not keeping it from him while practicing the Eight Trigrams Dragon."

Si Caogui remained silent. Just as Mrs. Lu's palm was about to freeze on the Departure Trigram, he suddenly stopped dodging and no longer used a short knife to push Mrs. Lu back but took the blow directly instead.

In that instant, with a clang, Mrs. Lu's palm struck Si Caogui's heart, yet the sound reverberated like hitting a great bell, and a pale shadow was knocked out from Si Caogui's back.

The thief's soul was extricated, fear vanished entirely.

Two parts of Si Caogui's spirit had already been lost, but he used taking this blow as a price to drive his short knife into Mrs. Lu's rib. Just as he was about to twist the knife, Mrs. Lu surprisingly grabbed his wrist, pulling him further forward.

Mrs. Lu's palm jumped a frame on the Eight Trigrams, fixing on the Earth Trigram, this strike unavoidable, stamping directly on Si Caogui's forehead.

A black shadow of Si Caogui flew backward from the back of his head, one of the three souls, the "You Jing," was forcibly stripped away, and Si Caogui's face immediately grew languid, sinister corpse marks appearing on his face in an instant.

This was initially an extremely meticulous bout of calculated battle. Si Caogui chose to take a direct hit during the Departure Trigram, losing fear would only make him more courageous, which was an acceptable price.

But Mrs. Lu also had a calculation, she used receiving a knife as the price to drag Si Caogui into the Earth Trigram, stripping away his Earth Soul.

The two separated instantly, Mrs. Lu pressed her abdomen, calmly saying, "It's not only you who dare to risk your life in a fight, even back when I fought for my life, you weren't even an Executive Officer."

Si Caogui collapsed, dejected, beneath the smoke screen wall, even the fingertips in the smoke screen, though close at hand, were ignored by him: "What a pity. I diligently trained in the Vajra Guardian of Kujue Temple, impervious to swords and spears, but it was of no great use, facing the Eight Trigrams Dragon."

With ten steps between them, Mrs. Lu said compassionately, "The real pity is that such a glorious life was all buried in Lu Jin's lies. Not only you but also those who once sailed with you to achieve great success."

Si Caogui, with his head down, gazed at the ground: "I remember Old Wang and I sailed across the seas together, foolishly boarded the wrong ship, a smuggling vessel went to Japan first before returning to Dongying Port in the Ning Dynasty. That's why we were embarrassed to say, we didn't last seven days, but thirty-one. We were seasick and vomited the entire way, the cabin was unbearably smelly, if it weren't for the grand cause, we couldn't have endured so long."

"After arriving in the Ning Dynasty, I worked tirelessly every day, living a hard life, not daring to slack off or spend lavishly, only hoping that the Silver Coin gathered and saved in the Ning Dynasty could accomplish more."

Mrs. Lu casually remarked, "Is this how Lu Jin taught you to buy time? He didn't teach well."

Si Caogui gave a bitter laugh: "What's there left to delay?"

At this time, Shi San emerged from the carriage, having already bandaged his wound with a torn piece of clothing. He tossed a white porcelain bottle across the air; Mrs. Lu caught it, poured some white powder into her palm, and pressed it onto the wound.

Si Caogui looked up at her: "Ah Jie, I'm dying now, but could you be truthful with me, did the Military Intelligence Department's Silver really get sent to Yuan Xiang by the master?"

Shi San, hearing this, widened his eyes: "This isn't a secret, two months ago, Yuan Xiang's eightieth birthday had a parade of gifts so long it stretched a street, with three hundred east pearls alone, reportedly a pair of red corals taller than a person… this news has spread even to Longyou Road, Western Capital Road, didn't you know?"

Si Caogui fell silent.

Mrs. Lu calmly stated, "Knowing now is too late, I'll send you on your way."

However, Si Caogui suddenly said, "It's not too late."

Shi San, startled, instinctively flung the crescent moon-shaped blade in his hand, shooting towards Si Caogui.

But Si Caogui flipped over, narrowly avoiding the crescent moon-shaped blade.

With a ding, the crescent moon-shaped blade embedded itself into the spot where he had been sitting.

Si Caogui raised his head to look at Mrs. Lu, with no trace of defeat on his face. He retreated step by step into the smoke, countless black arms of vengeful souls grabbed at his body, neck, and head, tugging with all their might.

Yet the sound of tearing flesh did not come as expected, Si Caogui remained unfazed, allowing the smoke to tear at him without breaking his Indestructible Golden Body, slowly retreating into the smoke: "Ah Jie, I have not forgotten the grace of a meal back then, till we meet again."

Shi San, in disbelief, could not understand Kujue Temple's Vajra Unbreakable Body could withstand the smoke without harm!

He intended to pursue into the smoke, but Mrs. Lu held him back: "Don't pursue, he can pass through, but we cannot."

Shi San looked at Mrs. Lu: "Didn't you say he must be killed?"

Mrs. Lu stared at the smoke, which had returned to normal, saying calmly, "No need to kill him anymore. He now has an obsession in his heart, and won't die until he solves it, let him go."