Chapter 425: Rebuilding Xiangyang District (IX)

Jiang Pengji frowned and looked at the sheepskin map in her hands.

Meng Hun saw how focused she was and did not dare to disturb her.

After a while, she drew a route on the map with her finger. “We’ll go this way.”

Meng Hun glanced at the sheepskin map with some doubt. He did not know why she was so sure about it.

Panting heavily, Jiang Pengji drank half the amount of water in her water bottle. She tied it to the horse’s trappings and said, “He didn’t say where they were before he died, but the marks on his body showed everything.” Jiang Pengji wiped her face with her palm.

“It has been scorching hot the past few days, and there hasn’t been any rain. His clothes were dirt-stained, which made the original color of his clothing almost unidentifiable. However, the part of his pants from his feet to his knees was cleaner than other parts. There were some water weeds in his straw sandals, which showed that he waded into the water while he was fleeing. According to the Great Universal Geographical Map, there are two roads with rivers and water weeds. This is the only path that meets these conditions. I think the troops carried on the fight while they retreated; they have most likely gone into hiding here. I’m not 100 percent sure. I can only take my chances.”

With a grave look on his face, Meng Hun carefully looked where Jiang Pengji pointed. “If that’s the case, they may still be alive.”

According to the illustration on the map, where Jiang Pengji pointed was winding. There were endless places to hide.

“I hope so.” She was calm. “The weather is hot now so the forest will catch fire easily. If the Tsing Yi Army is impatient in asearching the mountains, they’ll likely just set them on fire. Let’s get going.”

Now that time was ticking away, she definitely did not want to delay. What if they were just a few seconds late?

Clouds were floating by. A yellowish-orange afterglow shined down on the earth. The air was growing stuffy; it was so suffocating that it made people gasp for breath.

Night gradually fell.

******

At the foot of a mountain, a strong, middle-aged man sat on a folding stool, staring fiercely into the distance.

He spat on the ground and said with a vehement facial expression, “Bah! I won’t let any of these b*stards get away alive!”

Shadows of people were moving not far away.

“Be quick. We’ll burn them alive in the mountains today to pay homage to the spirits of the deceased!” someone yelled.

“Hurry up. Why are you slacking?!” the voices continued.

“The general will kill you with a whip if you loaf around.”

“Be quick and neat. Get to work…”

Rustling sounds filled the air at the foot of the mountain. Thousands of shadows moved around. Everyone was holding something in their arms.

******

After an hour.

A middle-aged man wearing coarse clothes bent over and spoke to a burly, middle-aged man sitting on a folding stool. “General, everything is almost ready. We’ll make it impossible for them to escape this time. If 3,000 Daluo Jinxian’s come, we’ll roast and cook them––let alone 3,000 bedraggled soldiers. We won’t let them escape.”

The weather was dry, and it had not rained for a few days. Once they set fire to the mountains, it would run rampant.

The middle-aged man was somewhat nervous. In order to vent their anger, the Tsing Yi Army attacked the wounded camp at night.

However, no one expected them to have such quick reactions. They failed to annihilate them, and the other party noticed them.

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Jiang Pengji’s troops and the people were so stupid; they forgot to bring their sacks with them when they ran for their lives.

They were forced to flee, and there were countless casualties. They were so hopelessly idiotic that they fled to the mountains in the end, trying to shake them amidst the complex terrain. They were foolish. Why would the Tsing Yi Army search the mountains? They would just set the mountains on fire.

The Tsing Yi Army did not notice that a silhouette carrying a bow and arrow was hiding behind a boulder. After a while, the shadow returned to the mountain with a grave look on his face.

He said while panting, “The b*stards at the foot of the mountain plan to set the mountains on fire… There is dry wood everywhere.”

Setting the mountains on fire? What should they do? Many people began to panic.

Many people were injured. They were pale, and their eye sockets were black. Everyone looked extremely exhausted.

There were old people and children, as well as many young men and women. In the face of their upcoming deaths, they could only cry on each other’s shoulder.

They initially thought that the troops could protect them from danger and that they could escape, but they were in a hopeless situation.

The fear of death shrouded their hearts. Under such pressure, someone finally could not hold it in any longer and roared, “It’s all because of banes like you! If you didn’t…”

Poof! An arrow pierced through his knee when he had yet to finish speaking. Blood began to pour out.

The man wailed in agony and rolled on the ground, hugging his leg. Many people screamed. The scene was chaotic.

Snap!

The person who shot the arrow pulled it out of the man’s knee. He was not disgusted with the blood, and he shoved it back into the quiver. “I hope you get this straight: If we weren’t rescuing all of you, we wouldn’t be trapped in this horrible place. The guys that have followed me for three to four years died to save you. If I don’t even complain about it, then you don’t have the right to speak!”

Another troop member yelled, “Shut up! Whoever who dares to speak another word will die!”

At that moment, someone chimed in, “That’s right! If it wasn’t for our Lord’s generosity, who would have pulled you out from the ruins? Now that the Tsing Yi Army launched an attack, you’re starting to walk out on us. Had we known you were all ungrateful and vicious people, we would’ve abandoned you. Let’s see how the Tsing Yi Army treats you. The men will have their feet and their heads chopped off. Women will become prostitutes. The children won’t be set free. I was originally a bandit. I don’t mind returning to my former ways. I’ll kill you all to vent my anger!”

“That’s enough. The more you speak, the more outrageous it sounds.”

The person that spoke was a young man dressed in brown clothes. He was sitting on a rock with a silver rifle at his side.

His brows were dashing, and he had a handsome face. Although the blood on his face had dried, he was very clearly handsome.

There was a wound that was nearly three inches long on his left arm. Even though it was bandaged tightly with a rag, blood still seeped out.

He did not seem to feel the pain in his arm. He looked unperturbed.

If the troop member had not crossed the line with his words, then the young man would not have even frowned.

“Brother Li, we’ve caused you trouble.” The troop member was not angry at being reproached. He even smiled at the young man apologetically.

If the young man in brown clothes had not helped them escape, they would have already died. He took them through familiar territory and helped them escape the Tsing Yi Army along the way.

The young man surnamed Li shook his head a little and replied in a deep voice, “It’s okay.”

“What are we going to do next? Do we just wait around and die?”

Some people were murmuring. Everyone else was silent.

There were 1,000 troops left out of the original 2,000. The Tsing Yi Army killed all the others while they retreated or protected the commoners. They died tragically. Recalling their traumatic memories, people could not help but cry.

In the face of the cracking morale, someone said, “Whether we stay on the mountain or fight, we’ll die. It’s better if a few die with us so it was not in vain. We’ll be heroes in 18 years!”