Chapter 84: Unfriendly Soldiers and Civilians

He steadied his nerves: "The leader currently commanding the army, is it Zhong Shengguang or General Hong?" What kind of question was that? The guards were somewhat surprised, and one of them said: "All military affairs, large and small, are directed by General Hong." This was no secret; everyone knew it. But the performance of the man before them was growing increasingly bizarre; he ought to be tied up and interrogated properly.

Thinking this, the last guard turned and ran back to fetch reinforcements.

He Lingchuan saw this but paid it no mind, only saying to the group: "If you stand there, I will release the man in half an hour; otherwise, you can take your companion's corpse back."

He was certain this tactic worked well on the Black Water City army, but the guards before him exchanged glances; though they showed hesitation, they followed him step by step, completely unmoved by his threat.

The captive said with difficulty: "Kill me, and they still won't let you go!"

He Lingchuan looked around; the hills were rolling, the low shrubs offered no cover, and the nearest village was at least four or five hundred zhang away.

Worst of all, the farmers by the irrigation canal saw the guards being subdued by him and were jumping into the water to pursue.

Now, he was beset on all sides.

He could not stay here long; he had to find a way to escape. Thinking of this, he grabbed the captive and moved toward the canal.

Fortunately, the captive was thin and small, and He Lingchuan had great strength, so he simply dragged him upside down while jogging.

The canal had been built for irrigation; it was likely early summer, and the current was still somewhat swift. He Lingchuan set his sights on a small wooden boat tied to the bank.

If he could go downstream, it would be much faster than running on human legs.

Regardless, he had to shake off these pursuers first.

He ran for forty or fifty zhang like this; although those guards refused to stop, they ultimately cherished their companion's life and dared not rush up to seize him.

Just then, he heard the sound of hoofbeats, and over a dozen cavalrymen turned out from a mountain hollow. He Lingchuan was all too familiar with their attire:

The Great Wind Army! To think there were still Great Wind Army scouts here; what a damn mess.

He Lingchuan no longer wanted the captive, so he casually slashed a cut into the man's leg, pushed him away, and turned to run.

Two legs could never outrun four, and he could no longer carry a burden.

Fortunately, he was not far from the canal now.

He Lingchuan sprinted with all his might, swift as a lightning bolt, using his forward momentum to leap directly into the canal and slash the rope tying the boat. The wooden boat was pushed by the canal water and drifted slowly away.

The sound of hooves grew closer; clearly, the cavalry was also charging. Finding it too slow, he leaned over and gave the wooden boat a shove.

Just at this moment, a warning sign suddenly flashed in his heart.

He had no time to think, rolled forward, and tumbled straight into the boat.

This posture was a standard face-plant, but ugly as it was, it saved his life, because the next second, two feathered arrows arrived; one struck the post holding the rope, burying itself deep into the wood, and the other passed over the wooden deck and shot straight into the water.

Had he remained standing where he was, he would have been pierced through the throat or the heart—no good end.

However, He Lingchuan's movement was too violent and the boat too narrow; his pounce caused it to flip completely upside down.

"..." Young Master He silently recited the Three Character Classic seven or eight times.

What now?

With his arm strength, he could certainly flip the boat back over, but the cavalry were like wolves and tigers, and by now they had likely reached the canal bank. Even if he rode the boat downstream, at most he would shake off the guards and farmers, but those few cavalrymen would still stick to him like glue, never giving up until they found a chance to drag him out.

Besides, there were still people taking potshots; sitting in the boat, wasn't he a standard living target? To be honest, the moment he recognized the Great Wind Army, he knew that running away was the only way to go.

In the span of just three or five breaths, those few cavalrymen were the first to reach the canal bank.

The terrain of the Red Plateau was unique; large armies could not climb up, but agile scouts often snuck in to gather intelligence, poison wells, and carry out assassinations. Therefore, the people of Panlong City detested spies; whenever they encountered one, they would beat them half to death without a word, and as long as the spy still had a breath left when delivered to the camp, their superiors would never blame them.

They weighed the weapons in their hands, intending to throw them like javelins.

The He family had seen this trick in the desolate city of Panlong; even Sun Fuping's barrier had been battered until it teetered. Now it seemed this was a standard skill of the Great Wind Army, learned by everyone.

However, when they reached the canal bank and looked down, they were stunned.

There was only a wooden boat in the canal, moving downstream upside down, and surprisingly fast. At first glance, the spy was nowhere to be seen.

The water was very clear, so clear that even fish and shrimp could not hide, let alone a living person.

A cavalryman suddenly pointed: "Look, he's hiding under the boat!"

Everyone looked down, and sure enough, a small part of a figure was visible beneath the boat—

The brat was actually curled up under the boat, moving forward along with the hull.

A cavalryman shot his long spear without hesitation, and with a "thud," it pierced the bottom of the boat. But the small boat continued to drift forward, and no blood flowed out from under it, clearly having missed the enemy.

The cavalryman cursed in anger.

The bottom of the boat was rounded and could not support a person standing, and they could not easily jump down.

He Lingchuan had used the entire boat as a shield, and the inverted cabin was filled with air, enough to support his breathing for a long time.

With him underwater and blocked by the boat, the archers on the bank could do nothing to him.

Now he was curled up in the boat, kicking his feet against the bottom of the canal to push the wooden boat faster, and faster still.

Under the combined force of the water and his own strength, the boat indeed accelerated, and in the blink of an eye, it left the infantry behind, with only the cavalry still in hot pursuit.

They drifted downstream for over a thousand zhang like this.

He Lingchuan had already calmed his heartbeat and breathing, but before he could think of a countermeasure, he felt a sense of foreboding.

He could not see the scene on the bank and did not know where he had drifted. The most troublesome thing was that he could feel the water level dropping.

This meant there was less and less water in the canal, and it was no longer swift; further down, the boat would not be able to drift, and he would have to face the cavalry on the bank directly.

What should he do?

Such canals used to be dense in the countryside, and bridges were built every so often, otherwise pedestrians could not pass. Thinking of this, his heart stirred; he reached out to the bottom of the boat, felt around, grabbed the long spear, and pulled it out with force.

Afterward, he poked his head out from the gunwale to observe the situation outside the canal.

The bad news was that those few cavalrymen were still in hot pursuit; as soon as He Lingchuan looked over, he was met with several icy glares. One pursuer even pulled a bow and arrow from his back, scaring He Lingchuan into quickly ducking his head.

The good news was that buildings had begun to appear sporadically on both sides of the waterway; that meant ahead was either a village or a market town! As long as it wasn't an open plain, his chances of escaping would increase greatly.

He Lingchuan already had a plan in mind; he calculated the speed of the current in advance, brought the boat close to the bank, and suddenly let go and crouched down.

The small boat happened to drift under a wooden bridge.

It was roughly noon, the sun was directly overhead, and the shadow of the wooden bridge was perpendicular to the water surface.

Afterward, the boat drifted out from under the bridge, as it had before.

The cavalrymen suspected nothing and continued forward, chasing the wooden boat in the water.

(End of chapter)