Chapter 84: Unfriendly Soldiers and Civilians

He steadied himself. "Is the leader governing the army now Zhong Shengguang or the Red General?" What kind of question was this? The guards were a bit surprised, and one of them said, "All major and minor battles are presided over by the Red General." This wasn't a secret; everyone knew it, but the performance of the person in front of them was truly becoming more and more strange, and he should be tied up and interrogated properly.

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

He Lingchuan saw it and didn't pay attention, only saying to the crowd, "You stand here, and I will release the person in half an hour; otherwise, just take your companion's corpse back."

He was very sure this trick would work on the Black Water City army, but the guards in front of him looked at each other, and although they showed hesitation, they followed him step by step, completely unthreatened by him.

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 couldn't hide him, and the nearest village was four or five hundred zhang away.

The worst thing was that the farmers by the water channel saw the guards being subdued by him and jumped into the water to chase him.

Now, he was being attacked from both sides.

He couldn't stay here for long; he had to find a way to escape. Thinking of this, he grabbed the captive and moved toward the water channel.

Fortunately, the captive was thin and small, and He Lingchuan was strong, so he directly dragged him along while jogging.

The water channel was built for irrigation, and it was probably early summer, so the water was still a bit rapid. He Lingchuan set his sights on the small wooden boat tied to the side of the channel.

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 out forty or fifty zhang like this; although those few guards refused to stand still, they still cherished their companion's life and didn't dare to rush up to capture him.

At this moment, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves, and more than ten cavalrymen turned out from the mountain hollow. Looking at their attire, He Lingchuan was all too familiar:

The Great Wind Army! There were actually scouts from the Great Wind Army here; it was truly f***ing annoying.

He Lingchuan didn't want the captive anymore, casually cut a wound on his leg, pushed the person out, and turned to run.

Two legs couldn't outrun four legs; he couldn't carry a burden anymore.

Fortunately, he wasn't far from the water channel here.

He Lingchuan ran wildly, truly like a bolt of lightning, used the momentum of his forward rush to jump directly into the water channel, and slashed the rope tying the boat with his saber. The wooden boat was pushed by the channel water and slowly drifted away.

The sound of hooves was getting closer; it was clear the cavalry was also sprinting. He felt it was too slow, so he bent down and pushed the wooden boat.

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

He didn't have time to think much, rolled forward, and fell directly into the boat.

This posture was a standard dog-eating-s***, but ugly as it was, it saved his life, because in the next second, two feathered arrows were shot, one hitting the pillar tying the rope, sinking deep into the wood, and one crossing the wooden pier and shooting directly into the water.

If he had still been standing in the same spot, he would have been pierced through the throat or heart, and wouldn't have had a good end.

However, He Lingchuan's movement was too big, and the boat was too narrow, so it flipped upside down as soon as he pounced.

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

What to do?

With his arm strength, he could of course flip the boat back, but the cavalry was like wolves and tigers, and they had probably reached the side of the channel by now. Even if he took the boat downstream, it would at most shake off the guards and farmers, but those few cavalrymen would still be like glue, and they wouldn't give up until they found a chance to drag him up.

Besides, there were still people taking the time to shoot cold arrows; 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.

It was only a matter of three or five breaths before those few cavalrymen were the first to rush to the side of the channel.

The terrain of the Chipa Plateau was special; the main force couldn't climb up, but there were often agile scouts who would sneak in to gather military intelligence, poison, and assassinate. Therefore, the people of Panlong City hated spies deeply and would beat them half to death without a word upon encountering them. As long as the spy still had a breath left when delivered to the camp, the superiors would never blame them.

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

The He family had seen this move in the Panlong Wasteland City, and even Sun Fuping's barrier had been beaten until it was crumbling. Now it seemed it was a standard skill of the Great Wind Army that everyone learned.

However, they reached the side of the channel, looked down, and were stunned.

There was only a wooden boat in the channel, drifting downstream in an upside-down posture, and the speed was actually quite fast. At first glance, the spy was nowhere to be seen.

The water was very clear, and even fish and shrimp couldn't hide, let alone a living person.

A cavalryman suddenly reached out and pointed. "Look, he's hiding under the boat!"

Everyone looked down, and sure enough, half a figure was exposed under the boat—

That kid was actually curled up under the boat, moving forward with the boat body.

A cavalryman shot a long spear very simply, "thud," pinning it to the bottom of the boat. But the small boat continued to drift forward, and no blood flowed out from under the boat; it was clear he hadn't hit the enemy.

The cavalryman was so angry he cursed.

The bottom of the boat was arched, and no one could stand on it, and they didn't want to jump down.

He Lingchuan used the entire boat as a shield, and the upside-down cabin was full of air, enough to support him in breathing freely for a long time.

He was underwater and blocked by the boat, so the archers on the shore couldn't do anything to him.

Now he was curled up in the boat, kicking the bottom of the channel with his feet, pushing the wooden boat faster and faster downstream.

Under the combined effect of water power and human power, the boat really accelerated, and in the blink of an eye, it left the infantry behind, with only the cavalry still in hot pursuit.

Just like this, he drifted more than a thousand zhang downstream.

He Lingchuan had already calmed his heartbeat and breath, but before he could think of a countermeasure, he secretly thought something was wrong.

He couldn't see the scene on the shore and didn't know where he had drifted. The most troublesome thing was that he could feel the water level dropping.

In other words, there was less and less water in the channel, and it was no longer rapid. If he drifted further, the boat wouldn't move, and he would have to face the cavalry on the shore directly.

What should he do?

This kind of water channel used to be dense in the countryside, and bridges would be built every certain distance; otherwise, pedestrians couldn't pass. Thinking of this, his heart stirred, and he reached out to touch the bottom of the boat, grabbed the long spear, and pulled it out with force.

Afterward, he poked his head out from the side of the boat to observe the situation outside the channel.

The bad news was that those few cavalrymen were still in hot pursuit; He Lingchuan had just looked over and received a few cold glares. A pursuer even turned out a bow and arrow from behind, scaring He Lingchuan into shrinking his head back in a hurry.

The good news was that buildings had appeared sporadically on both sides of this waterway, so it was either a village or a town ahead! As long as it wasn't an open plain, his success rate of escaping would greatly increase.

He Lingchuan already had a plan in mind. He calculated the speed of the water flow in advance, brought the boat close to the side of the channel, and suddenly let go and crouched down.

The small boat happened to drift under a wooden bridge.

It was probably noon at this time, and the sun was shining directly in the middle, with the shadow of the wooden bridge perpendicular to the water surface.

Afterward, the boat drifted away from under the bridge, as usual.

The cavalry didn't suspect anything and continued to move forward, chasing the wooden boat in the water.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 85 =====