Chapter 525: First Volume, Chapter 525: Quenching Thirst with the Thought of Plums

First Volume, Chapter 525: Quenching Thirst with the Thought of Plums

Chen Ping and Ma Zhuangsheng heard the news and sprinted all the way to MountainTop.

Seeing the empty stronghold and the two rope ends on the cliff face, both men understood: Qin Feng and the remaining Tianji Camp Guards had swung down the sheer cliff on the ropes.

Before leaving, they had set fire to the ropes; the flames burned upward along them, ensuring that patrolling soldiers around would detect no sign of Qin Feng's withdrawal.

Ma Zhuangsheng stared blankly—General Chen Si had ordered them to eliminate Qin Feng at all costs, yet now Qin Feng had pulled off a golden cicada shedding its shell; wasn't the entire strategic layout ruined?

Thinking of this, Ma Zhuangsheng's heart burned with rage; he cursed himself for severely underestimating Qin Feng—he should have charged straight up without hesitation!

"Cut off the head of the officer in charge of mountain patrol!" Ma Zhuangsheng roared in fury.

But Chen Ping stopped the messenger, patted Ma Zhuangsheng's shoulder, and sighed deeply: "This isn't the patrol soldiers' fault—before you even arrived, Qin Feng had already fled."

"Look, dust has settled thickly on these rope ends—Qin Feng left days ago. During this time, we've been trapped on an empty mountain…"

The moment Chen Ping learned the enemy's Main General was Qin Feng, his heart had remained suspended—after all, to deal with Qin Feng, General Chen Si had even altered frontline strategy and urgently recalled five thousand elite troops.

Facing such a formidable foe, even a slight misstep could let the enemy slip through.

Now that it's done, regret and self-reproach are meaningless.

Chen Ping acted decisively: "General Ma, immediately send messengers to all units—issue a nationwide manhunt. As long as Qin Feng remains within Great Di territory, he cannot escape, even with wings!"

Hearing this, Ma Zhuangsheng's eyes dimmed: "If what you say is true—that Qin Feng has fled for days—is it still possible to catch him now?"

Chen Ping's tone was firm: "My main army still stands within Liang Kingdom territory; the Beidi Frontier remains firmly under Great Di control. If Qin Feng tries to force his way across the border, patrol cavalry will spot him and crush him utterly."

"If he heads north, he plunges deep into Great Di's rear area—he won't be that foolish. If he heads east, he risks entering a neighboring state, which is a vassal of Great Di and will surely capture him and deliver him to His Majesty for reward."

"So Qin Feng can only head west—yet the Xi Xian spans thousands of miles, with over a thousand miles of Wuren District. Only two outcomes: either he's blocked by the Wuren District, or he crosses it—either way, it's a dead end!"

Hearing Chen Ping's explanation, Ma Zhuangsheng regained confidence and no longer hesitated—he immediately dispatched a flood of messengers to all surrounding units, ordering them to spare no effort in hunting down Qin Feng!

At this moment, Qin Feng had already led his guards deep into the Northern Di Wuren District. To conserve strength, they had discarded all materials and supplies from the carts, even their armor without hesitation, keeping only their preferred weapons.

As for the horses pulling the carts, they had long been slaughtered, and the soldiers drank the steaming fresh blood.

The "quenching thirst with the thought of plums" tactic had lost its effect; Qin Feng and the guards now advanced step by uneven step, relying solely on willpower, toward the endless horizon.

"Brother Qin, where are we? How far until we exit the Wuren District?" Ning Hu asked weakly.

The Northern Di territory had extreme day-night temperature differences—nights were biting cold, days scorching hot. After days of exposure to sun and cold weather, even the most elite Tianji Camp Guards had reached their limit; all were physically and mentally exhausted, their expressions hollow.

Compared to nature, humans were so insignificant.

The Northern Di Wuren District was a well-known region to both Northern Di people and those living along the Liang Kingdom North Border.

Since entering the Wuren District, Qin Feng had silently calculated the distance.

According to the map drawn by the Brocade Clothing Bureau, the east-west span of the Wuren District was roughly thirteen hundred Li.

Initially, Qin Feng's group could cover a hundred Li per day; later, they managed only forty or so Li daily. Estimating by time, they should now be at the center of the Wuren District.

In other words, they had only covered half.

Qin Feng knew clearly: if they still found no water, none of them would survive the Wuren District. Just escaping Qingyu Mountain only to fall into this dire situation—it was truly leaving Longtan only to enter Huxue.

"Two hundred Li left—hold on, everyone!" Qin Feng lied without hesitation; under these circumstances, if hope vanished, all would surely die.

Ning Hu sighed heavily: "Yesterday it was two hundred Li—why is it still two hundred Li today?"

Seeing Ning Hu dejected, Qin Feng kicked him hard: "Yesterday it was two hundred and forty Li—today it's two hundred. What's wrong with that? Shut your mouth, stop complaining, conserve your strength."

Without water, a human can survive at most four days—but by the second day, severe physiological reactions set in; by the third day, Qin Feng began hallucinating, constantly hearing water sounds or seeing a lake nearby, only to find nothing when he reached it.

On the third evening, some guards collapsed from thirst; Qin Feng ordered them to bring out all stored urine and divide it among everyone to drink.

Drinking urine—especially urine stored for days—could prolong life, but caused extreme harm to the body.

With this small amount of urine, they held on for two more days.

On the sixth day at noon, under blazing sun, dazed and half-conscious, Qin Feng noticed fewer people around; he ordered the group to halt and counted them—only eighty-some remained; over twenty others had fallen behind.

Qin Feng had the remaining guards rest in place, then took two slightly better-conditioned guards and turned back to search for the stragglers.

After nearly exhausting all strength, they found only three men—two already dead, the other unconscious.

Clearly, men had been falling behind for some time.

Qin Feng didn't even have the strength to be angry or regretful—he dragged the unconscious guard, crawling and stumbling, back to the temporary camp.

Unfortunately, without water replenishment, the unconscious guard died that night.

Qin Feng collapsed on the ground, breathing weakly, his eyes filled with desolation.

Back at Qingyu Mountain, each major battle cost only a handful of casualties—but this long march had already claimed over twenty men to thirst alone…

Qin Feng felt so crushed he wanted to die; he had more than once considered giving up.

But seeing the eighty-odd brothers beside him, remembering their parents, wives, and children waiting for them to return home, Qin Feng gritted his teeth and stood up again.

"Walk…"

"Continue moving while nighttime moisture loss is minimal—rest when dawn breaks."

"Get up, all of you, damn it!"