Chapter 730 - 730: Escaping All the Way
Chapter 730: Chapter 730: Escaping All the Way
As Di Yelei carried Zhao Yuanlang forward, dodging left and right, the enemies in front fell in groups.
“What are you all staring at? Let’s go!”
Although the other party only spoke one sentence, it made Di Yelei’s heart blossom with joy.
He immediately rejoiced: “Old Tang, how come it’s you!”
“Now is not the time for reminiscing, you little brat! Do you want to stay and get shot into a hedgehog or what?”
Instead of saying more, Tang Ji fought with the enemies who had closed in again.
“But Old Tang, what will you do?”
Di Yelei became anxious. Enemies surrounded him from all directions. He couldn’t tell how many people were there in the night, but even so, escaping was extremely difficult, let alone for Old Tang who was just one person!
“Stop dawdling, retreat!”
Old Tang had just finished dealing with a group of enemies and had barely spoken when a new group of horsemen suddenly charged out from the rear. He quickly engaged in battle again.
An angry roar once again sounded from the hillside.
“Don’t worry about that side! Those are my trusted soldiers following me, let’s go!”
Immediately after, chaos erupted on the hillside!
Torches all over the mountain went out in swathes and the number of arrows raining down visibly decreased, allowing Zhao Yuanlang to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Don’t worry about the back, go this way!”
By this point, Di Yelei couldn’t afford to care about Old Tang. Carrying Zhao Yuanlang, he hurriedly led the way, heading straight for the gorge.
Behind them, more and more pursuers came with a dense formation of torches, illuminating the entire hillside.
As expected, more and more pursuers entered the gorge after them.
The narrow gorge was only wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side. Once they entered, Zhao Jiong’s large force of horsemen had no room to fight, congested at the entrance.
“Damn it, why did they go into the gorge? Someone!”
Zhao Jiong shouted loudly, “Who knows how long this gorge is? Where is the exit? Do we have any way to intercept them halfway?”
He fired off a series of questions in one breath.
Meng Caimai hurriedly stepped forward from the crowd: “Sect Master, this gorge is about ten miles long, with the exit at the other end of the gorge pass. The middle is filled with winding mountains interspersed with gorges. We only need to block off the entrance and exit to solve this once and for all.”
“We have no way to capture them directly midway?”
It was apparent that Zhao Jiong was very dissatisfied with this answer.
“The conditions inside the gorge are very complex, with high mountains, dense forests, and numerous wild beasts. Poisonous snakes and scorpions are everywhere. Master should understand the dangers of these forests.”
Understand? How could he not understand!
Back then, his 300,000-strong army was buried alive in such forests during his escape!
“Fine! Block off the entrances and exits, and send a few more teams of horsemen into the gorge. We must cut down Zhao Yuanlang at all costs. Otherwise, our brothers will be the ones to die!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Compared to the frustration of Zhao Jiong’s side, those who had already entered the gorge were also struggling to move forward.
At first, some pursuers caught up with them but were quickly killed with the help of favorable terrain. Only when the roaring pursuit behind them gradually calmed down did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
“It seems that the pursuers haven’t caught up with us. We’ve been running all night, everyone should stop and rest for a moment and regroup.”
The suggestion received unanimous approval from the group.
Everyone put down their weapons, rubbed their sore and numb arms, and without considering the others around them, sat or lay down on the ground, forming a haphazard pile of people.
Di Yelei carefully placed Zhao Yuanlang down and helped him sit on a nearby large rock.
“Be careful!”
Di Yelei suddenly shouted in alarm, quickly reacting with his hands.
When he withdrew his hand, he now held a thumb-thick little snake, which was struggling and writhing in his grasp.
“This is a banded krait. Its bite is painless, and people often don’t feel any pain when bitten by it, as if they have been stung by an ant. By the time they realize they have been poisoned, it is already too late.”
As Di Yelei spoke, he quickly picked up a small stone from the side and smashed it onto the snake’s head, crushing the snake’s head completely.
Zhao Yuanlang and the others were terrified!
In the midst of battle, who could have paid attention to a sting from an ant? If they were bitten by the poisonous snake, they would probably not even know how they died.
Di Yelei did not stop there, but instead tossed the poisonous snake far away.
Originally, there were two teams of Imperial Guards following His Majesty, but after all the casualties, there were only about a dozen people left, most of them injured and their fighting strength significantly reduced.
“How is His Majesty’s injury?”
Di Yelei asked Eunuch Xiao, who had just removed the broken arrow from His Majesty’s arm.
As long as His Majesty is fine, the death of those Imperial Guards would have been worth it.
“There was no poison on the arrow. His Majesty just lost a lot of blood. As long as he can rest well for two days, he should be fine. But at this moment…”
Eunuch Xiao was worried about the same thing as everyone else.
Zhao Yuanlang sighed endlessly: “People, oh! You just can’t resist getting old! I still remember the days when I led an army of 200,000 to chase Zhao Jiong’s 300,000 troops. I went without sleep for several days and nights and did not feel any discomfort. But now, after running for such a short distance and shedding a bit of blood, I feel dizzy, and my body feels as soft as cotton.”
“Your Majesty, when this servant was dressing your wound earlier, I noticed the blood stained your robes. You are dizzy and have blurred vision due to excessive blood loss. You need proper rest, it’s not just ‘losing a little blood’ as you say.” Eunuch Xiao quickly said.
“Your Majesty need not worry. This gorge stretches for dozens of miles, and as an experienced hunter, I am very familiar with the terrain around here.”
Di Yelei thought for a moment and casually picked up a tree branch, drawing a rough map on the ground with it.
“We are currently here in the gorge. Both sides are dense with forests and high mountains, filled with countless snakes, insects, rats, and ants. About two miles ahead, there is a narrow mountain pass. The terrain there is very difficult, and ordinary people wouldn’t dare to venture there unless they are experienced hunters like me.”
Di Yelei looked up at everyone and pointed at the hastily drawn map.
“Now we have three options. One is to go back to the entrance and fight a life-and-death battle with the enemy; the other is to continue crossing the gorge and reach the gorge pass ahead. There is a large hostel there, and we can head straight for Gongzhou City; the last option is the small path I mentioned earlier.”
Di Yelei didn’t elaborate on the situation of the last path but briefly mentioned it instead, leaving the choice to His Majesty.