Chapter 140 Fierce

Chen Ji stepped on the dry and yellow leaves in the forest, identifying the direction while wielding a knife to cut off branches and bushes on the road for the three people behind him.

In winter, water-soaked clothes stick to your body like leeches, sucking the life out of you bit by bit.

But Chen Ji and his friends couldn't stop to dry their clothes and could only keep running for their lives.

He recalled the expression of the officer on the wupeng boat. The other party was not panicked after seeing him escape to the shore, as if his life was hanging by a thread and there was no room for struggle.

But what is on the other side of the river? Isn't this just a wilderness?

At this time, Zhang Xia followed behind him and suddenly asked, "Chen Ji, who are you?"

Chen Ji replied without even turning his head: "Apprentice in the medical clinic."

Zhang Xia was full of doubts: "Can an apprentice from a medical clinic sink a ship?"

Chen Ji chopped at the big-leaf holly that was blocking the way and explained casually, "The ship was already old, so it was easy to chisel it open with just two hits."

Zhang Xia glanced at Chen Ji's back, then at Bai Li: "Don't you have anything to ask him?"

Bai Li shook his head.

Zhang Xia was surprised: "You and the prince knew it a long time ago, right? That's why you are not surprised at all!"

Bai Li nodded and hummed.

Zhang Xia was silent.

After a long time, she said casually: "I'm sorry, I was too nosy to persuade you to come in before, but now I feel that you are at least much better than your second brother! If you want to scold me, go ahead, I won't talk back!"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Why should I scold you?"

Zhang Xia said seriously: "Thank you, thank you for saving us."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Actually, you don't have to jump into the river. These killers are not coming for you. Even if you don't run away, they won't attack you. I guess they were planning to kill everyone at first, but they changed their minds the moment they saw the prince."

Bai Li was puzzled: "Why did you change your mind?"

Chen Ji replied: "Because they need the prince to be alive."

Bai Li asked: "Chen Ji, have you guessed the identity of the mastermind behind this?"

Chen Ji did not answer.

Who needs the prince to be alive?

A person who plots rebellion.

Those who are plotting rebellion need royal bloodline as a banner. If Prince Jing dies, they will have no pretext to launch their rebellion.

At this moment, there was a dense sound of horse hooves in the distance. Chen Ji quickly pulled everyone to squat behind the bushes and quietly looked at the dirt road outside the forest.

A moment later, dozens of cavalrymen dressed as bandits galloped past on the dirt road. After the cavalrymen passed, hundreds of people wearing leather armor and leading hunting dogs passed by.

Chen Ji's heart sank. Why were there so many bandits here?

No, not bandits.

Bai Li came closer and asked, "Chen Ji, are these the bandits from Longwangtun?"

"No," Chen Ji said in a serious tone, "The disaster victims turned into bandits, and their weapons were only kitchen knives, hoes, and rakes. How could they have organized cavalry and leather armor? The disaster victims in Longwangtun have been killed by them, and now these people are private soldiers raised by officials and nobles."

Bai Li and the prince looked at each other, horror in their eyes.

Now this group of private soldiers are obviously asking for them, so whoever raises this group of private soldiers is the one who wants to kill them.

This place is only more than fifty miles away from Luocheng and is still under the jurisdiction of the nine counties of Luocheng. There are only two people who are capable of raising private soldiers here, one is Liu Gun and the other is Prince Jing.

The prince said with difficulty: "It is definitely not my father who wants to kill us. He is not that kind of person."

Bai Li was about to defend his father, but he saw Chen Ji nodded: "I also think it's not Prince Jing."

The two were startled.

Chen Ji continued, "With the prince's means, if he wanted to kill us, how could he give us a chance to live? It is precisely because the other party did not know that the prince was with us that we are still alive today."

Therefore, the only ones who want to kill them this time can be the Liu family.

"Let's go," Chen Ji stood up, "They are searching from the riverside. If they have hounds, they may catch up with us soon."

Chen Ji turned around and saw that Bai Li's cheeks were red, as if he was drunk. When he stood up, he staggered and almost fell.

Chen Ji looked at the prince and said, "Prince, touch the princess's forehead."

Bai Li raised his hand to block: "I'm fine, don't worry about me!"

The prince held down her arm and reached out to check it: "It's hot!"

Got a fever.

Everyone was exposed to the cold wind on the ox cart all day yesterday, and was soaked in the icy river for half a day today. They had to escape in wet clothes. It was only a matter of time before the Crown Prince and Zhang Xia got sick.

While I was thinking, I heard a dog barking in the distance.

Chen Ji glanced at the sky and said, "I can't wait any longer. I have to leave now... Princess, I'm sorry."

After saying that, he picked up the white carp and carried it on his back, then turned and ran wildly towards the southwest. That place was the territory of Luhun Villa, which was the branch courtyard of Laojun Mountain Taoist Temple at the foot of the mountain.

Bai Li's head drooped weakly on Chen Ji's shoulder and asked softly, "Chen Ji, will we die here?"

Chen Ji said firmly: "No."

"Yeah." The girl slowly closed her eyes, leaned on his shoulder and panted slightly, "Chen Ji."

"Hmm?" Chen Ji turned his head, his cheek felt a little itchy from Bai Li's hair. When he wanted to ask Bai Li why he was called, the other person had already fallen asleep.

……

……

In the mountains and forests.

More than a dozen soldiers dressed in bandit clothes, with stern faces, led hunting dogs along the way to chase the trace. The dogs soon found the place where Chen Ji had cut through the bushes.

They turned around and gestured behind them: Found it!

On the other side, Chen Ji heard the dog barking getting closer and closer, and it seemed to be only a few hundred steps away. The dog barking was like a death threatening sound, making people feel upset.

The next moment, the barking sound suddenly disappeared.

It was as if the chirping of cicadas that had troubled the whole summer suddenly disappeared, and even the world seemed a little fresher, but Chen Ji's heart sank: there could only be one reason why the hound suddenly stopped barking, and that was that the hunter had already loosened the hound's reins, and the hound was now flying towards its prey with all its might.

Can't run away.

Once a hound identifies its prey, it will never give up until it has bitten it.

Chen Ji suddenly turned around and looked at the prince: "Prince, you carry the princess on your back and run, I will stop the hounds. If we don't kill these hounds, we will never be able to escape."

Zhang Xia was stunned for a moment: "You..."

The prince took a deep breath and said, "You carry my sister and run. I will stay to deal with these people. You run fast, but I can't run far. Chen Ji, take my sister back alive."

Chen Ji said in a deep voice: "Stop being so hypocritical. I don't have time to talk nonsense with you now. Carry the white carp and run quickly..."

Before he could finish his words, he heard the wailing and whimpering of a hunting dog suddenly coming from the forest.

One sound, two sounds, three sounds.

The wailing of the hounds was incessant and extremely shrill.

Chen Ji looked back suddenly and saw that someone had killed the hound!

Who?
Could it be that the golden pig has arrived?
No, if you want to get here from Los Angeles, even if you ride at full speed, it will take until after sunset. The Golden Pig can’t possibly come so quickly!

Just as Chen Ji was wondering, a dark, furry shadow flashed past the woods ahead.

A hunting dog was running at full speed, but was caught off guard by the black shadow, which raised its claws and hit it on the head, knocking it to the ground.

The punch was so fierce that the hound fell to the ground with its limbs twitching. It was obvious that it was dead.

dark clouds?!
Very fierce!
Zhang Xia asked doubtfully, "What was that black shadow that just flashed by?"

Chen Ji carried Baili on his back and turned to continue escaping to the southwest: "I didn't see it clearly either. Don't worry about what it is, escaping is the most important thing!"

Half an incense stick later, several soldiers rushed to the place where the hunting dog was killed.

A soldier squatted down, lifted the hound by the scruff of its neck, and carefully observed the hound's death.

He first lifted the hound's eyelids to check, only to see red blood inside. He then touched the hound's head and found a crack on the skull.

"Kill with one blow."

The soldiers looked at each other.

A good hunting dog has a head of steel, bones of iron, and a waist of tofu. Its only weak point is the waist. Even if it is hit by a musket in the head, it will not necessarily die.

But now, someone actually hit the hound on the head and beat it to death.

A soldier said solemnly: "Sir!"

As soon as the voice fell, a rustling sound came from the southeast and gradually faded away. The soldiers immediately drew their swords and said, "Chase!"

……

……

Chen Ji led the prince and Zhang Xia through the mountains and forests to avoid being caught up and killed by the cavalry. They fled from noon to sunset, until they climbed over a small hill and their view suddenly became clear.

I saw an unknown small town located in the valley at the foot of the hill.

In the small town, a sturdy man was pushing a wheelbarrow back and forth on the dirt road. The street was paved with coal slag, as black as ink.

Along the street, workshops have chimneys, from which billowing smoke...

Outside the workshop, there are hundreds of feet of earthen houses for the people, which are probably enough to accommodate thousands of people!

Chen Ji immediately lowered his body and asked, "What town is this?"

The prince was puzzled: "I haven't heard of a small town here. I remember there were only four small towns on the way to Luhun Villa, definitely not including this one... What are these people doing?"

Chen Ji looked at the blast furnaces and said solemnly, "Iron smelting!"

No wonder there are organized private infantry and cavalry here. It turns out that someone is secretly smelting iron here.

This is a capital crime!

"What should we do now?" asked the prince.

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Let's go into the town!"

The prince was shocked: "Isn't this just walking into a trap?"

Chen Ji said: "We have to go in and change into clean clothes, otherwise the princess won't be able to bear it."

(End of this chapter)