Chapter 149 Stranger

The raging fire was like red waves, the surging hot air was overwhelming, and the hair was slightly curled in the orange-red light and shadow.

Chen Ji watched the golden pig retreat and shouted in confusion, "Master Golden Pig, didn't you just say you wanted to abandon the Pegasus?"

The Golden Pig ran away and said, "I have offended so many people over the years. Tianma is my biggest supporter in the Imperial Household Department. If he dies, I will not have a good ending."

Chen Ji shouted sincerely: "Master Jinzhu, thank you for coming to save me."

The golden pig turned his back to him and waved his hand impatiently: "Get out of here."

Chen Ji stood at the edge of the sea of ​​fire, listening to the wailing of the soldiers behind him, and watching the golden pig running back to the battlefield.

He knew very well that the Golden Pig had come to rescue him day and night because he had placed a bet on him, and that he was essentially driven by profit.

But if the Golden Pig and Pegasus had not arrived in time, he would not have lived to this day. Saving him is saving him, and he is grateful for this favor.

However, looking at Golden Pig’s back, Chen Ji was not sure whether Golden Pig went back to save Tianma in order to avoid falling back in realm, or for friendship.

Perhaps, sometimes even the Golden Pig himself can’t tell the difference.

The prince looked at Chen Ji and said, "Let's go. The wildfire is spreading very quickly. It will burn ten miles in the blink of an eye. If we don't leave now, it will be too late."

Chen Ji looked back at the hand that the prince stretched out as he bent over, but said, "No, I can't leave yet."

"Hmm?" The prince was a little surprised: "You want to help them?"

Chen Ji looked around hastily and answered, "No."

He looked around but couldn't find the figure he wanted to see. Zaozao stood in the heat wave, pedaling his horse anxiously, ready to run away at any time.

Chen Ji didn't want to waste Bai Li and the others' time, so he slapped Zao Zao on the butt and said, "You go first!"

Zaozao was not frightened away like ordinary horses. Instead, he calmed down and looked back at him in confusion.

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment: "...Miss Zhang Er, your horse?"

Zhang Xia said unhappily, "Zao Zao won't be scared away so easily. What on earth do you want to stay for? We can help you!"

The situation was urgent, Chen Ji could no longer care about anything else and shouted, "Wuyun! Wuyun, where are you?"

The prince was stunned for a moment: "Wu Yun is here too?"

Chen Ji looked into the mountain fire and had a bad feeling in his heart. If Wu Yun was fine, he would definitely follow him. Now Wu Yun didn't answer him, so he must be trapped by something.

Wildfire!

At this moment, a meow sound was heard from the sea of ​​fire. He looked in the direction of the sound, and saw Wuyun pacing anxiously on the branch of a dead tree. There was a sea of ​​fire under his feet, and the flames were spreading upwards along the bark.

Chen Ji rushed towards the dark clouds, but was knocked back by a wave of fire. The thick smoke choked him so much that he could hardly open his eyes.

Gradually, the dark clouds were no longer anxious. They just sat quietly on the branches and let the flames spread.

Wuyun looked at Chen Ji's anxious appearance and meowed softly. The man and the cat were more than twenty steps apart and looking at each other from a distance.

The prince shouted anxiously: "Chen Ji, go!"

Zhang Xia shouted in confusion, "It's already this late, why are you still caring about a cat? Human life is more important than a cat's life! Three people risked their lives to look for you, and you're wasting time for a cat?"

"Sorry, you go first!" Chen Ji glanced at Zhang Xia. He no longer rushed into the sea of ​​fire, but looked for something hurriedly.

The next moment, he ran towards a towering cypress tree with his whale knife in hand, and chopped the tree trunk vigorously. With each cut, a large amount of wood chips were brought out.

The prince was puzzled: "What is Chen Ji doing?"

Zhang Xia said calmly: "He wants to cut down this tree and build a bridge for the cat."

When he was halfway through chopping, Chen Ji looked back at the location of the dark clouds. When he looked back again, he held the knife with both hands and chopped accurately at a certain position: "Fall!" There was a creaking sound of wood fibers breaking, and the towering cypress tree fell down under the weight.

Zhang Xia looked at the direction where the cypress tree fell, calculated silently in his mind for a moment, and suddenly shouted: "The direction is wrong, it should be more northward!"

Chen Ji looked back at her, took a deep breath, took a few steps back, and then sprinted forward with all his might, bumping his shoulder against the cypress tree that was about to fall!

The force of this collision could only cause the giant tree to shift slightly... but it was enough.

With a loud bang, the cypress wood fell not far from the dark clouds and formed a long bridge.

The dark cloud jumped off the branch and landed lightly on the cypress tree several meters away. It stepped on the cypress trunk through the sea of ​​fire, ran towards Chenji, and jumped straight into his arms.

Chen Ji looked down and saw that Wuyun's hair was burnt and curled. He put Wuyun in his arms, turned around and ran: "Go!"

The prince shouted, "You also get on the horse."

Chen Ji said without even turning his head: "Four people are too heavy. Those soldiers have been driven away by the wildfire. Now we just need to race against time with the wildfire."

Zhang Xia shook the reins lightly and spurred his horse to catch up. Zaozao was an exceptionally swift horse, and even with three people on his back he could keep pace with Chen Ji in the forest.

However, the sea of ​​fire spread all over the mountains and the strong wind blew up thick smoke. The four people ran around in the gray smoke, but they could not escape the fire. It was as if they had been running on the edge of the sea of ​​fire and had never left.

Chen Ji stopped.

You can't run around anymore and must observe the fire carefully.

Wildfires are divided into surface fires, crown fires, and underground fires. Surface fires are further divided into steady-advancing fires and rapid-advancing fires. When encountering a rapid-advancing surface fire, the only way to survive is to get away from the direction of the fire spread. People cannot outrun the fire.

But how to get out?

Chen Ji thought for only a few seconds: "Go northwest!"

"Go northwest!" Zhang Xia and he said almost in unison.

Zhang Xia glanced at Chen Ji, flicked the reins with his wrist, and galloped towards the northwest without hesitation.

After running for a few hundred steps, the four of them ran into thick smoke, and the world suddenly became clear!
The prince was surprised and asked, "Why is the fire here so much smaller?"

Zhang Xia replied: "This is the leeward side, so the mountain wind has less impact. In addition, this is the shady side of the mountain, with sparse vegetation and few dead leaves accumulated over the years, so the fire will naturally spread more slowly."

The sea of ​​fire was still surging up the mountain with the mountain wind, but the place where they were was much peaceful.

When they looked back, they saw the ground behind them was covered with scars. The ashes from the sea of ​​fire looked like black scars on the body of a mountain.

The fire was still burning up the mountain. Chen Ji wanted to find any trace of Mr. Feng's battle with Tianma, but he could not find any trace of it. Even the soldiers who were chasing them retreated to somewhere unknown.

Aftermath.

While thinking, Zaozao suddenly bent his front legs and almost dropped the three people on his back to the ground.

The three of them quickly jumped off their horses, and Zhang Xia explained, "Zao Zao has been carrying the three of us all night, and he can't hold on any longer."

She held Zaozao's head and felt a little distressed: "Zaozao, thanks to you."

After that, Zhang Xia took out an oil-paper bag from the backpack beside the saddle and unfolded it to reveal more than ten pieces of snacks. She held the snacks in her palm and fed them to Zaozao's mouth, saying softly, "Eat it, eat it."

She hesitated for a moment, then looked at Chen Ji: "...Does your cat eat food given by strangers?"

Chen Ji touched Wu Yun's head that was sticking out of his arms and said calmly, "No, I'll eat strangers."

Zhang Xia: “…”

(End of this chapter)