Building roads in the mountains is not easy. There is only one main road from Guangyuan to the capital.
With Jin Feng’s order, the veteran soldiers and female soldiers all mounted their horses and pursued along the official road!
“Sir, once we catch up to Zhou Wen Yuan, how do you plan to handle him?”
Qing Mulam rode alongside Jin Feng and asked, turning her head.
“What do you think should be done?”
Jin Feng did not answer but asked in return.
“I think you will kill him,” Qing Mulam said. “You look like you want to eat someone right now.”
“Would it not be right to kill him?”
“Although Zhou Wen Yuan is not Duke Zhou’s legitimate grandson, he dares to kill mansion soldiers and has such a skilled guard, so his status in the Zhou family is clearly not low. Killing him would be big trouble.”
Qing Mulam said with a smile.
“I do not know any Zhou Wen Yuan, nor do I know he is from the Zhou family.”
Jin Feng said. “I only know he is a thug who killed mansion soldiers. According to Da Kang’s laws, this is a capital offense! As a member of Da Kang, I will never allow such thugs to continue rampaging!”
In fact, pursuing Zhou Wen Yuan was not a momentary impulse on Jin Feng’s part.
It was a decision he made after careful consideration.
Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to confront a duke.
But through Zhou Wen Yuan seeking the physician to analyze the soap formula, Jin Feng knew the other party was targeting the soap.
Playboys are mostly bullies who fear the strong. They will not feel grateful if you show mercy; instead, they will think you are easy to bully.
This time they kidnapped Tang Xiaobei. If Jin Feng did not strike back, next time Zhou Wen Yuan would only escalate, using even more despicable means.
He was now a young tiger targeted by hyenas, with a big piece of fat meat in his mouth.
Since he was already targeted, he must show some ferocity and fight to the death. If he flinched now, more hyenas would soon pounce, not only robbing his fat meat but tearing him to pieces.
Moreover, Jin Feng was not without any assurance.
He believed that with Zhou Wen Yuan killing mansion soldiers, Duke Zhou’s opponents would not let this opportunity pass.
From Qing Mulam’s earlier reaction, it was clear she also wanted to kill Zhou Wen Yuan.
Sure enough, hearing Jin Feng say this, Qing Mulam could not help but laugh. “Sir is indeed sir. Right, we do not know any Zhou Wen Yuan. We only know he is a thug who dares to kill city-guarding mansion soldiers!”
“This should count as acting bravely for justice, right? Is there a reward?”
Jin Feng asked tentatively.
“Sir, rest assured. When we return, I will send someone to notify my brother and have him petition the court to award you merit!”
Qing Mulam patted her chest and said.
Hearing Qing Mulam say this, Jin Feng was completely reassured.
Clearly, the Qing family was on his side.
He already had the moral high ground, plus the Qing family’s support. What was there to fear?
Thinking of this, Jin Feng whipped his horse’s rump again, making the warhorse run faster.
…
The Zhou family was also a great clan in the capital. The warhorses Zhou Wen Yuan and his guard rode were also fine breeds from the grasslands, very fast.
They had already run more than ten li away.
Zhou Wen Yuan looked back and saw no one pursuing, so he pulled the reins to stop the warhorse.
“Young master, why stop?”
The guard asked anxiously. “We are still too close to Guangyuan. Jin Feng could chase us at any time.”
“Mr. Qu, I cannot go on. My leg hurts too much.”
With an arrow in his leg, every step the warhorse took made the arrow shift, causing Zhou Wen Yuan so much pain that he was covered in sweat, his face pale as death.
The guard dismounted, lifted Zhou Wen Yuan’s robe, and saw that blood had soaked the saddle and was still dripping down his pants.
No wonder Zhou Wen Yuan’s face was so white.
“Young master, this wound must be treated, or you will lose too much blood.”
The guard helplessly carried Zhou Wen Yuan down from the horse. “I need to remove the arrowhead. It will hurt a lot. Young master, endure it.”
“I will!”
Zhou Wen Yuan nodded quickly.
The guard took out a small knife, cut open the pants near the arrowhead, then placed the knife against the thigh and measured back and forth.
This action reminded Zhou Wen Yuan of slicing meat off a roasted lamb leg with a small knife.
“Mr. Qu, what are you doing?”
Zhou Wen Yuan asked in fear.
“Young master, this arrowhead is triangular with barbs. If pulled out directly, it will tear off a large piece of flesh,” the guard explained. “So I can only cut two small incisions along the arrowhead’s direction on your leg. That way, the wound will be minimal.”
Zhou Wen Yuan then breathed a sigh of relief. After hesitating, he asked, “How deep will you cut?”
“As deep as the arrowhead.”
The guard tilted his head to inspect, frowned, and said, “It will probably reach near the bone. Young master, you must endure it.”
“Alright… alright then…”
At this point, Zhou Wen Yuan could only nod.
“Then I am starting.”
The guard gripped the small knife and applied slight pressure.
As soon as he made a small cut, Zhou Wen Yuan cried out in pain.
The guard was startled and quickly stopped. “Young master, what is wrong?”
“It hurts, so much!”
“Of course cutting flesh hurts. Endure it, young master.”
“It is not the pain of cutting flesh. It is like being burned by fire…”
At this point, Zhou Wen Yuan suddenly asked, “Mr. Qu, on the way here, you roasted a wild rabbit. Did you use this knife to rub salt on it?”
“Uh… sorry, young master, I forgot…”
The guard’s old face reddened. He quickly took out a waterskin and carefully washed the small knife.
Zhou Wen Yuan inwardly wanted to kill someone, but the guard was his only reliance now. He could only endure it, shook his head to show it did not matter.
He even picked up a tree branch from the ground and bit it in his mouth, signaling the guard to continue.
Removing the arrowhead was delicate work. The guard had only seen physicians do it twice when he was wounded himself. His technique was unskilled, and it took nearly half an hour to finally extract the arrowhead.
Da Kang had no anesthetics. Zhou Wen Yuan was in such pain that his clothes were soaked with sweat, but he endured it.
The guard used the cut cloth strips to tie tightly above the wound on the thigh to prevent excessive blood loss.
“Finally done!”
Zhou Wen Yuan slumped back weakly, utterly exhausted.
At that moment, the guard’s ear twitched. His expression changed suddenly, and he leaped onto a nearby tree.
He shaded his eyes and looked back, cursing inwardly “damn it,” then jumped down.
Several li away on the official road, a horse team was galloping towards them, clearly pursuing.
Normally, the guard would have heard the hoofbeats long ago, but earlier, although Zhou Wen Yuan had bitten the branch and not shouted loudly, his heavy breathing still affected the guard’s hearing.
Only after removing the arrowhead did he notice the anomaly.
“Mr. Qu, what is wrong?”
Zhou Wen Yuan saw the guard’s odd expression and quickly asked.
“Young master, a horse team is catching up from behind. We must leave quickly.”
The guard carried Zhou Wen Yuan onto the horse’s back.
They had only been gone a few minutes when Jin Feng and the others arrived.
Neigh!
Seeing the torn cloth and fresh blood on the roadside, Da Liu quickly dismounted.
“Sir, it is our arrowhead. The blood on the ground is not dry yet. They have not gone far.”
“Then continue the pursuit!”
Jin Feng shook the reins and led the charge forward.
