Young Master Wen Yuan and his bodyguard rode ahead, while Jin Feng led his men behind, maintaining a distance of several li on the mountain path, one chasing and the other fleeing.
After a stretch of winding mountain road, both parties, one above and one below, caught sight of each other.
“No wonder people say Jin Feng is a madman. We have already rescued Tang Xiaobei, so why is he still pursuing us so relentlessly?”
Zhou Wen Yuan cursed in frustration.
After cursing, he still had to keep running.
Both sides rode excellent warhorses brought back from the grasslands, and their speeds were roughly equal.
However, after running for more than an hour, the bodyguard’s warhorse began to slow down gradually.
He was too heavy. The horse could endure at the start, but as time dragged on, the breaths from its mouth and nostrils grew heavier and heavier, clearly on the verge of collapse.
Fortunately, this was a mountain path, and neither had driven their horses to full gallop, or the horses would have been worked to death long ago.
The bodyguard had no choice but to whip the horse’s hindquarters harshly, using pain to stimulate it.
At first, this method worked, but as time passed, the distance between the two sides still drew closer.
They chased all the way until mid-afternoon, when the distance between them was less than a li. Without needing to navigate the winding roads, they could see each other at any moment.
“Mad, mad, this Jin Feng is definitely mad!”
Young Master Wen Yuan felt he was about to go mad himself.
Jin Feng had chased him for over a hundred li, and both sides’ warhorses were now moving very slowly.
Even if they stopped now, the horses were essentially ruined.
But Jin Feng still pursued relentlessly.
“Young Master, at this rate, we cannot escape.”
The bodyguard whipped the horse’s hindquarters again, catching up to Zhou Wen Yuan: “We cannot take the official road anymore.”
As a seasoned veteran of the rivers and lakes, he could tell that the horse would be worked to death after at most another ten li.
“Then what do we do?”
Zhou Wen Yuan looked back and grew anxious too.
“We will go down the small path. If the warhorse gives out, I will carry you into the woods to shake them off.”
“Then we will follow Mr. Qu’s plan.”
Zhou Wen Yuan had no ideas left now and could only follow him down the small path.
Since they had chased this far, Jin Feng certainly would not give up and also led his men off the official road.
After running two or three li along the small path, a small river about ten meters wide appeared. The path had been trodden along the riverbank, growing narrower the further they went and closer to the water’s edge.
At this point, their retreat was cut off, so the bodyguard and Zhou Wen Yuan gritted their teeth and urged their warhorses to continue fleeing along the riverbank.
Splash!
The bodyguard’s horse finally gave out, its legs buckling as it collapsed to the ground.
But the bodyguard was prepared, rolling as he dismounted to absorb the impact.
“It’s over, it’s over, this time we are really done…”
Zhou Wen Yuan felt a wave of despair in his heart and wished he could slap himself twice.
Why had he gone and provoked Tang Xiaobei for no good reason?
Now he had made this madman Jin Feng pursue them to the death…
In fact, this was exactly the effect Jin Feng wanted.
In Jinchuan County now, no one dared to provoke him precisely because he had killed Magistrate Zhou’s steward without regard for anything, leaving the image of a madman.
At this moment, Jin Feng’s group’s warhorses were also at the end of their strength. Even at full sprint, the bodyguard was much faster than them and quickly caught up to Zhou Wen Yuan.
“Young Master, we can only head into the mountains.”
The bodyguard was just about to have Zhou Wen Yuan stop so he could carry him and flee, when suddenly he spotted a small wooden cabin by the river behind the distant woods.
Most importantly, on the grassy area beside the cabin was a small fishing boat.
At the cabin door, a young man was hanging up fishing nets to dry.
“Young Master, Heaven is protecting us!”
The bodyguard shouted excitedly: “I will hold them off. Young Master, hurry and get the fisherman to launch the boat onto the river.”
Fishermen feared their boats being stolen and dragged them onto the grassy bank, so to borrow the boat and escape, he had to stay behind to buy time for Zhou Wen Yuan.
“Mr. Qu, be careful!”
Zhou Wen Yuan agreed and rode toward the cabin.
Meanwhile, the bodyguard drew his saber and chopped down two arm-thick saplings from the nearby woods, branches and leaves intact, throwing them across the small path.
Then he dashed into the adjacent woods.
Jin Feng’s group was blocked by the saplings and had to halt their horses.
Once stopped, the warhorses collapsed to the ground one after another, unable to rise.
Without Jin Feng saying a word, the veteran soldiers and female soldiers immediately formed a formation on their own. Da Liu led the veterans in front, the female soldiers behind, protecting Jin Feng and Qing Mu Lan in the center.
A Mei always stood at the side of the two.
At this moment, a black shadow flashed in the woods about ten meters away.
“There!”
Da Liu was the first to pull the trigger.
The other veterans also turned their crossbows.
But the bodyguard’s speed was too fast, and the woods were too dense, making it impossible to hit him.
At the same time, Zhou Wen Yuan also tumbled off his horse and hopped to the cabin door.
“Who are you?”
The fisherman raised a fish spear, asking tensely.
Behind him was a young woman, probably his wife, peeking out half her face from behind the door.
“Brother, do not be afraid. I am a good man. The ones chasing us behind are bandits.”
Zhou Wen Yuan pulled a five-tael silver ingot from his bosom: “Brother, as long as you take me away, these five taels of silver are yours.”
“This…”
Hesitation showed on the fisherman’s face.
“Brother, bandits kill without blinking. Our caravan of over thirty people, only I and my bodyguard survived.”
Zhou Wen Yuan tossed the silver to the fisherman’s feet and continued: “Now my bodyguard is holding them off. We still have time to leave. Once they arrive, you will not survive either. Like this, these five taels are just a deposit. As long as you take me to the capital, I will buy you a house there and set you up with a shop. Then you and your wife can do a little business in the capital. Is that not much better than fishing here?”
Zhou Wen Yuan’s words struck right at the fisherman’s heart.
“Do you mean what you say?”
“Of course I do. My family is wealthy in the capital. If I deceive you, may Heaven strike me with five bolts of lightning.”
Zhou Wen Yuan hurriedly patted his chest and swore.
“Then good, I believe you!”
The fisherman gritted his teeth and shouted to his wife: “Xiu Niang, come out. We are leaving!”
“Husband, then I will go pack our things…”
“Bandits are about to kill us. What is there to pack?”
The fisherman picked up the silver and said: “Hurry and help this young master.”
With that, he turned and ran toward the small boat.
His wife obediently blushed and supported Zhou Wen Yuan.
Several hundred meters away, Jin Feng saw the fisherman dragging the small boat and immediately guessed Zhou Wen Yuan’s intention.
He said coldly: “A Lan, take a few people and intercept that young master first!”
“Yes!”
A Lan agreed and led several female soldiers running toward the cabin.
The bodyguard saw this scene and immediately grew anxious.
Gritting his teeth, he charged out of the woods with his saber, heading straight for Jin Feng and Qing Mu Lan!
“We have been waiting for you to come out!”
The veterans raised their crossbows and pulled the triggers.
