Chapter 279: Escape

In the darkness, Li Xuan quickly walked through the alley carrying a little girl. Every time he walked a section of the road, he had to stop to listen to the sounds of fighting and horse hooves nearby, quietly distinguishing the safe direction.

He stood in the dim alley, breathing heavily and looking up at the roofs everywhere, trying to find Chen Ji's trace.

Having been surrounded for three days, Li Xuan had only been able to drink watery porridge. Today, he had been fighting from noon until late at night. Even a person made of iron would find it hard to endure.

Li Xuan glanced at the elm tree beside him and couldn't help but tear off a piece of dry, bitter bark from the trunk, imagining it was a piece of beef jerky and stuffing it into his mouth to chew.

The bark was especially bitter and astringent, no matter how hard he chewed, it was difficult to bite through.

The refugees behind him saw his predicament and carefully said, "Official master, elm bark has to be ground into flour before you can eat it! How many days have you not eaten?"

Li Xuan forcibly swallowed the unchewed bark and casually explained, "I'm not hungry, I just never ate it before and wanted to taste it!"

The little girl on his back suddenly put her hand to his mouth: "Grandpa, eat this!"

"You..."

Li Xuan was startled and lowered his head to see the little girl holding two dried sand dates in her hand.

The little girl whispered, "My mother gave them to me. She said to secretly eat one when I was really too hungry to bear it."

Li Xuan stuffed another mouthful of elm bark into his mouth and said with a smile, "You keep it and eat it!"

But the little girl still stuffed the sand date into his mouth: "I still have two more!"

Li Xuan chewed the sand date in his mouth, silently looking at the narrow night sky above the alley, not knowing what he was thinking.

Some refugees cautiously asked, "Official master, what about that colleague of yours? Where did he go? If he could be with us, we don't mean anything else, it's just that we see you're having such a hard time!"

Li Xuan's gaze swept over the empty roofs nearby again, and after a long time, he said, "He should still have matters to attend to!"

At this time, a team of Tian Ce army iron cavalry howled past. They used an iron chain to tie the ankle of a border army soldier and dragged him alive until he died.

The crowd in the small alley covered their mouths in fear and shrank back, afraid of being discovered by the Tian Ce army outside.

After the Tian Ce army left, Li Xuan continued to move north, trying to rendezvous with his Yu Lin army colleagues.

Above a wine house pavilion, a Tian Ce army divine archer leaned against the shadow of the second-floor roof eaves, silently rubbing the hard bow in his hand. His eyes, like those of a hawk or falcon, overlooked his colleagues searching house by house.

The divine archer's ears suddenly twitched, as if he heard a faint cough.

He moved away from the wall and stood up straight.

He stretched his right hand into the arrow quiver and silently pulled out a whistling arrow.

The next moment, Li Xuan led the refugees out of the alley, intending to cross Bao Si Street.

The Tian Ce army divine archer drew his bow and set his arrow like thunder. With a bang, the thick and tough bowstring unleashed a terrifying sound.

The whistling arrow made a sharp sound and flew straight towards Li Xuan's back, aiming to pierce through both Li Xuan and the little girl behind him with one arrow.

Suddenly, an iron bow arrow shot out from the darkness, striking and shattering the whistling arrow that had just left the string in mid-air. The sharp sound abruptly stopped.

The Tian Ce army divine archer's heart leaped. He immediately drew another whistling arrow from his quiver and, without even looking, subconsciously drew his bow and set his arrow, shooting towards where the arrow had come from.

He had just released the bowstring when an iron bow arrow was already upon him.

The iron bow arrow met the whistling arrow, shattered it, then passed through his throat and nailed him to the wall behind him.

The tail feathers of the arrow, carrying blood, trembled constantly.

Li Xuan turned his head and looked towards the pavilion above. He just saw Chen Ji lightly flip over the railing and pull away the divine archer's arrow quiver.

Chen Ji silently pointed north from the pavilion.

Li Xuan immediately understood and carried the little girl, escaping towards the north.

At the same time, the nearby Tian Ce army, hearing the two whistling arrows, halted their horses and prepared to follow the new guide. But the sounds of the whistling arrows were too short this time, and for a moment, they didn't know what had happened or where to shoot.

The Tian Ce army iron cavalry looked at each other. Before they could speak, a whistling arrow flew from west to east. Only then did they spur their horses and chase after it.

Arriving at the spot where the arrow had fallen, a Tian Ce army iron cavalry soldier frowned, looking at the arrow nailed to the wall, and then at the empty street around him: "Why did the divine archer guide us here? There's nothing here!"

A soldier wearing a black pheasant tail helmet and armor said in a cold voice, "Someone killed the divine archer and took his bow."

After speaking, he tightened the reins and turned his horse's head, holding his horse spear upside down, and rushed towards where the first whistling arrow sound had come from.

Li Xuan's group hadn't run far when they heard the sound of horse hooves, getting closer and closer, more and more urgent.

Bad, the Tian Ce army reacted too quickly and had seen through Chen Ji's trick!

Once the Tian Ce army iron cavalry arrived, these refugees would undoubtedly die.

He suddenly turned his head and looked at Chen Ji on the pavilion, only to see that the other side was also extremely solemn.

He saw Chen Ji hesitate for a long time, finally drawing a whistling arrow from his quiver and shooting it into the sky.

Li Xuan was suddenly startled, then watched with wide eyes as Chen Ji leaped down from the high platform, stepped onto the roof, and ran in the opposite direction from him. Immediately after, another foot-long whistling arrow shot into the sky, guiding the Tian Ce army!

He listened as Chen Ji used whistling arrow after whistling arrow to lead the Tian Ce army farther and farther, his heart filled with mixed emotions for a moment.

Breathe!

Even breathing is key to balancing the body. Chen Ji heard the Tian Ce army iron cavalry behind him getting closer and closer. He drew an arrow from the quiver at his waist, without stopping or looking back, he pulled the bowstring full and shot an arrow behind him.

The bowstring vibrated, and the whistling arrow, wrapped in a sharp whistle, pierced a Tian Ce army armored soldier, bringing him down from his horse.

Chen Ji drew another arrow and shot it, and another Tian Di army armored soldier fell from his warhorse, his armor hitting the ground with a rumble.

One arrow, one life, but the iron cavalry surrounding and blocking him not only didn't decrease but increased. Just as Chen Ji shot out another arrow, an arrow shot at him from a cold place, catching him off guard for an instant and launching a sneak attack.

In another part of the darkness, another divine archer let out a cold arrow from dozens of steps away. One, two, three arrows, continuously three iron bow arrows locked onto Chen Ji's path.

The divine archers hidden in the dark quietly watched as the arrows got closer and closer to Chen Ji, but Chen Ji still showed no sign of dodging the arrows.

Just when they thought Chen Ji was sure to die, they saw the arrows approaching Chen Ji actually burst into splinters of wood, being struck into powder by an invisible sharp weapon.

The eyes of the two divine archers narrowed slightly. Neither of them saw clearly what had happened.

Chen Ji looked coldly towards one of the people's directions, set an arrow with his backhand, and counterattacked. The divine archer hidden in the dark saw him pull the bowstring full and his face changed greatly. He leaped sideways to hide.

With a thud, the divine archer, who was mid-leap, turned his head with lingering fear to look at the spot where he had just been. There was an iron bow arrow trembling non-stop.

If he had been even slightly slower, he might have already been nailed to the wall.

An iron bow arrow, carrying overwhelming force, nailed him to the wall, striking him heavily against it.

Two arrows, only two arrows were needed to kill one divine archer alone!

Another divine archer saw his colleague's death and his heart turned cold. He quietly retreated into the darkness, and casually shot three whistling arrows towards the direction Chen Ji had escaped.

This was not a person they could kill. They needed to call more people.

As Chen Ji escaped, he only felt that the surrounding Tian Ce army was closing in from all sides, like a pot of thin porridge gradually thickening into congee.

Fortunately, the black sword seed could shatter cold arrows in the cover of the night, otherwise, he would have been shot into a sieve long ago.

The large fire in Gu Yuan city had already spread here. Rolling thick smoke billowed out from house after house. A vast "fire line," like a twisted red rope, divided the huge Gu Yuan city into two.

Chen Ji escaped by the large fire, while thinking about where he should escape next.

The Tian Ce army iron cavalry's encirclement was getting tighter and tighter. Chen Ji ran and shot and killed the surrounding Tian Ce army as he went.

Suddenly, a team of Tian Ce army turned out from the front, as if they had been waiting here for a long time, waiting for him to walk into the trap.

Chen Ji reached out to touch his arrow quiver, but it was empty.

He subconsciously lowered his head to look. It turned out all the arrows had already been shot.

He raised his head again to look at the several Tian Ce army iron cavalry coming towards him. There was no way to avoid them.

Thirty steps, twenty steps! Ten steps!

Chen Ji threw away the hard bow in his hand and drew out the whale knife tied to his back.

Just then, a figure flashed out from a small alley on the side. Several sword flowers flashed past, actually throwing the Tian Ce army formation into chaos in an instant.

Li Xuan shouted, "Quick, go!"

Chen Ji said in a deep voice, "How did you come?"

Li Xuan hurriedly explained, "Just now, an armored infantry unit, I don't know where they came from, was fighting with the Tian Ce army. I've already sent the common people to a safe place!"

Chen Ji glanced behind him. Behind him were the surging Tian Ce army iron cavalry. He glanced ahead. Ahead were also surging galloping iron cavalry!

Only the left side was the surging large fire!

Chen Ji bit his teeth and covered his mouth and nose, actually pulling Li Xuan with him into the rolling thick smoke to the south!

The next moment, the Tian Ce army iron cavalry attacking from the east, west, and north converged like a black tide, but pounced on nothing.

For a time, the sound of horse hooves on the street was disordered. The Tian Ce army all tightened their reins to avoid their warhorses colliding with their colleagues.

A divine archer climbed onto the roof of a wine house and silently looked at the rolling thick smoke.

This area of large fire and thick smoke was about twenty steps wide, like an abyss crossing through the middle of Gu Yuan city.

Died in the sea of fire?

Just when he thought Chen Ji and Li Xuan had been buried in the sea of fire, he saw the shadows of two people leaping out of the rolling thick smoke, coughing and escaping to the south.

The divine archer's heart sank. He drew a whistling arrow and shot it to the south.

A Tian Ce army armored soldier wearing a black feather on his helmet frowned. He thought the person opposite had led over a hundred of his people in such a big circle. He immediately said angrily, "Chase!"

After speaking, he covered his warhorse's eyes with a black cloth, fiercely clamped his legs on the horse's belly, spurred the warhorse to leap up, and crossed into the sea of fire!