A heavy fog filled the air as a troop of troops passed through the roads between the mountains.
The soldiers were covered in dust and seemed to be extremely weak. No one spoke as they advanced.
This was a defeated section of the Heavenly King Stronghold. There were less than a thousand people left, and their morale was low. Lu Longchuan was among them.
He looked exhausted and could not hide it. He kept observing his back and surroundings, his vigilance that of a frightened bird.
Ever since Perfected Master Windwalker was poisoned by a traitor and Chen Feng took action to attack the stronghold, the situation of the war had changed drastically.
The Heavenly King Stronghold was defeated en masse, and they had no choice but to fight and run at the same time. Under the pursuit of the Dragon King Stronghold, the majority of the troops retreated step by step and fell apart. Some were killed, some were captured, and there were countless deserters, turning into defeated troops which were taken in by the other party.
Currently, only Sun Rong, Shi Hu, and more than ten other leaders were left by Lu Longchuan’s side. The other brothers had already separated, and it was unknown if they were dead or alive. Perfected Master Windwalker had also fled with his disciples when they were defeated.
The army he led had barely broken through the encirclement to survive. Now that they had fled for many days, they were already exhausted.
After losing to such a state, Lu Longchuan knew that there was nothing he could do. He only had one thought left, which was to shake off the pursuers and escape from Huyang.
He looked around at the defeated soldiers dejectedly. When he thought of the huge power of the Heavenly King Stronghold and how there were only this few of his brothers left, he felt his heart bleed.
Decades of foundation had been lost in a single day!
Painful, this was too painful!
“Ugh…”
Lu Longchuan suddenly groaned and covered the wound below his ribs.
“Big Brother, can your body still hold on?”
Shi Hu hurriedly came over, his tone concerned.
“Phew… I’m fine. It’s been many years since we last met, and that Guo Haishen’s martial arts has become more and more astonishing. He’s already stronger than me back then.”
Lu Longchuan exhaled with a complicated expression.
In the previous battle, he had fought Guo Haishen in the chaos and could not defeat him. He was injured by his opponent and almost captured alive.
Many years ago, when he was still the “Heavenly King” of the Green Forest, Guo Haishen had once gone to the North to challenge him. They fought to a draw even after 50 to 60 rounds, but he was still stronger than the other party.
But now, he was already old, and his martial arts had deteriorated. As for Guo Haishen, he had cultivated a pile of profound martial arts from the sect, and his abilities became even more powerful. Under such circumstances, he, the former number one expert of the Green Forest, could no longer defeat him.
He sighed in his heart. He felt nostalgic for himself, but also lamented that fate was unpredictable.
At this moment, a strangely majestic mountain range appeared in the fog ahead. The terrain was steep.
Lu Longchuan hurriedly ordered the entire army to stop. Then, he rode to the front of the team and observed carefully. He felt his eyelids twitching.
“What’s ahead? It actually looks so dangerous!”
Hearing this, Sun Rong pondered for a moment and said, “We’ve already fled to the southwest of Huyang, Ping State. There are many mountains and dense forests here. I think the mountain in front of us looks like a dragon wrapped around the mountain. It should be the Dragon Locking Ridge that the locals mentioned.”
Dragon Locking Ridge!
Lu Longchuan’s heart skipped a beat. He felt that it was extremely inauspicious.
Sun Rong continued, “The map shows that there’s a small path through Dragon Locking Ridge. If you can find a guide to lead the way, you can directly pass through and save a lot of time. After leaving the ridge, there’ll be a main road that leads straight to the Pingzhou Prefecture. If we continue to march in that direction for a few more days, we’ll be able to leave Huyang. At that time, we’ll be safe.”
Lu Longchuan subconsciously rejected attempting to enter Dragon Locking Ridge and said, “I think the terrain ahead is dangerous. I’m afraid there might be an ambush there. Why don’t we take a detour?”
Sun Rong frowned, “Speed is the most important thing in war. If we take a detour, we won’t be able to avoid being delayed for a day or two. As soon as the pursuers arrive, we won’t be able to escape. We’re only left with the remnants of our troops. If the Dragon King Stronghold manages to overtake us through the ridge path, they might as well appear and stop us.”
“Well… alright.”
Lu Longchuan thought for a moment and nodded in agreement to his advisor’s claims.
He sent out a scout to search for traces of people nearby. Soon, he found a small village with less than a hundred households. Most of them were local hunters.
Seeing that a soldier had come, the villagers were very vigilant. They took out their hunting bows or pitchforks.
Lu Longchuan did not want to cause any trouble. He only wanted to find a guide to cross the ridge.
Because the Dragon King Stronghold was quite popular in Huyang, he was quite vigilant against the local villagers. He did not dare to reveal his name and only pretended to be an ordinary deserter.
At the same time, he also carefully observed the expressions of the villagers. If he realized that something was wrong, he would immediately order them to be slaughtered.
The villagers looked at each other as if they could not make up their minds.
At this moment, a strong young man walked out and said in a deep voice,
“I’m a hunter in this village and am very familiar with this forest. I’m willing to be a guide to bring you through the mountains, but please don’t hurt my fellow villagers.”
Lu Longchuan nodded, “We only want to cross the ridge quickly. If you can cooperate, I won’t disturb all of you any further.”
“It’s a deal. Let me speak and reassure the villagers. We’ll set off now.”
The young man nodded and turned around to whisper a few words to the villagers, as if comforting them. Then, he walked over to Lu Longchuan and his army.
Lu Longchuan had been observing and did not find anything amiss. He then asked if anyone from the Dragon King Stronghold had arrived recently. After receiving the unanimous denial of the villagers, he asked the guide to lead the way and the group entered the mountain range.
This young man was indeed a veteran hunter. He walked through the forest as if it was flat ground, and he was quite familiar with the path.
Seeing that this young man’s footsteps were strong and his skills were not bad, Lu Longchuan could not help but ask, “What’s your name? I see that your movements are agile. Have you practiced martial arts?”
The young man nodded and casually replied,
“My name is Lu Sheng, and I’ve indeed practiced it before. In Huyang, who doesn’t know how to do a few moves? Especially for people like us who rely on hunting to survive. If we don’t practice some superficial martial arts, we won’t be able to run away when we encounter ferocious beasts.”