The rustling footsteps echoed in the dense forest late at night, adding a bit of a terrifying atmosphere in the darkness.
The movements in Li Xingchen's hands suddenly stopped, and he raised his head warily. He could clearly hear the footsteps getting closer and closer, and they were coming from the other side of the creek. This is what he said for sure.
It wasn't Xiao Shilian, and the footsteps were quite dense, so it wasn't just one person.
Appearing in this mountain forest at this time, they were most likely to be bandits or pursuers and scouts from the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Li Xingchen did not expect that he would encounter enemies even after he had gone so far.
Forcibly suppressing his urge to jump up and turn around to escape, Li Xingchen took a deep breath and simply squatted down and slowly backed away. Behind Li Xingchen, there was a bush of medium size, which was just right for Li Xingchen to hide.
.
"Quickly, two of us go over there and have a look!" Although a voice was very low, it was still very loud in the quiet mountain forest. After a pause, the sound of dense footsteps suddenly sounded again. The moonlight was mottled, and it could be heard.
I clearly saw two swaying figures walking out of the woods and looking around cautiously at the creek.
Although he couldn't see clearly in the dark night, Li Xingchen could clearly see the outline of the shadow. The person who came was wearing armor and must be a soldier. At that moment, Li Xingchen took a breath of cold air. This kind of scout in the army
It will definitely be much harder to deal with than bandits.
Although Li Xingchen had not actually fought against the scouts of the Northern Zhou army, Li Xingchen knew very well the level of the old soldiers around Xiao Shilian, so these Northern Zhou scouts were definitely not easy to deal with. At least they had to be able to fight with the old soldiers around Xiao Shilian.
A fairly even level.
If it were just Li Xingchen, he would be at least 50% sure that he could hide here without being discovered, and even 70% sure that he could escape. After all, these scouts are certainly not as familiar with the mountains and forests as Li Xingchen, and they
It is impossible for such a small group of people to search every inch of land in the mountains and forests. As long as Li Xingchen casually climbs a big tree, he can escape.
But now that there is still Li Lian'er who is sick, dragging Li Lian'er with him, Li Xingchen no longer has the confidence. This is definitely a doomed situation.
I didn't expect that I had escaped a disaster, only to be in another disaster.
Under the moonlight, the two people who came over to check obviously didn't find anything. They just filled their water bags in the stream and turned around and left. Li Xingchen breathed lightly, stood up carefully, and scurried away.
, disappeared into the dark mountain forest.
What Li Xingchen didn't know was that just after he left, the two people who should have stayed away from before came back again, and one of them said in a deep voice: "Did you see it just now?"
"I saw it, but this person has no armor on him. He should be just a hunter in the mountains..." Another scout replied in a low voice.
His companion interrupted him without hesitation: "Do you think there will be any hunters left alive after the barbarians kill them? Their scouts are not vegetarians either."
"Hiss, could it be..." The scout couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
The companion reached out and patted his shoulder: "It seems that we should have found the person we are looking for. I just hope that the young general will be okay, otherwise we will really have no way to explain to General Wu Yi."
"Which of the people around the Major General are not the old men who have followed General Wu Yi through life and death? Even among the entire army, they are the best. I believe that even if they die in battle, they will do their best to ensure the safety of the Major General.
." The scout slowly clenched the knife in his hand, "But no matter what, you go and report it to the boss first. I will follow you and have a look. Once you see it clearly, everything will become clear."
The companion hesitated for a moment and nodded. Now was not the time to fight for anything. At that moment, he quickly turned around and disappeared into the dense forest again.
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Hearing the rapid footsteps, Xiao Shilian almost sat up suddenly, but fortunately, he remembered in time that Li Lian'er was leaning on his shoulder. Looking at Li Xingchen who was running back quickly, Xiao Shilian was a little embarrassed and couldn't help himself for a moment.
He knew how to explain Li Lian'er's question of leaning on his shoulder.
Li Xingchen was also startled when he saw the two people's appearance, but he knew that now was not the time to think about this. What's more, looking at Xiao Shilian's embarrassed expression, Li Xingchen could guess something like:
"somebody is coming!"
"What?" Xiao Shilian whispered, "Who is it?"
Li Xingchen frowned: "They should be the scouts of the Northern Zhou barbarians. I haven't seen clearly where they came from. The top priority is to leave as soon as possible, otherwise we may have to explain why they are here."
As he spoke, Li Xingchen put out the burning bonfire. Even if he found a shade tree, in this darkness, such a bright bonfire was still too easy to attract attention. And Xiao Shilian also knew that the matter was urgent and there was no room for hesitation.
He quickly shook Li Lian'er gently.
"How...how...ah, brother!" Li Lian'er looked at Li Xingchen who came into view in surprise, but soon found that he didn't know when he fell asleep on Xiao Shilian's shoulder.
The little girl's face suddenly turned red and she was speechless for a moment.
"Lian'er, hurry up and leave." Li Xingchen didn't care about what happened between Li Lian'er and Xiao Shilian at this time. He squatted down anxiously, "Quickly, get on someone's back."
Vaguely understanding, Li Lian'er slowly shook his head: "Brother, General Xiao, hurry up and leave. I can't walk now. If I follow you, I will be nothing more than a burden to you. You hurry up and leave. I
You won’t say anything, just kill them if they want! My dad and the others have already left, so I... I might as well go find my dad and the others now!"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Li Xingchen's voice was filled with anger, "If I leave you here, what's the use even if I leave?! I promised my father to protect you for the rest of my life, but now I'm leaving you
If I am left alone here, what is the point of living for me?! Come on, come up, I will carry you on my back, even if we die, we will die together!"
This time Xiao Shilian didn't say much, nor did he stop Li Xingchen. He just slowly drew out his saber and looked around vigilantly.
Li Lian'er sighed softly: "Brother...why are you so stupid?"
"If I can't even protect my own family, what's the use of being smart!" Li Xingchen squatted down and realized that Li Lian'er had no strength to climb up now. He immediately turned to look at Xiao Shilian, "Brother Xiao!"
Knowing that Li Xingchen wanted to help him, Xiao Shilian was about to turn around when a figure suddenly jumped out, so frightened that Xiao Shilian almost subconsciously slashed at him with the sword in his hand.
Under the moonlight, the blade cut through the darkness, the weapons collided, and sparks flew everywhere.