Chapter 469: The sky is falling, but I’m holding on (5k)
Do you want to cross thousands of miles and return to the capital without relying on, or even needing to avoid, any help from others?
Zhao Duan also turned his head and looked towards the capital, but he only saw the white cold rain outside the gap in the ruined temple.
How easy is it to achieve this in the context of wars and wars? Especially when Zhenbao was seriously injured.
"Okay. We'll set off tomorrow." He nodded calmly without hesitation. Since it was the only correct way, no matter how many difficulties and obstacles there were, we had to face it.
Surprise flashed across the eyes of the female emperor sitting cross-legged on the altar table, as if she did not expect that Zhao Duan would agree so happily.
Zhao Duan was already talking to himself:
"The first thing is to help your majesty stabilize his internal injuries. Then when the rain passes and the sky becomes clearer, I will go and determine the general direction. Well, after all, I will go north, so it will be fine.
If we meet people on the road, we can determine the exact location, but we need to avoid the big cities along the way. There is also a mask here that changes the appearance, but it's a pity that it can't be two people.
Yes, the rebels will definitely step up their investigation of Your Majesty. Your Majesty urgently needs to change his appearance. I will just use some disguise and make-up methods...
However, it is almost impossible to avoid the pursuit of the rebels by using disguise... I am afraid that this journey will be difficult for Your Majesty. ”
When encountering a catastrophe, an ordinary person would have already worried about gains and losses, but after the empress made her decision, he immediately began to calmly analyze the next action plan.
However, Zhao Duan didn't think there was anything wrong.
He had already died once.
A year ago today, I didn't have anything. It was nothing more than returning to the desperate situation where I was besieged on all sides.
Back then, he was able to find a glimmer of hope in the face of the genocidal crime of "letting go the rebels", not to mention that he is no longer what he used to be?
Xu Zhenguan bit his lip, listening to the words of the courtier behind him in the firelight, and felt an inexplicable feeling of peace of mind.
Well, if this guy's hands were calmer, these words would be more convincing.
"Have you touched the bottleneck of the worldly realm?" The empress suddenly asked without any clue.
"It's still a little short of that. Eunuch Hai said that if a warrior wants to move forward, he must endure the hardships of life and death." Zhao Duan replied.
He was thinking in his mind, after this journey is over, will he be able to enter the realm of the world, or even break through in the middle?
Xu Zhenguan didn't speak anymore. She closed her eyes haggardly, and Zhao Duan did the same.
Neither of them mentioned the topic of dual cultivation. The top priority before them is...
Stay alive.
……
There was no talking all night, and the rain stopped in the middle of the night.
Early the next morning, when the miserable daylight came through the crack in the door, the emperor and his ministers, who had been awake almost all night, roasted and ate the two rabbits and birds they had caught.
Zhao Duan handed the disguise mask named "Nine Changes" to the empress, opened the door himself, and climbed to a high place to find a way out of the forest.
Although it was already dawn, it was still cloudy. It had rained all night and the entire bamboo forest was damp.
Zhao Duan did not dare to go far, climbed up a big tree, looked around, and found that there were faint villages and towns in the northeast.
After he returned to the Earth Temple, he found that the empress had changed her appearance and transformed into a palace maid with a relatively mediocre appearance.
Paired with a plain men's gown and covered with a hat, she looks like a young lady.
It's just that the momentum and majesty developed over time cannot be eliminated in a short time.
After a night of breathing, she was still seriously injured, but she could barely stand.
He would bite his finger, write words on a piece of cloth, and use some magic power to condense an illusory jade seal and cover it on the cloth.
"Your Majesty? What are you doing?" Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment.
The empress of the Yu Kingdom, who was pale and had an unusually weak temperament, forced out a smile, folded up the "blood book" calmly, and handed it to him:
"I am seriously injured now. If you and I encounter a strong enemy on our way back to the capital, if you protect me, we will both be captured.
This is the "edict" I have drafted. Take it with you. If there is an emergency, take the edict and return to the capital alone. It is much better than both you and me being caught by the rebels. ”
Legacy edict!
After she regained her strength, the first thing she did was draft a "posthumous edict" for herself!
Is it because he lacks confidence in whether he can make it out of the siege alive?
Zhao Duan pursed his lips, looking away from the empress who smiled at him and handed him the edict.
The next moment, he reached out to take the edict, threw it into the charcoal of the bonfire that was about to burn out, and allowed it to be ignited.
"Please forgive me for resisting the decree!"
Zhao Duan looked at the empress' surprised gaze and said seriously:
"I will never abandon Your Majesty and escape alone. Please take back your life."
Xu Zhenguan's eyes were complicated, and she wanted to say something, but she whispered softly, and was carried by Zhao Duan on his back, and he strode out:
"Your Majesty is weak and seriously injured, and it is difficult to walk. I have found the route and will set off now."
Xu Zhenguan was stunned and carried him out of the temple with his mind a little blank.
Feeling the warmth under her body and the solid feeling coming from her broad back, she hesitated for a moment, did not break away, and let him carry him towards the north.
Suddenly, Zhao Duan heard a gentle and indifferent voice coming from behind: "Can I believe you?"
"Okay." Zhao Duan did not hesitate.
"Can I really trust you?"
Zhao Duan paused, held up the Empress with one hand, and used a rope made of cloth with the other hand to tightly tie the Empress on his back to himself.
Very hard.
As if he wanted to rub her into his body, and also seemed to express some kind of determination:
"Okay."
"The sky is falling, I'm holding on."
……
……
Just after Zhao Duan left the bamboo forest, that afternoon.
A team of dozens of people arrived in this mountain forest.
This elite team of spies from Prince Jing's Palace was ordered to search for traces of the empress and Zhao Duan.
The leader of the team is the "secret spy leader" wearing a hood, covering half of his face.
That is: a person with great power who controls the entire secret intelligence system.
He seemed to deliberately cover his face, but his exposed hands were slender and pale, and he wore a long and narrow Miao knife at his waist.
In the entire power domain of King Jing, the spy leader is a mysterious figure who hides in the shadows all year round.
Only a few people knew that this person was a "thief who was sent to Lingnan" who was rescued by Prince Jing many years ago by using his power.
It was faked that he died of illness on the way to distribution, but the real person was stolen and brought back to serve in the palace.
"Are you two sure that the pseudo-emperor fled in the right direction yesterday?"
At this moment, the spy leader stopped in the forest and stared at the two people beside him with unkind eyes:
"Don't say that I didn't remind you two that hunting down the false emperor is an important task ordered by the prince himself and must be completed. If you make a mistake in judgment and go in the wrong direction, causing people to escape, the prince will blame you. I don't mind dragging you along. Pad your back.”
The two people in front of him, a man and a woman, were not spies from the royal palace, but warlocks from the "Dharma God Sect".
Yesterday, the empress fell into the sea of clouds and disappeared suddenly, so hunting her down became a top priority. However, the palace's army was good at fighting head-on, but they didn't know how to hunt.
He had no choice but to call in two warlocks who were good at tracking to help.
The warlock was about forty years old, with messy hair that was completely white. He was wearing an indigo robe. Hanging from his waist were whistles made from the teeth of unknown animals, and a bone flute. When he laughed, With a bit of ferocity.
The sorceress is in her early thirties, with a curvy figure and a rather hot figure. The sorceress's robe has also been cut. Her face is covered with thick makeup, her lips are as red as blood, and the nails on her ten fingers are colorful. The eyes are enchanting and captivating.
At this moment she smiled foolishly and said:
"Master Ouyang, don't scare the slave family. The prince wants to take over the world. How can he get angry with us? Has he lost his identity?"
Ouyang Ye stared at her coldly, showing no pity for her:
"Your Majesty does not blame, but I will."
Feeling the murderous eyes piercing under the hood of the spy leader, the sorceress suddenly felt chilled, and the provocative smile froze on her face.
The white-haired male warlock ignored Ouyang Ye's threat, looked at the forest ahead, and said:
"Yao Shiniang's intuition can communicate with the gods. If she says in this direction, she won't be wrong."
While speaking, he took off a bone whistle from his waist and said:
"As for the specific location, the creatures will give us the answer."
He blew the bone whistle, and circles of strange sound waves that could barely be heard by mortals spread.
After a while, a group of spies were surprised to see a large flock of birds and animals running towards them in the forest.
It was as if he had been summoned by this warlock. The hot Yao Shiniang explained with a smile:
"The bald eagle is good at tracking at close range. He can control birds and beasts. As long as the false emperor appears, he will be seen. People can't see him, but birds and beasts can always see him. What's more, there is the blood left by the empress as a guide."
The warlock nicknamed "Bald Eagle" threw a piece of cloth stained with the Queen's blood to a few wolves in the forest, and seemed to "ask" something to the bird above his head.
After a while, a group of crows reacted, screaming "quack" and flying into the distance. Several wolves also turned around and ran away.
"Follow them," said the bald eagle, the sorcerer's robes blowing in the breeze as it followed.
Yao Shiniang also smiled, swayed her body, and followed like catkins in the wind.
"Follow me!" The spy leader waved his hand and led dozens of spies around him to move forward.
Not long after, the group heard several wolves in front of them whining around an underground temple.
The spies were greatly excited and rushed forward. They quickly came back and said:
"Master Ouyang, there are indeed traces of someone in the temple. Someone should have stayed here last night. It just seems that they have already left."
The bald eagle with white hair and a ferocious smile is embroidered with the faint blood in the room, and its expression is intoxicated:
"It's the smell of the pseudo-emperor's blood. Unfortunately, yesterday's heavy rain washed away the blood traces in the forest, otherwise I could have discovered it earlier."
"Sir, there is still this in the fire." A secret agent came out holding a burnt and unrecognizable piece of cloth, as if offering a treasure.
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Ouyang Ye took it and observed it carefully, and saw traces of the small half of the jade seal from the corner of the burnt cloth.
"They can't escape far, so they will definitely find a way to return to the capital as soon as possible, so it is very likely that they will escape to a populated place in the north. Chase!"
Ouyang Ye couldn't hide his excitement and ordered:
"Send out the homing pigeons and ask the prince to send troops to set up checkpoints along the way to the capital and conduct strict inspections. Huh, he is just a deposed emperor. As long as he is captured, we and everyone will be rewarded and recorded as a first-class military merit!"
"Yes!" A large group of spies responded excitedly.
Yao Shi Niang folded her arms, her red lips were like fire, and her eyes were like snakes and scorpions:
"I'm more interested in Zhao Duan. I wonder what it's like to choose a man for the empress."
……
……
Zhao Duan carried Xu Zhenguan on his back and quietly arrived at a nearby town after leaving the mountains and forests.
Finally found out the location.
As expected, it is still in Jianning Mansion. The good news is that it is not sent further south, but to the northwest.
The bad news is that it's not too far from Luoshan.
Zhao Duan stayed in the town, bought a carriage at a premium, and purchased some food. He immediately chose the shortest official road away from Jianning Mansion and drove away.
"Look, Your Majesty, we are now at this location on the map. There is currently no news of the rebels in this town, which means that the rebels have not completely and comprehensively controlled this territory... This is good news for us."
Zhao Duan acted as the coachman, wearing a straw hat. While driving, he stuffed a roll of maps into the carriage and handed it to the empress.
In the feudal dynasty, maps were kept secret, especially the entire territory and large state capital maps, and only a small number of officials had access to them.
Fortunately, when Zhao Duan went south, in order to get acquainted with the world, he specially brought several volumes of maps with him, which played a huge role at this time.
Xu Zhenguan sat exhausted in the bumpy and drafty carriage, holding the map and looking at it for a while, then raised his eyes and said:
"Do you want to leave Jiancheng Road as quickly as possible before the opponent has time to block it? Head north to Huai River?"
Zhao Duan nodded:
"Prince Jing has been entrenched here for many years. Once he raises his troops, the imperial officials are in Luoshan and leave their garrisoned yamen, so it is difficult to counterattack in time. The entire Jiancheng Road will probably fall completely in just a few days.< br>
After that, King Jing will definitely send his army northward and rush to the capital as soon as possible...
Huaishui Road... The king of Huai'an is the richest in the world and has amazing financial resources, but he lacks soldiers and horses. If his guess is correct, he will definitely pretend not to see the rebels and will not make great efforts to stop them...
Prince Jing's rebels will soon enter the Huai River, but it will take time for the army to set off, and it will also take time to digest the territory it swallowed...
What's more, once they enter the Huai River, will King Mu of Yunfu Road in the southwest and King Chen of Binhai Road in the east let King Jing go north unscrupulously? It's sure to be a stumbling block.
This can buy us time to escape.
As long as we can escape from this encirclement and enter the Huai River before King Jing blocks the built road, the pressure will be much less... Hehe, if King Huai'an shuts himself up and acts like a coward, he will not come to arrest us either. ”
Xu Zhen looked at him and once again admired Zhao Duan's calm mind in the crisis.
She put away the map and looked outside worriedly:
"Taking the official route and driving a carriage are still too eye-catching after all."
Zhao Duan said nothing.
He didn't want to, but the empress was too seriously injured. Although he could carry the empress over mountains and ridges and on remote roads, his speed would be greatly reduced.
But right now, what the Empress lacks most is time!
If you can return to the capital one day earlier, your chances of winning will be much greater!
If, for the sake of safety, they specially selected people from deep mountains and old forests, by the time the two of them returned to the capital, the capital would have been breached long ago.
Xu Zhenguan also understood this truth, so he had no choice but to close his eyes, speed up his breathing, slowly recover from his injuries, and try to expel the power of Xuan Yin's palm bit by bit.
On the next road, the two of them worked hard and barely had a quarter of an hour to rest.
After dark, he didn't dare to go to town, and he didn't light a bonfire. If it weren't for the horses pulling the carts that needed to eat fodder and sleep, otherwise they couldn't move, Zhao Duan would have been on the road 24 hours a day.
Even so, he was almost trying his best to keep going at the expense of the horse's life.
……
"Oh!"
Zhao Duan suddenly tightened the reins, and Xu Zhenguan, who had closed his eyes and breathed in the carriage, opened his eyes and asked:
"What's wrong?"
Zhao Duan leaned in front of the car curtain, holding his whip and looking heavy:
"Something's wrong, the official road ahead is blocked."
He had just driven around a corner and found that there were scattered pedestrians and business travelers in front of him, blocking the queue.
At the front, the official road was blocked with horse-repelling stakes, and a group of officers and soldiers looked fiercely, checking people along the way.
"Although this place is near the county seat, we didn't go to the county seat. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be a card."
Zhao Duan said with an ugly face. When he caught a glimpse from a distance, those officers and soldiers paid special "attention" to young women in particular, and his heart suddenly sank.
Prince Jing stretched out his hand so quickly? How long has it been since?
"Can we avoid it?" In the carriage, Xu Zhenguan also frowned and asked.
Zhao Duan shook his head: "If we take a detour, it will be very far. We can't afford to waste time, so it seems we can only get through."
Xu Zhenguan considered it and said: "But I'm afraid it will alert the snake and expose our existence."
A group of ordinary soldiers could easily be killed with Zhao Duan's force.
But the problem is that nearby rebels will quickly notice the "missing" of this group of people and realize that they are here.
Killing will alert the enemy and expose the location... If you don't kill, you can't go around... Zhao Duan frowned and thought about what method he could use to break through the level.
Not just the one in front of you, since there are road blocks in such a remote place, then if you go further, there will definitely be...
Subconsciously in his mind, he recalled the many means at his disposal, and suddenly said:
"I have a way to deceive them..."
He reached out and took out a palm-sized scroll from his arms, Taixu Painted Scroll.
He has always used this small object as a storage bag, but he has not forgotten that this object can record real scenes as paintings, thus setting up a false illusion.
If used properly, it is not difficult to deceive these ordinary soldiers without killing anyone.
"However... I am not a warlock, and neither is Your Majesty. You cannot use magic power to drive this thing. If you use it a few times at most, it will enter the 'cooling down period'... And the closer you get to the border of Jiancheng Road, the more checkpoints you will have. If you are in a hurry, , it will still be exposed later..."
Is this so...Xu Zhenguan was stunned for a moment, and also found it difficult.
But Zhenbao is a decisive person and immediately said:
"Then just break through and don't waste your ability to suppress things. It will take time for the rebels to react and send strong men to intercept."
Zhao Duan frowned, this seemed to be the only solution, but...a flash of light suddenly flashed through his mind, the corners of his mouth suddenly raised, and he said:
"It seems that this is the only way, but I have thought of a way to delay it for a little longer."
"What?" Xu Zhenguan asked curiously.
At this time, seeing that the suspicious carriage had not moved, several soldiers with swords came over vigilantly and shouted:
"People in the car, come down and be interrogated!"
Zhao Duan looked at the approaching group of rebels, and the Golden Crow flying knife whizzed out from his sleeve, and he saw a golden thread passing through the air.
Almost at the same time, a thin red line appeared on the necks of seven or eight arrogant rebels, and then they fell down and died unexpectedly.
Zhao Duan turned his wrist, shook the blood drops on the flying knife, and raised the corners of his mouth:
"Confuse the pursuers."
……
flag failed. .
(End of chapter)