Chapter 00149: The Advantage of Yuanli (Additional Chapter for the Silver Alliance's Daily Salary)
# The Advantage of Yuanli (Additional Chapter for the Silver Alliance's Daily Salary)
Chapter 149
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 149: The Advantage of Yuanli (Additional Chapter for the Silver Alliance's Daily Salary)
There was no need for Lian Deng to dismount; he merely tilted his head to observe for a moment and said, “The official soldiers' convoy is coming this way.”
There were many forks in the road on the western route, and the official soldiers had clearly put a lot of thought into choosing this path.
As they moved forward, a giant tree lay fallen by the roadside, crooked and askew.
“Eh, there are traces of heavy objects being moved on the ground.” Lian Deng lowered his head to take a closer look. “The weight is astonishing; the top layer of sand and mud has been scraped away.”
“Is it these giant trees?” He Lingchuan dismounted to inspect the giant cedar. “The cross-section is very fresh; the sap hasn’t dried, and it was cut down less than an hour ago.”
“The official soldiers are using it to block the road; very clever.”
Despite this, both of them felt somewhat anxious.
They had not realized they were so close to the official soldiers; the journey would take less than an hour.
What about Lu Yao? How far was he from the official soldiers?
He Lingchuan's expression darkened like water. “Let’s move faster.”
As they climbed over the hillside, a thick fog suddenly enveloped them.
“What a thick fog!” Lian Deng exclaimed in frustration. “I can’t see the road at all.”
He Lingchuan glanced at him, puzzled. “Can’t see?”
“Ah, it’s almost to the point where I can’t see my hand in front of my face.” Lian Deng said in astonishment, “Don’t you feel it? Eh, you have a glow about you.”
“Glow?” He Lingchuan looked down and indeed saw a faint, hazy light emanating from his body.
Yuanli?
This indicated that he was very close to the official soldiers, within the effective range of He Chunhua’s state decree.
When they set off from Heishui City, He Chunhua had temporarily enlisted his eldest son into the military, promoting him to deputy officer.
It wasn’t favoritism; it was merely a small military position, but being in the ranks qualified him to enjoy the benefits of Yuanli.
Was there a need to use Yuanli here? In He Lingchuan’s view, there was only a very faint mist drifting through the mountains and forests, which did not obstruct his vision.
As soon as he finished speaking, Lian Deng walked toward the right side of the forest.
He Lingchuan grabbed him. “What are you doing?”
Lian Deng looked confused. “Walking.”
“The road is here.” He Lingchuan pointed ahead. “Where do you want to go?”
“Isn’t that a cave?”
“…” He Lingchuan understood. “Follow me. I don’t know what formation my father has set up, but only with Yuanli can we see the path clearly.”
Lian Deng had no choice but to comply, walking while exclaiming, “My goodness, aren’t we going to crash into a tree?”
Then they walked past it.
Although Wu Shaoyi planned to submit to the royal court, he had not yet met He Chunhua and had not become a member of the official army.
Therefore, Wu Shaoyi and his subordinates could not enjoy the benefits of Yuanli.
In Lian Deng’s view, leading him, He Lingchuan was either going to crash into a tree or go through a mountain.
Sometimes it was even worse, heading straight toward the cliff with the white clouds floating above, making him tremble with fear.
Yet, the two of them made it through without any issues.
Having the benefit of Yuanli was truly wonderful.
Lian Deng sighed, reminiscing about the days when he could also enjoy the benefits of Yuanli.
As they walked, He Lingchuan suddenly stopped and let out a soft “Eh.”
“What’s wrong?” To Lian Deng, it seemed they were about to crash into a mountain wall.
“I see Lu Yao; he’s on the mountain path opposite the cliff.” He Lingchuan said solemnly. “Pei Xinyong is with him, followed by a large group of people, at least around seventeen or eighteen hundred.”
His voice was kept very low; in this “几” shaped terrain, sounds could easily echo in the valley.
Now, he and the bandit army across from him were like the left and right hooks of the “几” shape, separated by a deep chasm, yet their line of sight was unobstructed.
At least for He Lingchuan, he could clearly see every person on the mountain path across from him.
Lian Deng whispered, “Are they circling around too?”
“... No!” He Lingchuan observed for a moment before saying, “They are on the correct path, not taking detours or circling.”
Lian Deng was puzzled. “That doesn’t make sense, right? Everyone is part of the righteous army; I was deceived, but Lu Yao wasn’t. What kind of logic is that?”
He Lingchuan sneered. “He’s holding a piece of cloth, and the other end is in the sky… Hmm, I see that red falcon. That thing is flying in the sky, leading them out of the fog.”
Lian Deng suddenly understood. “Right, the raptor flying high can see through the formation’s deception!”
If the red falcon could see through it, then naturally, Lu Yao would not be trapped.
What to do?
“At this distance, can you shoot it down?”
Lian Deng decisively shook his head. “Too far; it would be easier if it were closer. Uh, actually, my archery isn’t particularly outstanding.”
He Lingchuan shot him a disdainful glance.
Was that a euphemism for “very poor”?
I give you a chance, and you’re useless!
“There’s a small path nearby; let’s get closer and then think of a way.” The official soldiers were moving slowly; at this rate, they would inevitably be caught up by the mountain bandits.
The two quickened their pace, bypassing the massive “几” shaped cliff, and a small path leading into the mountain was located a hundred zhang behind the bandit army.
The path was uneven and overgrown with branches.
The two horses could barely travel half a mile before they could go no further.
He Lingchuan and Lian Deng had no choice but to abandon their horses and walk.
At this point, they were already running through the woods halfway up the mountain, nearly parallel to the rebel army, but at a higher elevation of about four or five zhang.
The reason they didn’t climb up to the ridge was that the ridge was bare, making it difficult to hide from the sharp eyes of the red falcon.
“There’s a chance!” Although Lu Yao and the others were riding along the path, the direction guided by the red falcon was constantly changing.
They didn’t dare to gallop, as the road conditions were complex.
One in the sky, one on the ground, they often faced the problem of the trees by the roadside being too tall, causing the cloth to occasionally get caught in the treetops…
Whenever this happened, the red falcon had to adjust its flight path to untangle the caught cloth before continuing to lead the way; otherwise, it would lead its master into a pit.
He Lingchuan quietly explained this situation to Lian Deng, then said, “At that moment, it has to fly down; we can take advantage of that. We’re closer to the treetops; within eight zhang, can you hit it?”
He was exaggerating a bit; the treetops ahead were at most six zhang (nineteen meters) high.
“I can!” Lian Deng was confident. “Even if I used a slingshot, I could hit it!”
“Alright, keep up.”
The two quietly followed alongside the bandit army, hiding themselves among the dense treetops while waiting for an opportunity.
Heaven truly did not treat He Lingchuan poorly.
Just half a stick of incense later, the opportunity arrived.
This time, the cloth accidentally got caught in a massive camphor tree.
It was too big, and the red falcon found it hard to avoid.
Lu Yao noticed the cloth was stuck and tugged on it a couple of times, finding it wouldn’t budge, so he whistled to notify above.
Hearing the whistle, the red falcon descended, preparing to circle around this branch to retrieve the cloth.
If it couldn’t retrieve it, the bandits would have to climb the tree to untie the cloth; this had already happened once before, so Lu Yao reminded it to be extra careful.
At this moment, for He Lingchuan and Lian Deng, who were standing on the mountain wall, three or four zhang higher than the bandits below, it was simply a godsend opportunity.
If they couldn’t hit it, they would be letting themselves down.
As the red falcon folded its wings and descended toward the treetops, He Lingchuan whispered urgently, “Hurry!”
They were too close to the bandit army; if Lu Yao and the others discovered them, they would have no chance to escape.
The two rushed to this spot, and Lian Deng, without time to catch his breath, took a deep breath, drew his bow from his back, nocked an arrow, and shot it out with a “whoosh!”
Success or failure depended on this arrow.
The sound of the arrow slicing through the air was very faint, but the red falcon was extremely alert.
Before the feathered arrow could touch it, it slightly spread its wings, flipped, and narrowly dodged!
The arrow flew past, almost brushing its belly.
However, a miss was still a miss.
The two felt their hearts sink.
This was bad; not only did they miss the target, but they would also alert the red falcon.
At that point, they would be surrounded and beaten by the seventeen or eighteen bandits below, and they would be in a dire situation.
Useless! Useless, useless, useless! He Lingchuan cursed repeatedly in his heart, watching as the red falcon turned its head after flipping, looking toward their hiding place, its sharp beak opening, preparing to call out.
No, they had to silence it! He instinctively drew the broken knife at his waist and threw it with all his might.
Although the knife was thrown quickly, its path was wobbly, tracing a circular arc in mid-air, and flew behind the red falcon, which naturally wouldn’t pay it any mind.
Who would have thought that it would naturally make a turn and come back around?
The red falcon turned to avoid it but was too late.
The two watched as a burst of blood mist exploded in mid-air, and the red falcon let out a cry, plummeting straight down!
This… this actually worked?
The two were momentarily stunned.
He Lingchuan instinctively opened his mouth wide, looking at his right hand.
The hand of the divine.
“Run!” Lian Deng had no time to give him a thumbs up; he grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. “Go, or we’ll be turned into meat paste!”
Without saying another word, the two dashed toward the ridge, entering a frenzy of running.
Of course, He Lingchuan led the way, with Lian Deng closely following.
The thick fog was the best cover; once they ran far enough, they would be safe.
The bandit army below also noticed something was wrong.
Lu Yao stepped forward a few paces to catch the red falcon, seeing that half of its wing was gone and there was a long gash on its abdomen, deep enough to see its insides, yet he didn’t know what the weapon was.
Was it an arrow? It didn’t seem like it.
He was both heartbroken and furious, pointing straight ahead. “There are people over there!”
The bandit army charged forward.
Pei Xinyong, however, pointed to the right and said in a deep voice, “I heard footsteps over there, and some stones falling.”
“Inside the formation, even hearing might be interfered with!” Lu Yao, still rational in his anger, said without hesitation, “Split up and pursue! Be careful of your footing!”
Without saying much more, the two each grabbed one end of the cloth, leading their subordinates to chase forward and to the right.
They both understood clearly that with the red falcon heavily injured and fallen, it could no longer lead the way.
The only plan now was to catch the ambusher to guide them, giving the bandits a chance to escape the fog.
The only ones who could injure the red falcon in the fog were the scouts of the official soldiers.
Meanwhile, He Lingchuan was running along the ridge, and Lian Deng said while running, “Brother Chuan, with your flying knife skills, why didn’t you show it earlier? Did you have to wait for me to embarrass myself?”
He Lingchuan chuckled dryly. “I’ve never practiced; I just threw it randomly.” He hadn’t thought much about it at the time.
Lian Deng frowned.
If a random throw could be so accurate, how could he, who had practiced, face that?
He Lingchuan recalled the arc traced by the broken knife, both beautiful and strange, directly hitting the red falcon from behind.
Thanks to all the great alliances for their strong support.
Today, I’m giving an additional chapter for the daily salary, and the rest will be added tomorrow.
See you tomorrow at noon 12 o'clock! Future updates will generally be around this time.
(End of Chapter)