Chapter 167

  "Then... let's escape."

  Cheng Dairen's raised hand remained suspended in mid-air, like a drowning man grasping for the last straw, only to find nothing to grasp.

  He raised his hand and said, "Even if you escape, you must listen to my arrangement! The 5,000 brothers scattered like birds and beasts can only become ghosts under someone else's knife. How many can survive? I'll take everyone with me, the 5,000 brothers will walk together, not leaving behind a single old man or abandoning a single child."

  "Obey the master's orders!"

  Cheng Dali's words were not opposed by anyone, the Rong tribe's army was pressing at the border, and in fact, everyone had lost their backbone, Cheng Dali was willing to stand up now, and everyone was willing to follow him.

  "Lin Shaoyu, listen to orders!"

  "Long live the Emperor!"

  "Order you alone to climb up Ox Horn Peak, bring a month's worth of dry rations, use the big tree as a signal, and indicate the direction from which the Rong tribe will attack!"

  Niú Jiǎo Fēng is the highest peak of Qīng Niú Shān. From the top of the peak, you can see the whole Qīng Niú Shān at a glance.

  "Brother Liao A and Brother Liao B, receive the order!"

  "Long live the Emperor!"

  "You two brothers and I will each lead a thousand men, dig rivers, destroy roads, use mountains and rocks to block the road, and fight for time for everyone to retreat!"

  "Obey orders!"

  "Brothers, if we want to leave, let's all leave together. I, Cheng Dairen, will not abandon a single brother among our 5,000 brothers."

  Everyone has a backbone, especially the old and weak, who can't run far. Without the main force, it's a dead end. Now that Cheng Da Lei has spoken out, everyone feels a stone lifted from their hearts, and the valley is filled with cheers and applause.

  Cheng Dali, also known as Xu Shenji, and Gao Feihu stayed behind to discuss how everyone should retreat.

  "Great master, this matter should be done quickly and not delayed. Should we set out tonight?" said Gao Fei Hu.

  "Don't be in a hurry!" Cheng Dalai said: "The Rong tribe has taken down the Black Stone City, and naturally they will burn, kill and loot for a while, and transport away the materials and slaves. It won't take ten days or half a month to come down. We were frightened at first and panicked, and when the time comes, we'll be in a flurry and choose the wrong path, isn't that seeking death?"

  Jian Cheng's calm demeanor reassured Gao Fei Hu, who also put his mind at ease. He said with a smile: "We'll do as the master says, following him makes us feel secure."

  "That's it, after leaving here, we'll occupy another mountain head, and still eat well and drink spicy food." said Bear Big and Bear Second.

  Cheng Dali smiled slightly: "Everyone can rest assured, everything is under my control. Now let's discuss where to go?"

  Several leaders gathered together to discuss the route of retreat.

  "Or shall we flee to Bianzhou?" Xiong Da said: "The road is easy to walk, a horse can gallop on flat land?"

  "Bingzhou and Rongdi are adjacent, escaping there might be even more miserable than here." Cheng Dairen rejected Xiong Da's proposal.

  "Nowadays there is only going to Ji Zhou, in Ji Zhou's Fei Long Shan I have a friend, with me it's a life-and-death friendship. Why don't we go and rely on them?" Gao Fei Hu said.

  "Can you believe it?" Cheng Dairen said.

  "Actually, he and I have a good relationship, when he was still unknown, I helped him." Gao Feihu.

  "It seems there's no other way now." Cheng Dairen said: "How far is the journey to get there?"

  "We five thousand people will all go past, probably need to walk for more than a month."

  "If the time is long enough, then we need to bring enough food for a month." Cheng Dalai said: "There are also weapons, and we must defend ourselves... Everyone prepares together, cuts down large trees, and makes horse-drawn carts."

  Xu Shenji said: "The head of the household, preparing these things is not a matter of one or two days. The Rong tribe won't come and kill us, will they?"

  "What did I let Shaoyu go to Niujiao Peak for?" Cheng Dairen gave him a white eye: "Don't worry, I have calculated all these, and they will not be in vain."

  ……

  Blackstone City, nightfall.

  Fuder carefully climbed over the wall and sneaked into the city lord's mansion, being extremely cautious along the way, not daring to be discovered by anyone.

  He quietly slipped into the kitchen cellar of the city lord's mansion. At that time, even the master of a city had to dig an underground cellar in his own home.

  "Who? What person?" someone asked softly in the darkness.

  "Don't be afraid, it's me." Forderle held a basket in his hand: "Eat quickly, I brought it for you."

  Before long, a low muttering sound arose from the darkness, like a greedy dog.

  "Don't choke, I brought you water to drink. I'm afraid I won't be able to come over all the time in the future. This is three days' worth of food, eat it slowly."

  "Thanks... thanks for hiding me here...... you got beaten up......"

  In the dark cellar without lighting, with the help of the dim moonlight, it can be seen that Fuder's face is covered with bruises.

  "It's nothing, my brother often beats me, I'm used to it." Fodder smiled wryly, watching Green Cherry's messy eating, he thought of a little dog he once raised. At that time, the dog was also as greedy as Green Cherry, but later it was killed by his brother and cooked into meat.

  "It's me who dragged you down... so thank you, when are you guys leaving?"

  "I don't know what's going on either, maybe we won't be leaving after all. My brother said he needs to find something here, but I have no idea what it is."

  "Actually... you're a good person. You're different from them..." Green Cherry ate hastily, suddenly asking: "If you guys didn't come to bully us, that would be great. Why are you so bad and come to rob our things?"

  The atmosphere suddenly fell silent, and Fodder's breathing seemed to have stopped as well. Green Cherry suddenly realized that the person in front of her was a warrior from the Ron tribe, and she might have unintentionally offended him.

  "Right, sorry, I misspoke, don't mind..."

  "There's nothing... actually, we haven't had enough to eat for a long time. Our tribe suffered a disaster last year, and large areas of grassland were devastated. Cattle and sheep died in droves from starvation. If we didn't come to rob you, we wouldn't be able to survive either."

  The voice gradually faded away, and Fuder suddenly said: "That's it, I'll go first, you take care of yourself, I'll come to see you often."

  After that, this matter had taken hold of Fude's heart, hiding the green peach in the cellar, like raising a small dog, always wanting to take a look every day, to see if it had grown. The Ulihan in his heart didn't think much about it these days either.

  That evening, he came to the cellar again and only dared to speak when he entered: "Xiao Tao, Xiao Tao, I've come to see you. Are you hungry? I brought some delicious food for you."

  No one spoke, and it wasn't until they approached the innermost area that they saw that Xiaotao was nowhere to be found. On a pile of grass, a young man was dozing off, surprisingly, he had a red eyebrow.

  In an instant, Fuder's forehead was covered in cold sweat and his body involuntarily trembled.

  "Ah!" Chi Mei yawned and slowly woke up: "Good little brother, what delicious food did you bring? I slept for a while and just got hungry."

  "You... killed her?" Fodder asked in a low voice.

  "Your gaze is... really frightening." Chi Mei's smile faded: "Like a starving wolf, if I told you she was already dead, would you kill me?"