Ji Han Liu Zhang

"escape."

On the mountain path, Qu Yi was still frightened and kept moving forward.

Looking back on what happened today, first Guo Yuan’s head was hung in front of the camp gate in the morning, and then Guo Yuan’s troops’ flags, drums, armor, and weapons were piled up into a small hill in front of the camp gate.

Soon, the soldiers in the camp learned of Guo Yuan's death and the cut off of reinforcements, and the entire camp collapsed in an instant.

In the chaos, Qu Yi relied on the fierceness of his vanguard soldiers and broke through the Qin army's blockade and fought his way out.

Although he had fought his way out, he was still in enemy territory, which made Qu Yi very nervous. He did not dare to relax or be careless for fear of being accidentally killed and his army destroyed.

After running for a long time, Qu Yi looked up at the sky, and when he saw the sun rising to the middle of the sky, he knew what time it was: noon.

With his head lowered, Qu Yi looked around at the vanguard warriors following him, and saw that the vanguard warriors, who used to be full of energy and vigor, were now panting heavily and looking very tired due to the long-distance escape.

From the soldiers' expressions, Qu Yi knew that they were extremely exhausted both mentally and physically. Perhaps it would be best for them to take a break, drink some water, eat something, and replenish their strength.

However, we are now in enemy territory with pursuers following us. If we take a break and stay for a while, the Qin army may catch up with us. It will be harder than climbing to the sky to escape by then.

"Keep on going." With a cautious attitude, Qu Yi shouted sternly, urging the more than 300 remaining warriors around him to hurry on.

After walking a few miles, Qu Yi received a report from the advance scouts.

"General, there are smoke rising from the main road and the small road ahead. Everything is normal on the main road." The scout reported to Qu Yi everything he saw and heard.

"Hmm?" Qu Yi looked thoughtful after hearing this.

As for the possibility that the Qin army would set an ambush on the way back, Qu Yi knew that this was a possibility.

However, most of the Qin army was needed to besiege him and to intercept and kill Guo Yuan. The number of troops available for ambushes must be small, and it was impossible to set up ambushes everywhere.

Given the unobstructed roads and the rugged paths, the Qin army would most likely set up an ambush in only one place, but he didn't know where exactly the Qin army would set up the ambush.

Should I choose the quiet main road or the small path with smoke rising?
Qu Yi imagined that if it were an ordinary person, most people would choose the quiet main road and avoid the small road with rising smoke, because the rising smoke on the small road meant that there was a high possibility that the Qin army had set an ambush.

However, as the Art of War says, be true or false, be real or false. After Qu Yi pondered over it, he smiled contemptuously.

"You are just trying to deceive me with your fake plan."

Qu Yi concluded that the Qin army was probably using a strategy of false alarm and intended to scare him into going to the main road by raising smoke signals on the side roads. However, the Qin army was setting an ambush on the main road. If he went to the main road, he would fall into the Qin army's trap.

"Head towards the small path." Qu Yi gave an order, and he did the opposite. This way, he would be safe.

Suppressing their physical fatigue, the vanguard soldiers followed Qu Yi's orders and headed towards the trail.

The trail was a narrow passage between the cliffs, only enough for a few people to walk side by side, and the road was rugged and difficult to walk on. The team on the march could not look back, nor could the back help the front, like mice in a bellows. Qu Yi was in the middle of the team, and he looked up from time to time. The cliffs on both sides of the trail were not vertical, but had platforms sloping downward. The sunlight from above, squeezed by the cliffs, and the lush trees between the cliffs, made the trail a little dark.

But in such a tight situation, Qu Yi was happy. He suddenly pointed to the cliffs on both sides and laughed loudly, "The Qin army is reckless and Gan Ning is not smart. They deliberately used a trick to deceive us. If they ambush a group of troops here, there will be no way for us to survive."

Qu Yi deliberately made these disrespectful remarks to the Qin army. He only wanted to boost the morale of his soldiers. After all, they fought desperately for his survival, and they had been running for a long time, so they were all exhausted. Now was the time when they needed spiritual refreshment.

The tail of Qu Yi's words was still echoing on the cliff, and his confidant Qu Da responded: "General, you are right. If it weren't for you, there would be no way for us to survive."

"The general is wise."

As Qu Da and Qu Yi echoed each other, he looked at a few skilled soldiers, who followed suit and shouted, "General, you are wise."

Led by a few people, although everyone was very tired, they still forced themselves to hold on and shouted: "The general is wise." However, most people said this weakly, and when they sang in unison, it didn't sound very pleasant.

When Qu Yi heard the voice, his face darkened slightly. He was a little unhappy. At this moment, a loud "General is wise" sounded, and it actually echoed back and forth on the cliff.

Qu Yi's eyes lit up, and he followed the source of the voice, intending to find the soldier who shouted these words, write down his name, and recruit him as a personal soldier in the future.

But soon, Qu Yi raised his head, looked towards the cliff, swallowed a mouthful of saliva inexplicably, and his legs trembled slightly.

He chased after the voice of "General, you are wise" but found that it came from the cliffs on both sides, not from the soldiers around him.

"Could it be..." A thought occurred to Qu Yi.

Just as Qu Yi showed a look of worry, there was a sound of drums from the cliffs on both sides, and then the Qin army's command flags were raised. Then the sharp sound of powerful crossbows releasing their buckles and the vibration of huge rocks and battering rams falling were all felt by Qu Yi and his subordinates.

In an instant, crossbow arrows were seen flying, boulders were falling, and battering rams were rolling above Qu Yi, as if blocking out the sun and bringing the passage, which originally had little sunlight, into the darkness of night.

In a moment, it was dark.

At this time, Qu Yi and his 300 surviving vanguard soldiers had only one thought in their minds, to hide, to avoid the Qin army's crossbows and boulders and battering rams, and win a chance of survival.

However, the passage was cramped and narrow, with no obstructions on the left and right. The crowd was chaotic, with people pushing and squeezing each other, like a group of headless flies trapped in a glass bottle. The more they struggled, the harder it was to find a way out.

"Protect the general." Qu Da, who was loyal to his master, issued a quick and brief order, intending to protect Qu Yi with several of his personal guards.

But the situation was chaotic and noisy, and there were few people who could be as loyal as Qu Da. Most of them only cared about their own families.

"what…"

Just as Qu Da was calling for his guards, he heard Qu Yi screaming. He quickly looked up and saw a crossbow arrow dangling on Qu Yi's knees. (End of this chapter)