Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

Chapter 128 Poignant Sorrow

They gave Ye Ningzhen half of the deer antler, and the two of them chewed on it as they walked outside. They found a spot with thick snow and ate a few mouthfuls of snow to neutralize the smell of blood.

After drinking the deer blood and eating the deer antler, Ye Ningzhen felt a warm sensation in her stomach and regained some of her energy.

The birds and beasts in the mountains rioted, and the Japanese surrounded the mountains to search for them, occasionally shooting and killing a few of the unruly animals.

The two were positioned on the mountainside near the summit, hidden in a crevice in the rocks, and could see the Japanese encirclement constantly shrinking.

The search was very thorough, and there was more than one layer of encirclement.

It extends layer upon layer, enveloping the area every hundred meters.

Chen Zhan sighed inwardly, "So the Japanese devils used their big-scale mopping-up operations on me beforehand, huh?"

Ye Ningzhen naturally saw this situation as well. If they tried to break through by force, there were still many Japanese soldiers stationed down the mountain. She was already a burden, and it would be even more difficult for Chen Zhan to take her with him.

She hesitated, but Chen Zhan could tell what she wanted to say.

"Needless to say, you can die on my body, but you can't die in the mountains."

"Besides, I didn't intend to break through from the front."

"Okay, I won't say anything more."

Ye Ningzhen had drunk deer blood, which made her body hot. Although she was a woman of the martial arts world, she had never had any romantic experience. Chen Zhan's statement that he died on her body felt somewhat ambiguous.

Her face was slightly flushed, and her breath felt warmer.

After Chen Zhan finished speaking, he tucked Ye Ningzhen's gun into his waistband, picked her up again, and ran away at full speed.

They ran diagonally into the mountains, neither going downhill nor uphill.

Ye Ningzhen had no idea where Chen Zhan was running off to, but she didn't ask. She just hugged Chen Zhan's neck tightly.

I kept thinking about what I had experienced in the past two months.

From their first meeting by the river at the Buddhist community to fight the enemy together, to their encounter with artillery fire on the way from Tianjin to Fengtian, and all the events that followed after arriving in Fengtian.

Together, or rather, following Chen Zhan, the two of them have accomplished things they couldn't do in the first twenty-odd years of their lives.

The number of high-ranking officials killed is countless; even the Red Lanterns couldn't achieve that.

In a sense, she is already the first person in the red light brigade.

Even if the two of them died together today, there would be no regrets.

As if sensing her thoughts, Chen Zhan looked down at her and laughed, "I don't want to die yet. We haven't ventured south yet, and I still want to see the masters among the southern boxers."

Ye Ningzhen was completely relaxed at this moment and replied, "When are we going to the south?"

"Almost there. Once we take care of that bastard Tanaka, we'll leave. Where do you suggest we go first?"

“Let’s go to Foshan? My master is there. I’ll take you to meet him.”

Chen Zhan was a little embarrassed: "Is it to see your master?"

Ye Ningzhen understood what he meant, her cheeks flushed: "What? You don't dare?"

"Hey, what am I afraid of? He can't possibly beat me!"

"Screw you, you can't hit him."

Ye Ningzhen gently punched Chen Zhan twice.

After exchanging a few jokes, Chen Zhan arrived at his destination.

The Japanese had already searched halfway up the mountain, but the mountain was mostly forested and rocky, providing ample cover, and the two men had not yet been exposed.

Setting Ye Ningzhen down, she cautiously looked around: "Aren't we completely surrounded?"

Chen Zhan pointed ahead to a large river, not very wide, about four or five zhang, but it was already frozen over.

A river flows through the mountains, which is common, but usually just a small stream. It is rare to see one so wide and so long.

"Listen?" Chen Zhan asked.

Ye Ningzhen listened intently and found nothing strange; the Japanese hadn't found this place yet, and the birds and beasts hadn't made a sound.

"What? There's no sound."

"The sound of water."

Ye Ningzhen then realized that Chen Zhan was referring to the river and guessed what Chen Zhan wanted to do next.

"This river, which hasn't completely frozen over even at minus ten degrees Celsius, indicates the presence of an underground river where water is flowing; otherwise, it wouldn't be so wide."

"You don't intend to go downstream, do you?"

"That's right. The water flows down from under the ice. This river mouth leads directly to the Dragon River. I looked at the map when I came here, so I remember."

As Chen Zhan spoke, he stepped onto the ice. The sound of the flowing water grew louder and more continuous as he pressed himself against the ice.

Although it's risky, it's the safest method.

"The river is full of rocks and reefs, and it's impossible to control the direction or breathe in the water."

Ye Ningzhen stopped talking after that, and Chen Zhan had already focused his mind and bowed, punching the ice surface. Several cracks appeared on the ice, and the fist force concentrated at one point, drilling through the surface with the fist force.

"Oh!"

A muffled thud, the force deliberately controlled.

A hole was cut in the ice, big enough for two people to crawl through. Then a rock was moved and placed next to it, making it look like the ice had been smashed open by a rock.

You can see the water rushing downstream.

"Hurry up, take a deep breath!"

Chen Zhan grabbed Ye Ningzhen, put his arm around her, and the two of them simultaneously took a deep breath, sank into the water, gave up resisting the current, and drifted downstream.

The water was freezing cold, with temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius.

Ye Ningzhen lay in Chen Zhan's arms, feeling a mixture of cold and warmth.

Chen Zhan lay on his back in the water, his eyes barely able to see through the sliver of light that pierced the ice to observe his surroundings.

You can use your hands to control the direction in the water, but it's not really necessary, as the river is wide and there are no forks in the road downhill.

Only when they occasionally bumped against protruding rocks, each jolt caused Ye Ningzhen in his arms to tremble.

Following the current, the speed increased, and the impact became more and more violent.

Chen Zhan dared not make any move. If he broke the ice or made a sound, the Japanese would notice, and all his previous efforts would be in vain, and he would have to risk his life.

After walking for a full ten minutes, Ye Ningzhen had exhausted all her breath and still did not feel the end.

Chen Zhan dared not break through the ice; the sound of the surrounding water was too loud, making it impossible to pinpoint his location. Ye Ningzhen had exhausted her last breath, and Chen Zhan could tell she was about to die. He lowered his head, their lips met, and he breathed a sigh of relief, leaving himself with a small amount of breath.

After he mastered the transformation of internal energy, the amount of breath he could hold in his lungs was incomparable to what it used to be, and he could hold his breath underwater for half an hour.

With one arm around her and the other pushing and shoving in the water with his left hand, Chen Zhan moved faster and soon felt weightlessness before "popping" into a larger area.

We should have entered the Dragon River.

Chen Zhan gestured for Ye Ningzhen to hug him, freeing his hands. The large dragon bones on his back vibrated violently, and he used a dragon-shaped bone-searching technique. His arms reached for the sky, and he suddenly shook.

"Click~Click~!"

The ice broke, and Chen Zhan grabbed the edges of the ice on both sides, then with a "thump!" he leaped off the ice, a mermaid wrapped around his waist.

The two sat on the ice, panting heavily.

Not only was it impossible to breathe underwater, but the water pressure was also immense, and Chen Zhan's back was covered in bloody marks from the impact, with the bleeding that had stopped earlier starting to flow again.

"It's not far from the foot of the mountain, let's go first." Chen Zhan observed the trees; he had passed by this area when he went up the mountain before.

They quickly left the ice and headed south.

The two were in a sorry state, and being in the wilderness, Chen Zhan was dressed in rags, while Ye Ningzhen's back injury was getting worse.

Fortunately, Chen Zhan had a photographic memory and remembered all the directions and routes. From Longhe, going south for more than forty miles, he arrived at Xiaohegou.

The agreed-upon location with Sister Hua and the others.

For Chen Zhan, the forty-odd miles were manageable; his injuries would gradually heal on their own without any problems. However, Ye Ningzhen's wounds, having been soaked in ice, were now even more severe.

Chen Zhan carried her on his back for ten miles before entering the official road.

They were about to check if any caravans or wealthy families were passing by, but in the freezing cold, they didn't encounter any caravans, but instead ran into bandits.

Chen Zhan was speechless. There were too many bandits these days, no wonder there weren't many people who made escorts.
Of course, when he saw the bandits charging towards him, there was no fear in his eyes, only joy.

Good people and bad people, they're all still human, that's all that matters.

At least their clothes were intact.

At this moment, Chen Zhan was exposed to the wind from behind, his upper clothes were all torn, only his buttocks were slightly intact, and one of his legs was half exposed to the cold wind.

Seeing four horses galloping towards them on the official road ahead, Chen Zhan put Ye Ningzhen down and leaned her against a snowdrift.

"Xu~"

Four skinny horses stopped in front of Chen Zhan, snorting, clearly not wanting to come out in the winter either.

"In this freezing weather, with no village or shop in sight, how come there are only two of us?" The bandit at the front reined in his horse, asking his underling more than Chen Zhan.

"Hey. My brother's asking you, kid!" the henchman behind him roared menacingly.

Chen Zhan stepped forward and asked, "I just ran down from the mountain. Do you guys have anything to eat? We're hungry."

"Hungry? Hahahaha, boss, look at this guy, he's probably a madman, asking bandits for food because he's hungry."

"Hahaha, he doesn't look like a madman, he looks like he's starved to death."

"Heh, look at him, he's much poorer than us. Forget it, let's go."

The leader reined in his horse to leave. Chen Zhan had no prejudice against bandits. In the Northeast, there were bandits who defended their country and formed anti-Japanese alliances, as well as big traitors who served as lackeys for others.

It has nothing to do with identity, only with behavior.

Song Jingang and his gang were homeless men gathered from various places, who specialized in killing Japanese.

Therefore, Chen Zhan didn't actually intend to kill these four people.

When the group was about to leave, Chen Zhan did not stop them.

Turning his horse around, he noticed that the person who had fallen behind him glanced at Ye Ningzhen. At that moment, Ye Ningzhen was pale, but she had delicate features and a beautiful face.

Her hair was disheveled, blood was at the corner of her mouth, and she looked so pitiful and miserable, which added a touch of gentleness to her appearance.

Pityful.

"Holy crap, bro, that woman's a total stunner!"

The younger brother turned around and called to the leading man. The man turned his horse around again, revealing a body covered in the skin of some animal, blackish-red, which he shook, showing interest.

Turning her head to look at Ye Ningzhen, Ye Ningzhen also looked over. Leaning against the snowdrift, her eyes were filled with death and boredom as she licked the blood from the corner of her mouth.

Poignant, sorrowful, and aloof.

They couldn't think of any words to describe the scene, so they simply said, "Kid, this woman..."

Chen Zhan ignored him and turned to look at Ye Ningzhen.

"Don't damage the leather, I want to wear it."

Ye Ningzhen licked the blood from the corner of her mouth, smiled faintly, her beauty tinged with sorrow, and said softly, "Don't worry."

As the four men watched intently, four gunshots rang out, and all four tumbled off their horses.

Chen Zhan stepped forward and grabbed one of the frightened horses to prevent it from running away, but left the remaining three horses alone.

After taking off two sets of clothes, Ye Ningzhen was very tall and fit him perfectly, while the leather outfit made of some unknown animal skin fit Chen Zhan very well.

They rode together on one horse and quickly headed towards the stream.

The group of people in the stream had been waiting for more than five or six hours, like ants on a hot pan.

"Why haven't they arrived yet? Li Yao, go and greet them again."

"Sister Hua, I've been there three times already."

"Just go if I tell you to!"

"Sister Hua, I hope nothing bad has happened to Master Chen," Bai Wu asked dejectedly.

"Don't talk nonsense, there's nothing going on."

Everyone had a bad feeling; it made no sense that no one would be seen for a whole night and morning.

Logically, it shouldn't have taken this long; half a day has already passed. After killing Japanese soldiers for six hours, their blades should be worn out by now.
No matter how you look at it, it shouldn't be over yet.

But they dared not get too close to investigate; the Japanese had surely blocked the news and were conducting a thorough investigation, leaving no suspicious detail unchecked.
Everyone is waiting for Sister Hua to make a decision.

"If they don't come by the afternoon or before dark, we'll go to Lushun city to inquire about them."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Bai Wu jumped up and said, "It looks like they're here, look!"

Chen Zhan rode his horse at a moderate speed towards the crowd.

(End of this chapter)