314 Change of Roads
“Zhao Zhan,” Fang Tianliu was panting as he and Zhao Zhan hid in the ditch by the road. “When did the roads become this dangerous? The situation was so chaotic just now, and I was the only one left when I turned around.”
“Good thing I found you. You would have lost your way with Wagler and the others.”
Zhao Zhan vigilantly observed his surroundings.
His bow and arrows were still in the carriage, and he only had a dagger on him.
“Let’s go. We’ll be too big of a target if we follow Wagler.”
“This group of people is coming for me.”
“How did you know?”
Zhao Zhan thought back to what Wagler’s followers had said in their native language.
Fortunately, he had been learning their native language from his lover. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have known this information.
“They’re people that work for Shang.”
A series of footsteps suddenly came from nearby.
Zhao Zhan held Fang Tianliu’s head down and hid under the grass.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. The people keeping an eye on Wagler said that they didn’t see where Zhao Zhan went.”
“Look for him carefully. That man has a burden by his side. He shouldn’t have run far.”
The footsteps were chaotic, but Zhao Zhan showed the patience he usually had when confronting his prey in the mountains and remained still.
They waited until the sky turned dark, but there was no sound for a long time.
“Fang Tianliu, wake up.”
Fang Tianliu fell asleep in the grass.
“It’s so cold…” he was woken up by a call and hugged his arm. “Did we escape? Are we free?” Shang is such a vicious thing. When we return to Huai County in glory, we must find a way to make him suffer.”
Fang Tianliu directly put all the blame on Shang for saying that he was a burden.
“We have to hurry on with our journey while it’s dark.”
Zhao Zhan got up and stretched his muscles, then grabbed Fang Tianliu by the back of his collar and pulled him up. “Fang Tianliu, get up and move first.Your leg will be numb.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Tianliu, who had already stood up, couldn’t help but call out.
Both of his legs were extremely numb, as if his lower body had been paralyzed.
Zhao Zhan covered his mouth in a timely manner. “I don’t know if those people will return. Be careful.”
Shang had many connections with Wagler, so they didn’t dare to touch him. Now that he was separated from Wagler, the other party would focus all his energy on him.
“Fang Tianliu, do you know if there are any other ways to go from here to the northern desert other than the official road?”
The main road was too big a target.
Since Shang had decided to be ruthless, he would not give up so easily.
“I’ve heard my father mention it before. If we don’t take the official road, we would have to cross a mountain.”
Even though Fang Tianliu never took care of the affairs of the bodyguard agency, when he was young, his parents would always tell him stories about their travels.
“After we cross that mountain, there’s a small path that leads to Bei City. This path is actually closer than the official road, but if we want to enter Bei City, we’ll inevitably have to go through the Xi City gate.
“Those who go with a Travel Pass have to register in Bei City before they can enter.”
Zhao Zhan pondered.
It wasn’t realistic to cross the mountain. They didn’t know how dangerous it was to cross the deep mountains, they had no idea which mountain they had to cross to reach the small path.
“Let’s take a detour.”
“How?” Fang Tianliu was more familiar with the nearby cities than Zhao Zhan was. “If we want to take a detour, we can head East first, pass through Jia Zhou, and use the route from Jia Zhou to Jiao City. Then, we can use the official route to go to Bei City.”
“We can’t travel on water.” Zhao Zhan glanced at Fang Tianliu. “We aren’t that familiar with the sea. If we meet any bad people on the ship, the chances of us jumping off the ship to survive are not high.”
“Then let’s take the small path. My father told me that the official road from Jia Zhou to Jiao City is not well built. The terrain there is flat and there are many roads that have been trodden out by people.”
Fang Tianliu still couldn’t hide his sadness at the mention of his parents.
Zhao Zhan patted him on the shoulder. “Sure. I’ll leave it up to you to decide how we’re going to proceed.”
This trip, other than to do his own things, was also to make Fang Tianliu cheer up. Moreover, he had never been to Bei City, so he wasn’t as familiar with the routes as Fang Tianliu is.
Pure encouragement would not cause any substantial changes.
Fang Tianliu needed to gain a sense of living again.
Fang Tianliu subconsciously flinched, “This is not a joke. There are people behind us waiting to kill us. What if I don’t plan it well? Think about Jiaojiao, she’s still waiting for you at home.”
Zhao Zhan really missed Yue Jiaojiao.
Even when he was on the run, he would worry about whether his lover had encountered anything unpleasant today.
He wanted to go back in one piece and tell his lover that she had gotten her revenge more than anyone else.
“Are you putting the blame on me?” Zhao Zhan’s ears perked up and he did not let down his guard. “I’m already feeling guilty because you’ve been implicated by me. Now you’re still not willing to arrange the route?”
“Zhao Zhan!”
Fang Tianfeng was so angry that he directly called out his full name. Then, he immediately lowered his voice and gritted his teeth. “Have you forgotten the type of person I am? Forget it, forget it. As long as you don’t mind, I’ll arrange the route to the city.”
Zhao Zhan immediately replied, “We have to leave this place before it gets dark. Where should we head first?”
They had stayed in this place for too long.
...
If those people couldn’t find any trace of them, it was hard to guarantee that they wouldn’t return to the vicinity where they lost them and search carefully.
Fang Tianliu pondered for a moment. “We can go to Hushui Town first. People come and go on the road from there to Jia Zhou. If we go to the town and change our clothes, we shouldn’t be easily discovered by those people.”
“Lead the way.”
Fang Tianfeng’s scalp went numb and he felt the pressure.
He had only heard his father mention it and had never really gone there by himself.
“Fang Tianliu, let’s not waste any time. We need to find a place to rest as soon as possible.”
The night was pitch black, and one could not even see their own fingers.
The weather was gloomy.
Thick dark clouds covered the moon,
Fang Tianliu couldn’t tell the direction after looking for a long time, so he took off the red string that he had been wearing around his neck like a treasure.
He carefully held the thing in his hand and wiped it.
...
“My father spent two gold ingots to get someone to make this for me.”
Zhao Zhan looked at the item in Fang Tianliu’s hand. “What is this?”
“This is a compass,” Fang Tianliu held the Sinan in his palm and shook it, then devoutly stared at it as it spun. “The one in my hand should be the only one in the entire central plains, no, even the barbarians don’t have a compass as small as mine. Let’s go this way.”
Fang Tianliu pointed in a direction.
“When I was young, I often ran around. There were a few times when the servants at home searched the streets to find me. My father was afraid that I would get lost one day and not be able to find my home, so he made this for me. He said that it could guide me on the way home at all times.”
Zhao Zhan patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.
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