Chapter 726: 470, Pursuit_3
With a sharp sound of air being pierced, a streak of golden thread shot up from the ground, and in the blink of an eye, all the birds circling in the sky were killed.
The checkpoint ahead.
The sky had already brightened, and there were about several dozen rebel soldiers in a stern formation before the checkpoint.
However, upon closer inspection, one would notice their gaze occasionally glancing towards the side of the checkpoint, at a batch of intimidating secret agents dressed in strange soft armor and black robes.
Ouyang Ye stood amidst the crowd, quietly waiting, with a Miao Blade in hand.
Beside him, the middle-aged magician called "White-headed Eagle," with white hair and several bone whistles hanging from his waist, clutched a red bone flute.
A female sorcerer with a voluptuous figure stood with her arms folded, raising the two cumbersome lumps on her chest, squinting at the empty official road ahead.
At this time of the hour, no normal merchants or travelers would appear.
However, they knew that the person they were waiting for had already arrived beyond the slope.
"He found us!" Suddenly, White-headed Eagle’s expression changed slightly, and the other secret agents also saw it—the flock of birds circling high above was like a group of ants, falling neatly from the sky.
Then, a carriage swiftly approached on the official road, the driver wearing a straw hat fiercely whipped the exhausted and inferior horse to squeeze out its last bit of strength.
The carriage rapidly closed in on the barricaded checkpoint, and Zhao Douan, who was driving, suddenly stood up, flicking his wrist!
The Golden Crow Flying Dagger swept in with the power of a top-grade martial artist from the Divine Chapter, entering the checkpoint like lightning, effortlessly taking the heads of over a dozen ordinary rebel soldiers.
And then, when it attacked the secret agents, it was knocked away with a "ding!" by a suddenly unsheathed, slender Miao Blade!
Ouyang Ye, who had once been exiled to Lingnan as a "criminal soldier," let out a sinister laugh: "How audacious, fire!"
While those secret agents broke out in a cold sweat, they in unison pulled out military crossbows from under their robes, aiming at the carriage and pulling the triggers.
"Whiz!"
"Whiz!"
"Whiz!"
Thick, iron crossbow arrows whistled through the air, each arrowhead gleaming with a bluish-green light, laced with poison that could penetrate skin and seal throats.
Zhao Douan’s pupils contracted suddenly, and he hurled himself back into the carriage while the flying dagger also whizzed back into the compartment.
The inferior horse, running desperately, did not stop in time and let out a mournful cry, pierced by several arrows deep into its flesh, its front two legs buckling and dropping heavily to its knees!
In that moment, due to continuous running without rest, the desperately exhausted inferior horse, shocked by this, immediately died from exhaustion!
Under its inertia, it dragged the carriage, crashing sideways into the barricaded stall in front of the checkpoint, raising a cloud of dust!
Meanwhile, from behind the collapsed compartment, with a "bang," Zhao Douan, carrying a figure draped in a blood-stained Dragon Robe, dashed like lightning into the nearby forest.
"Pursue!" Ouyang Ye’s eyes brightened, sheathing his Miao Blade, "By the order of the Prince, whoever kills the Fake Emperor will be granted the title of Marquis! Whoever kills Zhao Douan, will be made an Earl! And rewarded a thousand gold!"
"Kill!!!"
The secret agents, blood boiling, immediately stowed away their crossbows, grabbed their blades, and charged like arrows into the forest, abandoning their horses!
Ouyang Ye, White-headed Eagle, and Yao Shiniang, all three immediately rushed into the forest, chasing after the fleeing Zhao Douan and Empress.
In the blink of an eye, the checkpoint was deserted. A while later, confirming there was no ambush and the secret agents had gone far,
a man dressed simply, clutching a small bundle, Xu Zhenguan emerged from the other side of the forest, biting his lip as he looked worriedly towards the direction Zhao Douan had disappeared, and with a determined bite, quickly fled outside the checkpoint.
"You must come back alive..."
...
...
Among the pursuers from the Royal Mansion, there were few extremely skilled experts, but there were indeed quite a few Divine Chapter and mortal entities.
The leader Ouyang Ye was exceedingly proficient in swordsmanship, and highly capable, otherwise Jing would not have exerted great effort to rescue him on his way to exile.
White-headed Eagle was adept in the magic of controlling beasts; setting foot into the forest for a battle was akin to entering his domain.
As for Yao Shiniang, who exuded a charm that seemed to seduce men with every move, aside from mastering the "lamp god" wish-granting magic, she was also a martial arts master, surprisingly a martial artist who concurrently practiced magic, and her Qinggong was exceptionally superb.
Combined with the highly skilled secret agents from the Royal Mansion equipped with magic artifacts, this team could easily slaughter a regular Worldly Realm. In theory, chasing down Zhao Douan burdened with carrying a person should not be difficult.
Yet, after entering the forest, Ouyang Ye realized he had underestimated this pretty boy. He frequently bent down to examine the traces on the ground. Initially, it was relatively easy to spot Zhao Douan’s hurriedly left footprints, making pursuing him effortless, but soon, the footprints grew increasingly "sparse," appearing much less frequently, indicating that Zhao Douan was no longer running on forest ground but was stepping on tree trunks and rocks to gather force, climbing and detouring through treacherous terrain, while being pursued. In this way, rather than catching up, the distance between both parties gradually widened.
"How is Zhao’s Qinggong this formidable? The intelligence didn’t mention this; it seems he has made tremendous progress at the Martial Arts Hall in the past few months." Ouyang Ye said with a gloomy expression after once again losing track of the footprints.
The White-headed Eagle, with his disheveled white hair, squatted down, pinched the moist soil, and sniffed it slightly before clapping his hands, picking up the scarlet bone flute in his hand, and grinning insidiously: "Since the Prince has placed a bounty, why don’t we rely on our strengths and see who can strike first? Especially since this Zhao’s traces are elusive, if we cluster together and pursue the wrong direction, losing track of the Fake Emperor, it would be hard to answer to the Prince."
Splitting the forces for pursuit?
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Correcting typos first, then making changes...