73 Farewell
At the west gate of the city, a few soldiers of the Imperial Army were leaning against the city wall and dozing off.
Now that the Green Mountain Army had been defeated, defending the city was easy. Moreover, it would be suicidal to find trouble with the Imperial Army.
In addition, the west gate was a passage for supplies, which was mostly closed on normal days, so there were not many people here.
Suddenly, the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground was heard. One of the city guards was so shocked that he quickly stood up straight and looked towards the source of the sound. All he saw was a body on the ground, bleeding profusely.
His eyes suddenly widened, and just as he was about to shout, his vision suddenly turned black, and he fainted.
Within a few breaths, the soldiers guarding the city were all killed.
A figure walked out of the darkness. After checking that no one was alive, he shouted in a low voice, “Let’s go!”
Dozens of figures suddenly rushed out, quickly opened the city gate, and rushed out of the city.
And behind this group of figures, an unremarkable figure followed from a distance.
Great Cloud City was bustling with noise and excitement. The sounds of killing could be heard from time to time. People from all walks of life were crazily surrounding the Shi family members and gradually gathering towards the eastern and southern gates. However, no one noticed the movement at the west gate.
* * *
Four hours later, the sky was still dark.
It was a remote mountain path leading to the Cloudy Dream Mountain Forest. It was overgrown with weeds and extremely barren. Almost no one would walk on it during the day, let alone at night.
However, today, this small road was a little lively. The weeds were trampled on, and the group of people hurriedly passed by with a look of relief on their faces.
Not long after, a brawny man with a fierce-looking face also walked by slowly.
“Zhang Shan was born because of your Shi family. I’ll use him to send you off.”
Jiang Ming walked at a steady pace. He could no longer see the figure in front of him, but he was not in a hurry.
Although the Shi family had left in a hurry, it was nothing to him. Moreover, the traces they left were too obvious. He had learned a lot of hunting skills in Tiger Hunting Village. He could tell the situation of the people in front of him with just a glance.
Jiang Ming followed him all the way out of the city. Most of his attention was on Shi Jintai. Even if he was running for his life, he was supported by others all the way, which even affected the speed of the whole team.
“But I still have to be careful!” Jiang Ming’s eyes were calm. Being cautious was never wrong. Even the injured Shi Jintai was a first-class martial artist.
Jiang Ming was only a second-class martial artist now. Even with the Blood-Burning Saber Technique and his heightened perception, he could not guarantee that he could kill a first-class martial artist. Moreover, Shi Jintai was not the only martial artist in the direct line of descent of the Shi family.
“That’s why I still have to use some tricks!” Jiang Ming touched his pocket. After a few years, he had developed more and more types of poisonous powders.
“Eh? Looking at these footprints, these pampered family members seem to be unable to hold on, huh?”
Jiang Ming glanced at the crooked and uneven footprints and estimated the time. A few hours had passed. Coupled with the high tension of running for their lives, some of them might not be able to hold on any longer.
He took light steps and went into the forest on the side. He moved forward silently as if he had become one with the night, making almost no sound. This was also a skill he had learned in Tiger Hunting Village. When hunting, he had to be like a ghost. When the time was right, he would land the killing blow.
* * *
On a patch of wilderness by the road, the Shi family members were either sitting or lying on the ground, their lips trembling and pale, gasping for breath.
They had always been pampered and had never experienced such hardship. It was already very good that they could hold on until now.
“Father, why are we running? Didn’t we still listen to the Liang family’s orders to betray the Green Mountain Army? Is the Liang family not protecting the Shi family now?”
A mean-looking young man said reluctantly, “What right do you have to say that the Shi family has betrayed them? I just kept a few pieces of jade for myself.”
“Shut up! Remember this,” a middle-aged man said in a low voice, “From today onwards, there will be no more Shi family. You are no longer called Shi Junming.”
Shi Junming clenched his fists tightly, but he did not dare argue with the middle-aged man. He turned around and walked into the forest. “I’m going to the toilet!”
“Father, don’t be angry with him. He just can’t accept the fall.” A valiant-looking young man walked over.
“I’m afraid he’s not the only one who can’t accept it.”
The middle-aged man, Shi Quantang, looked around at the pampered men and women and sighed, “Junwei, you’re already a martial artist at the peak of second class, so the Shi family will be counting on you in the future. When you become a Dao Master, the Shi family will rise again. We will be even more powerful than before.”
Shi Junwei nodded. His eyes were burning with fighting spirit.
After a while, “Shi Junming” slowly walked out from the depths of the forest. He still seemed angry and sat on a large rock. He buried his head and did not say a word.
When the others saw this, they could only shake their heads.
Late at night, the cold wind blew, rustling the lush leaves in the forest, making people feel a little terrified.
“Junming, be careful not to catch a cold. Hurry up and come down,” Shi Junwei saw Shi Junming sitting at the wind entrance and quickly shouted.
“He’s a martial artist, what’s there to be afraid of?” Shi Quantang glared at him.
“Shi Junming” did not make a sound, but obediently jumped down from the rock and sat on the ground.
However, no one saw the two small paper bags that he had hidden in his hands.
“Sigh, I really can’t take it anymore. The more I rest, the more tired I am,” a middle-aged woman sighed. She had soft skin and wore gold and silver jewelry.
“Isn’t that so? I can’t even lift my legs!”
“This mountain road is too difficult to walk on.”
Quite a few people agreed.
“Idiots! Stand up and set off! If you don’t work hard, the first ones to die will be you,” Shi Quantang said in exasperation.
“Wait, something’s wrong.” The head of the Shi family, Shi Jintai, who had been sitting on the ground with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes. His expression changed drastically as he said, “Hold your breath! This is a knockout powder!”
“What?”
“Someone is chasing after us?”
The Shi family was immediately thrown into chaos. These family members had never experienced such a situation before. Each and every one of them panicked and wanted to stand up and escape, but their limbs were so weak that they could not get up no matter what.
Only Shi Junwei and the other martial artists of the Shi family could use their blood Qi to suppress the effects of the drug.
However, no one noticed that when they activated their blood Qi, their blood Qi was consumed at an abnormally fast speed.