Chapter 44: Fleeing One Thousand Miles Away
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"A surprise attack!" The two bodyguards had amazing hearing abilities. They turned around and gasped in astonishment.
Behind them, about 100 meters away, a young man wearing a red robe had strangely appeared, although he had been there for quite some time. He wore a jade crown over his black hair and was as handsome as a fairy. He stood proudly on the old trees, overlooking the two bodyguards.
His cold, vast and starry eyes, which seemed to shine forever like the stars in the sky, were filled with murderous intent. His hands were holding a scarlet bow.
In imminent peril, the hunter to the left took out a knife from his waist and used its blade to block the arrow.
"It's Su Yu!" The two hunters' faces turned pale with fright. They looked at one another and outflanked Su Yu on both sides simultaneously.
"Be careful, it is said that he is a Holy Decree comprehender. We will split up and launch a pincer attack on him, not giving him a chance to make his move!"
Su Yu's cold eyes were full of murderous intent. His red shirt was fluttering and his hair was in a frenzied dance. He jumped down from the tree and touched the ground lightly, as if he was a goose feather was falling from a tree.
The two hunters launched a surprise attack from Su Yu's left and right with overwhelming deadly intent.
Su Yu stood calmly at his position. He was absolutely still and had no intentions of escaping. When the two hunters came within 10 Zhang of his radius, Su Yu slowly opened his dark and deep eyes.
"Diabolic Sword!" Su Yu drew an invisible sword which glittered in the dark. The invisible sword passed through the void, cutting the left hunter's head.
The hunter held his head in suffering and screamed, causing a mournful shriek to echo in the mountainous forest.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Su Yu took huge strides. His silhouette moved as fast as a powerful current, resulting in a series of fragmented shadows moving towards the left hunter's body.
"The Heavenly Finger!" Su Yu raised his finger up high, and as though his body had become one with nature, he struck his finger downwards.
As the left hunter suffered pain in his soul, he lost his will to defend himself. With Su Yu's attack, a bloody cut opened up in his chest. With a miserable scream, the left hunter's chest exploded, causing him to die!
As for the remaining strong martial artist on the right, his pupils shrunk abruptly and his heart was beating violently! He bit his teeth, turned around and started to flee! It was impossible for him to kill Su Yu by himself and if he tried, he might end up being suppressed instead.
"Hmph!" Su Yu did not go after him. After all, Shadow Cloud was a basic level cultivation technique. Even though it had reached Stage Three Top Class, it could only increase his speed to match someone at Level Four Peak, making it impossible for Su Yu to catch up to the hunter.
What was more crucial to Su Yu was that there were still other people in the forest. He needed to withdraw quickly to prevent himself from being surrounded by strong martial artists.
He turned his body around and plundered the left hunter's belongings. He took taels of silver, food and a coat which was made from the skin of wild beasts. When the catastrophe struck at the Duke of Xianyu's palace, Su Yu and Senior Qin escaped hurriedly. Therefore, they did not have a single penny on them.
After roughly confirming the direction of the imperial capital, Su Yu left, passing through the forest quickly, making a beeline for the imperial capital. His only chance for revenge was to get to the imperial capital and participate in the Holy Meet!
After half a day, Bodyguard Chen and the escaped hunter, accompanied by a masked man, returned to the battle site where Su Yu killed the hunter. Although that man's face could not be seen clearly, one could tell that his figure belonged to Bai Qixiong, the strong and frightening martial artist who was at Level Six Peak!
"Elder, taels of silver, food and his clothing had been plundered. Once Su Yu enters the city and disguises himself, it will be difficult to catch him." Bodyguard Chen had a grave expression. Killing a Holy Seal bearer was considered a heinous crime. As long as Su Yu continued to live, he would continue to feel uneasy as well.
"You try to act smart!" Bai Qixiong sneered. How could someone not prepare for tracking someone in the mountainous forest?
Bai Qixiong had brought a hound with him. He had the hound sniff the dead body so that it would be familiar with its scent. By stealing the clothes off the dead man, Su Yu had brought on his own destruction!
The hound walked around the area for a while and confirmed the direction that Su Yu had headed. It was towards the imperial capital!
"Chase him! He has not gotten too far!" With their speed equivalent to someone of Level Five Peak, it would be difficult for Su Yu to escape his death!
With the help of the hound, they kept close to one another and chased continuously. After escaping and following the scent for one day, both sides had been running for miles in the forest!
Once they caught up to Su Yu, with Bai Qixiong's frightening abilities, Su Yu would be unable to resist and would be killed on the spot!
After two days, both sides were still escaping and following respectively. As the hound's barking became more distinct, it indicated that they were getting closer to Su Yu.
"Elder, Su Yu's escape route is very complicated. He changed his direction many times, like it had changed from fleeing towards the imperial capital to fleeing towards the Twilight Mountains, as though he did not plan out his escape route." After giving chase for two and a half days, Bodyguard Chen raised his suspicions.
Bai Qixiong did not fully understand Su Yu's actions.
Since Su Yu knew that he was a target for assassination, he should head towards a population city. With many people watching them, Bai Qixiong would be unable to act rashly.
However, for him to escape into a remote and barren mountainous forest, where it was hard to find even a trace of humans, it implied that Su Yu was causing his own downfall.
"Could it be that he wants to hide within the mountainous forest?" Bai Qixiong suspected.
Finally, after half a day...
The hound stopped, dashed into a big stone cave and started to bark crazily. Bai Qixiong and Bodyguard Chen's expressions turned to happiness. After two and a half days, they had finally caught up to Su Yu!
A muffled roar could be heard from the cave!
A tall black shadow dashed out of the cave and threw itself towards Bai Qixiong and Bodyguard Chen. It was a huge black bear, as tall as a normal person!
"Hmph! You are asking for death!" Bodyguard Chen took out a long knife from his waist and cut off the black bear's head!
The black bear collapsed onto the floor with a loud crash!
Bai Qixiong stared at the belly of the black bear, and his eyes turned cold. "What a crafty kid!"
Bodyguard Chen's pupils shrunk and he turned serious. "So that's why! He is indeed crafty!"
Tied on the black bear's belly was a coat made from the skin of wild beasts. It was the dead hunter's coat!
They had thought that after Su Yu plundered taels of silver and food, he also took the hunter's coat with him to change out of his bright red robe, so that he could hide himself within the mountainous forest or disguise himself.
However, who would have expected him to be so crafty! He deliberately took the hunter's coat with him and tied it to the belly of the black bear, predicting that Bai Qixiong and Bodyguard Chen would rely on a hound's nose to track him.
By tying the hunter's coat to the belly of the black bear, it became frightened and escaped deep into Twilight Mountains. That had completely misled Bai Qixiong and Bodyguard Chen, leading them in the opposite direction! It seemed that from the very start, Su Yu had drafted out that plan to use as a safety precaution.
"To think that we have been tricked by the kid!" Bai Qixiong was furious. He turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction.
Bodyguard Chen followed closely behind him. He then said with fear and anxiety, "Elder, what should we do now? We have lost him."
In the vast and boundless mountainous forest, how would they locate Su Yu? Bai Qixiong's eyes turned cold and he started to look around in all directions. Finally, he looked towards the direction of the imperial capital!
"Since he led us deep into the Twilight Mountains, then we will chase him in the opposite direction!"
Bodyguard Chen agreed.
After seven days, they stopped in front of a desert with a small stream. There was a pile of cold firewood that had been extinguished a long time ago lying beside the stream. There were also bits and pieces of fish bones scattered around.
"This firewood was extinguished a day ago. It is very rare to come across any humans here; hunters do not even come here. There is a high possibility that it was Su Yu," deduced Bodyguard Chen after he twisted the remnant of the firewood and sniffed it.
Bai Qixiong's eyes were cold. "Good! With our speed, we can catch up to him in half a day!"
Bodyguard Chen was still suspicious. "Elder, if I do not remember wrongly, one can reach the imperial capital after passing through a mountain in front. If we do not intercept him at the mountain, then it will be difficult for us to lay our hands on him again."
There were many eyes in the imperial capital, and the number of strong martial artists there were comparable to the number of clouds in the sky. Even if Bai Qixiong and Bodyguard Chen were to take action in the middle of the quiet night, there was a high chance that they would be caught and exposed.
"Chase him!" Feeling that the time was tight, Bai Qixiong frowned and continued to give chase.
Su Yu was extremely exhausted. During those 10 days, other than eating, the rest of the time was spent trying to escape. He had always used eating time to regain his energy. However, he was still short of energy and was extremely exhausted. When he thought about the assassins chasing after him, Su Yu did not dare to relax the slightest bit.
After climbing up to the peak of a mountain with some difficulty, Su Yu looked at his surroundings. He could see thick picturesque forests and flatlands in the distance. The land was covered with rivers and green vegetation with a surprisingly refreshing breeze.
In the distance, there was a majestic and huge city. It was covered by mist and it looked as though a huge monster had appeared!
"The imperial capital!" Su Yu was delighted. He had been walking towards the direction of the imperial capital and after 10 days, he finally reached his destination!
Thankfully, the border between the Xianyu prefecture and the imperial capital was not very far. Since the Xianyu prefecture was as big as all of China, if Su YU wanted to cut across it, it would require many months of traveling.
With his destination right in front of him, Su Yu's heart felt relaxed but his body's fatigue had started to take its toll on him. He was very exhausted, to the point that he could collapse at any moment. He then pinched a part of his leg to make himself feel the pain, causing him to feel slightly more awake.
Before he descended from the mountain, Su Yu hid himself and looked back to check out the situation of his pursuers. Initially, he was just doing a random check. However, as his eyes searched, the sight made his heart beat violently! Bodyguard Chen and a masked young man were approaching quickly!
Although they were two miles away, to Su Yu, it was as if they were right in front of him. Bai Qixiong used a mask to cover his face. However, even without the mask, Su Yu could still recognize him even if he turned to dust.
Two miles was a relatively short distance and they would chase up in a few minutes! Without hesitation, Su Yu descended the mountain wildly and ran towards the flatland. As he descended the mountain, he used his pupils to scan the area to see if there were any places that he could hide himself in.
Suddenly, he found that at the shore of the big river, there was a group of people camping. There were dozens of people split into about seven or eight tents.
His eyes shone and Su Yu quickly descended from the mountain.
After two minutes, Su Yu turned his head and looked behind him. He saw Bai Qixiong and Bodyguard Chen climbing up to the peak of the mountain! He could not wait anymore!
Before he was discovered, Su Yu chose to blend in with the people and secretly enter the tent that was closest to the river.
At that moment, Bai Qixiong and Bodyguard Chen arrived at the peak of the mountain. Their eyesight was not as strong as Su Yu. Hence, they did not discover their target hiding inside the tent.
Using the small gaps in the tent, Su Yu observed the expression of them, about two miles away. After confirming that their expressions were not unusual, he heaved a sigh of relief.
Feeling exhausted after running for so long, Su Yu sat down on the floor and meticulously examined the tent. The tent was set up temporarily; it was simple and crude with a red bed sheet red. There was a faint fragrance lingering in the tent, giving off the impression that the tent belonged to women. Indeed, that tent belonged to the females.
I will stay here for awhile. After Bai Qixiong and his man are far away, I will leaving immediately. There were many people in the camp and Su Yu believed that Bai Qixiong would not act rashly. If not, once the information spread around, not even Heaven or Earth would be able to save him.
After running for so many days, Su Yu could finally catch his breath for a minute. However, it was difficult for him to resist his body's excessive fatigue.
Feeling muddleheaded, Si Yu climbed on the embroidered bed and went under the blanket. His head felt heavy and he fell asleep straight away.
Outside the tent, there was a graceful, beautiful and innocent lady. Her bright eyes were like water. She was refined, as though she did not belong to the human population. Instead, she was like a celestial beauty who had descended to this world.
She had a pretty snow-white face, which was peaceful and indifferent to fame or gain. She had a pair of clear eyes that were filled with worries that could not be dispelled easily.
"Yu-er, are you still worrying about Qin Xianer and Su Yu?" Xia Linxuan sighed, as he could no longer take the unpleasant look on his daughter's face.
The huge change in the Xianyu prefecture had spread across the 13 other prefectures within 10 days. The Duke of Xianyu was captured while his daughter and son-in-law escaped. In the midst of it, Su Yu had become a Holy Seal bearer; the empire could not go after him for the time being. However, Qin Xianer was wanted by the empire and no one knew whether she was or dead or alive.
Xia Jingyu and Qin Xianer had been best friends since they were young. They were so close that there were like sisters. As for Su Yu, he was Xia Jingyu's close friend. Xia Jingyu had lost two of her best friends. How could she not be worried?
Xia Jingyu looked back and forced a smile.
"The Duke of Xianyu had a premonition a long time ago and made arrangements for someone strong to help them escape. Thinking about it, there shouldn't be too many obstacles for them and you do not need to worry too much, Yu-er." Xia Linxuan comforted her, "No news means good news. Perhaps they already left the Fenglin Empire and are now somewhere far away from the country!"
They left the country? Xia Jingyu felt delighted yet distressed. Her heart felt empty, and tears began to well up in her eyes. She may not get to see Xianer and Su Yu for the rest of her life. Are both of them doing well where they are?
Feeling miserable, Xia Jingyu tried to cover up her tears. "Father, I will go back to my room to rest."
Xia Linxuan said with love, "Yes, the sky is dark now. Take a good rest and tomorrow, we will enter the imperial capital."
"Yes," Xia Jingyu hung her head and entered the tent. Her morale was low, and she walked towards her bed. With the remaining light from the sky, she found that there was something unusual on her bed.
When she looked at it, she found that there was someone sleeping there. She could not help but feel angry and embarrassed; who was bold enough to sleep on her bed?