Jiang Chan led the way with a flashlight, Chen Yan followed closely behind carrying Zhou Shi on his back, and Xiao Tao perched on Jiang Chan's shoulder, looking at the magical light with a mixture of curiosity and fear.
The others followed silently and nervously behind the beam of light, trudging through the rugged mountain forest.
As Jiang Chan walked, she quietly released the probe into the air once again.
The detectors share a field of view.
From above, the dark forests resemble the undulating back of a giant beast.
The heat source light representing them moved slowly at the foot of the mountain. Further away, several faint red dots representing the officials gathered frantically in the direction of the abandoned land, clearly caught off guard and showing no signs of pursuing them for the time being.
Great! We've bought some time!
"Stop!" Jiang Chan suddenly shouted, her flashlight beam fixing on a steep rocky slope ahead.
The detector indicated that there was a cliff behind the rocky slope!
"There's a cliff ahead! We can't go any further!"
A stir ran through the crowd, filled with lingering fear. If it hadn't been for this "divine light" illuminating the way beforehand, the consequences of their hasty rush in the dark would have been unimaginable!
“Fairy…Miss! Then…which way should we go?” a man asked, mustering his courage, his voice filled with awe and anxiety.
Jiang Chan was about to manipulate the detector to replan the safe path.
“I…I know a way!” A hoarse, aged voice came from behind the crowd.
An old man dressed in tattered clothes and with a wrinkled face squeezed to the front, pointing to a denser patch of bushes on the left that seemed to have no path at all. "This way! I'm a woodcutter from the city! I used to walk this mountain all the time! The forest is deep over there, and there's a small path worn out by woodcutters! It leads around to the back of the mountain! The officials can't easily find it!"
Jiang Chan's sharp gaze immediately locked onto the old man. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure! I'm sure!" The old woodcutter nodded repeatedly. "I've been cutting firewood in these mountains for forty years! There's no mistake! Young lady, shine your divine light over there!"
Jiang Chan moved the beam of her flashlight in the direction he pointed. Sure enough, deep in the dense bushes, she could vaguely see the traces of a narrow, hidden path that had been trampled on!
The probe's high-altitude view also confirmed that the path meandered deep into the mountains and forests, and was not a dead end.
"Lead the way!" Jiang Chan made a decisive decision, shining her flashlight beam at the entrance to the path. "You go first! The rest of you follow! Keep quiet!"
"Hey! Good!" Old Sun perked up and immediately bent down to crawl into the bushes.
With an experienced horse that knew the way and a divine light illuminating their path, this desperate fleeing group finally had a clear direction. Gritting their teeth, they silently and resolutely disappeared into the deeper darkness of the mountains.
The threats from the officials and the despair of abandoning the land were temporarily left behind.
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