The guards caught up with them within an hour.
One by one, their faces were white, and they all seemed too exhausted to even lift their arms.
Zhou Gu did not sleep deeply and had a short rest for about an hour. He looked at the guards who had followed him, then at Zhang Yun, and signaled to him, "Brother Zhang Yun, stop."
Zhang Yun stopped and turned to ask him, "What’s the matter?"
"Let’s discuss this. As far as I remember, there are two ferry crossings along this river, one is Qihuan Mountain crossing, and the other is Dongshui crossing," Zhou Gu said.
Zhang Yun nodded, "We are probably a day’s journey away from the Qihuan Mountain crossing."
"Nangong Zheng will surely have men guarding these two crossings tightly," Zhou Gu pondered, "We might have to enter the Zhangdu Forest."
Both banks of the Lingshui River were covered with continuous mountain forests, known as the Zhangdu Forest. Whether it’s the animals, plants, or even the air and fog in the forest, all were naturally poisonous due to geological reasons.
Zhang Yun’s expression changed, "Isn’t that suicide?"
"But trying to land from either of these crossings would also mean certain death." Zhou Gu looked at him, "Do you think, with so few of us, without entering the Zhangdu Forest, we could stand a chance against Nangong Zheng’s men in a head-on confrontation?"
Of course, Zhang Yun knew they couldn’t, so he went silent for a while.
Zhou Gu patted his shoulder, smiling slightly, "Why worry? For ordinary people, the Zhangdu Forest is indeed a deadly place. Just half a moment of breathing in there can be fatal. But for us, we don’t need to worry that much." He reminded Zhang Yun, "Have you forgotten? I have the antidote, right? With the Antidote Pill, we can walk in the Zhangdu Forest for three days without falling."
Zhang Yun was immediately relieved, slapping his own forehead, "Yes! How could I forget? You have many great remedies made by the Princess."
After saying that, he became worried again, "But, we have so many people, even if you have the Antidote Pills, it won’t be enough, right?"
"There are several dozen pills. Select several dozen men to accompany us, the rest can find their own way around." Zhou Gu said, "Even though the Zhangdu Forest is huge, we can get through it in three days."
"When we get out of the Zhangdu Forest, it will be the Maolin County, which is also under the influence of a branch of the Nangong Family." The Nanchu King who clearly heard this comment added.
Moreover, Maolin County seemed to be further from their destination, West Ridge. Now that they were less than two hundred miles from the West Ridge, if they were to detour around the Zhangdu Forest and head to Maolin County, it would be almost one hundred miles more.
As if they were being chased and killed all the way, they had walked an extra hundred miles in vain.
Zhang Yun sighed, they were like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. There really were no roads to walk on anymore, and he had to admire Nangong Zheng. At such a young age, he was able to corner them to this extent.
Zhou Gu also sighed, thought for a while, and said to the Nanchu King, "Father-in-law, how about we give up going to West Ridge? You better keep your troops hidden!"
"What?" The Nanchu king stared at him, why did he suddenly have the idea of giving up? Wasn’t it the case that they had to stick to the end and could definitely get through? Didn’t he brag about it before that it was absolutely possible? Especially since they were only three hundred miles away.
"Now it is two hundred miles, but if we get out of the Zhangdu Forest and take a detour to Maolin County, it will become three hundred miles. And no matter whether it is two hundred miles or three hundred miles, this part of the journey is as difficult as climbing the sky." Zhou Gu rubbed his forehead, decided not to be stubborn to the end. He said, "Nangong Zheng must be galloping to get ahead of us with his men, by then, once we confront him, there will be nothing good waiting for us. It’s likely that we’ll also lose our lives to him. Even if we don’t confront him directly, there’s no place to hide. The Nangong Family’s power is everywhere. We really have nowhere to hide. And, in the end, we might actually be forced to take the Yuxue Mountain route, which would be a torment. We can bear it, but you cannot."
He had promised Ye Guixue that he would be sure to protect the Nanchu King. Even if he didn’t take into account that he was his father-in-law, based on a gentleman’s promise, he felt obliged to protect him.
The Nanchu King thought he might be able to handle the Yuxue Mountain, "Maybe I can take the snowy mountain route."
Zhang Yun asked Zhou Gu on the side, "Then how should we move? Turn back? Go against the grain with Nangong Zheng? Double-back?"
"Yes, we’ll double-back. As smart as Nangong Zheng is, he is still only fourteen years old. Let’s take advantage of his lack of two years’ worth of experience and teach him a lesson—this idea of not turning back until hitting the south wall doesn’t apply to us. If there is a wall, we won’t hit it. We’ll go back and take the main road instead." Zhou Gu felt this idea was increasingly plausible.
"How is going back taking the main road?" Zhang Yun didn’t see it that way.
"If we turn back towards the border of Daliang, isn’t it considered the main road? Right now, Nangong Zheng probably has marshalled all of the Nangong Family’s forces, heading towards Dawei and his side. Therefore, if we pass through the Zhangdu Forest to get a little off course from this major force, then double-back, we probably won’t encounter many assassins on the road, isn’t that the main road?" Zhou Gu raised an eyebrow.
Zhang Yun also raised an eyebrow with him. After a brief moment, he laughed, "Alright, let’s do it."
He suddenly felt energised again. If the way of the dead ends, then don’t take it. We are all alive. Why must we take the path of the dead?
The Nanchu King was at a loss for words, "So, we needlessly took this route?"
"It wasn’t in vain. Didn’t Nangong Yin, the old creature, send out his legitimate grandson? That indicates the Nangong Family has no other useful people." Zhou Gu rubbed his chin, considering, "Maybe, there aren’t many men left to protect King Yin Nangong in the royal capital. If we killed him now, it would be perfect."
Zhang Yun thought this was reasonable, "And Prince Liu’an, he also probably sent out all his guards already. It’s a pity, we are thousands of miles away now, and we can’t kill them."
"Exactly." Zhou Gu sighed.
Nanchu King: "..."
These two were actually thinking of assassinating King Yin Nangong and Prince Liu’an.
"Come on, let’s row to the shore, get into the Zhangdu Forest, and then double-back." Zhou Gu stood up, waved to the guards behind him, and ordered when Ajiu and Yin Dong came close, "Leave fifty men here to come with us, the rest find a way to double-back. We will meet in Yanlin County in ten days. If we do not arrive after ten days, go into hiding on your own, waiting for orders."
Ajiu looked at the Nanchu King, wanting to say that fifty people were not enough to protect His Majesty.
The Nanchu King waved his hand, "Just listen to Lord Thursday."
Since he was willing to listen, the guards naturally had to listen as well. After all, there was no better plan than the one that Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun had discussed.
Ajiu bowed his head in agreement. Seeing Ajiu agree, Yin Dong also had no objections and bowed his head in agreement as well.
As a result, two distinguished guards selected fifty outstanding guards. The rest were sent back, each of them got an Antidote Pill from Zhou Gu. After consuming all sixty Antidote Pills from the two bottles, a few were left that Zhou Gu had kept for later use.
When everyone had taken the Antidote Pills, Zhou Gu decisively led the men to shore, entering the foggy Zhangdu Forest.
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