Chapter 439 Encounter

The horses kept running non-stop. Although they could clearly feel that the Alans were being left further and further behind, the horses under Luca and others were already panting and their speed was getting slower and slower.

"Luga, it's no use. The warhorse can't run anymore!" Andrew said to Luga breathlessly. Indeed, it is not an easy task to keep balance on the back of a galloping horse. The man has to pay as much as the horse does.

Luka did not answer, but turned around and waved his hand. He did not know if he could see behind him in the darkness. He only felt a burst of piercing pain in his thigh muscles, accompanied by weakness.

"Where are we?" Luca asked the soldier who was familiar with the road.

"I don't know. It's too dark. We can't see anything. The only thing that proves this is that the Alans don't know where we are either." The guide stretched his neck and looked around. Then he said, "We can only confirm our location tomorrow. It's too dark today. We can't see anything!"

The war horses began to canter, shaking their heads desperately, trying to tell the riders on their backs that they had reached their limit.

"Kutong!"

There was only a dull sound, and a dark shadow fell off the horse beside them. Luga and others quickly turned around.

Luca asked, "What's going on?"

The first soldier to dismount and inspect the situation replied: "The poor fellow has used up all his strength. If he doesn't get a good rest, he will probably die."

"Damn it!" Luga gritted his teeth, raised his hand and slapped his thigh hard, then gritted his teeth, endured the pain, turned off the horse, and limped to the side of the soldier.

With the faint light of the moon, a soldier was feeding water to the poor exhausted fellow, and the other soldiers around him were helping each other get off their horses. In the quiet night, the only sounds that could be heard were the heavy breathing of people and horses, and coughs full of fatigue from time to time. Now that they were so exhausted, they would not be able to get out if they forced themselves to go on.

Luga knew what was going on. He looked around the woods and saw nothing but the occasional chirping of birds.

"Drink some water and take a rest." Luga dragged his legs, which were in unbearable pain, and slowly sat down cross-legged. He touched his pocket and shook his head with a wry smile, because he had just escaped in a hurry from the sneak attack and had not had time to bring the necessary food.

Andrew came over and said to Luca, "Luca, let's find a place for the horse to rest for a night. If the horse dies from running, we might as well commit suicide."

"In the past, we did things without leaving any clues, which made people suspicious. Now that the truth has been revealed, even those illiterate guys in the village are no longer afraid of us." Luga smiled bitterly and wiped his face with his hands, trying to sober himself up.

"Go to sleep, everyone, go to sleep, I'll keep watch." Luga felt unspeakable guilt towards the remaining soldiers in front of him. He began to regret his thoughts at that time. If he had listened to Andrew's advice and not rushed out so rashly, he would not have become a rat crossing the street and everyone would shout and beat him.

"Luga." Andrew came to him and asked him, "What should we do if the Alans catch up with us?"

Luga shook his head and said, "I don't know either, but at such a long distance, the Alans should not be as energetic when they catch up here. We just need to seize the opportunity to leave at dawn."

"This is all we can do." Andrew smiled bitterly, made the sign of the cross on his chest and said to himself: "Hail Mary, I am your devout believer. Please, for the sake of Holy Jesus, have mercy on us. God bless Rome, God bless Rome!"

Andrew prayed for a while, and found that Luca was just sitting there, staring blankly at the soldiers leading their horses to feed water. Then he thought privately that Luca had been like a heretic since they met on the battlefield outside the city of Narpan, and he had never seen him pray to God.

"Luka, I want to ask you a question." Andrew couldn't resist the curiosity, so he asked, "You have said more than once that you are a devout Christian, but I have never seen you pray to God or Jesus. You are like a heretic, but not like a heretic."

"Why do you say that?" Andrew's question did distract Luga a little, distracting him from the shadow of self-blame.

"Because heretics also have their own beliefs, they also pray, but the object of their prayers is not God. However, you seem to have no faith. No matter how difficult the situation is, you have never prayed." Andrew looked at Luca with a puzzled look, and then said: "I don't understand you. Why don't you pray to God no matter what."

"Pray to him, but he may not help you." Luca smiled and shook his head. He didn't know how to explain to Andrew. It was too early to say that he was a Protestant. After thinking about it, Luca gradually thought of something. He then replied to Andrew: "God can communicate with your heart. You don't need to say it out loud. He can feel your inner confusion and help you at the critical moment."

"No, that's impossible!" Andrew shook his head and retorted, "The priest has always taught us to speak out our inner confusion so that God can hear it and help us."

"But so many people are confused, so who does God listen to?" Luca said with a smile: "Sometimes God is also very busy, but it is difficult for him to help everyone at the same time, so the most important thing is that we still have to rely on ourselves."

Andrew nodded repeatedly after hearing what Luca said. It seemed that he agreed with what Luca said. But he added, "But at this time, everyone is fast asleep and we are the only ones awake. So if I pray now, God will be able to listen carefully to my confusion. God never rests. I pray to him now, and you should pray too. He belongs to us now."

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"Okay, okay!" Luca shook his head helplessly. At Andrew's repeated urging, he knelt together with Andrew, looked up to the sky, and kept making the sign of the cross on his chest.

"I hope God can protect me at this time!" Luca thought to himself. Suddenly, he opened his eyes abruptly and asked himself in surprise: "What's going on? How can I say such a thing?" He still remembered that he was an atheist and always reminded himself that he had to rely on himself for everything. However, in such a world, he was alone and helpless.

"I hope God can show up at this time." After pondering for a moment, he felt relieved, so he sighed and continued to pray with Andrew.

The next day, strangely, no soldiers were seen patrolling on the road. I don't know if they were afraid or what, but they didn't chase them. But because they were afraid of the Alans' tricks, Luca had to lead his men through the woods.

"We're almost at the fork in the road ahead. As long as we get on the road, they will never be able to catch us!" The guide said, which gave Luca hope. He couldn't wait any longer, so he jumped on his horse, sped up, and followed the dirt road to the fork in the road. Of course, he reined in the horse and stopped where he was.

(End of this chapter)