Redi hid in the bushes with mud all over his body. Half of his body was submerged in the mud as he silently listened to the barking of dogs and the sound of footsteps.
He had been on the run for more than a month. He had already forgotten what date it was today. The weather was getting colder and colder, and winter was coming.
He did not expect that his pursuers would not give up even after he escaped into the Egret Lake. Not only did they bring over many hunting dogs and hunters who were familiar with the environment, they even sent out a proper army to chase after him. Redi was in a difficult situation and could not even rest properly. Often, he would be discovered by the hunting dogs before he could even rest for two hours, and he had no choice but to continue fleeing …
Redi had finally calmed down and reflected on his previous recklessness and complacency. When his teacher confirmed that his swordsmanship had reached a higher level, Redi began to feel a little arrogant. Especially when he participated in the Knight's Tournament organized by Duke Fisablun and won the championship, he became even more confident and careless. He no longer regarded a Gold Knight as a threat and thought that he was almost equivalent to a first-level expert swordsman.
Even though he was wanted by Handra Principality and Sabaji Principality, Redi was still very confident that a first-level swordsman was nothing special. He was not afraid of one against another, and no one would be able to do anything to him without a few hundred moves. If not for the two swordsman chasing after him, he would not have cared at all. Now that he thought about it, he felt that he was a frog at the bottom of a well. He did not know how big the sky was and thought that a first-level swordsman was only so-so. In the end, when he fought against Grandmaster Fairy, he realized that he could not even take a single blow from her. If not for the river behind him, his head might have been taken away by Grandmaster Fairy.
The scene of Grandmaster Fairy swinging her sword appeared in Redi's mind once again. It was as graceful as a swan, and the sword light was silent like a gentle breeze. The cold stars shrouded his entire vision, and he felt like he was looking at the stars on a summer night. There was not a single trace of killing intent, and he could not even raise his guard. When he realized something was wrong, he quickly retreated and realized that he had been struck. His left arm, right leg, and chest had three deep cuts. Luckily he was quick to jump into the water and escape, or else it would be hard to say what would have happened.
That hateful old woman did not give him any face at all. When he accompanied Princess Sylvia to the Northern Lands, Redi had not only guided them but also brewed tea for them. Grandmaster Fairy knew that he was the eldest disciple of Laurist, but she did not show him any mercy. The moment they met, she attacked him ruthlessly. It was obvious that she did not care about the Norton Family's reputation or Laurist's misgivings. Redi was curious as to what he had done to make Duke Fisablun want him dead …
The pitiful Redi began to recall everything that happened when he was being hunted down. Normally, killing a few underworld bosses and destroying a few underworld organizations would not bother much. Even if those underworld bosses were pushed out by the lords to control the underground world, it was fine if they were dead. At most, someone else would be the boss. Even if they were wanted, it would just be for show. The underworld bosses were killed because they had gone too far. It was nothing more than revenge. Even if they were relatives of nobles, the lords would not want to risk losing their own knights to avenge an underworld boss.
If it wasn't because of the death of the black boss, then something must have gone wrong somewhere. Redi thought of the emissary whose chest was sliced open by him. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this fellow was familiar. After thinking hard, he finally remembered that during the Knight Tournament, this fellow seemed to be standing beside Duke Fisabulon. The Duke had introduced this fellow to Laurist as the son of his younger brother, who was already a 3-star Silver rank. He was the most promising descendant of the Fisabulon family after Princess Silvia to become a Gold Knight. It was a pity that he was defeated by the spear of the Ferocious Tiger, Ross.
Redi finally understood why the Great Swordmaster Shandi was chasing after him. This was a huge disaster. Redi smacked his lips, thinking that he might not be able to travel to other places anymore. If he could escape, it would be best to return to the North as soon as possible. Staying by his teacher's side was the safest option. However, the most important thing now was to deal with the three sword wounds inflicted by Grandmaster Fairy to prevent the bloodstains from revealing his location.
At that time, Redi was very glad that he had learned the Eastern monk's Dan Sea Qi Gathering Technique from Laurist. This training method was completely different from Dou Qi training. Not only did it increase the standard of his swordsmanship, it also allowed him to suppress a Gold Knight with his Qi. Most importantly, the acupoints in his meridians could temporarily close up his wounds and prevent his enemies from chasing after him due to bleeding.
When the enemies thought that he would be able to swim to the other side of the river, Redi secretly stayed where he was and used the fact that it was dark under the lamp to sew up his wounds. After applying medicine and bandaging his wounds, he turned around and ran towards the swamp of Egret Lake. By the time the enemies realized that he had been tricked and turned around, Redi had already bought himself a few days of time. Not only did he increase the distance between them, his wounds had also started to heal.
However, there were too many enemies chasing after him, and he even received unconditional support from the villages. He had only been in the swamp for a few days, and his pursuers had brought hunting dogs and hunters to track him down. Redi had once again become a rabbit that escaped from its clutches. Other than that, there was an unknown army that came out of nowhere to seal off the high ground and important crossroads of the swamp. It made it extremely difficult for Redi to escape.
Three glossy hounds that were half the height of a human lowered their heads and sniffed the ground as they slowly approached the bushes. Beside the hounds were a dozen soldiers and two hunters wearing variegated leather clothes. At the front were three soldiers holding shields that covered half of their bodies. Behind them were four spearmen, two crossbowmen and three longbowmen. Everyone had a vigilant look on their faces as their arrows were nocked on their bowstrings, ready to attack at any moment … ….
The three hounds were about three meters away from the bushes. After sniffing the ground for a long time, they raised their heads and started barking at the lush green grassland. Two hunters walked forward and stopped the hounds. They relaxed and turned to the soldiers: "You don't have to be so nervous. You can rest for a while. I think the person you are looking for is dead … …"
The leader of the soldiers raised his head: "What do you mean?"
The hunter pointed at the grassland: "Our hounds discovered that the person's scent stopped here. There is a high possibility that the person has escaped into this grassland."
"We received orders to find his tracks. Since he has entered this grassland, we have to go in and search as well." The leader of the soldiers said.
"We can't go in." The two hunters laughed: "Didn't you hear me say that the person you are looking for is dead? Although the grass was lush, it was actually a bottomless abyss. The grass was floating on the surface. No matter who walked more than ten meters in, they would sink until the top was gone and die silently under the grass. We think that the reason why this grassland is growing so well is because the flesh and blood of the animals that have sunk into the ground provide nutrients to the grass. That's why we call this grassland the Magical Grass Swamp … … "
"Do you mean that the person we are chasing might have escaped into this grassland and sunk to the bottom?" The soldiers finally relaxed. No one could maintain their vigilance for a long period of time, and they put down their shields and bows when they heard what the hunters said. They surrounded the grassland and started to discuss among themselves. There were even a few soldiers who lined up along the grassland and took out their weapons to release water.
A few drops of turbid urine splashed onto Redi's face, but he did not move an inch. It would be best if his pursuers thought that he had fallen into the swamp. Once the pursuers left, Redi would be able to leave the Egret Lake Swamp unhurriedly. It did not matter if he returned to the north or continued to travel, it was better than being chased by a few swordsmen.
Unfortunately, beautiful wishes were always destroyed by cruel reality. Things did not develop as Redi had imagined. The leader of the soldiers said: "Who is willing to go back and report our findings to the swordsmen … …"
Another soldier said: "Captain, how are we going to report this? Are we going to say that the person who escaped was seeking his own death and fell into the Magical Grass Swamp? "
The older hunter at the side was puzzled: "Sir, why don't we go back and report this together? Why do we have to run back and forth? Isn't it over already? "
The leader of the soldiers sighed and replied: "Do you think we don't want to go back? It's just that we have orders from the top that we want to see the person, dead or alive. We have to go back and report that the person who escaped fell into the swamp and is dead. The people above want us to scoop up the mud in the swamp until we find the person's corpse. That's why I can only report that the trail ends here and let the people above come and look for the person themselves. Even if we were beaten to death, we would not dare to say that the person who escaped fell into the swamp … … "
The older hunter scratched his face: "Isn't this nonsense? How are we going to find the corpse if the person fell into the swamp … … "
"It's very likely that the people from above will burn the grass here, and then let us fish around the swamp with long poles. Even if he sank to the bottom, he should be nearby. There is no way he could have escaped to the center of the swamp. "The leader of the soldiers said as he looked at the grass.
Redi took a deep breath and suddenly burst out from the swamp. He dove into the crowd, and with a flash of his sword, figures fell to the ground with blood spurting out from their mouths. In a blink of an eye, eight soldiers had lost their lives.
A fierce barking sound rang out as the three hounds pounced over ferociously. Redi suddenly turned around and slashed the head of one of the black hounds. He then thrust his sword into the mouth of the second hound until it did not reach its head. He then dropped his sword and rolled to the side, dodging the last hound's attack. His right hand reached out and pulled out an axe that was hanging from the waist of a dead soldier. With a backhand swing, he struck the back of the third hound. The hound fell to the ground with a thud, blood flowing from its mouth as it whimpered. Its limbs trembled as it struggled to stand up, but it could not …..
There were four soldiers and two hunters left. The leader gathered three of his subordinates and raised a shield and two spears to face Redi. The four of them had panic and despair in their eyes. As for the two hunters, they released the three hounds and turned to run. In a blink of an eye, they were already more than ten meters away … …
Redi smiled lightly and hooked his leg. A longbow and a quiver of arrows appeared in his hands. The leader's eyes narrowed and he shouted: "Everyone be careful … …"
On the other hand, he squeezed himself behind the shield.
Arrows whistled through the air three times, and two cries of pain came from behind him. The leader turned around and saw the two hunters who had run far away lying on the ground. One of them had an arrow stuck in his body, and the other had two arrows stuck in his back. He then realized that Redi's target was not the four of them, but the two hunters who had run away.
The leader's face flushed red. There was nothing more infuriating than being looked down on by an enemy. He wanted to rush out and fight it out with Redi, but the two cries of pain that echoed in his ears made him calm down. It was obvious that this enemy, who was covered in mud, wanted to make their entire team stay behind …
Using the shield as cover, the leader tore off a small bamboo tube from his waist and passed it to the back: "Whoever is at the back will light the fire to sound the alarm. The rest of you, defend with me. If we can hold on until reinforcements arrive, we will be able to survive … …"
Redi pulled out his longsword from the second hound's mouth. He had pulled the bow too quickly and forcefully, and the wound on his chest felt like it had split open again. However, that did not stop him from taking care of the four soldiers in front of him and collecting some spoils of war. He had not eaten for a few days. The last time he ate was a purplish-yellow poisonous snake, and it was eaten raw. The snake's gallbladder was extremely bitter, and he was starving and accidentally broke it. The snake meat was extremely bitter as well, and he had to force himself to swallow it.
Right now, even if military rations were placed in front of him, Redi would treat it as a delicacy. Other than his longsword, he did not have anything else with him. Even his clothes were tattered, and he had no choice but to be covered in mud. Every night, there would be swarms of mosquitoes in the swamp, and a single sting would leave a huge blister. If he did not cover his body with mud, his blood would have long been sucked dry by the mosquitoes … …
The remaining four soldiers in front of him were huddled together. The one at the front was holding a shield and two spears by his side. Redi did not know what the last soldier was doing, but he was sure that he did not have a crossbow in his hand. The two crossbows were left on the ground. Perhaps the last soldier did not have a weapon, and the ambush happened too quickly. It was normal for him to forget his weapon in his panic … …
However, Redi's expression changed when he heard a crackling sound. It was a smoke signal tube specially made by House Fisablon's Rangers at the border. When a small bamboo tube was lit up, it would emit thick black smoke that could be seen from miles away. In the vast grasslands, this was an essential item for the scouts of the Rangers at the border to send messages. He did not expect the people chasing after him to be equipped with it as well.
"Kill!" Redi roared angrily and charged forward. He parried the two spears that came at him like poisonous snakes and leaped onto the shield. With a flash of his sword, the two spearmen fell to the ground with blood spurting out of their throats. Redi flipped over the shield and slashed with his sword. The shield-bearer threw away his shield and pressed his hand against the sword that pierced through his chest. He trembled as he slowly knelt on the ground … … Redi pulled out his sword, and the only thing left in front of him was a pale-faced soldier holding a bamboo tube that was emitting black smoke.
"Go to hell." Redi killed the soldier with a single slash, but the bamboo tube was still emitting black smoke even after it was cut into two. Barks of dogs could be heard from afar.
"F * ck!" Redi cursed and quickly picked up two crossbows and a longbow from the ground. He carried two quiver on his back and grabbed a spear. He then tore the luggage from the corpses of the soldiers on the ground. After a quick inspection, he wrapped a luggage around his waist. He looked around and saw a figure moving in the distance. With a chuckle, he turned around and ran down the slope, disappearing into the Demonic Grass Swamp … …
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