The second year of Yong'an, early October.

Fengzhou.

After Prince Huai coughed up blood and fainted, the generals below followed the orders given by Prince Huai before he fell unconscious. They led him and nearly seven thousand troops to retreat from Jing County, while the remaining Huai Army stayed in Jing County to hold off the Chen army led by Yue Ruyan.

However, with such significant events unfolding, the morale of the Huai Army had already unraveled, and spirits were low. The generals left behind to guard the rear were King Chong's people, and the soldiers holding the rear were also King Chong's troops. After all, when Prince Huai initially fled Fengzhou, he only had a few thousand soldiers.

Abandoned by Prince Huai and with morale in disarray, the generals in charge of the rear didn't follow Prince Huai's orders to hold off the Chen army at all.

When Yue Ruyan led the Chen army to the city's gates, the rear generals directly opened the gates and surrendered, informing Yue Ruyan about the escape direction of the main Huai Army.

Without a moment's hesitation, Yue Ruyan immediately led the Chen army in pursuit and sent carrier pigeons to notify the Chen troops landing on the north bank of Fengzhou, directing them to surround and intercept the escape route of Prince Huai.

A day later, Prince Huai awoke. Upon learning of the relentless pursuit by the Chen army and the news of the rear general's surrender, he was so enraged that he began to cough violently. However, analyzing the current situation, he realized it was not the time for blame. The target of nearly seven thousand troops was too large, and escaping with everyone was clearly unrealistic.

Prince Huai was tempted to have someone hold the rear again, but he feared a repeat of the surrender at Jing County. Yet, he was unwilling to use his Imperial Guard for the rear.

Thus, he ordered a breakout in three directions to retreat to Yan State.

At this moment, he was still unaware of King Anping's turn to support Chen Mo.

After dividing his forces and breaking out, the reduced numbers meant a quicker retreat. Additionally, the Chen army trailing them was unsure which direction Prince Huai had escaped, forcing them to split their forces for the pursuit.

Mid-October.

The Chen army landing in Fengzhou's north bank, led by Li Yunzhang, intercepted two routes of the Huai Army. However, Prince Huai was not found among these two routes.

Thus informed, Yue Ruyan started amassing heavy troops to surround and intercept Prince Huai.

October 19th.

A small detachment of the Chen army discovered traces of Prince Huai within County Marquis Mountain in Lanshan County.

But because the leader of this small force wasn't a match for Prince Huai, Prince Huai and three thousand Imperial Guards managed to escape.

This event thoroughly exposed Prince Huai's whereabouts.

By the 22nd, the main forces of the Chen army arrived, trapping Prince Huai and his Imperial Guard in County Marquis Mountain, wiping out over two thousand of Prince Huai's Imperial Guards.

Only Prince Huai and fewer than a hundred personal soldiers managed to escape.

The reason Prince Huai could flee was that County Marquis Mountain was vast, and the Chen army had only Yue Ruyan as an Upper-Grade Martial Artist.

Yue Ruyan could not oversee every corner of County Marquis Mountain.

Moreover, Prince Huai was also fortunate enough to find a passage not guarded by Yue Ruyan and broke out of County Marquis Mountain.

The Chen army could only continue their pursuit.

To be honest, as the numbers of the Huai army dwindled, and Prince Huai grew more cunning by avoiding main roads and spacious paths, choosing mountain paths and trekking over mountains instead, the difficulty of pursuit significantly increased.

After all, since Prince Huai was an Upper-Grade Martial Artist, sending too few people to search was futile, and sending too many would lead to oversights.

This made the pursuit continue from the 22nd into late October.

Under the vast night sky, Prince Huai and over thirty personal soldiers, guided by moonlight, walked along a mountain path.

In these recent days, although Prince Huai hadn't been caught by the Chen army, some of the nearly hundred personal soldiers with him had gone missing, were too exhausted to continue, or fell off cliffs during their escape, leaving just thirty-two including Prince Huai himself.

Thirty-one men; this was undoubtedly Prince Huai's most destitute moment.

When he initially fled Fengzhou, he still had several thousand Imperial Guards.

In the past, even before leaving Celestial River to take a fief as a Prince, there were more than thirty-one guards around him.

At this moment, Prince Huai was disheveled, and his robes were tattered. He had been continuously on the run these days, hardly stopping or washing his face.

Because the Chen army primarily searched along rivers and mountain streams, Prince Huai and his men were easily detected if they approached water sources.

Avoiding the usual roads and sticking to mountain paths, Prince Huai and his men lost their direction, continuously fleeing southeast.

Amidst the vast night, it felt as if countless man-eating beasts were lurking.

The wind on the mountain was strong, the night breeze whistling as it swept toward Prince Huai's group, almost blowing their eyes shut.

At this moment, the thunderous sound of hooves echoed in their ears. Countless torches lit up on the opposite mountain ridge, illuminating a yellow flag with red characters, the scarlet "Yang" character appearing particularly eerie.

Under the glow of the fire, Prince Huai could see these men wearing vine armor. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Prince, it's Yang Xian's Vine Armor Army," Prince Huai's personal soldier said in a trembling voice.

"Prince Huai, I have been waiting for you here for a long time," Jiang Li shouted loudly toward Prince Huai across the mountain ridge.

When Jiang Li learned that Chen army's forces were pursuing Prince Huai from both sides in a crescent shape, he entered Fengzhou from the southwest and, based on his experience, immediately changed his marching direction, heading to the southeast of Fengzhou, which led to Yan State.

He waited at the intersection.

This indicated that Prince Huai was not lost at all.

Not only that, but he was also close to reaching Yan State.

Unfortunately, Jiang Li had blocked the way.