The Demon Lords-Chapter 729 - 154 Solitary Smoke Direct_4

Fortunately, during the final clash, his blade had pierced the enemy's throat first. However, his own abdomen had also been pierced by an enemy's saber.

The wound wasn't easy to treat, nor was it the time to stop and tend to it.

He couldn't linger here too long; he had to keep fleeing.

My mission is probably complete, A'lai thought. Now, I just need to try and survive.

A'lai didn't know what purpose his survival would serve. Perhaps the simplest thought is this: if I survive and return to the King's side, then next time, the King won't need to find someone new to impersonate him.

This thought is a bit ominous, A'lai mused, but I don't have the luxury to dwell on such misgivings now.

He pressed on, heading east. He knew the fleeing wild people would also be going in this direction.

Suddenly, an arrow whizzed past, landing right in front of A'lai.

A'lai glanced at the arrow. Wild people. Our own.

A'lai clutched the wound in his abdomen with his left hand and grunted, "It's me."

A'lai was already deep in character. At this moment, he instinctively believed he was still the King.

Perhaps, on one hand, he felt that the King's identity could rally the nearby wild people to him, thereby attracting the attention of the pursuing Yan people and continuing to alleviate pressure on the true King. On the other hand, perhaps with his current injuries, having a group of wild warriors with him would offer a better chance of returning alive.

As for which reason was primary, perhaps even A'lai himself wasn't sure.

Ahead, more than thirty wild people emerged. A'lai recognized their leader; he was a chiliarch.

"Your Majesty!"

The wild people all knelt. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Rise."

A'lai waved his hand.

The chiliarch rose and came to support A'lai's arm. But then, he suddenly exerted force, throwing A'lai to the ground. The other wild warriors immediately rushed over and tied A'lai up with horse ropes.

A'lai wanted to resist, but firstly, his strength was nearly depleted, and secondly, he was injured. This chiliarch also knew a few moves; as he threw A'lai down, he seized the moment to strike his neck, paralyzing him.

"Your Highness, there are Yan people ahead too. We were just chased back. We've been defeated, Your Highness. Only by handing you over can we get a chance to live from the Yan people. Don't blame us."

...

The pursuing Yan State forces fanned out eastward, sweeping across the land, intending to annihilate as many of the fleeing wild people as possible.

Of course, that was merely clearing out the stragglers. From what could be seen, a contingent of organized wild people forces had been fleeing eastward with all their might from the very start.

Lord Jingnan personally led 30,000 iron cavalry, following close behind.

In the Battle of Wang River, the wild people had been utterly routed. The current priority was to press the advantage and not allow the wild people any chance to regroup.

It would be best to crush them again just before or as they were trying to rally. Once routed, these wild people would be little more than heads for the Yan Army to collect, albeit requiring some effort.

However, Lord Jingnan's rapid march served another purpose: Zheng Fan's Shengle Army had been stationed at Snow Sea Pass for a long time.

Just as Zheng Fan was unclear about the specifics on the Wang River front, Lord Jingnan was likewise unsure of the Shengle Army's current situation at Snow Sea Pass.

Their battlefields were too far apart. Even if they wished to pass information, they could only rely on the sole messenger between them.

Indeed, that messenger was the wild people themselves.

Tian Wujing, observing the wild people's reactions, intuited that their retreat path might be compromised. Zheng Fan, on his end, seeing the routed wild army, deduced that the Yan Army had achieved a major victory on the front lines.

But this form of communication was exceedingly crude, so crude it was truly a case of "to be understood by intuition, not by words."

From Lord Jingnan's perspective, he had no idea if General Zheng had been eating and sleeping well these past days, or if boredom had driven him to practice his martial arts to the verge of a breakthrough. Nor did he know if General Zheng was amusing himself by teasing children with brown sugar, his fingers once even curling wickedly and uncontrollably.

From Lord Jingnan's viewpoint—or rather, disregarding his master-disciple relationship with Zheng Fan, and disregarding the fact that his own son, who called Zheng Fan "Godfather," was currently being raised in Zheng Fan's Shengle City—purely from the standpoint of a commander-in-chief: an isolated contingent that had already made such an immense contribution to the army's campaign, under any circumstances, had to be swiftly reinforced and relieved.

For a general, the clear distinction of rewards and punishments is paramount.

Thus, terrified that Zheng Fan might not hold out through the night or the next morning, that he might collapse and die a wretched death, Lord Jingnan led his cavalry in a frantic, almost ceaseless forced march.

This was a very risky maneuver. If the fleeing wild remnants were to coordinate with the wild people forces outside Snow Sea Pass, they could very well turn the tables and encircle Lord Jingnan's pursuing Yan Army.

But perhaps the wild people's courage had shattered, or perhaps their command structure had disintegrated. More likely, it was because the banner of Lord Jingnan leading the pursuit was simply too terrifying. The wild people no longer possessed the audacity to turn and face the cavalry led by that Southern Marquis of Yan.

In short, the pursuit continued unabated: Lord Jingnan relentlessly chased, and the wild people relentlessly fled.