CH 99

The stag let out a plaintive whine and launched into a frenzy. It dismounted the nearest imperial bodyguard off his horse and charged straight into the forest in the distance.

Everyone around was thrown into a panic and hurried to give chase. However, it was the His Majesty’s prey. Without His Majesty’s order, none of them dared to hunt it.

The Hou Zhu looked around, turned his horse’s head and headed towards Jiang Suizhou.

“Fifth Brother, quickly give chase and help me get that stag back!” the Hou Zhu ordered loudly

Jiang Suizhou was stunned.

You want me to go after it?

However, before he could refuse, the Hou Zhu had already rushed to his side. He tugged the reins to hide, but the Hou Zhu raised his whip and fiercely brought it down on his horse.

The horse neighed and rushed toward the direction of the stag.

Jiang Suizhou was caught off guard and hastily tugged the reins to stop his horse. But at this point, the sound of a slash echoed in the air behind him. It was swift, and then he heard his horse neighing again.

This time, the horse has gone mad and galloped forward like the wind.

Jiang Suizhou pupils instantly shrank.

That’s undoubtedly a concealed weapon!

But he couldn’t care less. He desperately attempted to stabilize his body on the horse, to prevent being thrown off the horse’s back. He saw the dense jungle in front of him, and further ahead, the mountains hidden in the forest.

He had to find a way to make his horse stop!

However, there was no question that a concealed weapon hit the horse. It was already driven mad and was bent on charging ahead. An imperial bodyguard nearby wanted to stop it, but he heard the Hou Zhu’s command behind him.

“Get out of the way!” The Hou Zhu roared, “Jingwang is in a hurry to go chase the prey for me. Why are you blocking the way?!”

Jiang Suizhou’s heart chilled.

In the midst of the violent bumps and gusts of wind, he vaguely recalled the look on the Hou Zhu’s face just now.

Malicious intent was painted his face, and he frequently exchanged glances with Pang Shao. It turned out that among so many great gifts that Pang Shao prepared for the Hou Zhu, he was the finale.

——

The stag rushed into the forest and ran out of sight in the blink of an eye.

Immediately after, Jiang Suizhou’s horse also rushed into the forest.

The luxuriant branches and leaves in the forest finally slowed the horse’s speed, so that Jiang Suizhou could vaguely observe the circumstances around.

Still, the horse was galloping, and was even faintly stumbling. Jiang Suizhou wasted no time to try to pull the reins, even if he could not drag it, but also to control the direction.

Unfortunately, Jiang Suizhou had poor horsemanship and a frail physique. At this time, he had exhausted all his strength. Not only could he not control the horse, he gradually lost control of the reins and was about to fall off the horse’s back.

He clenched his teeth, his lips turning white.

He knew that the horse was fairly tall, so at such a speed, falling down meant either death or disability. The forest was scattered with branches and tree forks, and it was even more dangerous than falling on flat ground.

He forced himself to calm down as much as possible to think of countermeasures for his present dilemma.

The horse bolted at full speed that in the blink of an eye, it had disappeared into the boundless forest. He knew that the terrain of Tianping Mountain was steep, and there were not only continuous mountains, but also a multitude of canyons and abysses ahead. If the horse kept speeding up like this, he would die even if he didn’t fall off his horse.

It was now plain how much Pang Shao hated him after these past few days.

Just then, Jiang Suizhou saw a rotting tree lying in the forest not far from the left front. The tree was tall, supported by trees on either side, and was lying horizontally in mid air.

Here!

Jiang Suizhou clenched his jaw, pulled on the reins with his last bit of strength and steered the horse under him in that direction.

With a resounding bang, the horse hit the huge tree trunk.

The horse whined and fell to the ground. With its sudden slowdown, Jiang Suizhou was shot out and fell to the ground with it.

The horse tumbled to the ground, and so did Jiang Suizhou. He felt like his whole body was shattered apart. But amidst the pain of such a fall, an incisive stabbing pain struck his ankle.

That was when he finally landed on the ground. His foot braced his fall and was probably sprained.

Jiang Suizhou sucked the pain in and gasped deeply.

Fortunately. He thought. I escaped death and came to a stop.

However, before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he discovered a few black shadows above the dense canopy around him with his perspective of lying on the ground.

Somebody’s here!

Immediately after, a familiar whistle in the air greeted him.

A sharp arrow was reflected in his pupils, and the tip of it was flying towards him.

So it was the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it.

Jiang Suizhou was beyond exhausted, not to mention that the arrow was flying swiftly toward him in just the blink of an eye.

He realized he could not avoid it.

He faced the arrow and closed his eyes tightly.

But simultaneously, a gust of wind blew.

In front of him, a crisp ‘crack’ echoed. Something actually stopped the arrow.

Jiang Suizhou opened his eyes incredulously.

However, before he could register what was going on in front of him, someone grabbed his arm. A herculean surge of force lifted him off the ground.

He followed the inertia and crashed straight into the arms of a tall, upright man.

The next moment, his waist felt tight, being locked tightly by the man.

In a wink, the man unsheathed the sword on his side. A glint of silver flashed in front of Jiang Suizhou’s eyes, and he witnessed the man carrying him in one hand and wielding a sword with the other flawlessly. With more than a dozen crisp sharp clangs, chopped arrow debris rustled around him.

Jiang Suizhou froze and raised his head in a daze; a side face with sharp edges and corners like a sword blade caught his eyes.

Beneath his long eyelashes were a pair of dark eyes as sharp as an eagle.

… Huo Wujiu?