The rebel army's foremost master craftsman forged a million iron pylons!

Not long after Li Tian left, another troop of cavalry arrived at the scene. Upon seeing the situation on the ground, the warhorses neighed and the cavalrymen on horseback all took a step back.

"Let's go, stop chasing. If we keep chasing, we'll all die," the leading scout said in a low voice. The cavalry immediately turned around and left.

The same thing happened to the third cavalry unit.

......

Under the moonlight, Li Tian carried his broadsword and walked quickly. He wasn't worried about his own safety, but rather about Wu Laoliu and the others.

With no further obstacles along the way, Li Tian traveled light and quickly arrived at the agreed location—Liulipo.

Liulipo is just a large earthen slope about six miles long, which looks like a bare cloth bag under the moonlight.

A dense forest grew all around, rustling in the mountain breeze.

Li Tian looked around and searched, but there wasn't a soul in sight.

Li Tian's heart sank even further—could something have really happened to Wu Laoliu and the others?

But there's no use in being anxious now.

Everything depends on fate.

Li Tian let out a long breath, then disappeared into the dense forest nearby, sat down under a large tree to rest and recuperate while waiting for Wu Laoliu and the others to arrive.

After waiting for about an hour, several blurry figures in the distance began to move unsteadily toward them.

Li Tian immediately perked up and ran to the edge of the woods to take a look by the moonlight.

Leading the way was Wu Laoliu, followed by Sun Sanqiang, Qiao Sanniang, and Wu Tian.

Soon, the three of them arrived at Liulipo.

Wu Laoliu looked around and said to Qiao Sanniang, "Sanniang, let's wait here for a while. Li Wuzhang is highly skilled in martial arts and has a lucky life. He will definitely be fine."

"Mm." Qiao San Niang nodded gently, her eyes red. In this chaotic world, she had hoped to find refuge in Wolf Head Fortress, but she never expected that Wolf Head Fortress would be wiped out as well.

"Let's wait here for a while. If we don't run into the corporal and his men before dawn, we'll think of something else."

Wu Laoliu looked around and was about to lead Qiao Sanniang and the others into the woods to hide when a voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"Sixth Brother!"

"Sergeant, you've arrived first."

When Wu Laoliu turned around, he saw Li Tian standing behind him with a large knife on his back. He immediately smiled with delight and walked towards Li Tian.

"Are you all alright?" Li Tian looked Wu Laoliu and the others up and down; they didn't seem to have been chased.

"It's alright, we haven't encountered any pursuers since we came out of the tunnel." A tired smile appeared on Wu Laoliu's face.

Li Tian breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the nearby woods. "Let's hide here for a bit, before Zhao Erbao and Zhao Yong arrive!"

The group waited in the woods for a while, and then three more people arrived: Zhao Erbao, Zhao Yong, and Chen Junshan.

I only found out after asking around.

It turned out that after they came out of the tunnel, they were afraid of being surrounded by the vanguard battalion, so they split into two groups and acted separately.

Zhao Erbao and the others arrived a little late because they took a detour.

Six of the seven people in the team have now arrived, leaving only Sun Sheng.

"Let's go into the woods, find a place to rest, and make plans again tomorrow morning."

Since almost everyone had arrived, Li Tian didn't waste any words and led the six team members on a walk around the woods.

They found a cave that was neither too big nor too small, and the group went inside. They didn't dare to light a fire, so in the darkness, each person shared some dry rations and ate a quick meal with water from their water bags.

Then everyone leaned against the mountain wall and fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, it was already daylight.

The group left the cave, washed their faces in a spring, and then sat under a big tree to discuss the day's events.

"Has Sun Sheng not returned yet?" Li Tian asked.

The six men under his command remained silent.

Li Tian also fell silent, his eye twitching slightly.

He hasn't returned yet; I'm afraid he's probably in grave danger.

However, Li Tian is, after all, a squad leader, and now is the time for him to take the lead.

After thinking for a while, Li Tian said, "We must leave today; we can't stay here any longer."

"The vanguard battalion couldn't find us yesterday, but they will definitely increase their forces to capture us today."

"What about Sun Sheng? Aren't we looking for him?"

Chen Junshan asked somewhat emotionally, because he and Sun Sheng had transferred from the Zhou family militia together, so he was particularly concerned about Sun Sheng.

Li Tian remained silent.

Sun Sheng certainly couldn't ignore it.

But his main goal now is to lead the entire squad to survival.

"Sun Sheng will be fine."

At this moment, Wu Laoliu suddenly spoke up, "When we were walking this way, I saw a figure walking west in the distance, it looked like Sun Sheng."

"But we were too far away at the time, and I didn't have time to call him."

"Yes, I saw it too," Sun Sanqiang added.

Hearing this, Chen Junshan's expression softened a bit, and he said to the sergeant, "Tell me, what should we do now?"

"Now there are only two paths."

"First, head south back to Nankai City and tell General Chen that we have lost Wolf Head Fortress. We may all be punished."

"Second, come back to Yu Family Village with me. We'll wait for an opportunity to take Wolf Head Fort back."

Li Tian finally voiced the thoughts that had been lingering in his mind for a long time.

Actually, there's no need to choose at all.

As soon as Li Tian finished speaking, everyone chose to return to Yujia Village.

They were all men of courage and spirit; having lost their garrison, they naturally wanted to take it back.

Moreover, he would inevitably be punished by General Chen upon returning, and he would probably never be able to hold his head high in the rebel army for the rest of his life.

"Squad leader, it's your decision. Let's head back to Yujia Village now," Wu Laoliu and the others said in unison.

Li Tian nodded and led the group over mountains and valleys, heading towards Yu Family Village.

Just as Li Tian had predicted, the number of scouts they encountered during the day was more than ten times that of the night before.

Fortunately, Li Tian had eagle eyes and skillfully made his way out.

Before nightfall, the group of nine had already infiltrated the vicinity of Yujia Village.

"Sixth Brother, go find the village chief and tell him we're back. See if he'll take us in."

The group hid in a jujube grove, and Li Tian said to Wu Laoliu.

Wu Laoliu was taken aback. "Would they really agree to something like that?"

Li Tian sighed. "Try to speak politely. If they don't agree, come back and we'll think of another way."

Wu Laoliu nodded and got up to head towards Yujia Village.

......

Yujia Village.

Every household had its doors tightly shut.

They heard the sounds of fighting last night, in the direction of Wolf Head Fortress.

Nobody knows what happened last night.

But nobody wants to cause trouble.

Since Li Tian and his soldiers harvested the last crop, only a small portion of rice grains remain in the paddy field. These grains are plump and full, yet they lie unharvested in the field.

Wu Laoliu walked through the countryside with his head down and a wary expression, glancing around every now and then.

Soon Wu Laoliu's figure appeared in a small alley, with a willow tree planted at the entrance.

Boom boom boom!

He arrived at the third house in the alley and gently knocked on the door.

"Who?"

An old, timid voice came from inside the door.

"I am Wu Laoliu from Wolf Head Fortress. I used to harvest wheat here," Wu Laoliu said in a low voice.