After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

After arranging for the female disciple, who was crying uncontrollably, to obediently go up the mountain, he quickly made arrangements with Qin Yuanyao and Shangguan Xiu.

Without much hesitation, he immediately mounted his horse and gave chase.

Even when the river is not at high tide, the hoofprints on the beach do not disappear.

The thieves were quickly tracked down.

Unsurprisingly.

As expected, the other party first tested whether they could catch him.

If they can't catch him, and the other party sees that he is all alone, they will naturally think of simply taking him to the thief's den.

He then fired arrows to harass them, making it seem as if he wanted to capture them.

He kept glancing at the direction these people were heading the whole way, feeling uneasy.

Fearing that these people had already discovered him, he didn't go to their hideout at this time, but instead led him on a detour.

Sweat dripped from his forehead into his eyes.

Just now, he saw black smoke rising from the riverbank about ten miles to the east, and saw several warships that should have blocked the river heading east. His eyes narrowed, and he knew that these people had not taken a detour and were definitely heading towards their lair.

He knew nothing about military affairs.

It can only be guessed that the black smoke was one of the codes used by the Liang navy, similar to a beacon fire.

Simply light smoke signals on both the east and west sides, and divert the warships on both sides for a period of time, and a gap will appear in the middle of the road.

"Well..." Ning Nan asked, puzzled, "Why aren't there any boats in this godforsaken place?"

Logically, since the other party has created a gap here, they must be planning to cross the river here.

In that case, the other side should arrange an empty boat here, have it inspected by the sailors, stop here, and wait for the sailors to leave before quickly boarding the boat with the captured people. That way, they would be completely safe.

But when he glanced along the river, there were no boats along the way, at least not any large ones.

call.

He first cleared his mind of these doubts, slowly inhaled and exhaled, feeling somewhat heavy-hearted.

Actually, I had a lot of confidence in Qin Yuanyao and Shangguan Xiuxiu before. I thought that as long as Gongsun Heng, that female disciple, found Shangguan Xiu, and the latter brought people over, the matter would be resolved quickly.

However, when he heard that the rebels had brought out twenty elite cavalrymen, his heart sank.

Although there were only twenty riders, it was still quite an achievement. Such a rebellion did not require many people. As long as the Prince Xin, who had fallen into enemy hands, died, whether it was a prince or a vassal king who rebelled, once the emperor was under control, the palace gates would open and close.

The Liang Dynasty could then declare a change of dynasty.

At that time, Qin Yuanyao and the others would probably be considered traitors and rebels.

As a lady-in-waiting to Prince Xin, Cui Cui would either die with him, or even if she were rescued, she would likely face certain death.

Ning Nan frowned, imagining the worst-case scenario. He gritted his teeth, his mind a jumble. After taking a few breaths of the cool river breeze, his mind slowly cleared.

The autumn night by the river was slightly cool.

He tightened his clothes, which felt rough to the touch, and then he remembered that he was still wearing the brown clothes that he had taken from Yu Dayong.

His gaze shifted, he looked up at the few people fleeing ahead, then glanced at the plume of black smoke ahead, his eyes darkening slightly as an idea suddenly formed in his mind.

Before they knew it, they had run another four or five miles.

The cavalry ahead gradually slowed down.

Ning Nan gripped the bow with his left hand and the reins with his right, tightening his grip with each hand.

He raised his gaze, glancing past the eight riders ahead, and looked ahead. There seemed to be the mouth of a stream flowing into the river. Looking to the right along the stream, there was a mountain. He didn't have a map with him, so he didn't know what mountain it was.

At first glance, the size of this mountain is comparable to that of a cow lying on a hill.

That stream flows down from this mountain and into the great river.

The first eight riders came to a complete stop.

Ning Nan then stopped as well, increasing the distance between them to sixty zhang.

Feng Yu carried the heavily injured Xu Tianji on his back.

Suddenly, it pulled on the reins, turned around, and galloped towards him.

Ning Nan narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the rider getting closer and closer.

"Brother Bai Xuan," Feng Yu said with a smile, holding a sword in one hand as if preparing to deflect his arrow, "Brother Bai Xuan, you've followed us all this way, have you perhaps come to your senses? Are you willing to come with us to see the Right Protector?"

"Brother Feng, I'm telling you the truth."

He drew an arrow with a small packet of gunpowder attached to it.

"I've come here for no particular reason other than to seek revenge on Brother Feng."

Feng Yu said, "Brother Bai Xuan, if you are willing to surrender and come with us to see our sect's Right Protector, then I, Feng, will gladly accept my fate."

Ning Nan took out a tinderbox, lifted the lid, and blew on it. The tinderbox suddenly burst into flames, sending out several sparks.

"Brother Feng is joking. If Brother Feng is willing to take this sword and slit his own throat right now, I, Ning, will believe you and surrender immediately."

Feng Yu asked loudly, "Brother Ning, is what you say true?"

Ning Nan said, "Of course it is true."

That's all.

He put the tinder in his mouth.

Draw the bow and nock the arrow.

Feng Yu, however, held his sword horizontally in front of his neck.

His face was pale.

He watched as Ning Nan slowly drew back the bow.

After a short while, he put down his sword and sighed deeply.

He gave a wry smile and said, "Brother Ning, how about allowing me to prolong my life for another ten years?"

Seemingly knowing that the other party would not commit suicide, Ning Nan pulled the bowstring taut with both arms.

He tilted his head and, with a "whoosh," lit the fuse on the arrow.

He loosened his right hand.

"Whoosh!"

An arrow was shot.

Feng Yu kept his eyes fixed on the opponent's bow and arrow in his hand.

At that moment, he instantly swayed, and the arrow grazed past him, the wind it created ruffling his hair.

"Bang!"

The fuse burned out while the arrow was still in mid-air, and the gunpowder packet exploded in the air like a thunderclap.

Several horses in the arena whimpered in surprise, and a few barks came from not far behind.

Everyone was an excellent rider; they stepped into the stirrups, gripped the horses, and gently kicked their bellies, which gradually calmed the horses down.

Feng Yu hadn't spoken yet.

The people behind him chuckled, and Ning Nan frowned.

"Ning Baixuan!"

The woman from the Huang family shouted, "Do you know you're about to die?!"

Zhao Laoqian also shouted, "You damn fool, you've been following us for so long! Trying to escape? Now let's see how you escape?!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

The river breeze whistled by.

Ning Nan suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

He looked back and saw a shimmering silver light thirty feet away.

There were about twenty riders lined up in a row.

The leading general wore a demon mask, held a long spear, and looked imposing.

Ning Nan's heart skipped a beat.

Looking towards the horses' hooves, one could see that the twenty cavalrymen's feet were all wrapped in cloth, and the horses had wooden sticks in their mouths, which explained why no sound had been heard.

He glanced at the woods beside him, thinking that they would probably emerge from the woods and surround him from behind.

In front were Feng Yu's eight riders, behind them were the twenty riders led by the Ghost-Faced General, to the right was the Great River, and to the left was the jungle.

Ning Nan turned around and smiled at Feng Yu, "So Brother Feng was stalling for time just now."

Feng Yu gave a wry smile: "Just a little trick."

Ning Nan nodded: "That's right, it is indeed a small trick."