I chose a dangerous path that I thought would not be discovered and went to Jiuqu City, but I still couldn't escape the pursuit of the underworld. Two heavily armed canine cavalry were sent down the path to track down my whereabouts, and in my eagerness I could not escape, so I set up an ambush on the spot and killed my pursuers.

By taking advantage of the terrain and the length of the spear, I managed to assassinate the captain who was running in front with a single blow, and skewered him and Cerberus into a barbecue skewer. But the veteran soldier who ran behind was a coward, and when he saw that his companion had been killed, he immediately turned around and fled. In order to prevent him from revealing my whereabouts, I had to pursue him in turn.

The spear stuck in the ground and couldn't be pulled out for a while, so I picked up the usual knife and threw it directly at the veteran's back. The veteran was quite experienced, and when he heard the wind behind his head, he hurriedly pinched the Cerberus under his seat and asked it to speed up. But the knife I threw out was not slow, and it didn't hit anyone, but it struck his mount.

"Click!"

"Roar!"

The entire left leg of the Cerberus was removed from my usual knife, and the man and the dog fell together, rolling to the ground hard. I hurried after him, picking up the knife before checking on the other man's condition.

Cerberus has a violent personality, and even if it has broken its legs, it still desperately leans on its two front legs and bites me. You're welcome, and cut off its head with a knife.

When I looked at it again, the man's leg was also broken, and the veteran surnamed Huang was lying on the ground and begging for mercy from me.

"Zhai, General Zhai! Spare me! I could just act like I didn't see anything! He cried, and pointed to the corpse of the captain in front of him and scolded: "That guy forced me to chase you, I don't want to come at all!" ”

I snorted coldly and said, "Whether you want to come or not, you've seen me, and I can't let you go back to report the news!" ”

"No, no, no!" Lao Huang was anxious and hurriedly said: "I don't want to go back to the Yin Army!" I'll be relieved and return to the field, and in the future, I can find a yin city to do some small business, and I can live a living in retirement! ”

I had an idea, so I followed his thoughts and asked: "That's okay, I was framed by a traitor, and I also wanted to go to a yin city to do some small business incognito." But first, you have to tell me, who did the underworld send out to arrest me? Which unit of canine cavalry do you belong to? ”

Lao Huang was relieved when he saw me, and hurriedly wiped the cold sweat on his face, and replied: "This time it is the Zhangpu troops of the Night Tour Left Army, not only to hunt down the general you, but also to investigate the whereabouts of Lu Zhidao and Lu Yu and others who escaped before. I am a Yin soldier in the dog riding camp under Zhangpu's tent, and the one who died just now is my captain. ”

"Why did you just send the two of you to take this path?" I asked again.

"Our large army has searched the main road from the underworld to the major Yin cities, but there has been no gain, so General Zhang believes that you must be taking the small road. But there were too many trails, and there were not so many men, so they had to send two canine cavalry on each trail to investigate first. If discovered, the follow-up infantry will follow. ”

"The canine battalion is separated, and how is the infantry battalion arranged?"

General Zhang Pu divided several infantry battalions under his command and were responsible for investigating each of the main routes from the underground government to the various Yin cities. At present, the infantry battalion responsible for the route from the prefecture to Jiuqu City is the fourth battalion. ”

"That means that if you two don't go back within a few days, the Yin School of the Fourth Battalion of Zhangpu will know that I am taking this path?"

"Yes, yes, yes! General Zhai, you're right! Lao Huang nodded in agreement. He laughed, thinking that I was satisfied with his answer and that I might be able to spare his life.

I groaned for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. In fact, whether Lao Huang is killed or not, the inexplicable disappearance of two dog cavalry will always arouse the suspicion of Zhang Pu's subordinates, and it will also attract more pursuers later. Letting him go will only increase the danger to which I am exposed, and reduce the time I spend on the run.

After thinking about this, I no longer hesitated, and my hand fell with a knife, resulting in Lao Huang's life. Anyway, I've always hated this kind of coward and veteran oil who escaped from the battle, and it was not a pity for him to die.

Subsequently, I salvaged two small bags of dry food and two water bottles from the bodies of Lao Huang and Huang. Now, I can finally solve my urgent need for food and water for a while.

I also cut off a few large pieces of fresh meat and eight dog legs from the two Cerberus and put them in my Ruyi bowl for preservation, which will be used in the future when stir-frying yin meals. It's really not good, and it can be eaten as dry food to fill your stomach on the way away.

In the end, I threw the carcasses of two people and two dogs into the nearby lava lake. The high-temperature magma in there is very convenient to destroy the corpses, and then use the soil to cover up the blood stains on the ground, and the traces of the fight just now will be completely eliminated by me, leaving no clues.

But if they don't return for too long, sooner or later they will arouse the suspicion of their superiors, and all I can do now is to delay as much time as possible.

After doing all this work, I continued to walk forward with difficulty. It's a pity that the two hellhounds just now, if I had ridden one of them, I would have run away much faster. However, once domesticated, Cerberus is very loyal to its master, and I just killed their owners, and even if they don't die, I won't be able to ride.

It took another three days for me to finally reach Jiuqu City safely. But I didn't dare to enter the city, so I first found a hidden place outside, took off all my armor, took off my tattered battle suit, burned it, and replaced it with a clean suit.

Then I replenished some dry food at the small bazaar outside the city, bought two sets of new clothes and two **bags, put all the armor and equipment into them, and disguised them as goods. I also removed the tip of the long spear, wrapped it in strips of cloth, and disguised the shaft as a flat pole for carrying goods.

After all the disguises were done, I swaggered to the dock outside the city and rented a small boat. The owner of the boat, a middle-aged man who looked honest, had no suspicion of my merchant attire and happily let me on board.

I am also a person who has been in the caravan for many years, so I took the initiative to chat with the shipwreck along the way, not only to dispel his concerns, but also to take the opportunity to inquire about the recent news around Jiuqu City.

The boatman also seemed to be aware of some anomalies recently, so he told me: "There is nothing else to say, that is, the people from the underworld have been very diligent recently, and there are Yin Errand and Yin soldiers, who go in and out of the city gate every day. But it didn't look like they were going to fight, otherwise the guards wouldn't let them in. ”

I followed his words and asked, "Did the City Lord's Mansion post a statement, notice, or anything like that?" ”

"Nope." The boatman shook his head, "This is the strangest part, it looks like something is happening, but it keeps us ordinary people in the dark. ”

I comforted him, "Since there is no war, there is nothing to worry about. As long as you can still do business normally and make money! ”

"That's right."

The boatman's words, though seemingly rambling, nevertheless provided me with some important information. First of all, the pursuit force of the underworld has begun to cover the vicinity of Jiuqu City, which can be seen from the frequent entry and exit of Yin and Yin soldiers. But secondly, the prefecture obviously doesn't want to make public the news of my "mutiny" and escape, maybe for the sake of face.

You must know that in addition to me, Lu Zhidao, Lu Yu and others are also within the scope of the underworld's arrest. Especially Lu Zhidao, as a dignified inspector and judge, ranking the third position of the civil officials of the prefecture, will even rebel? This made the king of Yama, who has always been known for being a good face, feel embarrassed!

Therefore, the current pursuit strategy of the prefecture should still be based on the Yin army, organize the pursuit on its own, and at most seek the assistance of the Yin cities in various places, and do not intend to issue a public wanted notice to us in a big way. This kind of covert pursuit undoubtedly created a more favorable situation for my escape.

As for how long this big scandal that happened in the underworld can be covered, it depends on the patience of King Yama?

Riding in a small boat rented from Jiuqu City, I quickly fled along the underground river until I reached the end of the underground river. On the way to escape, I still try to choose to take the waterway, and when I can't do it, I abandon the boat and go ashore to walk, the faster I get away from the underworld, the safer I am.

Twenty-five days later, I finally reached the eighteenth hole by boat.

The situation of the eighteenth cave is somewhat special compared to the other Yin Cities, it can be said that it is a Yin City, or it can be said that it is not. The caves there are not large, but there are a total of eighteen medium-sized caves, hence the name "Eighteen Caves", which is a small gathering place built on rivers and boats.

Only a few facilities such as bazaars, docks, and inns were built on the shore, while others such as houses, restaurants, and various administrative institutions were located on large and small ships. Even the Cave Lord's Mansion, which nominally rules this area, is actually a large ship inlaid with iron sheets. Therefore, the eighteen caves can be called an underground yin city floating on the water.

Functionally, Cave 18 is actually a transit station. It is located at the confluence of several underground river tributaries, and the nearby rivers extend in all directions, from here it is easy to transfer to several other cities in the Great Yin City. The residents of Cave 18 are engaged in the business of transshipment of goods and providing temporary food and lodging, and they rely on water for water. The reason why I chose to meet Liu Han here is that I fancy the convenience and fluidity of the 18th hole, which is very suitable as a temporary foothold.

When I first arrived at Cave 18, I first went ashore and found a small hotel to stay in, and tried to avoid going out. But after staying for a few days, it doesn't feel right, because once the prefecture issues a wanted warrant or the Yin army pursues here, the first thing to check is the strange foreign traveler who lives in the hotel. And I can't leave the eighteenth cave, I have to stay here and wait for Liu Han to leave the underworld and come to meet me.

Therefore, after much consideration, I made a relatively bold decision: for the time being, I would find some work in Cave 18 to disguise myself as a local resident and avoid arousing suspicion.