Chapter 1: The Sun Rises for the First Time Section 33

  Li Hong let out a loud roar and forcibly pulled out the long arrow stuck in his body. The black arrowhead still had a small piece of flesh on it. Li Hong was in so much pain that he wailed loudly, constantly gasping for cold air. He couldn't help but curse: "Tuoba Jian, you old thing, just because you killed one of your nephews, do you have to make such a big deal and bring hundreds of people to kill me?"

  Li Hong made a mistake. He thought he had already run to the border, and even if the Tuoba tribe wanted to kill him, they would probably just be left staring blankly. So he didn't listen to Lie Kuangfeng's advice at all, swaggering into Baitan City and shouting: "I'm the leopard, who dares to kill me?" As soon as his voice fell, three long arrows, seven or eight long knives, and a dozen big men came rushing over, as if they wanted to tear him apart alive. Li Hong was scared out of his wits and took off running. The result was that more and more people chased after him, and before he even reached the city gate, there were already hundreds of people, each holding shiny weapons and shouting for his head. Li Hong used all his strength to grab a horse and make a break for it, not even daring to look back.

  But he can't escape even if he wants to. Over 200 cavalrymen rushed out of the city, chasing after him with their lives on the line, shouting: "Leopard, I am Tuoba Jian, if I don't avenge my nephew's death today, I won't return to the Tuoba tribe. Kill..."

  Li Hongyi's soul flew out of his body, oh no, the mad wind was right. This Tuoba Feng really can't be trifled with. He actually sent so many people to chase and kill him from thousands of miles away. There was no way out, he could only desperately whip the horse and run into the forest. Hiding for now is hiding for now.

  He now regrets leaving Black Panther with Corby Bear.

  That night, he got up alone at midnight. He couldn't sleep, thinking of returning to the Great Han State as soon as possible. Now that the Great Han State was so close, he couldn't take a step forward. For the sake of Quan's family and Ke Zui's family, for Feng Xue, he still had to go to Baitan City. He wanted to kill his way out of the Xianbei, not walk out of the Xianbei. Only by killing the Tuoba tribe severely and infuriating Tuoba Feng would others be safer. In the eyes of the Xianbei people, if they couldn't kill their strongest enemy but instead humiliated the weak, they would be ridiculed by the whole tribe. If Li Hong killed more people and escaped from the Xianbei in a short time, Murong Feng could easily save Feng Xue. You have to kill the main culprit first. Tuoba Feng couldn't take away Feng Xue, so he naturally didn't know where Quan's family and Ke Zui's family were.

  Split Crazy Wind came out to see him off. Li Hong told him, "Tell Ke Bi Xiong that I'm leaving the Black Panther with him. When he grows up, he can come find me for revenge anytime." Split Crazy Wind smiled and agreed. He advised Li Hong that after arriving at White Dan City, he should hide for a few days first. If there's no big commotion, then he could show his face and make a quick escape. As for his sister, unless Tu Ba Feng kills everyone in the Niu Tou tribe, don't even think about taking her.

  Li Hong laughed loudly and rode off on his warhorse, completely disregarding Lie Kuangfeng's words.

  The next day, the entire Da Yan Shan area was hit by a torrential downpour that lasted for three days. The mountain flood burst forth, and the water was merciless, making it impossible to walk. Then came two days of light rain, pattering and drizzling continuously. It wasn't until the sixth day that the weather finally cleared up. Li Hong bid farewell to the mountain villagers who had taken him in and continued on his way towards Bai Tan City.

  He entered the city, found a place to eat some biscuits and a few pieces of meat, and then he started causing trouble. As a result, he was beaten until he fled with his head in his hands. He had no idea that Murong Feng's Black Wood Order had already been transmitted to Baitan City, and had spread to all corners of the central Xianbei region, even the great king of Pohan Mountain and Lian knew about it.

  If the fugitive caught with a black wooden token is captured or beheaded to claim the reward, he can get at least 800 cattle, 500 horses, or a large pasture. The reward is extremely generous and can make people rich overnight. What's even more crazy is that the Western Xianbei Lord Tuoba Feng also issued a black wooden token. Two rewards, it's hard not to go crazy. As a result, horse thieves and bandits from all over the place, martial artists from inside and outside the pass, Wuhuan people who want to get rich, Xianbei aristocratic young masters who want to show off, the most elite personal riders of various tribal leaders, Tuoba's pursuit cavalry team, swarmed in, everyone wants to get this huge wealth. And the place with the largest flow of people is Bai Tan City, which is closest to the Great Han State.

  Li Hong is no longer a fugitive now. In the eyes of his pursuers, he is money, wealth, and the stepping stone to realizing his life dreams.

  At this time, cavalry appeared one after another on his left and right sides. The people in the city had rushed out, still frantically pursuing them relentlessly. On the vast open space outside the city, the shouting of the cavalry, the galloping of horses' hooves, and the shouting of the masses following behind to kill, all kinds of sounds intertwined together, as if they wanted to burst through the sky.

  Li Hong ran while looking back, his face turned white. He tightly hugged the horse's neck, his whole body leaning on the horse's back, not caring about the flying long arrows, just fiercely kicking the horse's belly, wishing that this batch of horses would grow wings and fly up. Now, the forest in front, that mountain, is one's own lifeline.

  Li Hong finally reached his goal and was the first to drill into the forest.

  Li Hong's familiarity with the forest seemed to be innate. As soon as he smelled the fragrance of the trees, heard the birds chirping, and saw the smiling faces of wildflowers, he was like an inflated rubber ball, full of energy all over his body.

  Hundreds of troops of all colors rushed into the forest, submerged in the lush green mountains.

  Li Hong began to exercise his survival instincts. He was agile and quick in the forest, like a hunting leopard, always ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment. One moment he would hide in the dark and take someone's life with an arrow, another moment he would climb up a tree to launch a surprise attack on the enemy from behind, and then again he would be on another mountain top, shouting loudly.

  The mountain forest is too vast, and after hundreds of people enter, it's like a handful of sand poured into a great river, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Searching for someone in such a vast mountain range is simply a pipe dream. But people have gone mad, grouping together in threes and fives, using cow horns to communicate, advancing steadily like a sieve.

  Hundreds of people tracked Li Hong for two days and two nights, covering a distance of over 100 miles. If it weren't for the enormous wealth ahead, who would have such great perseverance? And this leopard being tracked was indeed a very dangerous one, having already killed hundreds of people. However, even more people who had heard the news came without hesitation into the deep mountains. Compared to life, more people still chose wealth.

  Li Hong was stunned. He had originally thought that after he escaped into the forest, these people would chase him for a while and then give up when they saw no hope. But to his surprise, these people were persistent and refused to give up, which made Li Hong deeply admire them.

  On the third day, Li Hong killed more than thirty people again and was surrounded by soldiers of the Tuoba tribe on a small hill. Li Hong was fearless, raised his knife and chopped, entangled with twenty or thirty people. When Tuoba Jian heard the horn sound and rushed to support him here, Li Hong had already broken through the siege and escaped.

  Li Hong was seriously injured this time. His arm was shot by an arrow, his back was cut twice, and his leg was also pierced by a long spear. He bandaged the wound, not daring to stay for a moment, and hurried forward with all his might. The sound of the Taibai tribe's horn was ringing continuously behind him, while more horn sounds were echoing in the distant mountains.

  Tuoba Jian walked calmly and unhurriedly through the dense forest, not afraid that Li Hong would fly into the sky. He had already inquired about it, this mountain was indeed very large, called Ghost Spirit Mountain. The Luoshui River divided the mountain into two parts, with the river water flowing from the middle of the mountain. Further ahead, after crossing another mountain, he arrived at the cliff. Below was the Luoshui River.

  Li Hong didn't know. At this time, he was struggling to climb up the mountain. He looked back at the pursuing soldiers who were haunting him and cursed them viciously in his heart. Then he heard a faint sound of river water. Li Hong wasn't too concerned. In the depths of the mountains, there were streams flowing everywhere, and the gurgling sound of running water could be heard all around.

  After climbing for a while, Li Hong heard that the sound of running water had turned into waves. Li Hong became excited. It was a big river, a big river. That must be the Luoshui River leading to the Great Han State. He immediately understood why these pursuers were chasing after him relentlessly. It turned out that this mountain ended here and there was no way to go further.

  Li Hong struggled to climb to the top of the mountain, and at this time the huge roar had already deafened his ears. He stumbled a dozen steps forward, sat down on the cliff and looked down.

  Below, the turbulent river water roared angrily, surging and rushing down. The river water crashed against the large rocks on the shore, producing a deafening roar, splashing up waves of thousands of feet. Probably due to the flood, the river surface was very turbid, with many large trees and branches floating on it. Li Hong looked at it with some trembling legs, but his face showed a triumphant smile.

  He stood up, stretched his limbs, and inserted the remaining dozen or so arrows in the quiver into the ground, preparing to shoot at any moment. Then he drew out his battle knife and swung it with both hands, feeling an indescribable joy in his heart.

  He suddenly shouted loudly: "I'm going back..."

  "I'm going back..."

  The sound echoes among the mountains and is transmitted very far away.

  The soldiers of the Tuoba tribe climbed up with all their might.

  Li Hong stood at the top of the mountain, leisurely gazing down below. He picked up his bow and arrow. "Whoosh..." A sharp whistle pierced the air as a long arrow shot out like a nail, piercing the chest of a soldier. The soldier let out a blood-curdling scream as he rolled down.

  Tuoba Jian was furious. He had killed countless people, but he had never seen anyone as difficult to kill as this. If killing people were always so hard, he would have been exhausted long ago. He hated Li Hong with a hatred that had penetrated into his bones. Originally, he thought he could seize the credit and push Tuoba Zhen aside, allowing himself to take one of the four great commanders' positions. Unexpectedly, more than 200 people brought by him were slaughtered by this little brat, five or six dozen of them. Now even if he killed this little brat, when he returned, there would be no merit, and he would still have to endure a scolding. Thinking about it made him feel utterly humiliated.

  "Brothers, charge forward! We'll get rich if we kill him. Kill!" He yelled wildly as he led the charge.

  Li Hong's dozen or so arrows were quickly used up. He stood on the mountain top, holding his battle knife and waiting for the Tuoba tribe soldiers to come up.

  A soldier barely stood up, without even lifting his head, and was beheaded by Li Hong's loud shout. The soldiers next to him shouted in anger and rushed towards Li Hong like madmen. Li Hong raised his hand to block the knife, and with a swift kick on the chest, the sound of shattered ribs echoed, and the soldier let out a heart-wrenching scream, flying backward. Li Hong yelled: "Kill, kill...", like a bloodthirsty beast, wildly rushing towards the nearest enemy. The soldiers of the Tuoba tribe had just climbed to the top of the mountain, exhausted, extremely tired, with numb hands and feet, where did they have the strength to fight against Li Hong, who was like a living dragon, after resting for a while? He quickly knocked down more than twenty of them.

  Tuoba Jian finally rushed to the top of the mountain, panting heavily. Li Hong had been eyeing him for a long time and saw that he was unsteady on his feet and not focused, so he suddenly pulled out a small axe and swung it at him. Tuoba Jian watched with wide eyes as the small axe flew towards him, but he couldn't move his legs to dodge, they were like lead from overexerting himself climbing the mountain. He continued to pant heavily, watching as the axe sliced into his chest. A wave of intense pain washed over him. A boundless anger rose up in him. He wanted to kill him, he had to kill him before he died.

  Tuoba Jian let out a shocking roar, as if to stimulate his own strength. He suddenly threw away the war knife in his hand and rushed towards Li Hong like a mad wild bull, shouting loudly with an unimaginable speed.

  Li Hong exerted great effort to chop open a knife that was slashing towards his legs and rushed towards Tuoba Jian, who was charging straight at him. He wanted to retrieve the small axe, which was a gift from Gong Sunhu, and couldn't bear to abandon it.

  Two people quickly approached each other. Li Hong saw Tuoba Jian's eyes, like copper bells, his facial muscles distorted, baring his teeth, as if he couldn't wait to swallow him whole, fresh blood spraying from his chest. Li Hong was not afraid, let out a loud roar, and stabbed his war knife straight into Tuoba Jian's chest. Tuoba Jian was too fast, his body rushed forward, the war knife brought with it a burst of fresh blood, shooting out of his body. Tuoba Jian hugged Li Hong tightly, using his own inertia from running at high speed to push Li Hong towards the edge of the cliff.

  Li Hong grasped the small axe handle and retreated rapidly. Amidst the cries of alarm from the Tuoba soldiers, two people fell off the cliff.