65 Exiting the Pass
“Leader, we’re all terribly exhausted. Why don’t we find a place to rest?” They had been on the road for the whole day, and it was almost past midnight. Li Da still had no intention of stopping. Even the officials who had food and drinks couldn’t stand it, let alone the criminals.
Li Da glared with his eyes that had turned red due to the gusting wind of the sandstorm. “Cut the crap. If you don’t want to die here, then shut your mouth and continue on your way. If we can make it to tomorrow safely, we won’t be far from Yan City’s Western Pass.”
Seeing Li Da’s determination, the official cursed and swore in his heart, but he didn’t dare to stop.
“Help… help me… help me…”
Suddenly, a terrified cry for help rang out from the group.
Everyone turned around and saw a criminal with half of his body sunken into the sand.
The criminals on the side were all frightened by this sight, and no one dared to step forward.
Two officials rushed over and threw a rope at the criminal, asking him to grab it so that they could pull him up, but the strength of the officials was no match for the sinking quicksand.
The people around them watched in horror as the criminal disappeared into the quicksand little by little.
The official put away the rope while cursing. “You’ve all seen it. I’ll say it again. If you don’t want to die here, hurry up and move forward quickly. Otherwise, you’ll end up worse than that guy earlier.”
Perhaps the scene just now left a substantial lingering fear in the criminals’ hearts. Even though they were so tired that they couldn’t lift their feet, they gritted their teeth and continued to walk.
Su Ying, who was pursuing the group, frowned in disgust when she saw the alpha wolf leader sinking into the quicksand. She dismounted, activated her wristband of infinite power, and yanked the alpha wolf leader up by the scruff of the neck. With this move, she pulled the whole string of wolves out of the quicksand.
“Are you up to the task or not? Alpha wolf leader?” Su Ying glanced at the alpha wolf leader.
The alpha wolf leader glared at her in displeasure and snorted resentfully before shaking the sand on his body on her face.
Su Ying raised her head and smacked it on the head. “You beast. You’re asking for a beating.”
Howl! The alpha wolf leader bared its fangs and crouched down in preparation to attack, but Su Ying slapped it again.
“Save it. Continue on your way.”
The alpha wolf leader growled, shook its body, and started running.
Su Ying continued her pursuit on her horse. She was within the range of the sensor, yet she still couldn’t catch up to them after riding for a long time.
It was also because the environment on this road was too harsh. Many times, the sandstorm was so violent that she had to stop and temporarily enter the interspatial store to hide.
Everyone was toiling day and night making their way toward Yan City’s Western Pass. The moment the golden rays broke through the dark clouds and leaped out from the horizon, everyone raised their heads and saw a tall stone tablet not far away.
Li Da almost jumped for joy when he saw the words “Yan City’s Western Pass” engraved on the stone tablet.
It was the right choice to take the risk and take this shortcut. They had managed to get out of the desert in just one day and one night!
Not far from the stone tablet, a towering stone gate could be seen. That was the Yan City’s Western Pass. As long as they go through that pass, they would be out of the country.
Li Da and the other officials’ mission was almost complete.
Xiao Jin pulled the curtains aside and looked towards the back of the group. He still couldn’t see Su Ying and the others. They were about to go through the pass soon. Why hadn’t they returned yet?
Li Da arrived at the pass and was stopped by the guards on duty there.
He hurriedly took out the document and went to liaise with the guards.
After liaising, the officials and guards began to do a headcount of the people. Li Da followed the guard and said, “Big Brother, there are three more criminals behind us. They might arrive a little later. I have to send this batch out first and come back to pick them up later. If they come back in the process, please tell them to wait for a while.”
The guard frowned. “You guys didn’t leave together? How come there are still people left behind?”
“One criminal got lost on the way and they went back to look for him.”
The guard was puzzled. Why was the criminal looking for the missing criminal by himself instead of the officials?
“Alright. I know. Hurry up and take these people out.”
“Big Brother, do you have any water here? We’ve used up all the water on our way here. It’ll still take at least half a day to send them out from here.”
The guard and Li Da could be considered friends to a certain extent, so the former instructed someone to bring Li Da a bucket of water.
After the officials filled up their water bags, the remaining water was given to the criminals. Some of them did not even get a sip.
However, in Li Da’s opinion, he had already done his one kind deed for the day.
“Let’s go, let’s go. You’ll be free once you’re out of here.”
The guard opened the gate and allowed Li Da to lead all the criminals out.
“Master, why hasn’t Mistress returned yet? We are almost exiting the pass.” Aunt Zhao and the others started to get anxious when Su Ying still hadn’t returned after so long.
Xiao Jin’s brows were deeply furrowed. In that instant, thousands of possibilities flashed through his mind, but in the end, he still chose to believe in Su Ying. She had said that she would definitely return.
“Don’t be impatient. We’ll wait for her outside the pass after we exit.”
As criminals, they didn’t have the right to stay within the pass, so they could only wait outside.
After exiting the pass and heading north for another two to four hours, they would reach the entrance of the northern wilderness.
After exiting the pass, they could only see an endless plain, which was completely different from the Gebi Desert they had traveled through previously.
Li Da led them to a large barbed wire fence made from thistles and thorns. He raised his eyes and saw an entrance on the side of the fence that could allow a carriage to pass through. That was the entrance to the northern wilderness.
“Alright. I can only send you guys up to this point. From now on, whether you live or die will depend on your own luck.”
With a wave of his hand, Li Da ordered his men to remove the chains on the hands and feet of the criminals behind him. The chains had to be taken back.
After Li Da packed up his belongings, he led the officials away and left.
Only the criminals were left standing in the same spot looking very lost. Many of them had just followed the officials numbly in the past. The officials were detestable, but they were also like their backbone. Now that their backbone was gone, they did not know what to do next, where they should go, or what was waiting for them in the northern wilderness before their eyes.
“Master, what should we do next?”
Xiao Jin glanced at the people behind him, who were gradually surrounding them, and a stern look flashed across his eyes.
“Help me down. You and Tian Mu can bring the rest to go in first. Find a hidden place to hide. I’ll wait for Su Ying here.”
Cheng Ming was surprised. “Master, why don’t you let me stay and wait?”
Xiao Jin shook his head. “Help me down.”
When the two children heard Xiao Jin say this, they stepped forward and tugged at him, saying, “Father, we want to stay with you.”
Xiao Jin looked at Aunt Zhao with a grim expression. “Aunt Zhao, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of the two children.”
Aunt Zhao seemed to sense that something was amiss. Her eyes became red-rimmed as she hugged the children tightly with Bai Shuang. “Master, you… you must be careful.”
Xiao Jin lowered his eyes, hiding the strange look in his eyes. “Bring along all the stuff Su Ying left for all of you before she left. Protect yourself well.”
After saying that, he got off the carriage with Cheng Ming’s help and slapped the horse with his palm.
The horse felt the pain and with a kick of its hooves, it galloped away while pulling the carriage along.
“Father, Father…”
As Xiao Jin listened to the children’s cries, he gradually tightened his grip on the dagger in his hand and glared icily at the people encircling him.