Rebirth of a star general |LK|

69-70

The wind howled past their ears, and they had no idea how far they had run when the horse finally came to a stop.

They had reached halfway down the mountain, and looking back, there was no sign of the wolves catching up.

A new recruit said, "W-We're safe."

With only a bamboo stick in hand and the one mandarin duck blade lost by Shen Hong, the other embedded in the throat of the alpha wolf, He lisa was left without any weapons. The three remaining wolves were charging at him, and he was all alone. How could he escape?

"Should we go back and check?" he mustered the courage to suggest.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Zheng Xuan looked at him coldly. "The wolves are still there. We've barely managed to escape. You want to go back and throw our lives away?"

"But He lisa is back there, all alone. We can't just leave him," Shen Hong thought of He lisa, his eyes welling up. He believed He lisa was a good person. They had just been together, sharing pine nuts.

"No."

Shen Hong couldn't believe his ears as he looked at Zheng Xuan. Zheng Xuan's expression remained unchanged. "If we tell the instructors, they'll find out we crossed the ridge."

"He just saved us. Without He lisa, we'd be dead by now!" Shen Hong shouted.

Shen Hong was left dumbfounded by the shouting. He was naturally timid and fearful. If not for the sudden change in his family's situation, he would have lived his whole life as the owner of a small medicinal shop, living an ordinary and uneventful life, free of troubles or calamities. Now, faced with this sudden crisis, his heart was in turmoil. The mention of possible beheadings sent shivers down his spine.

He still had a mother to care for at home. If he died, his family would be left without any male members. How would they survive?

"I... I..." Shen Hong stammered, unable to find his words.

"After we descend the mountain, we will act as if nothing happened. Once the sun sets, we'll inform the instructor that He lisa didn't listen to advice, crossed the ridge, and we couldn't find him," Zheng Xuan said emotionlessly.

This not only closed off He lisa's last escape route but also framed him with violating military orders. Shen Hong shook his head, but the other two were already worried about potential punishment and readily agreed. Zheng Xuan stared at Shen Hong and said, "If you want to go report this, go ahead. It's up to the instructor to believe you or us."

With that, he didn't bother with Shen Hong's expression and spurred his horse forward. Shen Hong had no choice but to follow, the colors of the mountains gradually darkening as they moved forward.

The evening grew late, and there was almost no light left in the jungle.

The horse was lost on the White Moon Mountain, and He lisa gripped the bamboo pole. Glancing behind, she let out a sigh of relief, having managed to shake off the pursuing wolves.

It was the first time she had seen such relentless pursuit by wild wolves. She shook her head, reminded of the wolves she encountered in Moxian years ago. During the famine in Moxian, wolves within a hundred-mile radius had been caught and eaten. They were nothing like the audacious ones in White Moon Mountain. Thinking of this, she thought Zheng Xuan was really foolish to want to capture wolf cubs. Wolves couldn't be tamed; the only ones that could be tamed were domestic dogs that wagged their tails at people. Wolves only knew how to sever human throats.

The horse turned in place and refused to move forward.

The forest was everywhere, looking identical in every direction. She had been fleeing from the pack of wolves, unable to mark the trees as she went. It was possible they had already crossed over the hill, and she had no idea of their current location. If Shen Hong and the others couldn't inform Liang Ping in time, by nightfall, they wouldn't be able to leave the woods. Without a firestarter, encountering wild animals would be dangerous, leaving them with no choice but to spend the night on the mountain.