“Mr. Ethan, why aren’t you taking the route set by the squad leader? Even though it’s dangerous for us to escape, the route set by the squad leader must have been considered carefully. Maybe it would be a bit safer if we went that way.” Brian Cooper only spoke up after following Ethan Brooks for quite a distance.

Ethan Brooks didn’t answer directly, but sneered, “Didn’t you ask me, since our commander believes we’re sure to win, why does he still want us to deliver a message? I can tell you now. Because although we’re delivering a message, the recipient is actually on the side of Liujin Kingdom, not the Xiliang camp. If I’m not mistaken, the route Captain Niu told us to take is exactly the one with the most Liujin scouts. In other words, he’s sending us to our deaths.”

“Why?” Samuel Carter didn’t understand. They were all people of Zheyun Kingdom, so why send them to die?

“Because the plan set by our commander is to confuse the enemy. Since delivering the message is meant to let the enemy know our army wants to coordinate from inside and outside, to lure them into a trap. This will make them pay attention to the Xiliang camp’s movements and ignore the people on our side sneaking to breach the Tongliu River embankment, since those are two completely different directions.” Ethan Brooks had thought this through very clearly; it must be like this.

“Mr. Ethan, so what do we do now?” Brian Cooper now pinned all his hopes on Ethan Brooks.

Ethan Brooks picked up a branch and drew a simple map on the ground, then drew a route and said, “Now we’ll leave from here.”

Samuel Carter and Brian Cooper had seen the big map and the sand table, so they knew where the route Ethan Brooks drew led. Samuel Carter quickly said, “Isn’t this the place the squad leader said was the most heavily guarded? We’re going from here? And you said the embankment breach is also in this direction, we…”

Ethan Brooks looked at the somewhat confused Samuel Carter and Brian Cooper and said, “Yes, leaving from here is definitely possible. Escaping from such a sensitive area where two armies are facing off, with our abilities, it’s almost impossible not to be discovered. If we go this way, even if we’re discovered, the enemy won’t act rashly and alert us. At most, they’ll try to deal with us secretly, or maybe not even touch us, and just let us pass—as long as we pretend to be soldiers going to breach the embankment.”

Samuel Carter and Brian Cooper nodded, half-understanding. The three of them finished discussing and immediately left in the direction set by Ethan Brooks.

By now, it was completely dark, and it was hard to see the road clearly. The place they were walking was all irregular mounds or ravines. Fortunately, after several hours, nothing happened.

With a “crack,” Brian Cooper stepped on an uneven stone and rolled down the mound.

With a “thud,” Brian Cooper fell into a small ditch. In his panic, Brian Cooper cried out, “Ah!”

Samuel Carter and Ethan Brooks didn’t have time to think, and quickly ran over to pull Brian Cooper up.

“Xiao Qiu, are you alright?” Samuel Carter asked worriedly. Although he tried to keep his voice down, it still sounded quite loud in the night.

“I’m fine, just scraped my knee a bit.” Brian Cooper rubbed his knee and continued, “I yelled pretty loudly just now. I wonder if anyone heard.”

Samuel Carter shook his head and said, “No, it’s so late at night, no one could have heard. If someone had, they’d have come over already.”

But Ethan Brooks waved at the two of them, pulled them aside, and then said in a low voice, “I don’t know if we were discovered before, but now I’m sure the three of us have already been noticed.”

“How do you know?” Samuel Carter didn’t dare speak after hearing Ethan Brooks’s words, since his voice was a bit loud. Brian Cooper asked instead.

Ethan Brooks listened carefully to the surroundings, but didn’t hear anything unusual. Still, he couldn’t guarantee that no one was watching them, because his senses were very dull now—this body was really not ideal.

“Think about it, we’re already very close to the Tongliu River, and this is the only way there. Do you think the enemy wouldn’t have people watching this road? Even if we weren’t discovered before, Xiao Qiu’s shout just now would have given us away.” After saying this softly, Ethan Brooks listened again, but his hearing was really not great, and he still didn’t notice anything.

Little Brian patted his head and said, “Sigh, it’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, maybe we’d have already left this road by dawn.”

Ethan Brooks waved his hand and said, “Even if you hadn’t made a sound, I think we would have been discovered eventually. Maybe we were already discovered long ago. Now there are only two possibilities. One is that the Liujin scouts who found us think we’re going to breach the embankment and will let us go. The other is that they know for sure we’re not, and will wipe us out. Either way, if we deviate from the direction of the Tongliu River, we’ll be discovered immediately, and those scouts will choose to kill us.”

“Then what do we do?” Brian Cooper was already scared.