Ethan Brooks patted Brian Cooper's shoulder and said softly, "Don't worry. Even if they want to kill us, they'll probably wait until we reach the fork away from the Tongliu River before making a move—unless they've already learned that the soldiers sent to breach the dike are lying in wait at the Tongliu River. Otherwise, they won't act first. The only way is for us to strike before they do. Wait, that's not right. They must already know we're not the ones going to breach the dike. If we were, it couldn't possibly be just the three of us, and we didn't bring any tools..."

　　"So what do we do?" After hearing Ethan Brooks's words, Brian Cooper asked nervously.

　　The group fell silent for a while, unable to come up with a better plan.

　　It was very late. Although Ethan Brooks suspected they were being watched, he had no idea where the watchers were hiding. But the fork in the road was not far away. If they were going to act, it had to be now. If they waited until dawn, they'd have no chance.

　　"Samuel Carter big brother, when we reach the fork, you two go ahead, but walk slowly. I'll stop first," Ethan Brooks said, listening carefully to the surroundings as he spoke.

　　"Why?" Brian Cooper asked, puzzled.

　　"Because it's so dark now, we can't see them clearly, and they can only vaguely see our shadows. I'm sure there aren't many of them—just two or three at most. They'll definitely keep following us and wait for the right place to strike. Samuel Carter big brother, Brian Cooper, as soon as you hear me make a move, come back right away to help. We'll attack from both sides." Ethan Brooks thought, if there were more of them, they probably would have attacked already. Since they haven't, it means there are only two or three at most.

　　Of course, there's also the possibility that no one has discovered them at all, but Ethan Brooks didn't put much hope in that.

　　Samuel Carter and Brian Cooper didn't ask why Ethan Brooks wanted to stay behind first, but they were already used to following his lead.

　　The fork leading to and away from the Tongliu River really wasn't far. The three of them reached it in about the time it takes to burn two sticks of incense. Samuel Carter and Brian Cooper followed Ethan Brooks's instructions and chose the fork away from the Tongliu River, but walked slowly.

　　Ethan Brooks suddenly hid behind a small mound nearby and listened carefully behind him. There seemed to be some sounds, but they were very faint.

Chapter 009: Escape from Death

　　Ethan Brooks gripped the half-broken spear tightly in his hand, lying in wait behind the mound. He only needed to wait five minutes—if no one came in five minutes, it meant they were truly lucky and no one had discovered them.

　　But less than three minutes had passed when Ethan Brooks heard faint footsteps. To his relief, there really weren't many people—just two. It was probably because there were only two of them that they didn't dare attack Ethan Brooks and the others right away.

　　Still, Ethan Brooks was a bit nervous. After all, his current body was very weak, and he didn't know if he could succeed in ambushing someone.

　　But Ethan Brooks had guessed right. In the dead of night, the two hadn't noticed that only two people had left. Ethan Brooks, hiding behind the small mound at the fork, hadn't been discovered.

　　The footsteps drew closer and closer. Though very light, Ethan Brooks could hear them clearly. It was a night without a trace of moonlight, and it was almost dawn, making it especially dark.

　　Ethan Brooks could already see two very blurry shadows cautiously approaching, one in front and one behind. Judging by their silhouettes, they were clearly much more robust than Ethan Brooks.

　　As the first person walked past, Ethan Brooks suddenly sprang up, thrusting the broken spearhead at the waist of the figure behind. He used all his strength in that strike.

　　A miserable scream pierced the silent night sky, sounding especially shrill. Samuel Carter and Brian Cooper heard it and rushed back without hesitation.

　　Ethan Brooks sighed inwardly. If he were at his peak, he wouldn't have had to do this—he could have just covered the man's mouth. But now, this was the only option.

　　Still, Ethan Brooks could clearly feel the sensation of the spearhead piercing flesh. Without hesitation, he twisted the spearhead and pulled it out, then immediately rolled to the side—just as a broadsword slashed down where he'd just been.

　　It was clear that the companion of the man Ethan Brooks had killed reacted very quickly, scaring Ethan Brooks into a cold sweat. But after just one slash, Samuel Carter arrived. He didn't even need to tell who was Ethan Brooks—he could tell by the size of the shadows.

　　Samuel Carter immediately tackled the soldier who had slashed at Ethan Brooks. Brian Cooper, though not very strong, came to help as well. By now, Ethan Brooks had gotten up. Seeing Samuel Carter and the soldier wrestling on the ground, Ethan Brooks was afraid the man would react and shout again, so he simply picked up the spearhead and stabbed it into the soldier's throat. Blood spurted wildly—it was shockingly accurate.

　　The soldier Ethan Brooks had stabbed in the waist was still struggling, so Ethan Brooks went over and stabbed him in the throat as well.

　　"Brother Xing, how are you so accurate?" Brian Cooper, who had only helped Samuel Carter hold down one of the soldiers and was already exhausted, was amazed to see Ethan Brooks so precise in stabbing throats in the dark. Samuel Carter was also very surprised.