Ethan Brooks was utterly exhausted. He caught his breath and said to Samuel Carter, “Big brother Samuel Carter, hurry up and place these two bodies in the direction of the road to Tongliu River. We need to leave immediately. I reckon someone must have heard that noise just now, but since it’s so late at night, even if they want to find this place, it’ll take some time.”

Samuel Carter knew this wasn’t the time to talk. Following Ethan Brooks’s instructions, he dragged the two bodies toward the fork in the road leading to Tongliu River.

The three of them immediately dashed down a side road, away from Tongliu River.

By the time the sky began to lighten, they had already left Tongliu River behind by twenty or thirty li. All three were panting heavily from exhaustion.

“What should we do?” Samuel Carter looked at Ethan Brooks, waiting for him to make a decision.

Ethan Brooks took out a simple bundle and said, “Right now, we need to take off our military uniforms and change into another set of clothes, then hurry on. Even though this is already the edge of the area, it’s still very dangerous.”

After changing clothes, and with Ethan Brooks’s experience and awareness, they spent another whole day half-walking, half-running, gradually moving away from the battlefield. When night fell again, the three of them, utterly exhausted, finally sat down, ate a little, and continued on their way.

Although their eyes were bloodshot, none of them dared to sleep yet, since they were still not far from the battlefield.

After another night of walking and running, they finally managed to escape the zone of death.

“Brother Xing, how about we sleep for a bit? I really can’t hold on anymore.” Brian Cooper leaned on a tree branch, sitting by the roadside and gasping for breath.

Ethan Brooks was also at his limit. Although he knew their escape had basically succeeded, he still cautiously asked Samuel Carter, “Big brother Samuel Carter, how far are we from the Xiaheba you mentioned?”

“About half a day’s journey left. Once we reach Xiaheba, there’s a dock there. Passing merchant ships will take anyone aboard, as long as you have enough silver coins. We have nine silver coins now. If we want to go to the nearest Xiangcheng, it’s just one coin. If we want to reach Xizhou City in our Zheyun Kingdom, it’ll take two coins.” Samuel Carter clearly knew the area, having been here before.

“All right, Xiao Qiu, hang in there for another half day. Once we’re on the boat, we can sleep. Otherwise, if a battle breaks out, there’s no guarantee defeated soldiers won’t come this way.” As Ethan Brooks said this, he was also utterly spent, his whole body feeling like it was about to fall apart. Clearly, his body was in terrible shape—if not for his strong will, he really didn’t know if he could have made it this far.

Little Brian nodded. To save his own life, he had to endure no matter how hard it was. Besides, it was only half a day more. The three of them ate some dry rations and, gritting their teeth, set off again.

Fortunately, luck was on their side. When Ethan Brooks and the others arrived at the Xiaheba dock, there happened to be a merchant ship still moored there. Perhaps because it was wartime between the two countries, there weren’t many people on board. Ethan Brooks and his companions quickly boarded, and even found a large area where they could sleep.

What relieved Ethan Brooks was that, although the three of them looked disheveled, as long as they paid in silver, no one on the ship asked where they came from or where they were going.

After paying and saying they were headed to Xizhou City, the first thing the three did upon boarding was collapse into sleep.

However, someone on the boat was watching Ethan Brooks and his group. Seeing them board and immediately fall asleep, two burly men soon approached.

“Boss Hui, these three fell asleep like pigs as soon as they got on. Even if we threw them overboard now, they wouldn’t know.” The sleazy man who had been watching Ethan Brooks and his group whispered as the burly men approached.

One of the burly men walked over to their bundle, squeezed it, pulled out a letter, glanced at it, and his expression changed. He immediately said, “These three escaped from the battlefield between Zheyun Kingdom and Liujin Kingdom. They’re probably delivering a message. There’s nothing valuable on them. Let’s leave them alone.”

Chapter 010: Utter Chaos

George Reed was furious, but there was nothing he could do. He and Benjamin Harris were both under guard, not allowed to leave the camp even for a moment—there was even someone watching when they went to the latrine. Even Captain Lee was under house arrest.

No matter how angry he was, this was Emily Young’s domain, and he could do whatever he wanted. By now, the sounds of troops being mobilized outside had long since died down. George Reed knew the sneak attack had already begun tonight. It seemed that the little soldier called Liam Brooks was right after all.

“What an armchair strategist, that brat. Bastard. Now he can only hope things turn out just as Emily Young expects, though that’s a long shot. Captain Lee, when that little soldier left, are you sure he didn’t say anything else?” Clearly, George Reed was still unwilling to give up.

“No, he just said they were going to break out by boat. Nothing else.” Captain Lee was helpless—he’d been asked this same question several times over the past two days.

George Reed shook his head and sat down in resignation. He thought to himself, since that little soldier knew delivering the message was a death mission, why did he volunteer? Someone that clever—how could he be willing to die?

By boat? Where could they board a boat? There’s no dock here. Even the nearest one is at Xiaheba.