"You go in front." Andrew held a short staff in his hand and asked Zhang Hong to lead the way.
"Don't worry. We have already walked out of the camp. There is nothing to worry about." This is a path that few people go. Zhang Hong had to push aside the bushes and thorns and walk slowly down. If it was not early in the morning and the sky was bright, Zhang Hong would not dare to take this path.
The two of them took advantage of the chaos in the camp and slipped out through a gap in the camp. In order to avoid the battlefield, they deliberately chose this road heading south.
"The fighting up there is really intense." Zhang Hong was walking on the road and could clearly hear the sound of swords clashing and the screams of the dying.
"These horse thieves are such losers. I've long seen that they are no match for the magicians." Andrew said with some gloating. God knows whose side he is on. "The magician's treasure can only be inherited by magicians. These greedy fools don't even know that they are walking into a dead end."
You are also one of those greedy fools, Zhang Hong thought to himself, but he agreed: "You are right, wisdom is superior to brute force, as a magician, you should know this best."
"That's well said. It seems your masters have trained you very well." Andrew said with satisfaction. This slightly plump middle-aged man was already having some difficulty walking. He waved his wand and muttered something for a while, then pointed at his feet, and then his steps became noticeably lighter.
"I got this Wind Shoes skill from a stingy old man in exchange for a piece of fine magic crystal. It took him his whole life and five breaths to perform it, but it only takes me two. I dare say that there are few magicians who can be faster than me. Is there such a magician in your castle?"
Zhang Hong shook his head and said, "I don't think I've ever seen them use this magic."
"Oh? Really?" Andrew became excited. "If your master didn't collect this magic, then maybe I can use this magic to exchange for another magic with him. Oh, no, two. Wind Shoes is a very practical magic."
"I don't know about that. You can talk to them yourself." Zhang Hong said.
"I know, I know. In fact, I have some other magic that can be exchanged." Andrew narrowed his eyes and thought about it. Zhang Hong saw it and sneered in his heart.
Not long after the two of them walked, a shrill scream was heard from above, and then a black figure fell from above and landed straight in front of Zhang Hong.
The two were shocked. Zhang Hong jumped behind Andrew and screamed, "What the hell, what is that? What is that?"
Andrew was also frightened, but he was not as flexible as Zhang Hong and could not find any shelter for a while. He could only take out his staff and aim at the thing from a distance.
The two stood there for a long time before they realized that the falling object did not move. Andrew was very dissatisfied with Zhang Hong hiding behind him. He turned around, poked Zhang Hong's shoulder with his staff, and scolded: "Coward, go and see what it is, don't let it block our way."
Zhang Hong was dissatisfied but didn't dare to argue. He picked up a branch, slowly moved over, and pushed aside the bushes to see that it was a horse thief. The unlucky guy was probably kicked off the cliff during the fight, but now his head was flattened and he couldn't be deader.
Zhang Hong was about to leave, but another dagger on the body's waist caught his attention. He changed his mind, moved forward, untied the dagger, inserted it into his belt, and then covered it with his clothes.
At this time, Anderton had lost his patience: "What on earth is it? Say something!"
"It's a dead man. He was probably shot down by someone." Zhang Hong put away the dagger and answered loudly.
"What's so good about a dead body? Go away, go away."
Even with the wind shoe technique that made his steps lighter, the mountain path was still very difficult to walk on. As soon as Andrew walked out of the hillside where the bandits were camping, he called out from behind: "Stop, stop, let's rest for a while."
"Shall we go further away? In case someone catches up with us..."
"I can't walk anymore. Along the way, there was no one except a dead person falling from the sky. Let's find a place to rest."
Zhang Hong looked around and found an open space behind the bushes on the roadside that was relatively hidden, so he said to Andrew, "Then you can rest there."
Andrew sat down against a tree, feeling tired in his legs, and kept tapping his legs with his hands. Zhang Hong saw the opportunity and said, "Mr. Andrew, I have a skill that can help you relax your legs and feet. How about letting me massage you, so that you can get on the road faster."
Andrew saw that Zhang Hong was so humble that he looked like a servant, so he agreed and said, "Then you have to be careful."
Zhang Hong took off Andrew's boots and pretended to massage his feet. When your feet are tired, any massage will feel good. At first, Andrew was still watching Zhang Hong vigilantly, but soon he became sleepy. He had consumed too much mental energy releasing the scroll before, and he fell asleep slowly as soon as he closed his eyes.
Zhang Hong called him twice gently but there was no response, so he stopped and quietly pulled the staff out of his hand. Andrew not only did not move, but his head tilted and he slept even more soundly.
Zhang Hong pulled out the dagger he had picked up from his waist and pressed it against Andrew's chest. However, when he was about to cut, he hesitated.
Now he could certainly kill Andrew and escape, but he would be just an unlucky guy who had returned from missing, and he might still have to face the shabby shop in Floro Town. However, if he could tie up a magician, he would become a hero. The only thing worth worrying about was whether Cadiz and the others had told him that they had killed Hong Lifeng.
Zhang Hong hesitated for a while and put the knife down. It has come to this point, and he really can't bear not to try his luck.
He took off his linen coat, cut it into long strips with a dagger, and then twisted it into a rope.
Then, he turned Andrew over very carefully, put his hands behind his back, and tied them up with a rope. Andrew was sleeping soundly, and no matter how Zhang Hong tossed him, he did not respond. So Zhang Hong cut off Andrew's clothes and tied his upper body tightly.
When Andrew woke up, he found that his upper body could not move, and he screamed immediately. However, he was slapped immediately. He tried to blink his eyes, only to find that his upper body was tied and lying on the ground. Zhang Hong, who had been groveling, squatted on the ground, holding a dagger in one hand, looking at him with ill intentions.
"You..." Before Andrew could finish his words, Zhang Hong slapped him again. This slap was so heavy that Andrew's head was buzzing.
He panted and looked at Zhang Hong with hatred. Zhang Hong grinned, stood up and kicked him in the stomach. Andrew was so painful that he bent like a shrimp. But Zhang Hong did not let him go and kicked him again and again.
Andrew didn't stop until he vomited out all the food he had eaten along with blood.
"Don't be dishonest. You need to recognize your current identity. A prisoner, a slave!" Zhang Hong panted, "Otherwise, the beating just now was not enough."
Andrew was a mage, and although he didn't have much inheritance, when had he ever been beaten like this? After being punched and kicked, his mind was almost confused. With tears in his eyes, he nodded loudly and said, "I listen to you, I listen to you, please don't hit me."
"Who am I, Zhang Hong?" Zhang Hong squatted down again and tapped Andrew's face with his dagger. "You asked me to serve you and massage your feet. Who do you think you are? Are you worthy? You deserved the beating you received just now."
Andrew felt wronged in his heart, it was clearly you who pressed the button on me.
"Why, do you feel wronged?"
"It's not unfair, it's really not unfair." Andrew's fat face shook like a rattle.
"I'm warning you. I've killed people. Did Cadiz and the others tell you how I killed people?"
Andrew shook his head, and suddenly felt that shaking his head seemed to look down on Zhang Hong, so he immediately changed his words and said, "I, I know you are very powerful."
Zhang Hong saw Andrew's behavior and realized that he didn't know about his relationship with Hong Lifeng, so he put aside his last worries.
"That's good to know. Just walk in front obediently. You magicians always have some strange tricks, so don't do anything that makes me feel weird, otherwise I will get nervous and stab you with a knife."
Zhang Hong tied the dagger to a thick, straight branch to make a short spear, and pointed it at Andrew's back as he walked towards the school.
When they were halfway there, a group of cavalry came over from afar. Zhang Hong panicked and hurriedly pulled Andrew back to escape. But the cavalry were very sharp-eyed and immediately rode over to surround Zhang Hong and the other man.
Zhang Hong looked at these unknown cavalrymen with fear and trembling, and said, "My lords, please don't misunderstand me. I'm... just a nearby villager." When he thought of himself as a "villager" holding a weapon and tying up a man, Zhang Hong was so scared that he immediately threw his short spear on the ground. "If you have any requests, just tell me. I will cooperate with you."
The leading cavalryman looked at them coldly, said something to the people around him, and then turned his horse and ran back to the road. The others took up their weapons and pointed them at Zhang Hong without any courtesy. Zhang Hong didn't know whether to sit or stand, but was sweating profusely.
Fortunately, the cavalrymen didn't let Zhang Hong wait too long. The cavalrymen who left soon came back with another person. When the person saw Zhang Hong, he shouted in surprise: "Zhang Hong! Are you still alive?"
"Ji Yijun!" Zhang Hong had never been so pleased with Ji Yijun. He noticed that the cavalrymen were very respectful to Ji Yijun, so he asked carefully, "What's going on?"
"Haha, these are all our own people, fighting the bandits with us. We have attacked the bandits one by one from the outside, and now we have almost killed all the bandits around the school."
Hearing that they were his own people, Zhang Hong was relieved. He quickly picked up the short spear on the ground. He poked Andrew, who was tied up, with the short spear and said, "It's great to have you to help me. I was trapped by the bandits a few days ago, and today I finally got out. Look, I also captured their magician, the one who used the big fireball to bombard the school."
Ji Yijun stared at Andrew with eyes wide open. Although he was puzzled, he still praised: "Old Zhang, you are really a man who never shows his true colors! You are quite capable! Let's go. We are ready to go back to school, so it's a good opportunity to take you with us. This battle has been going on for a long time, and I don't know how my dad and the others are doing."