Chapter 585
Even so, Xu Heming was still uneasy. What if something really had happened to Li Zhiwei? What would he do then?
Xu Heming dared not take that gamble.
Nor could he accept such a possibility.
The Prince of Zhennan had not expected his opponent to remain so calm. He had already said all that, yet the other man could still hold his ground.
“Your Highness, what should we do?” one of the guards asked anxiously.
“Your Highness, if you ask me, we should charge over there!” another impatient guard urged, clearly unable to wait any longer.
“Wait a little longer!” The Prince of Zhennan waved a hand. He was not completely confident and did not dare rush in and confront Xu Heming head-on.
“Your Highness, Prince An was struck by our sword. I smeared deadly poison on the blade myself. He’s no longer a threat. What are you afraid of?” one of the deputy generals said unhappily.
“If necessary, we can set the mountain on fire. I refuse to believe they can keep hiding there,” another deputy general said, barely able to contain his impatience.
“Exactly, Your Highness. What are you still hesitating about?”
The two deputy generals were clearly dissatisfied that the Prince of Zhennan still had not made a decision.
In their eyes, Prince An was already a defeated enemy.
They could not understand why the Prince of Zhennan still refused to give the order.
The Prince of Zhennan admired Xu Heming as a true warrior. He did not want to force Xu Heming to submit through such underhanded means; he wanted to defeat him openly and honorably at least once.
Inside the cave
“Your Highness, for some reason, the Prince of Zhennan’s men still haven’t attacked,” Xu Song said, feeling both worried and relieved.
“Hiding here forever isn’t an option. Think of a way for us to get down the mountain first,” Xu Heming said weakly.
It was not that he did not want to face the Prince of Zhennan. It was simply that the enemy greatly outnumbered them, and he had no intention of engaging in a head-on clash.
Preserving their strength was the wisest course of action.
Besides, the letter he had sent to the emperor had already been delivered. He did not believe the emperor would refuse to send reinforcements.
Once the reinforcements arrived, they would have a way to bring the Prince of Zhennan’s men to justice.
Even if the enemy had thirty thousand soldiers.
“But Your Highness, if we go any farther, we’ll be entering the deep mountains,” Xu Song said hesitantly.
They were unfamiliar with the terrain in the deep mountains and did not dare venture in recklessly.
But pursuers were closing in behind them.
“How will we know unless we try?” Xu Heming looked toward the deep mountains and decided to take the risk. At least that way, they would still have a chance of survival.
He could not afford to die yet.
After hesitating for a moment, Xu Song decided to follow Xu Heming’s plan.
He led their men farther into the deep mountains.
Meanwhile, Xu Chuan and Fang Sheng had disguised themselves and made their way to Heping, only to discover that they had not found any trace of Xu Heming.
“Something must have happened to His Highness,” Xu Chuan said grimly.
He was deeply worried about Xu Heming and the others.
“Don’t panic. Find a way to search for them. I’ll go to the nearest southwestern military camp and bring back reinforcements,” Fang Sheng said.
Xu Chuan nodded, and the two split up to act.
Fortunately, when the Prince of Zhennan and his men had headed toward the mountains, their enormous procession had attracted plenty of attention.
Xu Chuan soon found a local villager and secretly made his way around to the back of the mountain.
However, he still failed to find Xu Heming and the others.
“Hey, you can’t go any farther in!” The villager hurriedly grabbed Xu Chuan when he saw him trying to continue into the deep mountains.
“But I still haven’t found the people I’m looking for,” Xu Chuan said.
“There are bears in those deep mountains. I’m not going in there.” The villager waved his hands without a second thought.
The man had offered him a great deal of silver, but he still needed to be alive to spend it.
Xu Chuan tried to offer him even more money, but the villager quickly said, “Even if you double it, this old man still won’t go. You can go by yourself.”
Hearing this, Xu Chuan had no choice but to decide to enter the deep mountains alone.
“Be careful when you come back down. Do your best to avoid those people. They kill without blinking,” Xu Chuan reminded the villager.
“All right!” the villager replied with a nod.
After walking a short distance, he turned back to look at Xu Chuan. In the end, he shook his head and left.
After all, he had elderly parents to care for and children to support. He did not dare take the risk.
Xu Chuan looked at the Prince of Zhennan’s men shouting threats at the foot of the mountain, his brows tightly furrowed.
He had clearly recognized them as the Prince of Zhennan’s forces. The realization only made him more desperate to find Xu Heming.
If the Prince of Zhennan intended to kill their prince, Xu Heming might let down his guard and fall into a trap.
With that thought, Xu Chuan hurried into the deep mountains. Along the way, he secretly left signals for Fang Sheng.
In his heart, he also prayed that Fang Sheng would return with reinforcements as soon as possible.
The farther Xu Heming and his group went into the deep mountains, the darker the sky became.
“Your Highness, we can’t go any farther,” Xu Song said worriedly when he saw the growing darkness.
“Have those men caught up with us?” Xu Heming asked.
He knew that there could be all kinds of dangers waiting for them in the deep mountains.
Xu Song shook his head. “It seems the Prince of Zhennan’s men haven’t followed us.”
What Xu Song did not say was that even if the Prince of Zhennan’s men had not caught up, wolves, bears, or other wild beasts might be lurking in the mountains. Those posed an even greater challenge.
They had to guard against the Prince of Zhennan on one side while defending themselves against the beasts of the mountains on the other.
They could not even light a fire recklessly.
“Cough… cough…”
Xu Heming coughed harshly several times.
He had been forcing himself to hold on all this time…
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from nearby.
Everyone immediately became alert and formed a protective circle around Xu Heming.
Xu Song even exchanged a glance with the others beside him. Their eyes were filled with determination. If anything happened, they would protect their prince at all costs.
“Who’s there?” Xu Heming asked coldly.
He thought that since they were going to sit and wait for death anyway, they might as well confront whoever was coming.
“Your Highness!”
Hearing Xu Heming’s voice, Xu Chuan breathed a sigh of relief.
“Your Highness, that voice sounds like Xu Chuan,” Xu Song said, unable to believe it.
“Impossible!” Xu Heming was startled. In truth, he too had recognized the voice as sounding like Xu Chuan’s.
Shouldn’t Xu Chuan have been in Lucheng, staying by Li Zhiwei’s side?
Could it be that one of the Prince of Zhennan’s men was impersonating him?
Or had Xu Chuan already betrayed him?
At the thought, Xu Heming’s brows drew tightly together.
“Your Highness, it’s me, Xu Chuan!” Xu Chuan called anxiously when he received no response.
“Your Highness, what should we do?” Xu Song asked, utterly at a loss.
“Tell him to come out, but stay on guard,” Xu Heming said in a low voice.
Xu Chuan was one of his men. Whether he had betrayed him or not, Xu Heming still needed to see him and give him a chance to explain.
“Xu Chuan!”
Xu Song called toward the direction from which Xu Chuan’s voice had come.
“This subordinate pays his respects to Your Highness. I finally found you!” Xu Chuan said with a sigh of relief when he saw Xu Heming standing before him.
“Xu Chuan, why are you here? Where is the princess consort?” Xu Heming stared intently at Xu Chuan and asked each word slowly.
He did not know whether Xu Chuan’s appearance here was a good thing or a bad one.
He had explicitly ordered both Xu Chuan and Xu Mu to remain by Li Zhiwei’s side and protect her without leaving her for even a moment. Had something happened to Li Zhiwei?
Or had Xu Chuan developed other intentions?
