The female anchor turned into the dean of an ancient academy

Chapter 56 Lu Qingyun VS Chen Jingxing

As for Lu Qingyun and his four companions, they were running all the way and were about to reach the designated meeting place, but Lu Qingyun suddenly felt uneasy. He stopped and signaled everyone to hide.

"What's wrong, Senior Brother Lu?" Zhao Xiaojing asked in a low voice.

"I feel something is wrong." Lu Qingyun frowned, "This road is too smooth, and we haven't encountered any patrols along the way. This is very abnormal."

"Could it be that they didn't notice us at all?" Jiang You guessed.

"Impossible." Lu Qingyun shook his head. "We made such a big noise, there's no way they didn't notice. I suspect..."

"What do you doubt?" Zhang Tiecheng asked.

Before Lu Qingyun could answer, he heard the sound of horse hooves coming from afar, approaching at a very fast speed.

"Oh no, we've been ambushed!" Lu Qingyun's face changed, "Retreat quickly!"

Lu Qingyun growled, "Hurry up!" and rushed into the dense forest first. The other four followed closely behind him, moving through the trees like cheetahs at an astonishing speed.

Under cover of darkness, the five men weaved through the dense woods, their pursuers hot on their heels. Branches scraped at their clothes, thorns scratched their skin, but they ignored the pain and ran with all their might. Zhang Tiecheng was the last, constantly looking back to see where his pursuers were. He pulled a water pouch from his waist and, after each run, poured the water behind him, washing away the footprints they had left. He also broke off some branches along the roadside, deliberately creating a messy trail to confuse his pursuers.

"This way!" Lu Qingyun found a hidden cave and called everyone inside. The entrance was narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass through. Zhang Tiecheng stayed behind, and after everyone entered, he moved a large rock to block the entrance. He then hid behind the rock, holding his breath and concentrating.

After a while, the sound of horse hooves stopped near the cave entrance, and the voices of pursuers came from outside: "Search, they must be hiding nearby!"

Lu Qingyun and the others hid deep in the cave, not daring to breathe. They could hear the sounds of the soldiers searching outside, and even feel the vibrations from their heavy footsteps. As time passed, their hearts were in their throats, their palms were covered in sweat.

After an unknown amount of time, the sounds of searching outside gradually faded away. Zhang Tiecheng finally breathed a sigh of relief and signaled everyone to come out.

"That was a close call!" Zhao Xiaojing patted his chest and said with lingering fear, "I almost got caught by them."

Lu Qingyun shook his head, his face solemn: "We can't let our guard down yet. They might come back and strike back."

"So what should we do now?" Zhang Tiecheng asked, "Hiding here forever isn't a solution."

"Let's find a safe place to rest first, and then discuss the next plan." Lu Qingyun said after thinking for a moment.

After searching for a long time in the dense forest, they finally found an abandoned mud house. The mud house was in a dilapidated state, with several large holes in the roof and the walls were crumbling, but at least it provided a shelter from the wind and rain.

"I'll go get some water." Jiang You said, and together with Jiang Zuo, they quietly left the adobe house under the cover of night. They remembered that they had crossed a stream on the way here, so it should be nearby.

"Be careful." Lu Qingyun warned.

Jiang You and Jiang Zuo tiptoed to the stream. In order not to alert possible pursuers, they did not choose to scoop water directly with their hands. Instead, they took out daggers from their bags and carefully carved a groove on a relatively hidden tree trunk by the stream, allowing the clear stream water to slowly flow into it, and then collected it with the water bags they carried with them.

Soon, Jiang You and Jiang Zuo returned to the mud house with a full bag of water.

Inside the mud house, everyone sat in a mess on the ground, all exhausted. Zhang Tiecheng took out water bags and dry food from his bag and distributed them to everyone.

"Oh, I don't know what's going on with this anti-Japanese camp. They really treat us as enemies!" Jiang You said with a sigh while chewing on a dry and hard biscuit.

"Yes, they mobilized seven or eight teams to search for us." Jiang Zuo also sighed.

Lu Qingyun looked at them and said comfortingly, "Don't worry. If I'm right, Supervisor Chen must have given the big brothers in the Anti-Japanese Camp a heads-up in advance. This is to give us a sense of immersion and adaptability when we carry out real missions in the future."

Although he said this, Lu Qingyun's heart was full of worries.

Because he understood that if this mission failed, it would be unknown whether the intelligence department would still exist after he returned.

Zhao Xiaojing walked to Lu Qingyun and handed him the dry food and water in his hand, "Qingyun, eat something first."

Lu Qingyun had no appetite at all. He rubbed his temples tiredly, put the things aside, frowned, and said nothing.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Zhao Xiaojing noticed that something was wrong with Lu Qingyun and asked with concern.

"It's okay, I'm just thinking about something. After all, our current situation is much worse than expected." Lu Qingyun shook his head and sighed.

"There's no rush to think about an evacuation plan right now. Eat something to regain your strength first," Zhao Xiaojing consoled him. "When you reach the mountain, there's always a way out. There's always a way."

"Ah," Lu Qingyun sighed, "Xiao Jing, if I'm not mistaken, the Anti-Japanese Camp must have blocked both evacuation routes. Chen Jingxing, the military advisor of the Anti-Japanese Camp, is truly meticulous and exceptional."

Zhao Xiaojing was silent for a moment, and his tone became heavy. "Qingyun, actually... there's another situation... I think Dazhuang might have fallen into their hands."

Hearing this, Lu Qingyun's expression instantly became more solemn.

Zhao Xiaojing shook his head.

"I'm not entirely clear on the specifics, but there's already an ambush at the scheduled rendezvous point. Dazhuang is alone, and there's no updated intelligence. Under these circumstances, there are only two possible outcomes: either he walks into a trap, or he's pursued and intercepted by multiple forces."

"Damn it!" Lu Qingyun pounded the wall hard, and his angry growl echoed in the small earthen house.

He paced back and forth in the mud house restlessly, like a wild beast trapped in a cage.

"Are we really just going to sit there and wait for death?" Jiang You couldn't help but ask, his tone full of despair.

"No, there must be another way." Lu Qingyun forced himself to calm down, and he tried to make his confused thoughts clear again.

Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, and his original anxiety disappeared, replaced by a resolute coldness.

"Let's go back to the camp!" He stopped, looked around at everyone, and said in a firm tone.

"What?!" Everyone stared in astonishment and looked at each other. This proposal was tantamount to walking into a trap, which made them unbelievable.

"Qingyun, are you crazy? What's the difference between going back now and failing the mission?" Zhang Tiecheng was the first to raise objections.

"Yes, Qingyun, it's too dangerous to go back now!" Zhao Xiaojing also hurriedly dissuaded.

Lu Qingyun ignored the crowd's shock and uttered a few words in a cold tone: "Capture the Anti-Japanese Camp's military advisor—Chen Jingxing! Execute the 'decapitation operation'!"