Chapter 41: A Clever Plan to Break Through the Encirclement

  Shi Jin saw that the situation was already gone, and he himself was stuck in this neither-here-nor-there state. For his current predicament, whether he killed his way in or out, it would all end in one result - death. The only difference was where he would die. "Knowing when to stop" - these words should be deeply engraved on his tombstone, even if he died.

  Although Shi Jin was unhappy in his heart, it wasn't his style to give up and admit defeat so easily. Shi Jin was born with a stubborn temperament, the more you suppressed him, the more he wanted to stand out. In his heart, there was nothing that couldn't be done. Even if the heavens themselves wanted to destroy him, Shi Jin would use his Dragon Head Cudgel to poke holes in the sky, and even at the moment of death, he would struggle to turn things around, making a big fuss before closing his eyes.

  At this moment, facing these scoundrels, Shi Jin was indeed surrounded and had his own share of blame for acting impulsively. However, he also had his own plan in mind, leaving a hidden hand behind. From the moment he jumped off the eaves, he knew that success or failure depended on this one move. That magnificent feat was accomplished by him, and now all that's left is to wait patiently, fight with all his might, and silently pray for the people holding the rudder to hold on a little longer, just a little longer until they find a way out.

  However, how long can they hold on, and how long can the helmsman hold on? Shi Jin's heart is now uncertain. As soon as he catches a glimpse of it, he looks up at that blazing pine tree, and what comes to mind again and again is a sentence that Tian Shi gave him in his dream: Auspicious man, heavenly appearance!

  Shi Jin swung his axe with all his might, roaring furiously: "Whoever blocks my way shall die!" With this fierce blow, he was like a bloody whirlwind, reaping the lives that stood in his path. After such a long and bloody battle, Shi Jin's entire body was splattered with the fresh blood of the government troops, staining his clothes crimson. His attack was so ferocious that his hair was disheveled, smeared with filthy blood, and scattered wildly across his face, swinging left and right as he dodged and weaved, striking out with his axe.

  The officers and soldiers near him looked at Shi Jin's devilish appearance, listened to his roar, and were terrified in their hearts. Especially those who wielded the pu dao, they all faltered, not daring to approach him for close combat.

  Shi Jin's sword sliced down two more soldiers who failed to dodge, and his upper body quickly turned sideways, allowing the three incoming gun barrels to pass by his skin. With a swift motion, he chopped off the gun barrels with his knife, and before they even hit the ground, he swung his sword downwards, cutting down the three men. As he did so, he spun around in mid-air, kicking the three gun barrels away from him. Three muffled sounds echoed through the air as the three sword-wielding men behind him fell to their deaths without even getting close to Shi Jin.

  At this moment, Shi Jin was only about a hundred or so steps away from Hui Er, and the more than a hundred people of Feng Chou's side had also been injured by nearly half. The ground where they were fighting was filled with blood and corpses, and here and there were scattered pieces of gold and silver. Just as Hui Er saw Shi Jin getting closer to him and was about to go over and meet him, something unexpected happened, accompanied by a loud cracking sound, and it unfolded violently.

  As soon as Shi Jin heard the sound, he was overjoyed. He had finally waited for it, and the way out would be right in front of him. The officials and soldiers instinctively turned their heads to look in the direction of the sound, and they couldn't help but feel frightened and panicked. Those who were more timid dropped their weapons and ran away immediately.

  The original largest cypress tree in Huayin County was now engulfed in flames, and with a loud crackling sound, it suddenly fell towards the west city gate. The raging fire, combined with the oil secreted by the cypress branches, made the flames even more ferocious than usual. The "fire tree" collapsed in a big way, and when the hundreds of government soldiers under the west city gate looked up, they saw a dazzling sea of fire that seemed to be a disaster from above, about to engulf them. For a moment, their courage was shattered, and they couldn't care about fighting anymore. With one shout, they scattered in all directions.

  Just then, Shi Jin yelled loudly at Chui'er: "Hurry up! Hurry up!"

  The crowd heard the sound, and their hearts immediately understood. Taking advantage of the scattered escape of the government soldiers, they rushed to the west gate with all their might, just as the tree fell, Kuai Er led the remaining brothers of Feng Dui out of the west gate.

  At this moment, Chui'er turned back to see that the young man had not rushed out of the city with him. And at this moment, Chui'er stood under the city gate, across the sea of flames in front of him, and saw Shi Jin still trapped in the siege, fighting desperately.

  He gazed at the sea of flames that separated him from the government soldiers, listening to the crackling and popping of the burning branches. Suddenly, it dawned on him. He understood why the young man had fired that "fire arrow", he understood why the young man was fighting his way towards them. He wanted to give me a way out, he wanted to take us away from here.

  Chui'er gazed at Shi Jin, who was gradually being surrounded by the government soldiers once again. His heart involuntarily trembled. After so many years of living on the edge of a knife, he had experienced every kind of cruel situation and endured every kind of humiliation. He had seen so much blood that it had numbed him, and killed so many people that his heart had become desensitized. But at this moment, his long-numb heart was once again trembling with a hint of human emotion.

  Kui Er wanted to rush back, but a sea of flames several zhang wide stretched out before him, blocking his way. Kui Er suddenly felt that living in this world was so tiring, so exhausting, and his knees went weak, causing him to kneel down in the direction he came from, separated by the sea of flames. The people at the helm also gradually rushed out a few steps before stopping, looking at their boss kneeling under the city gate, they all became anxious.

  "Big brother! Hurry up and run, if we don't leave now, the fire will die down and we won't be able to escape!"

  Kui Er listened to these words and knew that they were reasonable. A person who had never been born before would not let Kui Er die like this. So, Kui Er took a last look in the direction of the killer, steeled his heart, turned around and followed the Wind Rudder crowd, disappearing into the night outside the city in an instant.

  Shi Jin saw that Chui Er had left the city, and his heart felt a little more at ease, but he himself was trapped in this city, becoming the target of everyone's criticism. Shi Jin didn't think that the people of Feng Dang were unrighteous. He just thought that the pine tree fell at an unfortunate time. If it had fallen earlier, before he rushed into the siege of the government army, he could have easily found another way out. Or if it had fallen later, after he and the people of Feng Dang had gathered together, they all could have escaped.

  But now that I've gotten myself into this place, it's hard to advance or retreat, and even if I grew wings, I wouldn't have the strength to fly out of here.

  Seeing the officers and men rushing over with a loud shout, Shi Jin's heart was really empty, leaving only one sentence: "Damn your auspicious appearance."