To get the medicine back quickly, Liu Tiezhu rode his horse at breakneck speed.
One minute he was dozens of meters away, the next he was right in front of Liu Yusheng and his men.
Seeing the horse galloping past, Liu Yusheng and the others quickly dropped to the ground.
Only after Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi had run more than ten meters did they pop their heads up from the weeds.
After Liu Tiezhu and his companion had gone over ten meters, dense trees lay ahead.
The two had no choice but to slow down, guiding their horses forward at a leisurely pace.
Behind them, Liu Yusheng and his men dared not follow too closely, switching to walking and keeping a distance of about ten meters from Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi.
The ten of them followed for nearly an hour and were utterly exhausted.
The mountain path was treacherous, littered with dead branches and rotting leaves, and the cold was bone-piercing.
After walking for an hour, they were completely worn out.
If it weren't for the twenty thousand yuan, they would have turned back long ago.
"Damn it, this bastard is hiding way too far."
"Yusheng, how about we just go up and force them to stop?" Liu Zhengxiong suggested.
As soon as he said this, the others nodded in agreement.
Ahead, there was no end in sight—just giant trees and thick undergrowth.
They had no idea how much longer they'd have to walk to reach Liu Tiezhu's hiding spot.
If they kept going for another hour, they'd be dead from exhaustion before they could even catch anyone.
Liu Yusheng agreed with Liu Zhengxiong's idea.
But right now, they were twenty meters away from Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi, making it impossible to carry out that plan.
If they rushed out now, Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi would notice, and a fight would be unavoidable.
Besides, at this distance, even if there was no fight, the two could just abandon their horses and hide somewhere secret, and they'd never find them.
"Given the situation, we have no choice but to keep following."
Coming back to his senses, Liu Yusheng sighed and laid out his analysis.
Now he regretted not stopping Liu Tiezhu and his companion before they entered the mountains.
After hearing this, the others fell silent, gritting their teeth and continuing to trail behind Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi.
Soon, another hour passed.
Liu Yusheng's face was ashen, leaning against a giant tree, gasping for air.
After walking continuously for two hours in the mountains, he couldn't take it anymore.
The oxygen was thin in the mountains, and their constant walking had caused symptoms of hypoxia.
This left them dizzy, wanting to vomit but unable to.
Yet ahead, there was still nothing but a blur of trees, clearly indicating they hadn't reached Liu Tiezhu's hiding spot yet.
"Yusheng, I can't go on. If I keep walking, I'll die here."
Liu Zhenghai crouched on the ground, waving his hand weakly.
The others were in similar shape, pale-faced and looking sickly.
Liu Yusheng was at a loss. Having come this far, he couldn't bear to give up.
After thinking it over, he had the others rest where they were while he and Liu Zhengxiong and four others continued the pursuit.
This time, they quickened their pace, planning to flank Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi from both sides.
Up ahead, Liu Tiezhu suddenly frowned and signaled Er Gouzi to stop.
"Tiezhu, what's wrong?" Er Gouzi asked, puzzled.
Liu Tiezhu made a shushing gesture and stood still.
A few minutes later, Liu Tiezhu pointed to a patch of weeds nearby, motioning for Er Gouzi to follow him in.
No sooner had they entered the weeds than several figures emerged from ahead.
"Damn it, it's Liu Yusheng."
Inside the weeds, Er Gouzi's eyes widened in disbelief.
Liu Tiezhu was also shocked, never expecting Liu Yusheng and his men to have followed them this far.
If he hadn't been on alert, their hiding spot would have been exposed.
"Where are they?"
Looking at the empty surroundings, Liu Yusheng raised his gun, confused.
Based on his estimated speed, they should have run straight into Liu Tiezhu after coming out.
But now that they were out, Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi were nowhere to be seen.
Liu Zhengxiong pointed at the ground and said, "Yusheng, look at the hoofprints."
The group glanced down and quickly surrounded the weeds.
"Damn it, they really want to kill me."
Watching them close in, Liu Tiezhu sneered and pointed to the weeds on the right.
"Gouzi, you go around from the right."
"We'll circle behind them and launch a surprise attack."
As he spoke, he quietly crept to the left.
A few minutes later, Liu Yusheng and his four men reached the spot where Liu Tiezhu had been hiding.
They were very cautious, back-to-back, carefully scanning their surroundings.
"Yusheng, could those two bastards have slipped away?" Liu Mingfang said.
"They can't have slipped away; they must still be nearby."
"Everyone, stay alert. Don't let those two bastards ambush us."
Liu Yusheng's tone was firm as he warned the others.
Hearing this, they all perked up, scrutinizing the environment around them.
Behind them, on both the left and right, Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi lay flat on the ground, watching the five men's every move.
After about ten minutes, the five searched the area but found no trace of Liu Tiezhu and his companion, so they turned to head in another direction.
Having been hyper-focused and walking for over two hours, the five were now exhausted, their mental state rapidly declining.
Just as they turned, Liu Tiezhu seized the opportunity and pulled the trigger on his crossbow.
Liu Zhengxiong, standing on the outskirts, was filled with terror as he realized the bamboo arrow was already upon him.
With a *thud*, the arrow pierced straight through his neck.
He opened his mouth to scream, but instead, blood gushed out.
The sudden shock stunned the other four.
Without hesitation, they fired toward the direction the arrow came from.
Liu Tiezhu, lying on the ground, sneered and didn't even bother to dodge.
The bullets flew past at a height of over a meter and a half, having no effect on him.
The four kept reloading and firing, slowly advancing toward Liu Tiezhu.
Liu Yusheng's plan was sound—use gunfire to suppress Liu Tiezhu, then move in to capture him.
Just as he thought everything was going according to plan, another bamboo arrow shot out, embedding itself in another man's neck.
The remaining three were terrified and quickly dropped to the ground.
"Yusheng, we've been ambushed by those two dogs, hurry—"
*Thud...*
Before the man could finish, a bamboo arrow struck his eye, the burst of fluid from the eyeball sending Liu Yusheng and the other man into tears of fear.
"Ahhh..."
The man didn't die instantly, clutching his eye and rolling on the ground.
Liu Yusheng and the remaining Liu Guoliang were scared out of their wits.
They abandoned the man without a second thought, stood up, and sprinted forward.
*Thud*, another bamboo arrow shot out, piercing Liu Guoliang's right leg as he lagged behind.
Ignoring the pain, he struggled to get up and keep running.
But as he moved, another arrow flew in, piercing his neck.
Catching this out of the corner of his eye, Liu Yusheng was so terrified he nearly soiled himself, sprinting even faster.
Er Gouzi burst out of the weeds, crossbow in hand, and gave chase.