But by the time they got their horses ready, Li Qi would have long disappeared without a trace!
Moreover, their horses couldn't enter the water.
Li Qi silently thanked Uncle Six several times in his heart.
The Pai-bo Technique was an immense advantage against those who didn't know how to swim.
It was precisely because of this that the Paibo Gang could remain safe. After all, both the Lizhuang Gang and the Water Horse Gang were quite strong in combat, but once in the water, the Paibo Gang was unbeatable.
He flowed downstream with the current.
The sound of hooves continued behind him, sometimes even rushing ahead in an attempt to intercept Li Qi.
The soldiers refused to give up, vowing to take Li Qi's head at any cost!
But this was happening on dark mountain paths. Li Qi was flowing downstream like he was on a highway, while they had to navigate the terrain on horseback.
If they rode steeds like Old Horse's dragon mount—capable of leaping ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) with clouds swirling around them, allowing for light leaps—Li Qi would definitely not be able to escape.
But these men rode ordinary spirit horses.
A leap of three zhang (approximately 10 meters) was already their limit; jumping ten zhang was out of the question.
Thus, while they sped through the forest, their speed wasn't slow, it was difficult to keep up with the winding river.
If the river were straight, Li Qi wouldn't stand a chance against them.
But... this was mountainous terrain, filled with waterfalls.
Even if faced with a waterfall ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) high, Li Qi dared to jump down. After all, there was always a pool below, never too shallow.
Diving athletes dare to jump from ten-meter platforms, and Li Qi's physique was at least twenty times stronger than theirs. Plus, the thick skin provided by Ox Power Technique meant he feared no impact, as long as he didn't land directly on rocks.
If the bottom of the waterfall really was all rocks and too shallow to stand in...
Then so be it!
When fleeing for your life, can you expect foolproof plans?
Li Qi was always like this: before things happened, he would rack his brains thinking about every possibility, arranging all retreats and plans, appearing indecisive.
But once he started acting, he became decisive, never hesitating.
When it came to risking everything, he would risk it all!
Wasn't this far from the first time he had risked his life? What was there to fear?
He dared to jump down a ten-zhang (approximately 33 meters) high waterfall, but the pursuers did not dare.
They were riding horses!
What if the horse broke its legs or died upon landing?
Thus, despite being infuriated, they had to detour, finding gentle slopes to descend, then continue chasing along the river.
They wanted to see just how far this guy could swim in the river!
However, they forgot one thing.
This was Baiyue.
There were Ten Thousand Great Mountains here.
Complex mountains and waterways formed a complex network of rivers and streams, spreading out like root systems beneath the trees.
As soon as they took a detour, losing sight of Li Qi for less than a minute, he would immediately change direction.
It was just hide-and-seek!
Let's see who had more experience: these soldiers clearly from plains regions, or Li Qi, the old boatman!
Li Qi didn't believe this group could still track him under such circumstances.
After jumping over at least four waterfalls and swimming about twenty li, Li Qi still had some strength left, but the hoofbeats behind him had faded significantly.
He had swum twenty li in the water, but those people probably circled a hundred li.
Such were the mountain roads.
Short in direct distance, but winding when actually traversed. If one couldn't fly, they'd have to prepare to circle around a mountain even if the destination was close.
This was the scene within the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
Two villages might hear each other's calls, but walking from one to another took a whole day.
Mountain roads were rugged like this.
This characteristic greatly helped Li Qi.
About three quarters of an hour later, Li Qi finally emerged from the river.
His body was purple and blue, limbs weak and powerless, completely exhausted.
The first feeling was cold.
Initially, because of exhaustion, he felt hot and didn't feel cold.
But Li Qi overlooked one point: in this world, there was Spiritual Essence.
Water circulation gathered cold Spiritual Essence, which gradually seeped into his blood vessels, freezing him to shiver uncontrollably, feeling like ice was forming in his bones, even shrinking inward.
Another quarter of an hour, and he might freeze something important, leaving him without descendants.
The second feeling was exhaustion.
Truly exhausted.
Muscles no longer obeyed commands, constantly twitching and shaking, unable to stand straight.
Ox Power Technique's three chances were long used up. Without its support, it was impossible to swim for three-quarters of an hour at full strength.
Only those who tried knew how exhausting it was.
Iron Man Triathlon involved only seven li of swimming, but Li Qi had just swum at least sixty li.
And faster than Iron Man Triathlon, repeatedly diving from dozens of meters high.
Such physical exertion had drained all his Spiritual Essence.
Cold and exhausted, Li Qi now could only lie on the riverbank gasping for breath, lacking even the strength to turn over.
Totally like a dead fish.
"Should... have escaped, right?" Li Qi thought vaguely.
Too tired, this time he probably hurt his essence.
But it wasn't over yet.
"You little thief... caught you, didn't I...?" A similarly weakened voice came.
Li Qi immediately mustered his remaining strength and glanced aside.
Then, he saw a soldier with a broken leg, using a long knife as a crutch, limping towards him.
No horse—what happened to his horse was unknown.
His face was grotesque like a demon, the injury severe, bone shards piercing through the skin.
One look told Li Qi that this person must have forcibly chased him, forcing his horse to leap off a cliff, killing the horse first and breaking his own leg.
Falling from a considerable waterfall into the water was already challenging enough; if it hit rocks below, surviving would require extraordinary constitution, especially since he wore armor.
That wasn't light.
Yet, Li Qi sighed.
Although the opponent was almost spent, where was he any better?
Though this person had a broken leg, he could still walk and hold a knife.
Li Qi also had a knife, left by the officer.
Certainly much better than the soldier's.
But he couldn't lift the knife anymore, barely able to turn over.
However... surrendering was absolutely not something Li Qi would do!
Though trembling and unable to stand, he still summoned a breath of energy, struggling to sit up, drawing the long knife, aiming it at the soldier with hands as soft as noodles.
Even though he couldn't stand and had to drag the knife diagonally on the ground to stay upright, Li Qi glared fiercely at the soldier!
Come on! If you want my life, come and get it!
See if I can take you down with me before I die!
Li Qi's expression was ferocious, willing to go all out, trying to fight to the death with the opponent!
Or force the opponent to give up attacking, maintaining a standoff, buying himself time.