Escape Alone

At that moment, on the low, thickly thatched roof of Tommy's house, a figure was pressed tightly against the cold straw, almost blending into the darkness.

It was Tommy.

The biting wind was like countless tiny knives, piercing through his thin clothes and cutting his skin.

He was trembling uncontrollably, his teeth chattering, and each breath he took brought with it a white mist that was instantly blown away by the wind.

But he clenched his teeth tightly, not daring to make the slightest sound, not even daring to move his stiff body slightly, for fear that the slight rustling sound of the straw rubbing together would attract the attention of the wolf-like servants below.

Tommy was, after all, a soldier who had experienced the bloody battle of Carnford and crawled out of a mountain of corpses. Although young, his alertness and reaction speed, honed on the battlefield, far exceeded those of ordinary people.

Just a short while ago, he was in the inner room giving his luggage a final check, preparing to meet his mother and sister later and head to the agreed-upon location together.

Suddenly, his keen ears caught a very faint, yet unusual, sound of footsteps coming from the courtyard outside, as well as a deliberately suppressed, subtle sound of metal or hardwood scraping against the ground.

That wasn't the sound of villagers walking around at night, nor was it the sound of wild animals!

Almost instinctively, a chilling sense of crisis instantly swept over his heart! Something was wrong! The plan had been leaked! Someone was here, and they were coming for their house!

In the blink of an eye, he didn't have time to rush out of the inner room to inform his mother and sister in the main room.

Any shout or sudden movement could immediately expose them, plunging the whole family into dire straits.

In that instant, the cruelest survival rules learned on the battlefield came into play, preserving the fighting force, especially those with a mission!

If he is also captured, then the Lex and Finn families will be completely out of luck, Carnford's recruitment mission will fail completely, and it may even bring unexpected trouble to the Lord.

He has no choice but to save himself; he must escape first!

Without any hesitation, he shoved his bag into a hidden corner under the bed, then, like a nimble cat, silently rushed to the only small window in the inner room.

The windows were small, simply nailed together with wooden strips, and had fallen into disrepair over the years.

He used all his strength to pry open several rotten wooden planks quickly and gently, and squeezed out sideways with difficulty.

Outside were narrow alleyways and piles of debris behind the house. He didn't choose to escape on the ground, as that would make him too easy to be surrounded.

Using his climbing skills honed in the army and his familiarity with the structure of his own house, he used both hands and feet, taking advantage of the unevenness of the corners and the piles of debris, to climb up the low thatched roof as quickly and silently as a gecko. He then immediately crouched down, completely hiding himself in the shadow of the leeward side of the roof and in the undulating thatch.

He had barely hidden himself when he heard the sound of banging on the door, roars, his mother and sister's terrified cries, and the rough sounds of servants searching the place.

Every sound lashed at his heart like a whip. He covered his mouth tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms, using the pain to fight against the guilt, anger, and helplessness that were tearing him apart.

As he listened to John's questioning, the servants' futile search, and Hugo and Edward's report that the Lex and Finn families had been captured... his heart sank deeper and deeper into an icy abyss.

His worst fears came true: his friends and their families fell into the clutches of the monsters, while he could only hide on the roof like a coward, unable to do anything.

The cold wind grew stronger and stronger, as if it were trying to take away the last bit of warmth from his body.

His limbs began to go numb, and his consciousness became somewhat blurred due to the cold and extreme mental stress.

But he forced himself to stay awake, his brain racing, thinking of every possible way out.

Now that Lex and Finn have been captured, and his mother and sister have fallen into John's hands, Jialan Village has become a den of thieves for him, leaving him isolated and helpless.

The only lifeline he could think of was Lord Karl of Fran City!

Lord Karl... is now the King's brother-in-law, a renowned hero Lord in the Northern Territory. How could John, a mere local tyrant from a remote village, possibly compare to him in terms of status and power?

If Lord Karl were willing to intervene, rescuing his mother, sister, Lex, and Finn shouldn't be difficult. This thought ignited a faint flame of hope in Tommy's almost frozen heart.

However, this glimmer of hope was soon overshadowed by heavy shame.

He was ordered to return to his hometown to recruit men, which was a good opportunity to demonstrate his abilities and repay the Lord's kindness.

But now? They haven't recruited many people, and instead, they've made a complete mess of things, even getting their own families involved. In the end, they have to turn to the Lord for help, causing trouble for Lord...

Thinking about this, Tommy felt his face burning with shame; he was so utterly useless!

Time ticked by in the cold and torment, and he lay on the roof like a forgotten ice sculpture.

The search continued for a long time, John, clearly unwilling to let him escape, ordered his servants and guards to expand the search area.

Through the gaps in the thatched roof, he saw the torchlight flickering irregularly across the village, heard the distant barking of dogs, the villagers' murmurs of discontent and fear as they were awakened, and the rough shouts and stomping of doors by the servants.

The entire Jialan Village was thrown into chaos and panic by this sudden nighttime search.

Tommy's heart was in his throat, fearing the search would extend to the roof.

Fortunately, perhaps because the rooftop was too cold and conspicuous on a winter night, or perhaps because they never expected Tommy to climb onto the roof, the search remained focused on the houses on the ground and the corners where he might be hiding.

As a faint, pale blue light appeared on the eastern horizon, the long night was finally drawing to a close.

The commotion and search below gradually subsided, the torches were extinguished one by one, the figures dispersed, and only the cold wind continued to howl.

John and his team clearly believed that Tommy might have escaped the village in the chaos or was hiding in some extremely secluded place that would be difficult to find for the time being, so they decided to temporarily call it a day, but would definitely strengthen the control over entry and exit from the village.

Tommy waited patiently for a long time until he was sure there was no more movement below and the sky had become brighter enough to see his surroundings clearly without making him too conspicuous.

His body was almost frozen and numb, sustained only by his indomitable will.

He moved his stiff joints extremely slowly, bit by bit, like a rusty machine, each movement accompanied by excruciating pain and numbness.

He carefully observed the yard and path below, and only after confirming that no one was there did he carefully and laboriously climb down the roof along the path he had come up from, landing on a pile of miscellaneous items behind the house with a slight sound, which was fortunately masked by the wind.

The moment his feet touched the ground, a sharp numbness and tingling sensation shot through him, nearly causing him to fall.

He leaned against the cold earthen wall, panting heavily, white steam billowing out.

We can't stop! We must leave immediately!