The executioner who heard the order from King Hoacun took a step forward while playing the sword he was carrying towards Li, Commander Zhang panicked even more. But Li was still Li, he was not at all afraid to see the sword that was about to cut his neck. He just closed his eyes as if signaling that he was ready to die today.
"Please think again, King! Forgive, Li," said Commander Zhang
"There is no mercy for a thief like him," said King Hoacun.
Commander Zhang also tried to think harder to find a way how he could greet Li, whose life would be lost in a matter of seconds. Suddenly an idea appeared in Commander Zhang's mind.
"I will replace Li's head with Ming Hao's head!" said Commander Zhang
"Give me three days, I will bring Ming Hao's head to Your Majesty directly," he added.
I don't know if Commander Zhang will be able to do it later because it's such a tough mission, but he doesn't care about it at the moment. But Commander Zhang was quite sure King Hoacun would be interested in his offer.
"Stop!" said King Hoacun asked his Executioner.
"You will bring Ming Hao's head to me if I spare him? Are you sure you can do it?" asked the Hoacun King.
"Sure, Sire! I'm sure I can do it. Give me three days," said Commander Zhang firmly.
"Then what if you fail?"
"I am ready to relinquish my post as commander in chief and will isolate myself as far as possible if I fail to bring Ming Hao's head before Your Majesty!" said Commander Zhang
"Just that?"
Still doubting Commander Zhang's abilities because he is the new commander in the Komo Kingdom. Many times since long ago he had asked his great men to carry out the mission, but kept failing. King Komo immediately thought if this was a good opportunity, he would take advantage of this situation to test how capable his new warlord was.
"Servant's Life! My neck is ready to be cut off with Li if I fail," said Commander Zhang bravely.
"Okay! But on one condition, you may not bring a single soldier from the kingdom. You can only invite him" said King Haocun while pointing at Li
Had doubts because he knew the number of members of Mesui's group was not small. It's very, very difficult and feels impossible if you have to conquer all of them just the two of them. But the promise has been spoken, it is forbidden for a warrior like him to take it back. Li's life safety is Commander Zhang's priority at this time.
"Okay Sire, I'm ready!" said Commander Zhang
The concubine who did not accept King Hoacun's decision, she kept trying to persuade him not to cancel the execution plan. But hearing Commander Zhang's attractive offer, King Hoacun didn't care about his concubine's persuasion anymore. Li was finally able to be released temporarily and taken by Commander Zhang away from the palace.
**
Some time later in the royal courtyard…
Li was no other person to Commander Zhang, he already considered Li like his own younger brother. Li is the only child of a servant who used to work at Grandpa Zhang's house. However, when Li was a child, his mother died and left him with Commander Zhang's family. Educated by Grandpa Zhang, Li was proficient in martial arts, so Commander Zhang asked King Hoacun to make him his warlord.
"I won't scold you because I'm sure you didn't do anything like that. But I want you to tell me how you got slandered like that," said Commander Zhang.
"I don't know either, Commander! suddenly when I woke up there was already a naked maid beside me and the soldiers had surrounded me" said Li
"Jewelry problem?" asked Commander Zhang.
"I also don't know, suddenly they found the jewelry under my bed," said Li.
"I knew from the start that this was all just a game. But who did it?" said Commander Zhang.
"But all that is not important now, Commander! the most important thing is how we can succeed in carrying out the Commander's crazy mission for the sake of saving lives, Commander!" said Li.
"Even if I was forced to die today, actually I don't care anymore," Li said casually.
"You are so stupid!" said Commander Zhang while hitting Li on the head.
Invite Li to go to his house first to make a plan. Commander Zhang also had to say goodbye to his wife because she would be gone for days and there was a chance that she might never come back.
"Going to the border for three days? How long, my husband? Is the kingdom's security currently under threat?" said Fang Yin who was surprised to hear that her husband would be gone for a long time.
"No, my wife! The king only asked me to check the security conditions in the border area. Only that!" said Commander Zhang who was forced to lie
"I'll be home in three days. I promise I will bring you beautiful jade gifts later," added Commander Zhang.
"I'll go first with Li, you take good care of yourself at home," said Commander Zhang as he hugged his wife tightly.
He couldn't bear it, because he was afraid that this would be his last meeting with Fang Yin, because he knew that if this mission was very difficult, his life would be at stake if he failed to bring Ming Hao's head before the Hoacun King. But all these worries, Commander Zhang tried to hide deeply.
"Be careful, my husband! I will always wait for your return," said Fang Yi while kissing her husband's lips.
Saying if it was the King's order, Fang Yin naturally couldn't stop her husband from leaving. It wasn't the first time that her husband had been gone for so many days, but for some reason Fang Yin felt extremely anxious and worried about her husband.
***
Two days later the nights in the forest...
It's been two days and one night Commander Zhang and Li roaming the forest looking for the headquarters of the Mesui Group. According to the information they received, Ming Hao and his group lived in a house in the middle of the country's border forest. Fatigue had begun to attack the two of them, the food supplies they brought had also run out. Li also looked exhausted and wanted to give up, but Commander Zhang tried to keep his spirits up.
"Commander! I was not strong anymore. We'd better rest here for a while," said Li.
"We don't have much time, Li! My instincts tell me that their hiding place is not far from here," said Commander Zhang.
"But I'm really about to run out of energy, Commander!" said Li.
"Alright, let's rest here for a bit. Fortunately these two days the moon is very bright"said Commander Zhang
Suddenly Commander Zhang covered Li's mouth with his hand. He thought he saw someone running from behind the tree in front of them. Commander Zhang felt something suspicious, there was no way an ordinary person would dare to run around in the middle of the night in the middle of the wilderness like that.
"Quickly grab your sword and follow me!" Commander Zhang said to Li.
Trying to follow where that person is going. Commander Zhang suspected that the person running was a Mesui. Because at a glance he saw that person wearing the same clothes as the person Commander Zhang killed the other day.