It was late afternoon, and the gates of the Blue Pole Town were unusually quiet.
Apart from the two guards at the gate, there weren't many people passing through, mainly because this was the hottest time of the day.
The two guards, Ding Qi and Han Chao, were lazing around, looking over to the empty road.
Halfway through their shift, a man came strolling from inside of the city. Noticing the two guards, he made his way over to them.
Ding Qi and Han Chao greeted the man with a friendly smile, and Han Chao went into the room to drink some cold water and quench his thirst.
On the other hand, Ding Qi moved his head and gestured at the man to ask what he was looking for.
"E-ex-excuse-se-se m-m-me" The man stammered.
Ding Qi stared at the man, and without responding, he turned the other way.
The man was miffed for a moment but then asked again.
"E-ex-excuse-se-se m-m-me!-! Do-do y-you kn-no-know if th-the-there i-is a ca-carri-carriage for C-Capital Ci-City?-?"
Again Ding Qi looked at the man, and with a sigh, he looked away.
Getting fed up with the rudeness, he tried again, the agitation showing in his stammering voice.
"I-IS THERE CAR-CARRI-CARRIAGE F-FOR CAPI-CAPITAL CI-CITY?!-?!"
With a frustrated look on his face again, Ding Qi looked at the man and looked away.
The man, obviously fed up, walked away in a huff.
Han Chao, who had noticed the scene from the room, came out and walked up to his colleague.
"Mate," He said, "What happened? I didn't hear it clearly, but why didn't you respond? That was very rude."
Ding Qi looked at his brother and said, "D-DO YA-YOU WA-WANT MA-MA-ME TA-TO GE-ET PU-UNCHED I-IN THE-A FA-FACE!!-!!"
*tigdig* *tigdig*
Just then, hooves of running horses echoed, and two carriages went past them; leading those carriages was another man on a Ferghana horse.
The guards turned their heads to them, but seeing the Fu Clan symbol, they didn't say anything else.
The man leading the carriage was precisely Ye Tian Yun.
He was heading ahead under the pretense of scouting.
'It's not like I will really meet anymore ambushes anyway.'
With this thought, he marched forward, straight towards the direction of the Silver Mist City.
Behind him were two carriages. However, the distance between the carriages and Ye Tian Yun was slowly increasing.
Fu Kai handled the first carriage, and on it were Jun Xie and Kai Yang.
While Qing Shen led the second one, and inside it was Xiao Ming and Yuan Shuchun.
"Why do I feel there's something fishy in the way Shu Xian was acting?" Yuan Shuchun suddenly said.
Xiao Ming, who had his arms wrapped around her shoulders, smiled and said, "He's most probably acting unnaturally because his mental state is in a mess. You have confronted him, and now he doesn't know what to do."
Yuan Shuchun pursed her lips and nodded her head, "Maybe you're right, but the way he was acting was very different from the Shu Xian I have known over the past few years."
"Not only was he raising his voice in front of me, but he was also suggesting ideas without consulting me. It was as if he was a whole different person."
Xiao Ming shook his head, "You're worrying too much. It's alright."
Yuan Shuchun pursed her lips, "I don't know, but the way he was hurrying to get ahead and go to scout the area was very suspicious. There's definitely something big going on. He might be onto something."
Yuan Shuchun pursed her lips, "I don't know, but the way he was hurrying to get ahead and go to scout the area was very suspicious. There's definitely something big going on, he might be onto something."
Xiao Ming slightly frowned, "Yeah, can't ignore that. Even though I felt something was off, I didn't care much."
Yuan Shuchun let out a sigh, "I don't know what's he planning, but he better not do something stupid, or he won't even know how he lost his life."
"You will kill him?" Xiao Ming asked.
Yuan Shuchun shook her head, "I won't even get the chance."
"Then who?" Xiao Ming was a bit confused, "Don't tell me you were referring to Peak Master Duan?"
Yuan Shuchun thought of a moment and shook her head.
"I don't know where Peak Master Duan is. Most probably Sect Leader Su just said it to boost our confidence."
Xiao Ming narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything.
Yuan Shuchun let out a sigh and closed her eyes.
'Xiao Ming, there's a lot you need to do before you can gain my trust.'
Yuan Shuchun's heart may have melted for him, but it was still very hard for her to trust anyone.
Peak Master Duan was her trump card in this mission, and she wanted it to keep it that way.
If something happened to her, she didn't wish to let the enemy know about Peak Master Duan's presence.
This is why she didn't even confide about it to the only person she ever liked.
'As for Shu Xian… let's see what he's planning.'
While Yuan Shuchun was confused over Ye Tian Yun's actions, Jun Xie too was thinking about everything that had happened.
'Shu Xian is acting… different.'
He was sure about this. But what confused him, even more, was Shu Xian's interaction with Yuan Shuchun.
'They were acting like strangers…'
He couldn't wrap his mind around the situation, and Shu Xian's eagerness to go and scout ahead of them caught him off guard.
After a few minutes of thought, Jun Xie finally shook his head and gave up on worrying too much.
'There's no need to waste my time on thinking about this.'
'What I need to focus on is finding a way to get out of here…'
Jun Xie wanted to disappear.
...
a/n: this chapter is yet to be edited.. I am still writing, so please leave a comment if you see any typos or errors. ty