Chapter 491: Chapter 460, Escape_1
Because the carriage was moving too fast and shaking too violently, Daohua woke up after a short time, and Dong Yuanyao, Jiang Wanying, and Chen Jiarou also gradually came to.
Seeing Chen Jiarou about to speak, Daohua quickly made a shushing gesture. She didn’t want the people outside to discover that they had woken up and come in to knock them out again.
Once she saw that the three of them had pursed their lips and remained silent, Daohua continued to throw Fragrant Pills outside the window.
“There’s an inn up ahead, let’s grab a bite before we continue on our way.”
As voices came from outside the carriage, Daohua immediately signaled the other three to keep pretending to be unconscious while she herself lay flat in the carriage.
No sooner had the four of them closed their eyes, than the carriage door was opened.
“What about these?”
The one-eyed bruiser glanced at the four people in the carriage and, after a moment of silence, said, “Since they’re all still out cold, there’s no need to leave someone to watch over them.”
Baldy immediately cracked a smile, “Right, brothers, let’s get some grub.”
With a ‘bang’, the carriage door was closed again.
Inside the carriage, the four of them still lay there, feigning unconsciousness.
After a while, the carriage door was opened again.
Baldy looked into the carriage and said to the one-eyed bruiser with a smile, “Boss, they’re all still knocked out.” He shut the door, “You’re too cautious.”
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The one-eyed bruiser looked at the carriage, “These four are direct daughters carefully nurtured by their families, I have to be careful.”
Baldy wasn’t impressed, “No matter how well-bred, they’re still just weak women who can’t shoulder burdens or lift weights.”
The one-eyed bruiser couldn’t be bothered to argue and waved over four stout men, “Stand guard outside the carriage and don’t move an inch. When we’re done eating, we’ll come right out and replace you.”
One of the men chuckled, “Boss, rest easy. They are just some young ladies, we guarantee they won’t be lost.”
Only when the voices outside the carriage had faded did the four inside slowly open their eyes.
Looking at each other, they all breathed a sigh of relief in unison. That had been a close call; if any one of them had slipped up, they’d all have been doomed.
Daohua slowly propped herself up and listened to the noise outside before peeking through the cracks in the carriage window. Judging that the four men guarding them were just outside the door, she pondered for a moment, then pulled out a Sleeping Pill from her pouch and flicked it through the gap.
“Will it work?”
Dong Yuanyao smelled the air silently.
Daohua was unsure. The four men were some distance from the window. After thinking, she took out another Sleeping Pill and slipped it out through the gap in the door.
The four inside the carriage anxiously waited for a while before they heard the sound of someone hitting the ground.
“Zhuzi, Zhuzi!”
A rush of calls ensued, yet the voices gradually lowered, followed quickly by three more thuds.
Peering through the carriage window gap, Daohua carefully opened the door. Seeing the four men sprawled stiffly on the ground, she turned and said, “Let’s go quickly.” With that, she took the lead to open the door and jump down from the carriage.
The carriage was parked in the backyard of the inn, a place with few passersby and nobody was paying attention to their side.
Daohua looked around and, grabbing Dong Yuanyao, ran towards the main entrance while Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou supported each other, following closely behind.
After running out of the inn, the four of them realized that it was built on a desolate official road, with no village ahead and no shop behind; there were very few pedestrians.
“What do we do now?” Chen Jiarou asked anxiously.
Looking left and right, Daohua pulled Dong Yuanyao toward a small path and started running, saying, “We can’t take the official road, or we’ll be caught again by those people very soon.”
“Wait for us!”
Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou hurriedly pursued.
The four hadn’t run far when they heard a commotion from the inn, and their faces all changed simultaneously.
Daohua dared not look back, dragging Dong Yuanyao desperately forward, indifferent to the fate of Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou behind them.
“Clip-clop~”
The urgent sound of horse hooves came from behind, and Daohua, along with Dong Yuanyao, grew increasingly anxious. Just when they thought there was no escape, an urgent voice called out.
“Miss Yan… Miss, it’s me, quickly get on the carriage.”
Startled, Daohua turned back to see Sun Changze driving a horse carriage toward them, a brilliant light flashing in her eyes, she pulled Dong Yuanyao and ran back: “Yuanyao, we’re saved.”
Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou, lagging far behind, immediately recognized that Daohua knew the person coming after noting her delighted expression and turned around to run toward the carriage.
Seeing that Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou were with Daohua, Sun Changze stopped the carriage to let them on.
At that moment, the one-eyed man and his men rode after them on horseback.
“Not good, they’ve caught up with us.”
Daohua’s face changed, and she quickened her pace toward the carriage.
Seeing Jiang and Chen moving slowly, Sun Changze directly pulled them onto the carriage and without waiting for them to get settled, whipped the horses and drove the carriage toward Daohua and Dong Yuanyao.
“Quick, get on!”
As the carriage drew near, without waiting for it to come to a halt, Daohua pushed Dong Yuanyao onto it, and right after Dong Yuanyao clambered aboard, Daohua just reached out to grab the edge of the carriage, intending to pull herself up when the ‘whooshing’ sound of arrows shot past her ears.
Several arrows flew toward them, one striking right by Daohua’s hand.
Startled, Daohua’s grip loosened, and she tumbled backward to the ground.
Seeing this, Sun Changze immediately pulled on the reins, eager to stop the carriage. The horse, however, seemed frightened and rather than stopping, started to run even faster.
“Yiyi!”
Dong Yuanyao leaned out of the carriage window, anxiously shouting for Daohua.
Daohua struggled to rise and attempted to chase the carriage, but it was moving too swiftly, and she couldn’t catch up. Glancing back at the one-eyed man and his group, she bit her lip and yelled toward the carriage, “Go, don’t worry about me!”
Having said that, she turned and ran directly into the nearby mountain forest.
“Yiyi!”
Watching Daohua disappear into the forest, Dong Yuanyao felt a mix of urgency and concern while Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou hugged each other and remained silent with their heads bowed.
Sun Changze was equally frantic, pulling hard on the reins, trying to stop the horse. His reason for following had been all for Miss Yan, and now ironically, although he had rescued everyone else, he had left behind the very person he wanted to save.
Glancing back at the three girls inside the carriage, Sun Changze felt a splitting headache, almost wishing to abandon them and return for Daohua!
Meanwhile, Daohua had plunged into the forest. Her actions weren’t out of pure selflessness or heroism but because she had access to a magical space.
Moreover, as the one-eyed man’s targets were mainly Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou, it was unlikely they would go after her specifically, so her departure was beneficial for the group.
“I hope Sun Changze can lead Yuanyao and the others to evade pursuit!”
Daohua didn’t dare venture too deep into the forest, choosing instead a spot dense with shrubs to hide before swiftly entering her space.
Within the space, surrounded by lush greenery, Daohua’s tensed nerves relaxed, and she collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
She rarely entered the space, not out of reluctance but because activating the space consumed the land’s fertility. Each entry required nearly half a year of gathering plant essences to replenish the exhausted fertility.
With more and more people to look after, she felt even less inclined to enter the space.