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Published at 6th of April 2022 06:04:01 PM


Chapter 377: Being Traced and Trace

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Shi Qingxue blinked naughtily and smiled at leisure. “He lets them follow you, not us.”

“What you or us? Isn’t it the same?”

Wei Zichao was more confused after hearing Shi Qingxue’s words, but she dug out two prepared packages in the carriage and then threw one of them to Mo Junyang.

Mo Junyang caught the package, and the two started to pick something in their own packages by tacit agreement.

Later, the two looked up almost at the same time.

Seeing that Wei Zichao stared blankly, Shi Qingxue asked in surprise, “Why are you still here?”

Wei Zichao was puzzled. “Why am I here? No, no, My Lady, Master, what do you plan to do?”

He didn’t understand their actions.

Shi Qingxue finally remembered that they hadn’t told Wei Zichao about his task.

“Hmm, go and bring two horses.”

Wei Zichao didn’t understand. He wanted to ask more, but Mo Junyang glared at him coldly.

He had to do it obediently.

Shi Qingxue pondered for a moment and then turned to Mo Junyang. “Should I be dressed as a man for convenience’s sake?”

Mo Junyang didn’t care. “It’s fine. We will take another road then, and it’s the same no matter what you wear.”

“Right.” Qingxue nodded in agreement and stopped hesitating.

When Wei Zichao brought two horses, Dong Shuang came with him and opened her big confused eyes wide. They didn’t know what their masters planned to do.

Dong Shuang thought that she was favored by Shi Qingxue. Under Wei Zichao’s meaningful glance, she asked boldly at once, “My Lady, why did you ask for horses?”

Shi Qingxue didn’t keep her in suspense but told them in detail, “Later, Dong Shuang, put on my clothes and wear a veil to disguise as me, and Zichao will find somebody to dress up as Junyang. You will sit in our carriage. The pursuers just know the carriage yet can’t recognize the people. As long as you don’t show your faces to them, it won’t be exposed.”

“But how about you and Master?” Wei Zichao asked in an instant.

Shi Qingxue’s plan seemed to be able to fool the pursuers, while she didn’t mention herself and Mo Junyang, so Wei Zichao was restless.

Shi Qingxue smiled and patted Wei Zichao’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. After we reach the fork road ahead, I and Junyang will leave on the other road on horseback, while you will move on in the carriage. In this way, even if the pursuers rack their brains, they can’t guess that I and Junyang are nowhere to be seen.

“We will take a shortcut and go to Jiangzhou first. Then we can check the actual situation better.”

After hearing that, Wei Zichao got anxious immediately. “How can you do that? You take actions alone, and how can you ensure your safety? No, no. Absolutely not.”

Were they joking?

He knew that there were enemies tracing them, but he let Mo Junyang and Shi Qingxue go away alone.

If there were accidents, he couldn’t remedy it even after he committed suicide.

“Don’t worry. As long as we fool the pursuers’ ears and eyes, nobody can find me and Junyang. How would we have an accident?” Shi Qingxue comforted him patiently and told him about the advantages to do that.

Mo Junyang had chosen to visit Jiangzhou in secret, and in this way, he could ensure that they would enter Jiangzhou without being found by the government.

Wei Zichao was convinced yet still worried, so he suggested, “If you insist, bring me. Although I am incapable, I will ensure your safety till death.”

Shi Qingxue said, “All people know that you are Junyang’s bodyguard. If you are missing, will they believe that he is in the carriage?”

“Send several more guards to follow you,” Wei Zichao advised again.

He had sufficient reasons this time. “Think about it. It will take a few days to go to Jiangzhou. If you have nobody around to take care of you and prepare everything, how can you make it? You should bring somebody to serve you.”

Shi Qingxue wanted to say that they didn’t come out to have a travel. How would they need somebody to follow and serve them?

However, seeing that Wei Zichao looked stubborn as though he wouldn’t let them go if they didn’t take somebody, Shi Qingxue shrugged and turned to Mo Junyang.

Anyway, he figured out this idea, and he should naturally deal with problems caused by it.

In the beginning, Mo Junyang kept silent all the time.

Till all people looked at him, he made a decision in a cold voice. “Ziye follows us. You move on.”

Wei Zichao was confident about Wei Ziye’s loyalty and martial skills, so he nodded in agreement in the end. “Yes.”

After they discussed everything, they continued to move ahead.

In less than one hour, they came to a fork road. Mo Junyang and his two companions rode fast horses on the other road.

Wei Zichao pitched a camp in a forest next to the crossing.

Dong Shuang had changed into Shi Qingxue’s clothes. After she was covered with a veil, even Wei Zichao couldn’t tell their difference when he saw her from behind.

However, no matter how much they were alike, Dong Shuang was not Shi Qingxue, nor did she have the young lady’s experience.

Hearing Wei Zichao’s arrangements, she asked in confusion, “Wei, it is still early now. Why not continue with the trip? Perhaps there is a village or town ahead and we can get accommodation and have a rest.”

If somebody else asked such a stupid question, Wei Zichao would disdain to answer.

Nevertheless, Dong Shuang asked, so Wei Zichao answered her and even explained to her patiently, “We take two different ways in order to prevent the pursuers from finding that the masters have separated from us in advance.

“Even if the pursuers find it, as long as we stay here to mislead them, they won’t dare to chase us rashly. Then we can ensure that the masters won’t be followed in the following days.”

Dong Shuang pondered for a moment and then looked as if she was suddenly enlightened, exclaiming with admiration, “It’s true. Wei, you are awesome. You are so thoughtful. Why can’t I figure it out?”

Wei Zichao was praised by the woman he loved, and his tan face had a suspicious blush.

He was over the moon but still said modestly, “It’s nothing. If you go out frequently, you will know it.”

Dong Shuang said with disappointment, “I begged Lady Qingxue this time, so she brought me. I don’t know if I have such a chance in the future.”

“Don’t worry. I will take you out if we are free in the future,” Wei Zichao couldn’t help but promise.

However, it was uncertain if such a promise could be fulfilled.

Dong Shuang certainly wouldn’t think so much. She got happy at once. “Okay. It’s a deal. You can’t cheat me.”

Wei Zichao’s eyes got soft. “I won’t.”

They ate and drank and then set out again till noon.

About one hour later after they left the fork, one man riding a fast horse came here.

This man jumped off the horse’s back and checked the two roads respectively. Then he chose the road with a rutted track and then chased on horseback.

After about fifteen minutes, a group of seven or eight men in black came. They were covered tightly and their faces couldn’t be seen clearly. Only their black eyes were revealed. They looked almost the same, and the leader in the front had a red rope tied to his wrist.

They stopped at the fork on horseback. The second man in black led the people in the rear and got off the horse’s back to check the two roads.

Then he ran to the leader and reported, “Boss, they must have left on this road. Let’s continue to chase them.”

The man in black called boss raised his hand and stopped that man, saying coldly, “His Excellency is full of cunning tricks, and this thing is not so simple. All of you, check everything around carefully to see if there are traces left.”

“Yes!”

The others scattered and checked everything around.

Soon, somebody found the small bonfires left by the road, and they could conclude that some people had stopped here, and judging from the traces, they left on the way ahead.

The man in black reported the information to the boss, but the latter just looked around, seeming to look for something.

After a while, he seemed to have found something and jumped off the horse’s back at once, running to a big tree.

There were bonfires not far away from this tree, and he thought that they had roasted some food here.

The men in black surrounded him in an instant and asked in confusion, “Boss, what’s wrong?”

“Look at this.” The leader pointed to somewhere at the root of the tree. There was a picture carved by an edged tool.

It was just a common butterfly, yet it was strange.

The butterfly’s left wing was broken and not carved. Only the right wing was left, and it was flying, looking beautiful and weird.

“Er!” The man in black opened his eyes wide in astonishment.

He knew this picture, and it was their organization’s totem. Its left wing was broken at the fork, which meant…

He pointed to the other path nobody showed any interest in and asked hesitantly, “Doesn’t it mean…”

The leader nodded. “Right. With His Excellency’s cautiousness, it’s not surprising that he would change his track.”

“But there is a rutted track here, and the carriage must go on this way.” The subordinate still looked unsure.

He even told his people to run for miles following the rutted track, which didn’t break or change the direction. It was not like being forged.

Moreover, this butterfly picture which showed up suddenly came from nowhere, and it was uncertain if it was reliable.

The leader said, “The picture was drawn by our people.”

The subordinate goggled. Didn’t it mean that there were their spies in the travel group of King Rui’s heir?

He still wanted to ask, while the leader didn’t give him a chance but assigned tasks to the others.

Perhaps the leader considered that man’s suggestion, so he didn’t tell all people to go to the road on the right but dispatched three people to move ahead and told them to pay attention on the way and check if there were similar butterfly pictures.

Then the leader led four subordinates to chase on the right path.




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