Chapter 33 Deep in the alley, two adults and one child…

Deep in the alley, two large and one small figures emerged from the mist, with two of them standing beside Xie Baoqiong, who had fallen to the ground.

The other person walked towards Qi Gui at the alley entrance:

"My lord, the Fox Fairy's order is to only take the boy from the Marquis's residence. What should we do with this extra boy?"

Xie Baoqiong, who was closing her eyes and slowing her breathing, was secretly alarmed upon hearing this. This group of people was actually after him.

He rarely went out in Yanjing, so it was impossible for him to have offended anyone. Therefore, it could only be related to his entanglement with Princess Huayang back then.

He released the spiritual power he had been secretly preparing for a surprise attack, and pretended to be completely unconscious, intending to take this opportunity to find out who was behind it all.

"Should we...?"

From the angle that Xie Baoqiong, who was pretending to be unconscious, could peek out, the tall, thin figure next to Qi Gui gestured to his neck.

The short man, referred to as "the adult," took a bite of the candied hawthorn in his hand.

The crackling sound echoed in the quiet alley.

The tiger's teeth bit into the sugar coating, and spiderweb-like patterns appeared on the amber-colored sugar shell.

He bit the whole sugar-coated hawthorn off the skewer and into his mouth. The broken sugar shell connecting the two hawthorns rustled and fell onto the bluestone bricks. He chewed the hawthorn in his mouth without answering the tall, thin man's question.

The burly man beside him spoke first: "Fatty Ji, we've already pulled off so many heistes, one more won't make a difference. Let's bring him back too."

The tall, thin Ji Fei hoisted Qi Gui from the ground onto his shoulder: "There's no way to hide so many people in the car. If this kid doesn't have any spiritual roots, the higher-ups won't want him."

Adding him along would significantly increase the risk; the horses would get tired, and the cost of feed and fodder would be much higher.

Hearing the two disagree on how to handle Qi Gui, Xie Baoqiong, who was lying on the ground, couldn't help but feel anxious again.

Although he intended to use this matter to his advantage, he had no intention of involving unrelated people.

The reason Qi Gui was pushed out of the fog was in the hope that he would be spotted by passersby.

If the two ultimately decide to deal with Qi Gui, he will certainly not stand idly by.

A heavy footstep sounded beside him, unlike the footsteps of a cultivator. It must have been the most robust of the three who moved to his side. The footsteps stopped, and he put aside his thoughts, waiting for the man's next move.

The sound of fabric rubbing was almost right next to his ear. He remained motionless, lying on the ground, ready to act at the slightest sign of trouble.

A pair of hands landed on his waist, lifted him from the ground, and hoisted him onto a shoulder.

A rough voice rang out, refuting Ji Fei's words: "If the higher-ups don't want it, we can sell it somewhere else."

"Hey, all that money is ours! We'll buy ourselves a couple of jugs of good wine later." Halfway through his sentence, Cai Shun nudged Xie Baoqiong on his shoulder, adjusted her position, chuckled twice, and glanced at the small figure who had been maintaining the mist: "And buy some candy for our Master Xiao Mei too."

Ah Mei chewed on the hawthorn that was starting to taste sour, glanced up at Xie Baoqiong on Cai Shun's shoulder, whose face was half-hidden by her long hair, and, seemingly unconcerned about their argument, greeted her:

"Let's get out of the city quickly before the gates close."

Upon hearing this, Ji Fei and Cai Shun carried the person to Amei's side. White mist emanated from Amei and swept over the other people present, becoming so thick in the center that it was almost impossible to see the people around them.

After a cup of tea, the white mist in the alley was blown away by the wind, and no one was left in sight, only a scattered brocade handkerchief.

"The weather is dry, so be careful with fire."

The sound of a gong striking a wooden clapper rang out at the alley entrance. The night watchman glanced at the faint white mist in the alley and said to his companion beside him, "Could it be that there's a fire in the alley? I'll go check it out first. If something's wrong, you go and call for help as soon as possible."

But after walking from one end of the alley to the other, Cao Huimin couldn't see where the white mist was coming from, which he found strange.

On the way back, Cao Huimin noticed that the fog had thinned out a bit, and assumed that some children had taken advantage of the temple fair to play with fire in the alley and had run away when they saw people coming.

He shook his head, no longer interested in pursuing the matter, and walked out of the alley with his lantern to reunite with his companions.

Just as I was about to leave the alley, I could vaguely see something lying on the bluestone bricks.

He picked it up and examined it closely by the lantern. It turned out to be a fine silk handkerchief, which he felt was worth several coins.

He looked around but saw no one. After some hesitation, he put the bag in his pocket and went home to discuss with his wife whether to keep it and sell it or leave it at the government office to exchange it for its owner.

Leaving the alley entrance, he saw his companion looking at him. He concealed the fact that he had found the handkerchief, saying only that there was no fire in the alley, and continued walking to the next street, one carrying a lantern and the other banging a gong.

At the city gate, a carriage, taking advantage of the darkness, drove towards the outskirts of the capital.

After driving for a few miles, we suddenly stopped beside a field ridge.

A figure emerged from the shadows and walked to the front of the carriage, tossing a cloth bag at the driver.

"The thing is inside." The deliberately lowered voice made it impossible to discern the speaker's identity.

Ji Fei stretched out his long arm, caught the cloth bag that was thrown to him, tossed it aside without even looking at it, and praised:

"As expected of Yan Shuo, the famous chivalrous thief of Dasheng, he managed to outmaneuver those people from the government office."

"I've given you the goods, but what about the remaining payment?"

"The remaining balance," Ji Fei said, giving Cai Shun, who was controlling the reins, a meaningful look.

Upon receiving the signal, Cai Shun flicked the reins, the horses in front neighed, and the carriage sped away, kicking up dust.

Upon seeing this, Yan Shuo reacted instantly, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and chased after the carriage.

Ji Fei observed the movement behind the carriage. Seeing that the person was chasing closely, he clicked his tongue, lifted the curtain, and nudged Amei, who was sleeping at the carriage door.

Amei, still half asleep with sugar crumbs on her lips, was disturbed from her sweet dream and sat up, rubbing her eyes in annoyance.

"Lord Mei, I'm afraid we'll have to trouble you to deal with the pursuers behind us."

"You ordinary people can deal with this yourselves." With a curt remark, Amei still leaned out of the carriage to check on the pursuers behind the carriage.

Seeing that there was only one person, he became even more impatient and immediately retreated into the carriage.

Upon hearing the sound, Xie Baoqiong, who had just started to move, immediately lay back down when she saw the person return.

He heard everything that was happening outside the carriage from inside.

It turns out that the thieves in the east of the city were also arranged by this group, mostly to distract the government officials.

It seems this group of people went to great lengths to catch him.

A few whips cracked outside the carriage, and the carriage beneath them sped up, inevitably bumping along the uneven road.

Ah Mei, who had just lain down beside him, was thrown up by the jolt and made a sound.

A ray of moonlight shone on Xie Baoqiong's face, then quickly disappeared.

The presence beside him faded away with the dimming light, and he realized that Amei had left the carriage again.

Xie Baoqiong sat up and looked to the side. The group of people outside the carriage did not seem to be particularly wary of them.

They were simply thrown into the carriage unattended, and their bodies were only bound by a simple rope, without any special methods being used.

The pursuers outside were also half-accomplices of the kidnappers. Although a dispute broke out between the two sides, Xie Baoqiong did not care who won or lost, as she did not know how the pursuers would treat them.

Taking advantage of the empty carriage, he first checked on the condition of the other children, and found that apart from Qi Gui, who had been kidnapped with him, there was no one else.

The others all had rosy complexions and were breathing heavily, but like Qi Gui, they were unconscious.

He approached Qi Gui, who was closest to him, observed him briefly, then pressed his forehead against Qi Gui's body and probed in with spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy circulated through Qi Gui's meridians and finally dissipated within Qi Gui's body.

Just then, the carriage stopped jolting abruptly, and Xie Baoqiong rolled over, closed her eyes, and lay back in her original position.

The next instant, the carriage curtain was suddenly lifted, and a scent with a honey-like fragrance lay close to him.

After Amei entered the carriage, the outside noise subsided. Xie Baoqiong guessed that Amei had used the white mist that had taken him and Qi Gui away to move them to a different location.

The carriage slowed down and swayed along the path. About half an incense stick later, even breathing could be heard near the carriage door.

Xie Baoqiong was the only one still awake in the carriage.

He opened his closed eyes; Qi Gui was on his right, and A Mei was on his left.

Qi Gui had just checked and found it was just normal drowsiness; he estimated he would wake up tomorrow.

He shifted his attention to Amei on the floor to his left. Amei looked like a six or seven-year-old human child. At that moment, he was sleeping with his eyes closed, one hand clenched into a fist in front of his chest, curled up, making his already small body appear even smaller.

It would be hard for anyone to guess that he was the strongest of the three.

A hushed discussion could be faintly heard outside the carriage. Cai Shun spoke first:

"Why would you order him around? He won't obey our orders. Even the Fox Spirit might not be able to command him, except for that old man's orders."

"Hey, he still made a move, didn't he?" Ji Fei didn't care much about Cai Shun's words, and then immediately took credit, saying, "I saved both of our efforts."

"Yes, yes, you're so clever. Otherwise, Yan Shuo would be quite troublesome." Cai Shun replied, his hands gripping the reins, his mind focused on the task at hand.

After receiving approval, Ji Fei's tone became even more disdainful:

"Besides, he's just a spirit with congenital defects, and he's not very smart. He only lives such a comfortable life because the Fox Fairy doesn't care about him."

Although the two spoke very quietly, Xie Baoqiong heard everything. He looked at Amei knowingly. No wonder the aura he sensed at the temple fair didn't seem like some kind of monster, but rather seemed to be deliberately disguised as a human aura.

If a spirit is born with congenital defects, it will indeed have this mottled aura. It will usually imitate the aura of the things around it. If it is born in a group, over time, its aura will become purer.

But it's not surprising that a spirit like Amei, who has lived among humans for a long time, would become tainted with human scents, making its aura neither demonic nor human.

But, Lady Fox Deity...

This is the second time they have mentioned these four words. Could it be that Princess Huayang's accident is related to a demon?

Xie Baoqiong sighed inwardly. What he thought would be a simple matter turned out to be increasingly complicated.

After gathering his thoughts, he closed his eyes to rest and prepare for the upcoming meeting with the "Fox Spirit."

Just before he closed his eyes, Amei, who was lying on his left, suddenly opened his eyes and propped up his small body with one hand, moving closer to him.