They arrested the wrong person.

Forced to team up with Cang Jingqi, Han Jiang lost all motivation and chose to wander aimlessly through several alleys.

It's probably going to be very difficult to find the child. If he had simply gotten lost, Yinzhou City is only so big; he could have been found during the day.

It's highly likely they've encountered human traffickers. The only hope is that the Vermilion Bird Pavilion will catch someone suspicious and then follow the trail.

There isn't even a beggar gang nearby, so where could the child be taken?

I can't figure out what's going on with the cold weather.

Her steps were unsteady, she walked and stopped intermittently.

After leaving the south wall, I walked through the north alley, entered the west alley, and then strolled towards the east.

Cang Jingqi didn't seem to be in a hurry. As Han Jiang wandered around, he didn't get close, but silently followed behind.

I walked around in circles and ended up back where I started.

It's even more lively than before.

There are more and more night market stalls.

Then came the second lap—

No! Han Jiang suddenly stopped, took two steps back, and stared at the alley to the south: there was clearly a wall here just now.

She tried to follow the same route as the first time, but found that she couldn't proceed along the same path no matter what.

It's clear that turning right would get us out, but this time we have to turn left.

Han Jiang pressed his hand against the wall and knocked.

“It’s empty. There’s another alley on the other side of the wall,” Cang Jingqi said.

Han Jiang immediately turned around to confirm: "Don't you think the positions of these walls have changed?"

"Hmm, and then?" Cang Jingqi did not deny Han Jiang's discovery, but merely guided Han Jiang to continue.

Han Jiang said, "Stand here and don't move!"

After saying that, he ran out of the alley and then retraced his route.

After walking two intersections, Cang Jingqi vanished into thin air.

"Cang Jingqi!" Han Jiang shouted.

Cang Jingqi's reply came from the other side of the wall: "Han Xiaoman, what are you doing?"

The route is the same, but Cang Jingqi's location is different.

Seeing that Han Jiang hadn't found him yet, Cang Jingqi climbed over the wall and landed beside Han Jiang.

"Are you lost?" Cang Jing asked.

Han Jiang affirmed, "I won't get lost."

She can walk through any place she's been to once and then walk through it again. Her excellent sense of direction has meant that Hanjiang has never gotten lost in all these years.

She got lost once when she was little, but she managed to find her way home by herself.

"Don't move." Han Jiang narrowed his eyes, like in a detective novel, rubbed his chin with his right hand, observed the surroundings, and walked out of the alley again, repeating the previous actions.

This time, she met Cang Jingqi.

"I see! I understand!" Han Jiang said smugly.

Cang Jing chuckled, took out a folding fan, and pretended to watch a show, his eyes saying: Please analyze this.

Han Jiang, having received an expectant look from Cang Jingqi, began his speech: "Some people have designed traps or illusions in narrow alleys, so the direction of the route determines the direction of the next exit. For example, if I enter the alley from the east, the exit will be to the north; otherwise, it will be to the south."

"Then why did you take the same route the first two times, but the alley exits were different?"

"This..." Han Jiang was stumped by the question.

Cang Jing chuckled without saying a word, fanning himself as he approached the wall he had just climbed over.

The fan was waved towards the wall, and the wall gradually disappeared. A new wall reappeared behind the two of them, turning the exit that was originally passable into a dead end.

"A movable wall would definitely be spotted in such a busy city with high foot traffic, so it's most likely that it uses magic to swap the positions of the two walls, combined with an illusion," Cang Jingqi corrected. "You're right about the conditions for triggering the spell."

Han Jiang looked at the newly formed alley in front of her. There were no stalls around, and the city wall was just ahead.

Turning right leads to a dead end, turning left leads to another road.

If you turn left during the cold snap and follow that road, you can return to the original bustling city.

But when she returned the way she came, Cang Jingqi was gone again.

Before Han Jiang could even utter the word, Cang Jingqi suddenly appeared behind her.

She turned around and looked directly into Cang Jingqi's face.

"I'm here."

Without a fan to shield him, Cang Jingqi carried the folding fan on his back.

The quiet alley and the bustling main street were hidden from view by a wall that served as a distraction.

There are only two people here.

So close.

You can even hear their breathing.

Han Jiang hurriedly backed away, lowering her head: "Don't suddenly appear, it's kind of scary."

"I was just afraid you wouldn't be able to find me."

Cang Jingqi waved his fan again, and the alley in front of the two changed once more, just like the scene before.

“This is also part of the city wall.” Han Jiang wanted to walk forward, but Cang Jingqi stopped him.

Looking again, the city wall gradually blurred, turning into the exit of the alley.

The alleys near the bustling city center are all pretty much the same, and it's hard for the average person to tell them apart.

Chi Jin investigated and found that this area was not a bustling city before, but a garden that had been abandoned for a long time.

Later, in order to promote economic development, the government renovated the area and transformed it into a night market.

The alleyways are filled with warehouses for street vendors, and they all look almost identical.

In other words, there are no permanent residents here; even the vendors are only familiar with the location of their own warehouses.

No one would notice the wall moving or changing.

The magic tricks obscure people's path, making them mistakenly believe there is a wall, and the spells that confuse spiritual energy make them even more unpredictable.

"Do you remember that group of debt collectors we encountered at the teahouse?" Cang Jing asked.

Han Jiang nodded: "I remember."

Why did that person go gambling?

"I don't know." What other reason could there be for gambling?

"Han Xiaoman, you only saw half of this show. You don't even know the whole story," Cang Jing said sarcastically. "His child was lost, his wife ran away, so he went off to gamble and waste his life."

I still don't understand the connection between the cold weather and the arrival of winter.

“The child is missing.” Cang Jingqi repeated. “It seems that you, someone from another world, don’t care about this world. When we were strolling through Yinzhou City, everyone on the street was talking about how many children had disappeared. Some of them mysteriously reappeared at the city gate, seemingly out of their minds, while others never came back.”

She didn't care about Han Jiang. She didn't care much about the fictional world in the book; she would leave it eventually anyway.

She paid no attention to what people on the street were talking about or what was happening here.

Cang Jingqi was indeed a theater enthusiast, always wanting to know about everything, big or small.

"Don't you want to know where those children went?" Cang Jingqi continued.

Han Jiang looked at the city wall disguised as an exit, which led out of the city.

“I think so, but it shouldn’t be my responsibility. Now that we know the city wall has been enchanted, we should report it to the Vermilion Bird Pavilion as soon as possible. I’ll go find Senior Brother Chijin now.”

Han Jiang sometimes hates that she backs down at crucial moments, but she's just cannon fodder. What good would it do if she got involved?

If this is unrelated to the main plot, then the corresponding characters will handle it; if it is related to the main plot, then let the male and female leads deal with it.

It's not her turn.

"Han Xiaoman." Han Jiang heard Cang Jingqi call her name from behind.

She stopped in her tracks and hesitated for a second.

In just a second, Han Jiang's retreat was blocked.

That wasn't Cang Jingqi, it was a shadowy figure.

She had her back turned just now. When did Cang Jingqi disappear?

My first instinct when the cold winds came was to run, but the road I came from was blocked by a wall.

A wall has been moved here.

The only way out is outside the city walls.

"Not Hanqi?" The dark figure tilted its head, its tone disappointed.

"Yes, brother, you've arrested the wrong person," Han Jiang said apologetically.

The shadowy figure remained silent, presumably contemplating how to deal with the cold frost.

"Since you've come to the wrong person, why don't you just let me go?"

"Not very good." The shadowy figure found it amusing.

"Cang Jingqi! Help—" the cry for help came out of his mouth.

The rest of the words could not be uttered, as if all the sounds had vanished the moment they overflowed, unable to be condensed into a single sentence.

Cang Jingqi has also used this spell.

This shadowy figure is definitely from the Demon Palace; it uses the exact same magic as Cang Jingqi.

However, it is impossible to discern whether the person is male or female, making it impossible to determine their specific identity.

"Who are you calling? Cang Jingqi?"

Han Jiang was frozen in place as the dark figure approached step by step.

As if hearing something amusing, the shadowy figure pressed on, "What is your relationship with Cang Jingqi?"

His face was obscured by magic, appearing as a black mass.

Instead of catching people, the shadowy figure found something more interesting. He moved his hand close to Han Jiang's neck and hooked the air with his index finger.

A black line extended from the back of Han Jiang's neck, dissipating as the shadowy figure beckoned with its finger.

She can speak now.

Just as he was about to speak, he was cast a spell and muted again.

It was another dark figure. It jumped from outside the wall to Han Jiang's side.

Same height, same build, same voice.

Intentional disguise.

"You contacted the wrong person and wasted time?"

"Let's have some fun!" The shadowy figure didn't mention the relationship between Han Jiang and Cang Jingqi. "Have you taken care of the Suzaku Pavilion people?"

"Okay. You take her away first, I'll go find Hanqi. Be quick, and if we're discovered, destroy everything that hasn't been disposed of yet."

The two dark figures briefly met, then separated again.

Alright, this is the female lead's storyline!

Han Jiang was on the verge of tears; she was even prepared to slip away, but in the end, she still got involved.

Unable to move on her own, she could only let the shadowy figure lead her out of the city. As if remembering something, the shadowy figure pulled out a piece of black cloth and covered Han Jiang's eyes.

"You seem to have a good sense of direction, so it's better to cover you up."

Han Jiang thought to herself: You're quite thoughtful, aren't you?

But how could he know that he knew the way?

Losing sight greatly reduces Han Jiang's ability to determine direction.

After walking for a long time, the muddy ground turned into wooden planks.

After countless turns, the cold finally subsided.

The door slammed shut with a "bang".

Han Jiang remained immobilized. After a long while, presumably the shadowy figure had moved away, the spell on her dissipated automatically.

This immobilization spell, created by suppressing spiritual energy, will disappear once the person applying the suppression is too far away.

She pulled off the black cloth and looked around.

The room was small and had nothing in it.

A small window, nailed shut, let in only a little light.

It was completely dark outside.

The shadowy figure was really careless, leaving her here alone.

Hey! This time she's not some useless coward sitting around waiting to die; she has a fire talisman!

Hanjiang pulled out a fire talisman and lit it!

Even the smallest mosquito is still meat, and even the smallest flame is still fire!

The gentle training was effective.

With the faint light, Han Jiang became more visible.

The door has fire-retardant paint, so it looks like the courtyard of an important person.

She initially considered setting the window and door on fire, but then she thought, wouldn't that trap her in the flames? No, no, she didn't want to be turned into charcoal and carried out.

Han Jiang touched her waist and found that the short sword Cang Jingqi had given her earlier had been taken away by the shadowy figure.

Damn it, the only usable tool for committing the crime has been confiscated.

She banged on the door a few times, but aside from getting herself covered in dust, the door didn't budge.

The old antique is still so sturdy.

The arrival of cold weather has dampened my spirits somewhat.

No, try again!

Always relying on others to save you is not the style of a good young person in the new era!

—But it can be a style of giving up and becoming cannon fodder: Please, someone save my life!

Just as Han Jiang slammed into the door, it suddenly opened: someone had come to save him!

She stopped abruptly in time to avoid rushing into the man's arms.

Are you alright?