Su Xiaoning was still asleep, with a faint smile on her face, completely unaware of her current situation.
Su Qingcai's face was flushed red. He was so close to her that they could hear each other's breathing. They were just like an ordinary couple, laughing and talking about life when they were awake, and falling asleep in each other's arms at night.
For no apparent reason, he recalled what Su Xiaoning had said earlier: they were husband and wife, but they usually addressed each other as brother and sister; these were all "little pleasures" that couldn't be spoken aloud...
He hadn't thought anything of Su Xiaoning calling him "brother" before, but thinking about it now, his body inexplicably felt hot.
Su Qingcai smacked his head hard at his overthinking head. He had originally wanted to sleep on the floor, but Su Xiaoning had squeezed him to the very back, making it difficult to get out. Besides, he didn't really want to be far away from her...
Oh well, let's just pretend this night was a dream.
Su Qingcai gritted her teeth, forcibly suppressing her chaotic thoughts, and closed her eyes to prepare for sleep, but she couldn't fall asleep no matter what. She could only open her eyes in frustration and stare quietly at Su Xiaoning's profile.
After a tense night, Su Xiaoning slept soundly the next day and stretched comfortably.
"I slept so well...wait, why am I in bed?"
Su Xiaoning was surprised to find herself sleeping in bed, and Su Qingcai was nowhere to be seen.
She got out of bed to go look for someone when suddenly the door opened and Su Qingcai came in carrying a plate of breakfast.
"Did you take pity on me last night and switch sleeping spots with me?" Su Xiaoning blinked and asked Su Qingcai without thinking much.
Su Qingcai's heart tightened. He dared not say that it wasn't a change of seats at all, but that the two of them had slept together. He could only nod silently, which was considered as acknowledging Su Xiaoning's guess.
Su Xiaoning didn't pay much attention. After washing up, she sat down at the table to eat breakfast. But when she looked up, she saw two big dark circles under Su Qingcai's handsome face. "Oh my god, did you switch seats with me last night so you didn't sleep well? Look at your handsome face, it's going to be ruined by dark circles. Listen to me, don't do this next time. I can make you some soup to nourish you..."
"So verbose!"
Su Qingcai's face flushed, and after shouting, she stormed off.
Su Xiaoning didn't know what was wrong with Su Qingcai. She muttered, "What a strange person," and then carelessly put the matter out of her mind.
...
After resting and having breakfast at the inn, Bai Hua came to find Su Xiaoning and Su Qingcai, urging them to leave quickly.
Seeing that Bai Hua was wearing Ding Yi's clothes, Su Qingcai frowned and asked, "You and Ding Yi swapped clothes? You also want to be a bodyguard?"
"Don't worry about it, just hurry up and leave." Bai Hua avoided answering and left in a fluster.
Su Xiaoning and Su Qingcai exchanged a glance, seeing the same confusion in each other's eyes.
Since arriving in Tongcheng, Bai Hua's behavior had been quite strange, arousing suspicion. However, they did need to hurry on their way, so Su Xiaoning and Su Qingcai didn't pay too much attention, gathered their people, and left the inn.
There happened to be a notice board by the roadside, and Su Xiaoning, out of curiosity, went over to take a look. The notice board displayed a portrait of the person responsible for the entire manhunt. The more Su Xiaoning looked, the more alarmed she became; she felt she had seen this person's face somewhere before…
Su Xiaoning glanced at the line thoughtfully, and was immediately startled.
That's clearly a white birch tree in the portrait!
She had been so careful, thinking the person searching the city was Su Qingcai, but it turned out to be Bai Hua! What is Bai Hua's connection to Tongcheng?
Su Xiaoning was very puzzled and was about to ask Bai Hua when suddenly a group of men in black rushed out from the side, wielding swords and knives and slashing at them!
This happened so unexpectedly, and with so many men in black, Su Qingcai and the others struggled to hold them off and soon found themselves at a disadvantage.
In the chaos, Su Qingcai pulled Su Xiaoning into his arms. He held her tightly, but turned his back to the enemy.
Even if it means death, he will protect Su Xiaoning.
Moved, Su Xiaoning gritted her teeth and wanted to fight the group of men in black. However, after defeating them, the men in black did not linger and rushed past Su Qingcai and Su Xiaoning.
They actually—kidnapped Ding Yi!
Ding Yi was knocked unconscious and taken away without even having a chance to say a word. The man in black carried Ding Yi and disappeared without a trace in an instant.
Su Xiaoning stared wide-eyed as everything unfolded like a whirlwind, so anxious she almost fainted.
She wanted to follow the trail left by the man in black to rescue Ding Yi, but Su Qingcai grabbed her and gently shook his head at her, "Don't act rashly, calm down."
With Su Qingcai's reassurance, Su Xiaoning gradually calmed down. Once she regained her senses, she realized that something was wrong.
The people searching the city were Bai Hua, and Ding Yi happened to have swapped clothes with Bai Hua. The group of men in black probably mistook Ding Yi for Bai Hua and that's why they arrested him... What exactly did Bai Hua do wrong?
"Bai Hua!" Su Xiaoning roared at Bai Hua, "I saw it all! The person they're searching for in this city is you! Ding Yi was arrested because of you! You'd better tell me honestly what you did!"
Now that things had come to this, there was no longer any way to hide it. Bai Hua hesitated for a moment, then explained with a mournful face:
"It wasn't that I deliberately framed Ding Yi. I didn't expect their fighting strength to be so high; they took him away in one go! I didn't do anything heinous. When I came to Tongcheng before, I was treating the leader of the Canal Gang with my master, but I got into trouble back then, and that's why the Canal Gang keeps sending people to hunt me down. Otherwise, why do you think I would have ended up in a poor, remote place like Carp Village..."
"What...what trouble did you cause to make them hate you so much?" Su Xiaoning was extremely shocked, recalling the female assassin who broke into Carp Village some time ago.
Could that female assassin be someone from the Cao Gang that Bai Hua knew?
Bai Hua's eyes flickered, not daring to look directly at Su Xiaoning. "What time is it and you still care about these things? The Cao Gang is not someone to be trifled with. If we don't go to save Ding Yi soon, he might be torn to pieces!"
He's right. The situation is urgent, and rescuing Ding Yi is the most important thing.
Su Xiaoning glared at Bai Hua and said seriously, "This trouble started because of you, and you must come with me to resolve it."
"Aren't you just driving me into the lion's den..." Bai Hua muttered a few words of dissatisfaction, but shut up under Su Xiaoning's fierce glare.
The group then followed the trail left by the men in black, eventually arriving at an impressive building.
Su Xiaoning glanced at the building in front of her, about to ask Bai Hua if this was the location of the Grand Canal Gang, but as soon as she turned around, she found that Bai Hua had disappeared!
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