The night breeze is blowing.
The insects chirp quietly.
The gurgling stream drowned out the sound of Jane Ning's footsteps. She crouched down and took a few steps forward, then stopped and turned to look at Ding Youtian. The moonlight was good tonight, and his hiding place was one Jane Ning had chosen. Against the light, he blended in perfectly with the strange rocks and trees behind him.
Jane Ning made an OK gesture to him. When the couple had nothing to do, he often asked Jane Ning to tell him about her past in the special police team, so he understood this gesture and raised his arm to return the same gesture.
It means to reassure Jane Ning.
Jane Ning turned her head and continued to move towards the carriage. Although the drone did not detect any living creatures in the carriage, she still felt it was better to be cautious after having seen Feng Qingzi's evil magic.
When she was two steps away from the carriage, Jane Ning was basically sure that it was an empty carriage. She had just straightened up when suddenly, a black shadow jumped out from the front of the carriage, and two laser beams hit the target one after another.
There were two "squeaks" and the wind blew, filling the air with a burnt smell.
It was a false alarm, probably just a mountain rat.
Jian Ning made a gesture, signaling Ding Youtian not to move for the time being. She waited for a moment and then took out the energy-saving lamp and gloves. She put on the gloves and opened the car curtain. After making sure there was no danger, she waved the lamp at Ding Youtian a few more times.
After Ding Youtian came over, Jian Ning asked him to hold the flashlight while she carefully checked the carriage. There was a wooden box under the right seat. Ding Youtian took the flashlight and shone it closer. There was a circle with a cross inside on the box, which was obviously left by Ah Man's fingernails.
Jian Ning stared blankly at the mark left by Ah Man, then turned sharply to look at Ding Youtian, "Do you think they've already killed Ah Man? That's why they left the car here?"
"Look around here quickly."
As she was about to get out of the carriage, Ding Youtian quickly grabbed her arm and said, "My lady, don't scare yourself. It's not like that. If they wanted to kill Ah Man to avenge Jin Cheng, they could just run her over with the carriage. Why bother kidnapping her? Besides, they could just kill her and dump her on the roadside outside the city. Wouldn't that be much easier? If Jin Cheng chased her out of the city and saw her, their purpose of revenge would be achieved. Why bother running to this mountain stream to dump her body?"
"They're going to kill Man'er and dump him here. If no one finds him for a while, or if wild animals sniff him out and eat him, there won't even be a corpse left. Jincheng won't know whether Man'er is dead or alive. What's the point of their revenge then?"
"Think about it, isn't that the truth?"
After hearing his analysis, Jian Ning calmed down and felt relieved temporarily.
"Don't let that Wang fall into my hands. If you do, I'll tear out his tendons, peel off his skin, and dig out his heart to see what kind of bastard he is! He deserves a horrible death, you bastard!"
Ding Youtian squeezed her shoulder and patted her on it again. "Don't worry, they've abandoned the carriage and are walking with Man'er. Yunniang is a woman from the inner chambers, so we shouldn't be able to get far. Let's wait here for Huo Jincheng and the others. We'll make plans after they arrive."
Jian Ning glanced around, then launched a drone and switched to scent search. All drugs have a time limit, and she still didn't believe Wang could mask Ah Man's scent forever. Zooming in on the holographic image, she and Ding Youtian looked at the map, analyzing their possible destinations.
"Chenyang Town, Xianren Bay... This is really strange. You brought this thing from your old place, how come it has all these place names here?" Ding Youtian tilted his head to stare at the control panel in her hand and shook his head. "It's incredible. How did you put all these place names into this little box?"
Jian Ning looked up at the night sky. "Who can explain the mysterious power of nature? Perhaps some node connects to the time and space I was in before, with magnetic field induction or some other unknown power. Otherwise, how could Wu Dui and I end up here inexplicably?"
"Never mind." Jian Ning retracted his gaze and pointed at the densely packed place names on the holographic screen. "Analyze it. If they were walking, which route would they most likely take? Where would they take Man'er?"
"It's hard to say, but..." Ding Youtian paused, looking around, then sizing up the carriage. "Counting the driver and Man'er, there's no way three adults and one child can ride on the same horse. If it were me, since I'd abandon the carriage, why not just burn it? What's the point of leaving it here?"
He looked at Jian Ning with a sharp gaze.
"Trying to confuse and lead us in the wrong direction?"
Jane paused, thinking intently, and suddenly said, "You mean they might have gone back?"
Ding Youtian smiled, "If it were me, I would do the same. Once we continue tracking north, we won't have to rush them back. We can stop and rest, or we can go east, west, east, or south."
He was right. Yunniang had kidnapped Ah Man in order to extort money from Huo Jincheng and then kill her to vent her anger. She had intended to kidnap Erniu and Sanniu as well, but Shopkeeper Wang was only following orders; he had only one target: Ah Man.
Shopkeeper Wang is a sister-lover who lives his life for his sister and obeys Concubine Min's orders. That day, Concubine Min believes Yunniang has evidence that her siblings murdered Xinning, and she is also eager to know Shopkeeper Wang's whereabouts, so she reaches a cooperation with Yunniang.
In order to save the shopkeeper, she turned to her future son-in-law, Prince Yong, for help and promised him a large sum of money.
What kind of person was Prince Yong? He was a man with ambitions to seize the throne. How could a mere sum of money possibly sway him? Initially, he had no desire to stir up trouble. Besides, Huo Jincheng was like a sharp fang in the Crown Prince's mouth. He might suffer the consequences if he wasn't careful.
He politely declined Concubine Min's offer on the grounds that the news was not accurate, and also advised her not to believe in rumors so as not to bring trouble upon herself.
In order to make him believe the accuracy of the information and help her, Concubine Min mentioned Yunniang and said that the reason Yunniang revealed the information to her was to get the drugs from her brother and kidnap A'man and others in order to blackmail and retaliate against Huo Jincheng and Jian Ning.
Prince Yong was now interested. Huo Jincheng had only one daughter. Abducting Ah Man and keeping her in his hands, forcing Huo Jincheng to spend the rest of his life searching for his daughter, would be like knocking the Crown Prince's fangs out of his mouth, something he would have loved to see. Furthermore, even if the truth came to light, he could easily blame everything on Yunniang.
The Prince of Pingnan was the person that Prince Yong wanted to win over, and he also wanted to win over Jian Ning and Ding Youtian to serve him. Erniu and Sanniu thus escaped. The abduction of A'man and the escape route were all planned by Prince Yong's advisers, otherwise they would not have been able to escape from the city successfully in the first place.
From fleeing the city, abandoning the carriage, and then walking back along a secluded path, they had completely deviated from the plan Yunniang and Meixiang had devised. Furthermore, she had been walking constantly these past few days, and her soles were aching after a while. She could not help but grow impatient and complain.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
