“Gu Lingzhi, I know you're in there. Take the initiative to come out if you don't want me to burn down the inn!”
Gu Lingzhi, who was already asleep, woke up immediately upon hearing this statement. Rong Yuan, who was beside her, also woke up and turned towards the door's direction.
How could they arrive so fast?
During the day, they had already shook off the troops that were chasing them. In order to cover their tracks, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Huashang had changed the direction of their course several times such that they would end up at Gan Nai City. How did Pan Yue'er catch up so quickly?
Her statement had implied that she was very certain of them being in this inn.
“Why haven't you come out? I'm going to order my men to burn down this inn soon.”
Upon hearing this sentence, Rong Yuan sneered and said, “Do it then. This isn't my Alliance's territory anyway.”
Since Pan Yue'er was not afraid of injuring her citizens, why should they feel worried for her?
It was just a thought, after all, Rong Yuan knew that Gu Lingzhi would not be able to watch on as the people in the entire inn suffer because of her. He reached out and grabbed onto the clothes for him and Gu Lingzhi before heading out. When they were at the door, they saw Rong Huashang opening the door of the room beside. The three of them looked at each other in the eye and slowly turned their vision to the outside.
At the same time, a group of soldiers wearing the North Qiu armor had already gathered outside and were eyeing the inn fiercely. Many of the guests were awakened by their movement and were quietly discussing while watching the situation unfold.
Under the silver moonlight, Pan Yue'er was dressed in a purple dress as she blocked the door. The golden flag twinkled in her hand with the triangular side facing Gu Lingzhi's direction. As Gu Lingzhi moved, it gently swayed along with her movement. This looked extraordinarily eerie under the night sky.
Unexpectedly, this small flag could not only affect the Inheritance s.p.a.ce, but even track her position! Gu Lingzhi felt chilly from this discovery. She attempted to be in contact with the Inheritance s.p.a.ce, sure enough, it would not open up.
No wonder Pan Luming was able to find them so quickly and even set up a trap beforehand, it turned out that they were well prepared!
Pan Yue'er felt the three of their gazes and turned around indifferently. Even though the golden flag was able to help her find the trace of Gu Lingzhi, she was still unable to distinguish Gu Lingzhi's appearance after she had consumed the Yirong Pill.
This was an opportunity…
Gu Lingzhi squinted her eyes. Pan Yue'er had brought fewer people this time than the wave they had encountered during the day. The DemiG.o.ds had been reduced from over a dozen to five while the Martial Sages had also been reduced to not more than thirty. In addition, the effect of the Yirong Pill had not worn off yet and thus, might be able to escape by mixing in together with the crowd.
After informing the two of them of her thoughts, Rong Huashang considered for a moment before agreeing that it was feasible. Rong Yuan stared at Gu Lingzhi for a while before saying lightly, “Lingzhi, you wouldn't retaliate my behaviour from before right?”
Gu Lingzhi wondered a little and her face froze.
She had to say that Rong Yuan's thinking was really sharp at times. Before she could have thought of that idea, he had already considered it. Gu Lingzhi guiltily turned her eyes away and laughed with a little disbelief, “Hehe, why would I?”
The guilty conscience in her voice caused her to be unable to face Rong Yuan. If that golden flag was really able to locate her position, in times of crisis, she would really make the same decision as what Rong Yuan did in the day. She would divert the troops' attention so as to let Rong Yuan and Rong Huashang escape. But under Rong Yuan's questioning look, she did not have the guts to admit.
Fortunately, Rong Yuan did not have the intention to delve deeper. He simply cast a faint smile back and said, “Really?” From this word alone, Gu Lingzhi was able to sensed a variety of emotions - threat, doubt, anger, sorrow…
While they were at a loss, Rong Yuan's voice penetrated into Gu Lingzhi's ears, “Grand-aunt is a valuable DemiG.o.d, she should not be implicated by us. Let her leave with Pan Yue first.”
Gu Lingzhi had mixed feelings after hearing the words. She was silent for a few seconds before she spat out the word, “Okay.”
Once the word left her mouth, it meant that Rong Yuan would be implicated by her and would have to risk his life. He had actually gripped onto her hand tightly, leaving her no room for retreat.
He could make the decision on sacrificing himself in order to let her escape, but would not let her do the same. Gu Lingzhi was secretly cursing inside but was unable to ignore the sweetness that was surfacing in her heart. How lucky was she such that she could meet such a man that was willing to accompany her to death? And he did not hesitate.
Pan Yue'er, who was still outside the door, yelled a few more times. The three of them had also used this time to discuss their strategy, it's just that there were some differences among them.
“No, I do not agree!” Rong Huashang said firmly.
How could she stay with Pan Yue in the inn while Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan leave quietly from the back? Had they thought that she did not see the golden flag following Gu Lingzhi's movement because she was old?
“Grand-aunt, please trust that Lingzhi and I will be fine.” Rong Yuan had antic.i.p.ated that Rong Huashang would oppose and spoke the words he had been preparing, “You've seen it for yourself, the golden flag will follow and move along with Lingzhi. If we were to act together, we are bound to be caught. At that time, we would really be at their mercy. You might as well bring Pan Yue to group up with Lord Fashen first.”
Seeing how Pan Luming had already made such a fuss but had not come in person this time, Gu Lingzhi guessed that something must have occurred and caused him to be delayed. And judging by this case, the only being capable of hindering him would be Lord Fashen.
Rong Huashang opened her mouth but still ended up agreeing to their decision after a round of persuasion. As they had said, they were in a situation where their location was tracked. The only way to curb this was to find Lord Fashen as soon as possible.
Judging by the number of people who had come to arrest Gu Lingzhi, it was obvious that Pan Luming and the others had suffered quite a lot when they fought against Lord Fashen.
Seeing that Rong Huashang was persuaded, Gu Lingzhi immediately returned to the guest room and brought out Pan Yue, who was still in a coma, from the s.p.a.ce. She handed Pan Yue over to Rong Huashang and headed to the inn's backyard with Rong Yuan.
Although they were well prepared, they could still see that the backyard was heavily surrounded and that the defense was just as strong as the front. Both of their hearts sank.
There were two DemiG.o.ds and more than a dozen Martial Sages, it would not be easy for them to break through.
Just when the two of them were still pondering on the method to break through, the crowd became tumultuous.
It turned out that most of the guests in the inn were already awakened. A few bold ones even started a dispute with the soldiers outside the inn on wanting to leave so as to find another place to stay.
The two glanced at each other and thought that this was a good opportunity. They hid amongst the crowd and instigated a few words, “We are not prisoners, why should you surround us? Let us out!”
“Yes! We want to go out! If the court wants to arrest the criminals, just do so! Why do you have to implicate us? What if the criminal were to become furious and have a vicious outburst?”
Under the incitement of Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan, many of those who were hesitating before had also come to their senses.
The voices requesting to leave were getting louder and louder. Pan Yue'er could only frown as she watched the crowd gather in front of the inn. A Martial Sage beside her whispered into her ears, “Chief Duke, this Sacred Weapon can only identify within a boundary of ten meters. If they do not come out, we will have to check them one by one sooner or later. Why not let them come out first so as to save our trouble.”
Pan Yue'er looked down and thought for a moment before nodding, “Might as well. Tell our men to let them leave in a single file. This way, we can check their ident.i.ties one by one. I'll see how long they can hide for.”
In fact, this was exactly the same as what the three of them had thought. Pan Luming had launched three attacks during the battle earlier before forcibly urging the power of the golden flag to trap Lord Fashen in the formation formed by the stone pillars. Not long after the formation had been formed, he could no longer withstand the battle and was sent back to the nearest residence to recuperate.
Pan Luming's absence has caused the task of presiding over the whole situation to fall onto the hands of Pan Yue'er who was currently the second figure in the Pan Family.
Lord Fashen was indeed the strongest being in the Continent. Even though there were so many people surrounding him, he still managed to severely injure a few DemiG.o.ds. After which, he relied on the explosiveness of the three stonemen to forcibly break through the siege and fled.
Pan Yue'er, who was unable to retain Lord Fashen, was afraid that Pan Luming would blame her afterwards. She could only send the few DemiG.o.ds who were gravely injured to rest first before bringing the remaining people to hunt for Gu Lingzhi. She wanted to redeem her guilt and thus came to the Gai Nan City to track Gu Lingzhi down.
Soon, the soldiers pa.s.sed down Pan Yue'er's orders and the noisy crowd was bustling once again, scrambling to be the first one to leave.
Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan hid in the crowd and headed towards the backyard's exit while observing the surrounding situation.
It was their turn not long later.
Rong Yuan and Gu Lingzhi exchanged a swift glance and by tacit agreement, set foot on a specially reserved pa.s.sage in the back door. Under the effects of the Yirong Pill, the soldier inspecting naturally did not see any abnormalities. They casually checked Rong Yuan before letting him leave through the pa.s.sage.
Behind him was Gu Lingzhi.
Rong Yuan wanted to wait for Gu Lingzhi and had deliberately slowed down his steps while feigning to be nervous. A soldier could not help but to push him and spoke impatiently, “Hurry up, can't you see that there are many people waiting behind?”
It was at this moment where everything changed. Pan Yue'er, who was stationed in front, shouted fiercely, “Stop him!”
The golden flag in her hand had turned and was pointing directly at the inn's back door.
There, Gu Lingzhi had just finished the inspection and was walking calmly on the pa.s.sageway.