Carrying Her Into the Car, Xu Tinglan Was Stunned

Xiao Wu was already burning all over from being held in Su Chen's arms.

Now Xu Tinglan glanced over, and the tips of her ears grew even hotter.

She instinctively tried to wriggle free.

"Put me down. I can—"

Su Chen's arm tightened steadily around her.

"Don't move."

Xiao Wu instantly went rigid.

"It's not like I can't walk."

"You can walk, but you can't walk fast."

"Who says I—"

"You were swaying just now."

Su Chen lowered his eyes to look at her.

"Why are you putting on a brave front now?"

Xiao Wu was instantly at a loss for words.

She hated being seen through more than anything.

And yet Su Chen wasn't wrong in the slightest.

She could only bite her lip and mutter under her breath.

"Then remember this."

"It's not because I want you to carry me that I'm not getting down."

Su Chen hummed.

"I know."

"Why does that sound so perfunctory?"

"Because what you just said wasn't very believable to begin with."

Xiao Wu's face turned even redder.

"Su Chen!"

Xu Tinglan stood to the side, quietly watching the two of them.

The wind swept through the stables, carrying the smell of hay mixed with the chill of the night in gusts.

She didn't hurry them.

She simply held out the reins.

"This is an old carriage from the Internal Affairs Department's archives."

"It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the axles and chassis have both been modified."

"It won't go fast on the Old Post Road, but it's steadier than a freight wagon on side roads."

Su Chen didn't take the reins.

"You drive."

Xu Tinglan looked up.

"Me?"

"You know the roads better than we do."

Su Chen's tone was calm.

"And since you brought the carriage, that means you want to go too."

Xu Tinglan was silent for two breaths, and to his surprise, she didn't deny it.

"I do."

"I want to go too."

"Then let's not waste time."

As soon as Su Chen finished speaking, he carried Xiao Wu straight into the carriage.

Xiao Wu had thought he would set her down on the carriage floor.

But once inside, he merely sat sideways and let her settle on his lap, his arm still wrapped firmly around her waist without loosening at all.

Xiao Wu went completely numb.

"Y-you're still not letting go?"

"The carriage will jolt when it starts."

"Then just steady me!"

"That's what I'm doing."

"You call this steadying me?"

"What else would you call it?"

Xiao Wu opened her mouth.

She really wanted to say, "I'd call it holding me."

But she couldn't bring herself to say it.

The moment she did, it would sound even more wrong.

She could only hold it in, her ears glowing red, and finally add through gritted teeth,

"You'd better not come begging me to hold you later."

Su Chen looked at her.

"Fine."

"Then I'll try not to let go the whole way."

Xiao Wu was about to explode.

She had just started glaring at him when the carriage curtain suddenly swayed.

Xu Tinglan was already seated on the front bench. She gave the reins a light flick, and they cracked sharply through the night.

"Hold on tight."

Her words had barely left her mouth

when the light carriage shot forward.

This carriage was fast.

Not the kind of fast that came from charging ahead, but the kind that skimmed along the ground.

The wheels rattled over the gravel, jolting hard, yet the carriage itself held together, like a thin blade skimming low over the earth.

Xiao Wu was thrown backward by the jolt, and the arm around her waist tightened at once.

Her back slammed squarely into Su Chen's arms.

The carriage was small.

She was close enough to feel Su Chen's chest rise and fall.

She immediately didn't dare move.

If she did, she'd only look more like she was burrowing into his arms.

The wind outside grew fiercer.

Xu Tinglan's voice came from the front, not loud, but clear.

"Ten li past the West Salt Road, there's a fork in the road."

"To the left is the Old Post Road. It's fast, but crowded."

"To the right is Desolate Ditch. It's shorter, but hard to travel."

"The abandoned stone road in the middle is almost never used. It's suitable for moving goods."

Su Chen asked,

"Which road do you think they took?"

"If they're only transporting account books, they'll take the post road."

"If they're transporting people..."

Xu Tinglan paused.

"They'll most likely take Desolate Ditch."

By now, Xiao Wu had forgotten to blush.

She sat up a little straighter.

"Why?"

"Because children cry."

Xu Tinglan's voice softened.

"There are no night patrols or caravans in Desolate Ditch."

"Even if they make a sound on the way, it'll be easier to cover up."

Xiao Wu's face turned cold at once.

She hated this more than anything.

Just thinking that those two children were still in a carriage somewhere, not knowing how they'd been tied up, was enough to fan the fire inside her.

"Then let's go straight after them through Desolate Ditch."

"No rush,"

Su Chen said.

"Chen Sun said earlier that three carriages left, taking three different roads."

"That's obvious."

Xiao Wu immediately caught on.

"It's a smokescreen."

"Right."

Su Chen raised a hand and lifted the carriage curtain a crack, looking out at the dark road.

"If they split up in advance, it means they're not just trying to evade pursuit."

"They're also trying to buy time."

"So the most important thing isn't to chase fast."

"It's to chase the right way."

Xiao Wu nodded, her brow furrowed tightly.

"Then how do we figure out which way?"

Su Chen didn't answer right away.

He simply raised his left hand.

The next second, a wisp of faint black Soul Power flowed from his palm, like a thin snake sliding along the edge of the carriage before disappearing into the night.

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up.

"You can use it like this too?"

"I'm trying it."

Su Chen's tone was flat.

"There was blood on Chen Sun's route-splitting token, along with the oil and wood-wax scent from people's hands."

"As long as one of the three carriages touched something with the same scent, I can pick up a trace of its direction."

Xu Tinglan, listening from the front, even let the reins pause in her hands.

She glanced back at the carriage curtain.

The person inside hadn't shown himself.

But she could already picture Su Chen as he was now.

Quiet, cold, yet already casting out his lines.

A person like him was like a blade held in check when still.

Once he moved, the whole game could collapse in an instant.

The carriage surged forward again for a while.

The night wind grew colder.

Every so often, crooked old trees flashed past beside the road, like shadows crouching in the darkness.

Suddenly, Su Chen's gaze shifted.

"Stop for a moment."

Xu Tinglan didn't ask why. She simply reined in the horse.

The light carriage slid to the roadside and came to a steady halt.

Xiao Wu immediately looked up.

"What did you find?"

Su Chen released the curtain and carried her out of the carriage with him.

This time, Xiao Wu didn't even have a chance to say, "I can get down by myself," before her feet had touched the ground.

As soon as she steadied herself, she saw Su Chen crouch down, pressing his fingers against a small patch of broken grass beside the road.

The grass had been crushed by a wheel.

There was also a little mud that hadn't dried yet.

"Two carriages went this way."

"One heavy, one light."

"The heavier one left deeper ruts. Its wheels are narrow, like a freight wagon."

"The lighter one looks newer. There's wax along the wheel rims, like it's a carriage with recently replaced wheels."

Xu Tinglan crouched down too and took a look.

She could recognize wheel tracks, but not details this fine.

"Which carriage was carrying people?"

"Not yet."

Su Chen stood up and looked ahead along the night road.

"But someone's already figured that out for us."

Xiao Wu froze.

"Who?"

Su Chen raised a hand and pointed beneath an old locust tree to the right.

In the shadows beneath the tree, a horse was tied up.

The horse snorted anxiously, scraping its hooves against the ground.

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up.

"Someone was waiting here to help them!"

The three of them hurried over.

Someone was lying beside the horse.

He was dressed in black, his chest caved in and blood smeared at the corners of his mouth.

It looked like someone had kicked him off the horse, then given him a couple more blows for good measure.

Xiao Wu took one look and nearly burst out laughing.

"Isn't this that thin-faced guard from Han Su's crew?"

"What's he doing lying here?"

Xu Tinglan glanced down at him.

"His name's Qi Kun."

"He's one of the dogs Han Su keeps on the outskirts."

Su Chen crouched and held a hand beneath the man's nose.

"He's still alive."

Xiao Wu immediately perked up.

"Perfect."

"I'll ask him."

She kicked the man in the shin.

"Wake up."

Qi Kun groaned in pain. His eyelids fluttered twice before he finally came to.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Xiao Wu.

Then he turned his head and saw Su Chen and Xu Tinglan.

His face went white on the spot.

"You—you—"

"Enough with the you-you-you."

Xiao Wu crouched down and stared at him.

"Who did this to you?"

Qi Kun's lips trembled.

He said nothing.

Xiao Wu kicked him again.

"Talk."

"If you don't, I'll break your other ribs too."

Qi Kun sucked in a sharp breath from the pain and finally gave in.

"It... it was Chen Sun's people."

"They said I was useless, made me leave the horse behind, and told me to get lost."

Xiao Wu grinned when she heard that.

"You lot are pretty quick to turn on each other."

Su Chen ignored the useless chatter and got straight to the point.

"Which carriage has the children?"

Qi Kun's face stiffened.

Su Chen's gaze turned cold.

"Think before you answer."

"Get one word wrong, and you won't be leaving tonight."

Qi Kun's throat bobbed. In the end, he lowered his head.

"The one taking the Desolate Ditch."

"The cargo wagon up front is a decoy. It's carrying boxes of account books."

"The one actually carrying people is the low-canopied carriage behind it."

Xiao Wu pressed him.

"How many people?"

"One driving, two inside."

"The children were drugged. They should... should still be asleep."

At that, Xiao Wu's expression changed at once.

"Drugged?"

Her gaze turned ice-cold. She stood up, ready to leave.

"Stop wasting time with him. We have to catch up!"

Su Chen was already on his feet.

"Xu Tinglan, what's the fastest way to the Desolate Ditch?"

Xu Tinglan answered at once.

"Half a li ahead, there's a narrow path over a collapsed bridge. A light carriage can cross, but a cargo wagon can't."

"We can cut across that way and get ahead of them."

"Let's go."

The light carriage set off again.

This time, Xu Tinglan's whip came down noticeably harder.

The carriage seemed to skim over the ground.

Xiao Wu sat inside, the roots of her thighs still sore, but her heart was growing more and more tense.

She clutched her sleeve, held back twice, then couldn't stop herself.

"Su Chen."

"Yeah?"

"Those two children... they'll be all right, won't they?"

Su Chen turned to look at her.

She was usually sharp-tongued, lively, and quick-tempered.

But now, she couldn't hide the worry in her eyes.

Su Chen raised a hand and lightly brushed the Carrot Wooden Hairpin in her hair with the back of his fingers.

"I'm here."

Just three words.

The tight knot in Xiao Wu's chest suddenly loosened a little.

She bit her lip and murmured, "Mm."

Outside the carriage, the wind grew sharper and sharper.

The Desolate Ditch was close.

The ground was beginning to slope downward, too.

Xu Tinglan suddenly hauled on the reins, her voice low.

"We're here."

Not far ahead, a low-canopied carriage was stuck at the entrance to the ditch.

Two people stood beside it.

One was cursing, while the other tugged at the reins.

Inside the carriage, a faint muffled whimper sounded.