The road from the town to Suotuo City was still quite a long one.
Zhu Zhuqing glanced into the distance, then lowered her head and pinched her purse.
After last night's dinner, her purse had become noticeably lighter.
But she didn't say anything.
After all, Su Chen had saved her life. What's more, he'd given her a bottle of highly effective healing medicine.
That medicine was worth far more than a single meal.
So Zhu Zhuqing said softly, "I'll go hire a carriage."
With that, she turned to look for a driver near the town gate.
Su Chen stopped her. "Why hire a carriage? Why waste all that money?"
Zhu Zhuqing paused and looked at him in confusion.
If they weren't hiring a carriage, did he expect them to walk?
As soon as Xiao Wu heard him, she skillfully hooked her arm around Su Chen's.
"Boss, if we're not hiring a carriage, then we're definitely flying there, right?"
She didn't believe Su Chen would obediently travel on his own two feet.
After all, this guy would sit rather than stand, and fly rather than run.
Zhu Zhuqing remembered then, too.
When Su Chen had first appeared, he really had descended from the sky.
But that raised a problem.
Su Chen only had two hands. If he flew off carrying Xiao Wu, what was she supposed to do?
She couldn't exactly chase after them on foot the whole way, could she?
Just imagining it nearly made her lose her composure!
Su Chen looked at their expressions and smiled mysteriously.
"Today, I'm going to open your eyes."
As soon as he finished speaking, he focused his thoughts.
Spending Abstract Value, he redeemed a big contraption from the System Shop.
Make way for the big baby!
With a loud bang,
a garish hot-pink tricycle appeared out of thin air and landed on the ground.
Its body gleamed pink, blazed pink, and was pink enough to make you question your life.
A gigantic loudspeaker was tied to the front of it.
Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu stared at the bizarre hunk of metal, both stunned.
Xiao Wu stepped forward and knocked on it here and there. "Boss, what kind of Soul Tool is this? It looks so weird. Can it even run on just three wheels?"
Zhu Zhuqing also gave it a puzzled look.
She'd seen her share of Soul Tools, but none of them had looked like this.
"What... what is that?"
"Never seen one before, huh?"
Su Chen put on a mysterious air and patted the front of the vehicle.
"This is the Convertible Panoramic Sunroof Human-Powered Supercar."
"People in the know call it the Sanbengzi."
"It's the king of special Soul Tools: low-key luxury with hidden depths, wild and unrestrained without losing its elegance."
Xiao Wu didn't understand, but it sounded impressive.
Zhu Zhuqing fell silent for a moment.
She felt that Su Chen meant every word he said, but put together, they made absolutely no sense.
Su Chen swung himself onto the seat and patted the metal bed behind him. "Hop on. I'll let you experience what it means to be the Mount Akina Racing God. I guarantee you'll be flying high."
Xiao Wu had always been bold. Thinking it looked fun, she hopped straight on.
She patted the spot beside her and waved Zhu Zhuqing over.
"Come on, little sister Zhuqing!"
"Boss's stuff might look a little shady, but it's usually a lot of fun."
Zhu Zhuqing hesitated.
She looked at the pink Sanbengzi, then at Su Chen, and finally climbed into the bed.
Two stunning young beauties crowded together in the bed of a tricycle.
One was lively in pink, the other cool and aloof in black.
Several passersby stared at them, eyes wide.
Such beautiful girls, riding in that metal contraption instead of a carriage?
Su Chen gripped the handlebars and looked back to remind them, "Hold on tight. Your veteran driver is taking off!"
The instant he finished speaking, he began pumping the pedals hard.
The Sanbengzi looked like it ran entirely on pedal power, but it actually had a booster installed.
The wheels spun, and it shot forward.
Caught off guard, Zhu Zhuqing lurched backward and nearly fell into Xiao Wu's arms.
Xiao Wu reacted quickly, grabbing the edge of the bed and crying out in excitement.
"Wow! It's so fast!"
At the same time, the loudspeaker on the front blasted out an absurdly catchy tune.
"The vast horizon is my love..."
"Flowers are blooming beneath the rolling green hills..."
"What kind of rhythm is the most swaying?"
"What kind of singing brings the greatest joy?"
The rousing song echoed wildly along the dirt road.
Zhu Zhuqing's head went buzz, and she was completely dumbstruck.
The Soul Masters and merchant caravans they passed all stopped in their tracks, staring in shock at the pink tricycle roaring past.
"What the heck was that thing?!"
"No idea!"
"What was that sound saying? How could it be so absurdly catchy?"
[ Ding. You caused a scene and gained 500 Abstract Value. ]
Hearing the system prompt, Su Chen pedaled even harder.
"Woohoo! Takeoff!"
The Sanbengzi accelerated again.
In the back, Zhu Zhuqing covered her face with both hands, wishing she could jump off on the spot.
This was so embarrassing! She'd never been this embarrassed in her life!
She finally realized that traveling with Su Chen might be safe.
But the mental shock could be worse than being hunted down.
How did this guy manage to combine strength, aloofness, absurdity, and sheer weirdness so perfectly?
At that moment, she regretted it a little.
She really did.
Xiao Wu, on the other hand, had no such reservations.
After a brief moment of astonishment, the fun-loving side of her completely awakened.
Xiao Wu was having the time of her life. She shouted, "Boss, this sound is awesome! Play it again!"
Su Chen pedaled the tricycle as he sang at the top of his lungs.
"What kind of rhythm is the most swaying..."
Xiao Wu stood up, spread her arms, and swayed wildly along with the music.
The scorpion braid on her head whipped about in the wind, and she looked like a wild rabbit set free.
Zhu Zhuqing grabbed her clothes without thinking, afraid the rabbit might fly straight off.
"Be careful."
Xiao Wu wasn't scared in the slightest. She only got more excited, and even learned to steal the mic.
"Stay!"
"Stay!"
Su Chen's mouth twitched. Good grief, this rabbit was pretty good at stealing the mic.
Along the way, the pink Sanbengzi carrying two top-tier beauties became the most explosive sight on the road.
The merchant caravans stopped. The Soul Masters gaped.
One young Soul Master was so transfixed that he missed a step and fell straight into a roadside ditch.
[ Ding. You caused a scene and gained 500 Abstract Value. ]
[ Ding. You caused a mildly embarrassing scene and gained 300 Abstract Value. ]
Su Chen was in a great mood.
As expected, art came from life, but the Sanbengzi was greater than life.
Half a day later,
the gates of Suotuo City finally came into view.
The soldiers guarding the city had been lazily checking people entering.
Suddenly, they heard an absurdly catchy sound coming from far away, growing louder by the second.
Several soldiers looked up at once.
The next moment, a pink Sanbengzi came hurtling toward them in a cloud of dust.
"What is that?!"
"Enemy attack?"
"Enemy attack, my foot! Would an enemy attack come with music?"
"You never know. Soul Masters have all kinds of sinister tricks these days."
Su Chen made a Dragon Tail flick, and the tricycle came to a steady stop at the city gate.
"We're here. Get off."
Xiao Wu hopped down, still reluctant to leave. Her hair was a little messy from the wind, but her face was full of excitement.
"Boss, this Sanbengzi is so awesome!"
"Can we ride it every day from now on?"
Zhu Zhuqing climbed down from the bed, her steps wobbling slightly.
She could still hear the words "What kind of rhythm is the most swaying?" looping in her head.
She felt a little dazed.
Right in front of a crowd of onlookers, Su Chen casually put the Sanbengzi back into System Space.
Everyone stared, their eyes wide.
Something that big had just vanished.
Su Chen, though, waved a hand with a perfectly serious expression.
"Be discreet."
"When you're out and about, you have to keep a low profile."
Zhu Zhuqing's mouth twitched slightly.
You called what just happened low-key?
If that counted as low-key, then her idea of keeping a low profile had practically been buried in the ground.