For a moment, no one spoke atop the gate tower.
Jiang Yingcheng clutched Uncle Yu's sleeve, her big eyes darting nervously in every direction.
Running backward was definitely out of the question. Her beautiful Imperial Father was behind them, watching like a tiger eyeing its prey.
Going forward would take her straight into Jiayu City, where who knew how many uncles from the Shadow Guard, all masters of lightness skills, were lying in wait in every corner... That wasn't safe either.
That left only the left and right. Jiang Yingcheng thoroughly analyzed the positions of the experts below the gate tower, the routes stretching away on either side, and...
"Have you decided how to escape?"
Before the little one could settle on an escape plan, her beautiful Imperial Father could no longer resist speaking.
Jiang Yingcheng's already rigid little body gave a violent shudder.
She looked at the uncles who had come along with her, each wearing some measure of disguise, and whispered a proposal: "R-run! Let's try running!"
They might not get away, but they could at least try!
What if they actually managed to escape?!
The expression on the little one's face was utterly pitiful. Her cheeks were flushed crimson with tension, and even her eyelids kept trembling.
Yu Xingmian lowered his head and considered for a while, then obligingly edged one step forward.
The instant he moved, two figures shot out from behind them and firmly blocked the passages on either side.
"Ah..." Looking regretful, Yu Xingmian lowered his head toward the little one in his arms. "Uncle tried his best."
But he still couldn't withstand the chill that kept drifting over from Emperor Mingze behind him.
Having bowed to superior power, Yu Xingmian felt nothing was wrong with what he had done. He even turned around