By then, the wonton stall had been packed away. The vendor rolled up the awning, stowed the bamboo poles, and set the simple tables and chairs onto the racks before pushing his food cart away.
His work for the day was over. If he hurried home now, he could still sleep for four hours before starting his morning preparations!
Fortunately, the vendor was still in his prime and could push the heavy cart.
It was now midnight. Xintian County was already silent, the lights in its homes extinguished. Apart from lanterns here and there, the streets had gone dark.
A lantern at the front of the food cart lit the vendor's way home. The rumbling of its wheels seemed to be the last sound left in the streets.
Steam still rose from the stove on the cart as it rolled along, a lingering pocket of the warmth and bustle of mortal life.
Not long afterward, Stoneborn and Qi Zhongbin flew over Xintian County and scanned the streets below. Everything was quiet. At the street corner where they had just been, the wonton vendor had already packed up and left.
The two swept over the town, then looked across the surrounding land. There were towns below and great mountains in the distance. Wetlands dotted the course of the Drought-Relief Canal, and fields fragrant with earth lay everywhere...
"It's gone?"
Qi Zhongbin voiced his bewilderment in midair, while Stoneborn knitted his brows even tighter.
"Impossible. However fast it is, it couldn't have shaken us both off in the blink of an eye after taking a hit from the Universe Ring. If it really had that kind of speed, we needn't have spent half the night chasing it."
Qi Zhongbin nodded.
"You're absolutely right, senior brother. But it must have stopped flying. An