The carriage rolled forward slowly, drawn by a black horse. The bell beneath its neck jingled crisply along the road.
Inside the carriage, Nie Qianyu and Xiao Juzi were in low spirits. Neither spoke, nor did they care to look at anything outside. They knew that before long, the young man wielding a long sword and leaping through the air would ride his Four Unlike away from them, each going their separate way. In this vast sea of humanity, who knew when fate would let them meet again?
They even vaguely felt that when this somewhat mysterious young man left, he might not even bid them farewell.
Yes, farewell, farewell. Such a simple phrase, yet it carried such heavy hopes!
Sure enough, after nearly the time it took to eat two meals, the carriage curtain had not been lifted. The interior was dim, with occasional shafts of light slipping through the cracks and sweeping across their tightly drawn little faces.
He really left. He left without saying goodbye.
The two thought the same thing without prior agreement.
But when the crisp ringing of the bell sounded, like a deafening toll, both their delicate bodies shuddered. Their gazes collided in the dim carriage, filled with surprise and disbelief. Almost at the same time, they whispered, "Why didn't we hear him speaking to the escorts? How did we get outside the city already?"
Indeed, the world outside was now utterly quiet. The occasional sounds were faint and low; where was the particular bustle and restlessness of Danhe City? If that tinkling bell were still inside the city, how could it sound so heavenly?
As if waking from a dream, the two scrambled to lift the curtain in front of them.
That not particularly broad pair of shoulders, that back already deeply carved