Chapter 25: Pursuit in Tiankong City
More energy was needed when Xue Wei was moving with Wang Xiaoyun, and he was starting to feel its toll on his body.
"We need to get away from here," he sighed as he shook his head. It had been amusing at first to flee, but now it was evident that this was a significant scale movement against him, and that their aim was him and Wang Xiaoyun.
Fortunately, it was not only Xue Wei who had noticed this, but the other families had also seen the same, even the commoners had noticed it, and people were starting to gossip about who exactly could be so brazen and try to attack Xue Wei in the middle of the day.
Experts continued to move in bigger and bigger groups, yet as they grouped up, they also found that it was getting harder and harder to locate Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun.
It was as if two sides were playing hide and seek. Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun were just two people, and they soon learned to hide in the crowded areas.
Sometimes the commoners would call out and alert the groups of pursuers where they were, but most of the commoners had changed their opinion about Xue Wei after seeing him cripple two noble borns while protecting three commoner girls.
To get vengeance for the many girls who had been abused by the nobility, they felt much better, and Xue Wei had achieved this revenge.
"This way young master, young miss," a blacksmith said with a smile and led Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun into the smithy.
"If you walk through the back of my smithy you will reach a charming little restaurant. It is not very busy, but it is used by the majority of the commoners around here. I doubt that the nobles and their guards have even heard about it."
"Why don't you go there for the sake of having a bit of peace on your date? I will ensure that they do not know where you have gone and I am sure that the restaurant will not tell anyone either as long as you spend a few coppers."
Xue Wei grinned and cupped his hands in respect. "I am very grateful for your assistance," Xue Wei said gratefully and Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun crossed the smithy and walked out through the back gate into a small alleyway where there was a little restaurant known as the Black Lion.
The Black Lion was small; there was at most fifty tables with chairs. The room was dimly lit as the gate was in the alleyway, but the scent of food that wafted out smelled great, and Xue Wei felt his stomach rumbling.
"Why don't we go in and enjoy ourselves?" Xue Wei asked, and Wang Xiaoyun giggled. She took Xue Wei's hand. Xue Wei felt a comfortable coldness, that was as if he had touched porcelain and he squeezed the hand gently.
There was no one within the restaurant, only a single waitress and a matron standing behind the counter were present. When they saw Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun, their eyebrows rose in surprise, but a smile also spread on their faces.
"I assume that the young master has decided to hide here for the time being?" The matron laughed, her big chest heaving up and down.
Xue Wei was surprised that even this person knew about the current chase that was undergoing in the city, but he could only grin slightly as he nodded his head, "We are indeed on the run right now, and found your charming restaurant by the help of a certain blacksmith. We would like to hide out in here for some time. Of course, you will be paid handsomely in return."
Xue Wei picked up three silver coins from his purse and placed them on the counter. "We will take the room in the corner, and would like some food and wine. If we manage to get through the day unnoticed then I will double your pay," Xue Wei said, and the eyes of the matron shone, not with greed but with the pleasant surprise.
"We will give you all the food and snacks you could possibly eat," the matron laughed before she went beneath her desk and ruminated through some boxes. After a bit of time, she straightened her back and in her hand was a veil and a bamboo hat.
"I can guarantee that my staff will not betray you, but I cannot say for sure that my other customers will not. Knowing those men that are trying to catch you they will offer up a reward for finding you soon."
"Some will be tempted, and they will lead the people straight to my restaurant. Although I fear no one, I do not wish for my place to be ransacked or destroyed by random vengeful cultivators and thus, if you could wear this then I will be very grateful."
Xue Wei looked at the bamboo hat and grinned. "Sure thing," he said and accepted the hat, placed it on his head and went to the darkest corner.
Wang Xiaoyun grinned too as she accepted the veil and hid away her face. Now they looked incredibly shady, but at least no one was capable of seeing who they were.
Soon food and drinks made it to the table, and the two relaxed as they started eating and drinking, chatting and laughing together.
Time went by fast; the two were not gulping down the food but taking it slow while chatting, so they did not feel full for a long time. All the dishes were made from mortal animals, and although they were not possibly able to increase their strength, they tasted amazingly well, and both Xue Wei nor Wang Xiaoyun who were used to eating Fierce Beast meat was astonished by how tasty these dishes were.
Slowly more and more customers started to appear in the restaurant and although Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun were being noticed and glanced at from time to time no one tried to interrupt the two in their talk together and the meal they were sharing.
The restaurant turned bustling, and many people appeared in the small chamber. Many started ordering and eating their dinner, and after dinner, most stayed to enjoy some beer and wine.
Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun waited for the sun to set before they rose to their feet and paid an extra five silver coins to the matron and made their way into the narrow alleyway.
They were walking hand in hand, but they had kept the veil and the bamboo hat, hiding their appearances as they made it to the main road.
As soon as they made it to the main road, the two were stopped in their tracks, both looking slack-jawed at sight in front of them.
The main road was filled with one massive group of mask-wearing cultivators. There was around forty of them, and all forty were gathered together in one large clump.
In the middle of the group were two experts that were facing one another, mumbling words to each other with low voices.
"We better get going," Xue Wei said as he tightened the grip on Wang Xiaoyun's hand. "This is something we cannot handle," she agreed, and her heartbeat started beating rapidly.
Both Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun were feeling the cold sweat on their backs. Although Wang Xiaoyun was strong for a Wayfarer without her bloodline activated, she was not the match for even one or two of these experts.
Now forty were gathered in one place, and if they truly got entangled by the group, then they would have a hard time escaping.
"Why hasn't that old man Shen Bingwen moved against them yet?" Xue Wei swore, but he knew he could do nothing. It was clear to everyone that these men were after Xue Wei, but they had not shown their identity so everyone was guessing as to where they could be from.
Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun walked casually past the group of experts. They did not look at them; they completely ignored them while talking with one another as if they were an old married couple.
"Hey you two!" someone suddenly called out, and Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun stopped in their tracks and turned around. Their hands were shaking slightly.
"Yes, the two of you, what is the point of those outfits? Why are you hiding your faces?" The one who was speaking was a person from the group of forty experts.
His face revealed his doubt, and Xue Wei was gritting his teeth, "when I count to three we run," Xue Wei said with a very low voice that only Wang Xiaoyun could hear. "I have regained a lot of energy from the break we had at the restaurant. We will run all the way to the Wayfarer caravan. They will not dare touch you when you are there."
"What about you?" Wang Xiaoyun asked with hesitation, but Xue Wei just gave her hand a soft squeeze. "I will be fine," he promised, "I have my Forbidden Rush, they won't be able to see me make my move."
"I hope so," Wang Xiaoyun did not sound too confident, but she decided not to question him. She knew that she was dragging him down with her, so she agreed to the plan of getting her home first.
"I asked the two of you a question," the masked man repeated, but Xue Wei started counting below his breath, "one."
"I am going to remove your hat if you do not remove it yourself." "Two."
"You asked for this!" "Three!"
As Xue Wei counted to three, Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun turned on their feet, and the Forbidden Rush exploded with the fullest power that Xue Wei could handle.
Although he was still incapable of teleportation, and although any Earth warrior would be able to see his movements clearly, these were all below the Earth Warrior rank, and thus their ability to look at his movements were limited.
If Xue Wei were alone, he would be able to escape easily, but he was not alone. He had Wang Xiaoyun with him, and he was pushing his ability to the limits, continually fluttering from side to side and further and further away from their original position.
Forbidden Rush was not only made for evasion, but it was also made to increase the speed of the cultivator, but so far Xue Wei was incapable of getting too much speed as he could only control a certain amount of the ability's potential.
Because of this, they were not much faster than the ninth layered Warriors, but they were slightly quicker, making it possible for them to continue fleeing.
The forty cultivators were following behind Xue Wei and Wang Xiaoyun, their legs were running fast, and their eyes were filled with excitement. They had finally found their targets again.
Xue Wei kept dragging Wang Xiaoyun through the city. Not many citizens were out on the streets any longer, but those that were was watching with big and curious eyes.
It was common for people to attack one another, and bully each other in the city, but to cause such a large scale pursuit was just unheard of before.
As they reached the Wayfarers' caravan, Xue Wei rushed to the safety of the carriages.
He knew exactly where to go, and he headed straight for the senior's carriages where he stood gasping for air and holding Wang Xiaoyun's hand in his own.
Grandma Meng was sitting outside of her carriage with a small lamp next to her. She was reading a book, and when she saw the two coming towards her, short of breath and with ragged hair and clothes, she broke out into her charismatic cackling laughter.