28 Nowhere to be Seen

The alley was empty of people but not from things; there were piled wooden boards at the back, and barrels and some boxes lined and piled at both sides. The quantity of those things wasn't much though, as the alley didn't felt crowded despite being only three metres wide, but that also might be because it was three whole floors high; it was that high and narrow that it made the sun that was rising up high barely slip into the alley some of its rays.

As soon as Huan Meirong felt the cool sensation of the shadow made by the two buildings on each side, she said to Zhi'er, "Right, Zhi'er. Go and buy some food to bring back home.

Here, have some gold coins; take your time and pick the most delicious food and sweets." Though Zhi'er had almost twenty silver coins that were more than enough to buy plenty of food, she gave him more money for Zhi'er to not be shy in trying to left money for later, this way he will buy without caring for the next weeks; if he returned from buying quickly, it wouldn't be good.

"Ah… aye," Zhi'er turned back and took the gold coins at her sudden order.

Before he could comply his miss orders, he led her to take seat in a wooden box that was next to the building on his left. They had to walk a bit more as it was around the middle part of the alleyway; near the entrance, there were only barrels lined at both sides of the alley, and they were too big for her to sit without having to jump.

"Eldest miss, Zhi'er will be back quickly," Zhi'er hurriedly said when Huan Meirong sat; he didn't even let her say a word before running away to buy what he was told. He felt apprehension when it came to leaving her alone in a place like this but he couldn't go against his miss orders so he could only hurry as he fulfilled her orders the best he could.

"Zhi…" Huan Meirong was left with her mouth opened; she was speechless.

*Sigh*

'I could only hope for him to be back when everything has ended,' she thought before taking out the other twin hairpin to play with it as she waited as if nothing strange was going on.

Still on the main street, the four men following Huan Meirong got more aroused when they saw her entering an alley. The had been keeping their distance up to five or six stores, enough to not lose track of her or rile up the attention of the city guards.

There was an unwritten law on the Gao Dynasty: noisy fights and indecorous acts like stealing, killing or the like were forbidden on the streets and public places. If the harmony of the people around was disturbed, the city guards could arrest and punish the ones that created the commotion.

As one of the Empires with treaties of peace, the Gao Dynasty liked to maintain a good face and that was most in the bordering cities where people of other nations were commonly seen. However, if those indecorous acts were done in the dark without raising a murmur, the posted guards in the cities couldn't be bothered from doing a follow.

That's why, the four men were patiently waiting before, suppressing the most they could their impatience with their silence but now, they could finally act.

Their eyes turned into living wolves while their mouths salivated like the beasts they were as they babbled between them their contained lascivious words.

"A good piece of meat, even if it is blind…" the tallest of the four said.

"With its thin cut and fresh looks, it can be sold at a good price," the shortest of them completed the sentence of the tallest one.

"But before selling it, let's flavour it, boss," the tiniest of them said with hunger on his eyes and a hyena-like smile.

"Heh… but of course, I heard from a friend that that kind meat sounds better when the maze hit them," the boss who was a burly man answered; he really wanted it to give it a try, he hadn't tasted that kind of meat before.

Sigh, to the bless of people, he and his kin will never come to eat any kind of meat anymore.

Not far from them, there was a black-robed handsome young man whose ears were tickling really badly. He had been debating which will be the perfect time to make his entrance; though he was an alienated and cold person, he had moved in the red districts of various places due to some business and had heard what women liked from time to time.

Earlier, he had unconsciously saved her from falling and then provided aid with her problem of money while helping himself to own something of her; moreover, women wanted to be helped, or that was what he had heard. At that time, he had also wanted to talk to her; he suddenly entering into direct contact with her had made him want to get closer to her but he was out of words and chose to leave.

Now, he had another opportunity, an opportunity that won't come to be as his flames of fury had been completely ignited at this point; the chattering of the four men had grown so rampant as they give details of their seasoning techniques.

The four men who had even purposely slowed down their pace to enjoy the moment better with their increased hunger, disappeared out of nowhere when they were about to be at just one store in distance from reaching the alleyway; they didn't have the time to utter a scream when they felt their feet sank into the ground before founding themselves surrounded by a world of pitch black darkness.

Qinghai who was the farthest away was thinking if those men were some unsuccessful scholars from their adorned talk devoid of class when they unexpectedly vanished from his vision and they weren't the only ones, his friend, Xingtian, was nowhere to be seen, "Huh?!"