Escape

Huan Wei put the silver hairpin back in his hair. He couldn't take the chance of being seen running away. If he could at least get away without being caught, he would be remembered as someone with a silver hairpin, but he didn't know where to go. The sun was near its peak. If he couldn't be at the marketplace soon, he wouldn't be able to catch up with Huan Hong. It was only a matter of time before the fire started. In fact, the hay was probably burning right now. It would take time for the fire to be visible from the marketplace.

Huan Wei poked his head out of his hiding place and looked down the street. The town guards were scattering in all directions. There were seven of them. They were entering every street. At this rate, he wouldn't be able to take any roads. "It's too risky to use the roads," he thought. The town guards knew movement techniques to catch criminals like this. Huan Wei's soul, on the other hand, was not yet able to channel the energy to use the techniques. The distance could be closed very quickly.

So he looked in the houses. He was looking for an open window. If he could get in, he could escape the simple servants. Maybe he would never run into anyone. He checked the houses one by one with his eyes. Almost all of them had closed windows on the ground floor. He couldn't climb to the second floor either. Maybe he could use the walls to hide.

He took a deep breath and waited for the last of the guards to leave. As everyone scattered to a street of their choice, one of them stayed there. It was a tall woman. She walked slowly down the street and looked everywhere. Huan Wei felt uneasy when he saw that she was even looking at closed boxes. Of course she was going to look behind the garbage can too. He could not stay here.

The young man rolled up the sleeve of his cloth. He dipped his hand into the garbage, looking for something to throw. Finally he found an empty glass bottle. He took it out of the garbage as quietly as possible. Then he looked in which direction he could go. Where he threw the bottle was also important. If he threw it where she was already looking, he would not get enough reaction. He had to throw it where she hadn't reached it yet, so that he could mobilize her.

He took a deep breath. He stood up, leaning his back against the building next to him. Then he chose one of the houses in the distance. He would throw it towards the trash can next to it. It would be nice if he could knock it over. If not, at worst the bottle would break and make a noise. He waited for the woman to check something. When the time came, he tensed a little and threw it with all his strength.

Instead of hitting the trash can, the bottle smashed against the wall. The woman suddenly turned there. With the wind whirling around her legs, she quickly reached the place where the bottle had broken. Huan Wei hid again before he could get out of his seat. He had expected her to be fast, but he didn't expect this much. As soon as he was in her line of sight, he was finished. Cultivators who chose the wind element were always agile.

Huan Wei moved backwards. When he came to the house he had burned, he saw that the fire in the garden was spreading. The alcohol had worked, but the marketplace was not this way. He had to get there before the fire engulfed the house. Fortunately he hadn't chosen a house too far away, but how could he move forward when he couldn't walk on the streets?

He no longer felt tired from the adrenaline rush. He looked left and right to check where the guards were. There were still patrols around. So he looked over the wall of another house into the garden. There was a gardener in this house too, but he was sitting at a table in the garden, enjoying himself. Huan Wei chose a spot where he could not see him and jumped over the wall. He could have walked along the garden and passed through the other houses to get away, but apparently the houses were not completely empty. So it wouldn't be long before the fire was discovered. He had very little time.

He picked up a stone for another distraction. This time he didn't need to knock the gardener unconscious. He just had to make him look away as he passed by. So he threw the stone towards the farthest window of the house. Again he couldn't aim properly. Instead of hitting the window, the stone bounced off the wall and fell into the garden, but the gardener noticed.

"What was that?" he got up from the table. He was too busy enjoying himself to see the stone fall. As he moved towards it, Huan Wei quickly tiptoed forward. He had to go until he reached the opposite wall. He was careful not to step on any branches that might make noise. Meanwhile, the gardener found the stone that had fallen among the flowers and picked it up. As Huan Wei jumped onto the wall and pulled himself up, he heard someone shouting behind him.

"Who are you!"

He jumped off the wall before could turn to him. The man was still shouting. "There's a thief!"

Huan Wei cursed his luck. Now all the guards would come here. He quickly looked around for a place to hide, but there was nowhere in sight. He could only jump over another wall. The fire was getting bigger and bigger. The black smoke was starting to rise slightly. Huan Wei jumped from another wall as the guards rushed into that alley.

As soon as he landed, he locked eyes with a little girl. The little girl was eating her lunch in the garden, looking at him curiously. Huan Wei could hardly smile. He put his index finger to his own lips and signaled her to be quiet. Strangely, the girl nodded and remained silent. Still, she continued to watch him. Huan Wei could hear the guards pouring into the house just now. This could be the opportunity he had been waiting for. He immediately ran and jumped over the farthest wall and landed on the street. Then he ran with all his speed. He ran and ran until the streets were full of people again. Then, out of sight, he pulled out the hairpin and shoved it into the bottom of the first garbage can he could find.

He took a deep breath as he smoothed his hair. The sun was at its peak. He too had arrived at the marketplace. He walked calmly like an ordinary person, looking at the stalls. He was heading north of the marketplace. Toward where Huan Hong had told him to wait. His heart was still beating very fast. He had dodged the death that had just chased him. He felt the claws at his throat. For the first time, being in a crowd of people felt so safe.

When he reached the north side of the market, he saw Huan Quon. He was chatting with an alchemy merchant. The man didn't seem very interested in the talk. At that moment, Huan Hong appeared and came towards Huan Wei.

"You finally arrived."

"Hello, brother Hong. Sorry, I couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited. I fell asleep in the morning. When I woke up, I ran all the way here."

"It's obvious. You're drenched in sweat." Huan Hong took another breath and turned his head away. "For gods sake, don't you ever bathe? You smell so bad."

Huan Wei looked at himself. He had spent some time with the trash cans and the smell had gotten to him. "I accidentally knocked over a trash can while running. I had to pick it up too. Thank you for waiting."

Huan Hong turned towards him again. "No problem, but you'll have to wait a while too." Then he pointed to a place with his finger. "Go over and wait there. Don't go anywhere before I arrive." He turned around, but before he walked, he stopped. "Huan Wei... You didn't tell anyone I was going to buy you a pill, did you?"

"No, no." Huan Wei immediately shook his head from side to side. "I haven't told anyone."

"Good. Wait over there. I'll be right back."

Huan Hong left. Huan Wei took the place he was shown and waited. So far, things had been successful, albeit troubled. Except for the little girl, no one had seen his face. The smoke from the fire was now high enough to be seen even from the marketplace. Huan Hong and Huan Quon were still talking to the alchemy merchant when one of the people shouted.

"Fire! Fire!" Black smoke was rising into the sky. It was clearly a very big fire. Huan Wei was sure that all that was left of the man he had hidden in the silo was a burnt corpse. All the people started to look in that direction. Even the merchants were looking in the direction of the fire. Many people stopped shopping and started running towards the fire zone. The guards stood still, but they were looking in that direction instead of at the stalls. Huan Wei took a deep breath. If Huan Hong still couldn't steal that pill, there was nothing he could do. The guards wouldn't be chasing Huan Wei for a while. They should all be working with fire now.

Huan Wei looked towards the alchemy bench. Even Huan Hong was standing there watching the fire. "What is that fool doing?" Huan Wei thought. "What is he still waiting for? Do it now, do it while people are looking at it! You'll throw everything away!"

Huan Hong was still watching the fire while Huan Wei was waiting excitedly.