Forgetting
"Why should we leave?"
Jian Changsheng was briefly confused, but seeing that both Chen Ling and Sun Bumian had grave expressions, he suddenly seemed to realize something.
"Oh~ I get it, wait, doesn't that mean..."
If the person outside the door was Bai Ye, he could have completely opened the door and caught up with Chen Ling's trio. But he didn't do so, and instead chose to secretly slip in a playing card.
This meant that he was currently in a state where he couldn't acknowledge Chen Ling and the others, and could only use this method to hint them...
There should be someone else beside him!
Coupled with the words left by the Thief Saint just now, Chen Ling's trio had vaguely guessed the situation outside... Beside Bai Ye, there was probably another Thief Saint.
"Hurry up and leave. If that Thief Saint discovers us, it will be troublesome."
He walked straight to Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian's side, pulled up Jiang Xiaohua who was lying on the ground, closed his eyes, and was about to utilize his Imperial Fate to mobilize the power of the Ancient Vault and shift away...
One second,
Two seconds,
Three seconds...
After a long time, Chen Ling slowly opened his eyes, a trace of blankness flashing in his eyes.
"Um..." Jian Changsheng looked at the four people huddled together, hesitated for a moment, and still asked, "What are we doing?"
"..."
Chen Ling froze for a moment, shook his head, and took a step back.
"I don't know. I subconsciously walked over... Never mind, let's hurry up and leave!"
He turned around, opened the door of the Imperial Study, and led Jian Changsheng and the other two, charging towards the outside of the palace gates at full speed!
The Imperial Palace was very large, carrying a hint of eerie silence amidst the emptiness. The four of them headed straight along the stone path, no longer seeing any figures around them... The palace gates seemed to be getting closer and closer, but for some reason, an inexplicable anxiety surged into Chen Ling's heart;
"Damn it, if only there was a way to leave instantly... Running like this, when will we be able to run out? What if we get caught?"
"Don't we have one?" Sun Bumian scratched his head in confusion.
"Where would we get a teleportation method? Do you know one?"
"... I don't."
"Exactly."
"Strange... then how did we get here?"
"We walked over, right?"
Jiang Xiaohua trailed at the very back. Hearing the conversation of the three, deep confusion surfaced in his eyes...
"Are we finally going out?" Jiang Xiaohua carefully asked the question he cared about the most.
"Not yet, let's find a place to lay low first."
"Then when are we going out?"
Hearing this, Chen Ling's trio exchanged glances and sighed helplessly.
Right now, "A Hidden Dragon in the Depths" was impassable. Even if they wanted to leave, they couldn't. Moreover, the Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path only opened once every several hundred years, this opportunity was truly rare. They managed to sneak in with great difficulty, yet up to now they had gained nothing...
Whether it was Chen Ling, Jian Changsheng, or Sun Bumian, they were all somewhat unwilling and still wanted to continue searching in the Ancient Vault for a period of time.
But Jiang Xiaohua was different. He didn't have any desires, only wanting to leave this place of right and wrong, but Chen Ling unfortunately couldn't do without him...
Chen Ling could only turn his head, look into Jiang Xiaohua's eyes, and earnestly say:
"Jiang Xiaohua, I know you're very anxious... but rest assured, we will definitely take you out, alright?"
"... Really?" Jiang Xiaohua was half-believing and half-doubting.
"Of course it's true."
Chen Ling revealed a gentle smile, making himself look more affable. "We escaped from the first layer together, we can already be considered companions now, right?"
Hearing the word 'companions', Jiang Xiaohua was slightly taken aback.
His hand subconsciously touched underneath the bandages on the back of his waist. His gaze swept over Chen Ling's trio one by one. After a long silence, he still nodded.
Beneath those bandages, the outline of a playing card vaguely appeared;
Chen Ling didn't see this scene. Seeing Jiang Xiaohua nod, he knew he had finally steadied him...
Jiang Xiaohua's body was very heavy, unlike Chen Ling's trio whose speed was so fast. Chen Ling and the others could only slow down their speed as much as possible, so as not to exceed Jiang Xiaohua's Aura concealment range.
The four of them just charged out of the palace gates like this, passed through the streets of the ancient city, and by the time they crossed the boundary of this Reappearance of history, pieces of falling snowflakes drifted out from under the leaden gray clouds, staining the four of them.
Far away, as if unreachable, a palace in the snow stood silently;
The four of them had already run all the way out of Li Shimin's dynasty, arriving at another emperor's background of unknown space and time. But their speed didn't stagnate in the slightest, instead becoming faster and faster...
No one noticed,
In the sky above behind them, a figure wearing a Bowler Hat had the corners of his mouth slightly turned up.
"It's actually the rumored Six of Hearts... interesting."
...
Forgetting Progress: 10%
...
Broken snow filled the sky.
Jiang Xiaohua trailed behind the three of them, watching helplessly as Chen Ling gradually accelerated, yet he couldn't catch up no matter what... His white long hair stained with sweat danced in the snowy ground, his face full of incomprehension and strain.
Jiang Xiaohua wanted to call out for them to slow down a bit, but felt embarrassed, so he could only grit his teeth to make himself run faster, and faster...
His heavy bandaged legs sank into the snowy ground, leaving dark and deep imprints one after another, narrating Jiang Xiaohua's silence and stubbornness.
But Chen Ling's trio seemed to have completely forgotten him, pushing their speed to the extreme, even almost exceeding his Aura concealment range...
Until this moment, he finally spoke with pale lips:
"Lin Yan... Jian Wubing... you... wait for me..."
In the next moment,
Those three figures stopped;
A vermilion Theatrical Robe, a black leather jacket, an ancient Tang suit... The three figures looked back in the snow, their gazes simultaneously landing on Jiang Xiaohua, their brows unconsciously wrinkling.
Wuwuwu—
In the whimpering cold wind, Jiang Xiaohua stumbled step by step, finally catching up to them.
"You... you guys ran so fast... I can't protect you..."
Jiang Xiaohua propped his hands on his knees, embarrassed to look directly into the eyes of Chen Ling's trio, only silently lowering his head to explain.
A few seconds later, Chen Ling's voice calmly sounded:
"Who... are you?"
Jiang Xiaohua froze in place.
He raised his head in astonishment, only to see Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian also scrutinizing him with confusion, their brows full of guardedness.
"Me...?" Jiang Xiaohua didn't understand, but after hesitating for a moment, he still answered, "I'm Jiang Xiaohua..."
"Why are you following us?" Jian Changsheng spoke in a deep voice.
"I..."
Jiang Xiaohua didn't know how to answer.
"Have we met somewhere before?" Sun Bumian pulled down a corner of his small Round Sunglasses, thoughtful. "Why do you feel a bit familiar..."
"We've met, we met in 'A Hidden Dragon in the Depths'." Jiang Xiaohua immediately responded.
"'A Hidden Dragon in the Depths'?"
Chen Ling's trio exchanged confused glances.
Under Jiang Xiaohua's gaze full of anticipation, Chen Ling's single sentence completely plunged him into deep blankness:
"In the competition for the Heaven-Reaching Star Position, is there such a place?"