A busca na Shatuo Store tornou-se cada vez mais intensa. Com sua experiência, tio Jing percebeu que o barraco não era um lugar para ficar por muito tempo. Os homens e cavalos de Mo Yuan vasculharam a área como um pente. Da próxima vez, Ling Yao pode não ter a mesma sorte de antes.

“Jovem Mestre, não é adequado ficar aqui por muito tempo. Devemos deixar o deserto imediatamente.” Tio Jing tomou uma decisão rápida. Taking advantage of the darkness and the chaos created by his men, he quietly sneaked out of Shatuo Shop with Ling Yao and headed towards a small market town to the north of the desert. Suas figuras desapareceram rapidamente na vasta noite de Gobi.

Almost at the same time, on another trail out of the desert, the young man looked at Su Rui beside him, whose lips were chapped due to thirst and exhaustion, and whose steps were sloppy. Ele se lembrou das buscas rigorosas que tinha visto em várias lojas de cavalos e carruagens, e sabia claramente em seu coração que vagar pelo deserto com Su Rui em tão más condições era o mesmo que procurar a morte.

"I'm looking for Ling Yao...water..." Su Rui's voice was hoarse, crying, and his mood was extremely unstable.

The young man frowned and said decisively: "If you can't find anyone like this, let's go out first and find a place to settle you." He no longer hesitated, supported Su Rui, who could hardly walk, and rushed towards the north of the desert, the small market town that had the same goal as Uncle Jing.

A cidade se chama "Shikouji" e é um simples ponto de abastecimento à beira do deserto. O jovem parecia estar bastante familiarizado com este lugar. Ele levou Su Rui para um pátio isolado e se instalou na casa de um parente distante.

"Dê-lhe algo para comer e beber e cuide bem dele." O jovem contou ao seu parente distante, mas ele próprio não teve tempo nem de comer um pedaço de comida seca. Ele apenas bebeu alguns goles de água apressadamente e imediatamente se virou e saiu. “Preciso descobrir o paradeiro de Ling Yao o mais rápido possível. O tempo está se esgotando.”

He anxiously explored several hotels and wine shops in the town. Por fim, em um hotel discreto, o garçom confirmou sua suspeita: “Há um hóspede tão jovem que parece doente e está sendo sustentado por um homem de meia-idade”.

When the young man followed the instructions and knocked on the door of the guest room, and met the vigilant Uncle Jing and the suspicious Ling Yao, the tense atmosphere instantly turned into excitement and disbelief.

"Asen?! Por que é você!" Ling Yao mal conseguia acreditar no que via.

A pessoa que veio não era outro senão Asen, seu primo com quem ele cresceu desde a infância, e uma peça de xadrez secreta que ele plantou no mercado negro do deserto em seus primeiros anos! When Asen saw that Ling Yao was safe and sound, he breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately took out a small cloth bag that he kept close to his chest and solemnly handed it over: "Brother Yao! The ring! I redeemed it from Scarface at a high price!"

The Star Ring was lost and found, and Ling Yao had mixed feelings in his heart. No entanto, a crise não foi resolvida. Shortly after they met, the unusual sound of horse hooves was heard outside Shikouji—the pursuers were coming again!

Tio Jing e Asen tomaram uma decisão decisiva e devem partir imediatamente. Asen was familiar with the trails and personally sent the two of them out of the market town, pointing the direction to Xinghui Ancient City.

"Brother Yao, take care! I'll lure them away from here!" Asen turned around resolutely and ran in the other direction.

Nos três dias seguintes, Ling Yao e Su Rui, disfarçados de Tio Jing, ficaram dia e noite, fazendo desvios por caminhos remotos, e finalmente voltaram furtivamente para os arredores da Cidade Antiga de Xinghui no meio da noite sob uma noite de luar.

Looking at the ancient city wall that showed its huge outline in the moonlight in the distance, Su Rui looked puzzled and asked in a low voice: "We finally escaped, why did we come back again? Isn't this a self-inflicted trap?"

Ling Yao's eyes were calm and he whispered: "This is the 'darkness under the lamp' mentioned in the military book. Mo Yuan must have thought that we were thousands of miles away, and would never have thought that we would dare to come back under his nose. Here, instead, is our last chance."

They dressed up in disguise, Ling Yao deliberately looking disgraced, and Su Rui pretending to be a young couple visiting relatives in the city. Arriving at the city gate, the guards guarding the gate made routine checks. When one of the older guards raised the lantern and saw clearly Ling Yao's face, which was deliberately lowered but could not hide its outline, his body trembled suddenly and he almost blurted out: "Young Master..."

Ling Yao immediately raised his eyes and stopped him with sharp and calm eyes. The guard was a member of the distant branch of the Ling family. He instantly understood and suppressed his shock. He changed his words and said to the yawning companion next to him: "Yes...it's the second son of the Li family and his wife. I recognize them. Let them go." As he said that, he quietly handed over a piece of green crystal of excellent quality that Ling Yao secretly gave him, and gave half of it to the companion.

The companion rubbed his sleepy eyes and got another benefit when he heard that it was the familiar "second son of the Li family" and muttered: "Hurry in, it's so late at night..." He never thought that the "sick young man" in front of him was the former young master Ling Yao, who was being closely searched by the whole city.

After successfully entering the city, the three of them did not dare to take the main road. Using the cover of the shadows, they quietly approached the core of the ancient city - the castle of the city lord. I could see the figures of patrol teams on the outside of the castle going back and forth, the frequency was much denser than before, and the atmosphere was tense.

Ling Yao took Su Rui around to a deserted corner on the west side of the castle. The walls here are old and covered with thick grass and vines. "There is a secret door here that outsiders don't know about, which can lead directly to the inside of the castle." Ling Yao whispered, and began to anxiously fumble for the hidden mechanism on the wall covered with vines.

Su Rui estava deitado no canto escuro da parede, prendendo a respiração e observando cuidadosamente o padrão das patrulhas passando em grupos não muito longe. Ela calculou mentalmente e, depois de um momento, baixou a voz e disse a Ling Yao com urgência: “O tempo de segurança entre as patrulhas é de apenas três minutos!

When Ling Yao heard this, he moved his hands faster, sweat mixed with the dust on the wall and covered his hands. Ele se lembrava repetidamente da localização da agência que seu pai lhe contara naquela época, mas a parede estava muito coberta de trepadeiras, tornando-a pouco clara ao toque.

“Cento e cinquenta segundos…”

“Cento e vinte segundos…”

“Noventa segundos…”

Su Rui's countdown was like a drum beat, beating on Ling Yao's heart. Gotas de suor surgiram em sua testa.

“Sessenta segundos…”

“Trinta segundos!”

Os passos regulares e pesados ​​do próximo grupo de patrulhas podiam ser ouvidos claramente à distância, e a luz das tochas começou a brilhar na esquina.

Faltam apenas os últimos trinta segundos! Ling Yao still hasn't found the life-saving mechanism!