The next day.

Li Chuan’s body had already improved considerably, and the blood on his arm had stopped flowing.

Now he needed to hurry back to Yanjing—his master was still waiting for his report!

He glanced at Ji Yunshu, who was currently hugging her knees with her head down, having slept like that all night. Then he placed the garment draped over him beside her and turned to leave.

But the subtle sound of his feet stepping on the yellow sand still alerted Ji Yunshu.

She immediately got up and chased after him, asking as she went, “Where are you going?”

Li Chuan didn’t speak and continued walking forward.

She followed his steps for a stretch of road.

He finally stopped, turned to look at Ji Yunshu who was panting from chasing him, and said harshly, “Stop following me!”

Those lively eyes of Ji Yunshu showed stubbornness: “Wherever you go, I’ll go.”

“I’ve already said everything I need to say. What exactly do you want?”

“Your injury hasn’t healed yet. I must stay by your side.”

“No need.”

“Then just go ahead and walk—I’ll just keep following. If you can shake me off, that would be your ability.”

Li Chuan narrowed his eyes. He was injured and simply couldn’t shake her off!

After a brief silence, he said, “If you want to follow, then follow!”

He strode forward quickly.

His one step was worth two of Ji Yunshu’s steps.

She gazed at his back from afar, desperately chasing.

But she also fell many times.

However, this time, no matter what, she wouldn’t let him leave.

…

Tiansha Inn.

Early in the morning, Boss Hu ordered people to pack up the goods and prepare to depart.

Uncle Jing asked, “Now that Miss Ji isn’t here, should we still bring those other two people along?”

“Those two useless fools would just get in the way.”

“But we can’t just leave them here. If we run into Miss Ji in the future, it would be hard to explain.”

That was true!

Boss Hu considered for a moment and relented, “Fine, bring them along.”

“Alright.”

Uncle Jing had a fellow worker from their group go to the room to call for Luo Yang and Xiao Ba.

But after knocking on the door for a long time, there was no response.

“Could they have died inside?”

Though he suspected this, the worker still felt uneasy and quickly barged in to take a look.

But there was nothing in the room.

Luo Yang and Xiao Ba were nowhere to be seen either.

Where could they have gone so early in the morning?

He then searched around the inn but similarly saw no sign of them.

He went to report to Boss Hu: “They’re gone—not in the inn either.”

Boss Hu, upon hearing this, was indifferent and only said, “If they’re gone, they’re gone. Don’t blame me for not bringing them along.”

Just as he was speaking—

He heard someone below calling out, “The silver is missing! Several hundred taels of silver are missing!”

What a commotion!

The inn server standing behind the first-floor counter was now running around anxiously.

Rummaging through various drawers in the cabinet.

Yao Niang came rushing over when she heard: “What’s all this noise so early in the morning?”

The server, sweating profusely, said, “The silver… the silver is missing! Three hundred taels of silver that was in the drawer is gone.”

“What?”

Yao Niang was shocked and hurriedly looked in the drawer where they usually kept money.

It was completely empty—not a single coin!

She grabbed the server and demanded, “Where’s the silver?”

The server trembled and said, “I don’t know! As soon as I opened it, it was gone. Could there have been a thief?”

“A thief?” Yao Niang was furious. “Has my Tiansha Inn been cursed these past two days? First the black-clothed man, now a thief!”

“What should we do?”

“Daring to steal from me—they must have a death wish.”

Yao Niang was about to order everyone to search each room.

Suddenly, someone shouted down from the second floor, “That man surnamed Wen from last night is gone.”

The person had left?

“Damn it! Could he have stolen the silver and run off?” Yao Niang suspected.

But someone discovered a paper pressed under the abacus: “There’s something here.”

They took out the paper.

Yao Niang snatched it over.

Written crookedly on it was: I’ll borrow the silver for now, and I’ve also taken that person from yesterday with me. Young Master Luo Yang.

“That son of a bitch!” Yao Niang was so angry she completely lost her seductive demeanor. She raised her head to stare at Boss Hu standing by the railing on the second floor, waving the note in her hand accusingly, “Your people are really good at causing me trouble!”

“What?” Boss Hu was puzzled.

Just as he was confused, one of his men came running hurriedly, “Boss Hu, this is bad! We’re missing three camels, and supplies are also missing.”

Hearing this, Boss Hu finally understood!

It turned out Luo Yang and Xiao Ba had not only stolen Yao Niang’s three hundred taels of silver but also stolen three of his camels.

What audacity!

…

In the desert, under the scorching sun.

Three camels were walking one after another.

Luo Yang and Xiao Ba each sat on a camel, while the extra camel carried a lot of food and water.

As for Wen Yu, he walked on foot under the blazing sun with his hands bound by rope, the other end held in Luo Yang’s hand.

Luo Yang had been walking from last night until now. His body was already exhausted. How could he have imagined that those two brats would dare to bind him?

And make him keep walking!

What audacity!

If he weren’t injured, he would definitely skin them alive.

“Do you know who I am? You dare treat me this way—you won’t have a good ending later.”

Luo Yang wasn’t afraid at all! He weighed the package of three hundred taels of silver he’d stolen from the drawer and said, “Don’t blame me—I was also forced to resort to this desperate measure. In order to find my friend, I had to bring you along. When we find that masked person, I’ll use your life to exchange for hers.”

“Then aren’t you afraid your friend is already dead?”

“Ha! You’d better pray she’s alive. Otherwise, when the time comes, I’ll kill you to vent my anger.”

“Kill me? You think you’re worthy?”

“What worthy or not worthy? Killing someone requires consideration of this? How come I didn’t know?”

“Simply outrageous! Do you know who I am…”

Before Wen Yu could finish his words, Luo Yang directly cut him off, “I don’t care who you are. Right now, the most important thing is my little brother’s life.”

He pointed at Xiao Ba.

Xiao Ba was lazily sprawled on the camel. After being “called out,” he quickly straightened up and nodded vigorously, “That’s right, my life is the most important.”

Wen Yu was confused: “What does his life have to do with me?” Luo Yang said, “You don’t need to know that. Anyway, my friend is going to Qujiang. If she’s fortunate enough to be alive, then she’ll definitely head toward Qujiang! So we’re also heading all the way to Qujiang, but we’ll have to trouble you to follow along with us brothers! If we find my friend, we’ll exchange you. If we can’t find her, then when we reach Qujiang, I’ll sell you for silver.”

“Going too far.” “Going too far?” Luo Yang couldn’t help but laugh, clutching his belly as he said, “Someone actually said I’m going too far. This young master loves hearing such words.”