Jiang Zhan was still in a daze when Yun Chuan came forward to embrace him.
Had his plan to seduce the beautiful man worked exceptionally well?
No, that couldn’t be right. The person before him was a young man!
Jiang Zhan inexplicably felt a sense of crisis. When the youth’s hand touched his body, he immediately jolted and grabbed Yun Chuan’s wrist, exclaiming, “What are you doing?”
Yun Chuan paused for a moment, his voice flat and emotionless: “Didn’t you say you’d tell me if I helped you escape?”
This question made Jiang Zhan sheepishly let go of his hand. He said, “Wait a moment,” and then wolfed down the remaining food, including a chicken leg, leaving only a bowl of millet rice. After wiping the corners of his mouth, he said, “Let’s go.”
Jiang Zhan didn’t have high hopes. He had been trapped for too long, and the youth’s appearance had only given him a glimmer of hope.
For instance, he didn’t believe that the young man’s small frame could drag him past the flowers and plants in the courtyard that made one’s limbs weak.
As they passed by that patch of flora, Jiang Zhan was surprised to find that he wasn’t affected by the fragrance.
He pondered for a moment and asked the youth, “Have you taken some kind of antidote?”
Yun Chuan looked at Jiang Zhan.
Jiang Zhan pointed at the flowers and plants.
Yun Chuan thought for a moment, then took out a small, colorful sachet and showed it to him.
“This is—”
“With this, there’s nothing to fear,” Yun Chuan explained simply.
Jiang Zhan’s eyes narrowed as he sized up the somewhat ugly youth, thinking to himself that this little brother was a bit foolish to tell him this without any precautions. Wasn’t he afraid that Jiang Zhan might snatch the sachet and run?
Of course, Jiang Zhan wasn’t that kind of person.
As they passed through the empty courtyard, there was no one in sight, only buildings standing around them and the distant sound of drums and music.
“Do you have some kind of celebration today?” Jiang Zhan asked.
“The annual New Fire Festival.”
“I see,” Jiang Zhan feigned an expression of sudden understanding, when in fact he had no idea what the New Fire Festival was.
Never mind, he thought, better not to ask. He had luckily encountered someone a bit slow-witted; what if he did help him escape?
In Jiang Zhan’s mind, the worst that could happen was that he’d have to crawl back like that time he hadn’t eaten for two days. It wasn’t a big deal.
But this youth was a bit foolish, not even asking him to answer the question first.
A sense of superiority welled up in him.
Soon, Jiang Zhan could see the crowd singing and dancing, his ears filled with songs and laughter.
At this moment, the youth suddenly stopped walking.
Jiang Zhan stopped as well and asked, “Why have we stopped?”
Yun Chuan stared at him steadily and slowly asked, “Are there two A-Huas?”
Jiang Zhan frowned.
Why ask this now?
As he was puzzled, he saw the youth point at the dense crowd, still with that flat expression: “If you don’t tell me, I’m going to call for people.”
Jiang Zhan’s mouth opened slightly, wishing he could slap himself.
He was wrong. It wasn’t this ugly boy who was stupid; he was the fool!
It turned out this ugly boy was afraid he couldn’t overpower him in the room, so he brought him to the crowd…
One must bow one’s head when under another’s roof. Jiang Zhan sighed and said, “That’s right, I think there are two A-Huas. Little brother, let me tell you, when Miss A-Hua first met me, she wasn’t like this at all…”
After listening to Jiang Zhan, Yun Chuan confirmed his suspicion: the A-Hua dancing today was not the A-Hua who had saved him!
The voice was different.
When he was wrapped in a quilt, desperately waiting for his grandfather’s body to be fished out, that voice became unforgettable to him.
Yun Chuan looked at the crowd ahead and bit his lip hard.
Where had the A-Hua who saved him gone?
Jiang Zhan coughed lightly, “Little brother, what do you want to do?”
He had already started considering snatching the youth’s sachet and blending into the crowd.
With so many people, maybe he could escape.
Yun Chuan came back to his senses and nodded slightly, “I’ll take you away.”
Jiang Zhan raised his eyebrows in surprise.
The ugly boy was quite true to his word.
Yun Chuan said no more and led Jiang Zhan toward the gate of the stockade.
Even as they successfully left the stockade, Jiang Zhan felt like he was in a dream, recalling the youth’s words: Today will be lively all day long, it’s easy to leave here but hard to enter. Once you leave, you won’t have the chance to come back…
Hearing this made him want to roll his eyes: he would have to be a complete fool to want to come back!
Long Dan was also feeling like he was in a dream.
He tugged hard at Old Qin: “Old Qin, quick, look at that person. Why does he look like Second Young Master Jiang to me!”
The usually calm Old Qin was also a bit dumbfounded. After staring carefully for a while, he confirmed, “It is Second Young Master Jiang!”
Long Dan glanced blankly at the main gate of the tribal stockade: “What’s going on? Didn’t the Princess Consort tell us to take advantage of the Wu tribe’s festival today to find a chance to sneak in? How come Second Young Master Jiang is coming out before we’ve even gone in?”
Old Qin fingered the pouch that Jiang Si, posing as Elder Sui Hua, had given him before leaving, equally confused.
The Princess Consort had left two pouches for him and Long Dan, saying that to enter the Wu tribe, they must carry these on their person. The herbs inside the pouch needed to have one type burned to take effect, and it would only work for one day, so she told them to wait until today to make their move.
But now, before they had even made a move—
Long Dan stepped out from their hiding place: “Let’s ask Second Young Master Jiang and we’ll know.”
Jiang Zhan exhaled a deep breath. Before he could rejoice in his escape, someone covered his mouth and dragged him away.
“Mmph mmph mmph—” When he saw clearly who was dragging him, Jiang Zhan was stunned. “Long Dan?”
Long Dan had a complex expression: “Second Young Master, did you take a bone-softening powder?”
This was too easy; even a young girl could probably have kidnapped Second Young Master Jiang.
Jiang Zhan’s expression stiffened, and he said angrily, “Don’t mention that. What are you doing here?”
Long Dan blinked in surprise: “Old Qin and I were just about to find a chance to sneak in and rescue you.”
Jiang Zhan became even more confused: “Wait, you knew I was here?”
“Of course, we knew. Didn’t the Princess Consort tell you?”
“Princess Consort?” Jiang Zhan suddenly had a bad feeling and all his excitement about escaping vanished. “My Fourth Sister is here too? Where is she?”
Long Dan pointed towards the gate of the Wu tribe stockade: “The Princess Consort went in a few days ago. Second Young Master, didn’t you meet with her?”
Jiang Zhan felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water. His face instantly turned ashen as he struggled, saying, “No, I have to go back in to find her!”
He was that complete fool!
Long Dan hurriedly held Jiang Zhan down: “Second Young Master, you’ve finally escaped. Quickly come with us. The Princess Consort instructed us long ago that if we got you out, we should just send her a signal with fireworks.”
As he was speaking, Old Qin had already reached into his robes and thrown something into the air.
Red fireworks bloomed in the sky.
Jiang Si’s hand paused as she held her wine cup. Though her face remained impassive, she was puzzled inside.
How strange, she thought. She had originally agreed with Old Qin and Long Dan that if they successfully sneaked in, they would set off green fireworks. Then she would pay close attention, find them, and figure out a way to make contact. After they rescued her Second Brother, they would set off red fireworks to let her know all was well.
But now, she hadn’t seen any green fireworks. How had the red fireworks appeared?
Long Dan was impetuous; could he have set off the wrong ones?