Chapter 668: Escape Route

Looking at Bai Qi's lazy posture, I chuckled, realizing I had worried about him for nothing.

"Here I am suffering out there, and you're having the time of your life." I crouched down and rubbed his furry head, but the doubts in my mind only grew heavier.

Every other shop on the street was closed. Only this small restaurant was still open.

Without a single customer this late at night, the owner was obviously waiting for me—or, more accurately, waiting for me to take Bai Qi away.

Bai Qi was highly intelligent and rarely let strangers approach him. Yet here he was, sprawled under the table completely relaxed, seemingly certain that the restaurant owner meant him no harm.

'Bai Qi must know the owner. Could this restaurant belong to his previous master?' I quickly dismissed the thought. Bai Qi's former master was a free spirit who traded his dog for booze. How could a man like that ever settle down to run a restaurant?

'If it isn't his previous master, then it has to be someone very close to me.' I racked my brains but couldn't think of anyone who fit the bill. 'Forget it. I'll just go check the kitchen.'

Leaving Bai Qi lounging under the table, I walked toward the counter. "Boss, excuse the intrusion."

The restaurant's cozy decor soothed my tense nerves, giving me a feeling of coming home.

"Anyone here?" I lifted the curtain to the kitchen. It was spotless, with everything neatly organized.

As I stepped inside, a delicious aroma caught my attention. Following the scent, I spotted a steaming bowl of egg noodles sitting next to the cutting board.

The golden fried egg was crispy on the edges and tender in the center, garnished with vibrant chopped scallions and releasing a mouthwatering fragrance.

After running around all night, I was practically starving. Swallowing back my drool, I picked up the bowl. "Boss? You there?"

The noodles were piping hot, and steam was still rising from the broth in the nearby pot. The owner had clearly been here just moments ago.

'Was this made for me? But why would she hide?' I glanced toward the kitchen's back door but ultimately didn't approach it. If she didn't want to see me, she must have her reasons.

Licking my dry lips, I eagerly dug in. I wolfed down the large bowl of noodles in minutes, not leaving a single drop of broth behind.

"Boss, thanks for the meal." I set the bowl down and looked toward the back door, noticing it was now cracked open. Someone seemed to be eavesdropping from the other side.

Before I could walk over, the door clicked shut from the outside.

"Well, you're not exactly hiding very well." I shook my head. Since she didn't want to show herself, I wasn't going to force it. "Boss, I'm leaving the money for the meal on the counter."

Exiting the kitchen, I crouched beside Bai Qi again. I looked at this Changbai Mountain Guard Dog who had been with me for so long. "I have to leave town for a while. You stay here with the boss."

Leaving Bai Qi with a stranger was risky, but I had no better options right now.

Tomorrow, the rest of the sect cultivators would arrive in Jiangcheng. I had to get out before dawn.

"Since you get along with the owner, stay here. Remember, be good. Don't bite anyone." I realized I was rambling a bit. Maybe it was because I had been through so much lately; my mindset had completely shifted.

I gave his head one last rub, then grabbed a pen and paper from the counter to write a quick letter, asking the owner to watch over Bai Qi for a while.

Capping the pen, I pulled 3,000 yuan from my pocket and tucked the cash beneath the note.

"Boss! The noodles were amazing. The taste was familiar... kind of felt like coming home!" Not knowing if she heard me, I turned and walked out of the restaurant.

I had barely made it a few steps when a clatter of chairs sounded behind me. I glanced back to see Bai Qi padding after me, wagging his tail.

"I'm leaving Jiangcheng for a bit. Stay here and wait for me to come back." I had no idea what tomorrow held. Taking Bai Qi with me would only put him in danger.

I turned and kept walking, but the pale yellow figure shadowed my every step.

I looked back at Bai Qi. He seemed to sense that this departure wasn't like the others.

His tail drooped low, giving only a slight wag. My reflection filled his dark, soulful eyes. When I stopped, he stopped. When I walked, he immediately followed.

"Go back, you hear me?" My tone unconsciously hardened. Bai Qi froze in place, looking utterly confused.

I quickened my pace, but the patter of paws sounded behind me again. Bai Qi stuck to my heels, terrified that if he fell behind, he would lose me.

"I have to leave Jiangcheng. I can't take you with me, do you understand?"

Bai Qi just kept trailing behind me, not fussing or making a sound.

I entered the adult shop and found the Black Leather Suitcase that held the Underworld Live Show's camera. I packed all my belongings into it, including the items I had redeemed from the drawer, my talismans, Daoist scriptures, and everything else.

Once packed, I carried the suitcase down from the second floor. Bai Qi was still glued to my side.

"I'll come back for you one day, but not today." I locked the shop door. Seeing the sheer lack of comprehension in his eyes made my chest ache.

"Go back." I had no friends left by my side. I couldn't let him get hurt too.

I turned away, forcing myself not to look into his eyes as I steeled my resolve.

"Stop following me."

"I left a note for the restaurant boss. She'll take care of you."

"Do you hear me? Stop following me!"

"Go!"

On the deserted Ting Tang Road, my voice carried far before being swallowed by the night wind.

Bai Qi finally stopped. He stood completely motionless at the entrance to my little shop.

I pulled my coat tighter and dragged the Black Leather Suitcase away. Dozens of meters down the road, I glanced back. His figure was still rooted to that exact spot.

Forcing down the urge to turn back, I kept walking toward the deep darkness of the highway.

The sect cultivators could use their Life Lamps to determine whether Xu Yan and the others had perished. If they were truly dead, I couldn't even imagine the uproar it would cause. The top talents of the younger generation across the Five Great Upper Sects would have been completely wiped out. The sects would undoubtedly investigate this to the bitter end.

If they caught me, they would use every method imaginable to wring my secrets out of me. Let alone continuing my live streams, there was no guarantee I'd even survive the interrogation. So, I had chosen to lay low and leave Jiangcheng for now.

Time was too tight; I didn't even have the luxury to feel sad.

I walked for quite a while before finally flagging down a taxi. I told the driver to head out of Jiangcheng, but halfway there, I realized checkpoints had been set up on all the main roads. The police were inspecting every single vehicle that passed.

"Business is tough these days. Barely any rides this late at night, and we keep running into all this weird stuff. They're out here arresting people every day, but have you seen them catch anyone?" the driver complained casually. Just as he started slowing down to pull over, I hurriedly told him to turn the car around and take a different route.

The driver was somewhat oblivious and didn't realize anything was wrong, but sitting in the backseat, I was filled with dread.

When I fled Century New Garden, Jiang Chen seemed to have been on the phone with someone. Looking back, he must have been tipping off the armed police.

Moreover, I hadn't gone for a killing blow on Leng Qingxuan. My strike had only knocked him dizzy; he wouldn't be out for long.

'I was too soft-hearted. If it were Lu Xing, he would have lured Jiang Chen to a deserted spot to finish him off, then killed Leng Qingxuan. That way, the bodies wouldn't have been discovered until at least the next morning.' Lu Xing was incredibly "clean" with his handiwork. I had to give him that.

Whatever had unfolded at Century New Garden after my departure was out of my hands. I couldn't change it now.

The taxi looped around Jiangcheng for a long time. Every road leading out of the city was blockaded. Eventually, the driver started throwing me suspicious looks. After all, riding around aimlessly in a taxi in the dead of night was far from normal.

Having dealt with plenty of taxi drivers, I immediately noticed the subtle, nervous movements of his hands. Knowing things were about to go south, I had him pull over near the suburbs, paid the fare, and decisively got out.

'That driver is unreliable. He might go straight to the police and turn me in.' Dragging the suitcase made me a huge target and slowed me down, but I couldn't just throw it away—the contents were far too crucial.

'Escaping Jiangcheng on foot will take too long. By tomorrow morning, an all-points bulletin will likely be issued across the entire province. I've stirred up a massive disaster. With the sect cultivators fanning the flames, every neighboring county and city might be mobilized. The victims weren't ordinary people, after all.' Time was limited. Right now, what I needed most was a safe place to lay low.

'Xinhu High School is exposed. The police have probably already set a trap there.' I considered bypassing the police checkpoints entirely and heading straight to the suburbs, but that plan had two major flaws.

First, it would be nearly dawn by the time I reached the outskirts. If my luck was even slightly off, I'd bump straight into a police patrol. Second, even if I managed to reach another city, there was no guarantee I could safely catch a ride out. I had too little information, and fleeing blindly was basically suicide.

'How do I get out of Jiangcheng?' A map of the city surfaced in my mind. 'The waterways are definitely out of the question. That leaves only the mountain routes.'

My eyes narrowed as an incredibly bold plan took shape. 'I'll go to the Three Yin Sect first. Their temple is built within Henshan. If I advance, I have the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation to attack with; if I retreat, the vast expanse of Henshan will shield me!'

The Three Yin Sect was already on my itinerary. I had left in such a hurry last time that I hadn't managed to loot their sect's treasures.

'That settles it. I just hope things don't spiral into the worst-case scenario.' My future days were going to be difficult, but Two-Faced Buddha wasn't going to have it easy either. When parting ways with Leng Qingxuan, I had spilled everything I knew about Two-Faced Buddha. That should take at least some of the pressure off me.

Flagging down another taxi, I directed the driver myself, sticking strictly to the most secluded backroads. It wasn't until we neared the Western Suburbs that I found a spot entirely free of surveillance cameras and got out.

After paying the fare, I plunged straight into the darkness. Dawn was fast approaching, which meant this was the darkest hour of the night.

The Three Yin Sect's Daoist temple was located behind the Premium Cemetery Area in the Western Suburbs, physically connecting to Henshan. As long as I could slip inside unnoticed, I had a very good chance of escaping Jiangcheng through the mountain.