Chapter 145
Ji Qing grabbed You Xingluo’s hand and used Gravitational Support to lower the two of them to the ground.
All the gang members within several kilometers nearby had been drawn away by the commotion Feng Youyou had caused at the casino. Although Ji Qing had specifically told her not to make too big a scene, it seemed Feng Youyou had not listened to him at all.
Ji Qing immediately felt numb inside.
He had originally thought Xie Chang’an might be the one to disobey orders, but the first one to do so had actually been Feng Youyou. Then, on second thought, Ji Qing felt that it was not entirely unreasonable. Feng Youyou had rich combat experience, and her personality was far more proactive. She probably had her own rhythm.
At any rate, with Xie Chang’an there, nothing too serious should happen.
The rescue plan the three of them had worked out was extremely simple and brutal, because they had very little room to choose in the first place:
First, Feng Youyou would deliberately cause trouble on the Azure Dragon Gang’s turf, while Xie Chang’an would follow her and coordinate with her actions.
Second, after several waves of Azure Dragon Gang members had been drawn over, they would stall for time and take the opportunity to expand the scope of the disturbance.
Third, Ji Qing would set out and successfully rendezvous with You Xingluo. After getting some distance away, he would inform the other team, who were still buying time, through a specific means of communication. But because Xucheng’s communications network was controlled by the local criminal forces, Terminal communications might be intercepted. So they had chosen a far more direct method: a Signal Flare.
Even in the dark of night, setting off a Signal Flare would attract some unnecessary attention.
But that did not matter. After all, they had intended to fight their way through by force from the very beginning, so they naturally had to be prepared to bear those consequences. More importantly, did people escaping tonight need to worry about a citywide lockdown and manhunt? They absolutely did not.
Fourth, both sides would deal with their enemies until they met up outside the city at the empty vehicle they had prepared in advance. During that time, many unexpected things would definitely happen, and it would surely be grueling, but so long as they endured that stretch, the four of them could begin a “pleasant” high-speed chase through the wilderness.
Fifth, the car chase.
Sixth, and last, the successful escape of all four of them.
…
As he ran, Ji Qing reviewed the rescue steps they had discussed in his mind.
Their plan was extremely simple, because there was no point in making it complicated. No one could predict what they might encounter in the course of the escape. Xucheng itself was a highly unusual town, and they might even run into Infected and Aberrants inside the city.
But… that was a subject for another time.
Because the one pulling You Xingluo along in flight at this moment was neither “Li Yuan,” the Dawn Society cadre, nor “Qing,” the Aberrant, but merely a student from an Ability High School. Ji Qing had come here as a classmate to carry out this rescue, and only as a classmate.
“Ji Qing… how much longer do we have to run…” Behind him, You Xingluo’s steps were already growing unsteady.
“Your stamina… tch, is it really this bad?” Ji Qing could not help looking back after hearing that, shooting the weakened You Xingluo a look of disdain. Although he had expected this already, he had not thought You Xingluo would be even frailer than he had imagined.
He was definitely going to complain to Shao Huayu about this later, Ji Qing thought.
First, Ji Qing waved out a surge of gravitational force, sweeping away the obstacles piled up in the alley ahead of them. Most of them were everyday items belonging to Xucheng’s residents: clothes racks left out in the open, buckets left out in the open, cardboard boxes left out in the open…
Crash—
The gravitational wave scattered them like an invisible gale.
Dropping to one knee, Ji Qing did not even say a word before slinging You Xingluo over one shoulder like a sack of cargo. Only after carrying him some distance did he belatedly add, “Do not move around.”
You Xingluo blinked blankly.
All of a sudden, he felt that, in Ji Qing’s eyes, he would no longer be counted as “one You Xingluo” from this day forward, but as “one sack of You Xingluo.” Because one sack of You Xingluo was clearly more convenient than a single You Xingluo.
You Xingluo could very clearly feel that Ji Qing’s speed had increased.
You Xingluo: “Wuh, QAQ.”
Carrying You Xingluo on one shoulder, Ji Qing sprinted toward the city gate. Along the way, he even used his Ability to leap between footholds like a ninja out of an anime, springing back and forth across awnings, balcony railings, and the protruding edges of exterior walls.
His body grew lighter and lighter, while everything around them seemed smaller and smaller.
Before they knew it, they had left the dark ground behind and reached the rooftops of the old buildings.
The stars were brilliant tonight, and the evening breeze blew gently.
On the rooftops they passed, many clothes, bed sheets, and other items were still hanging out to dry.
Ji Qing braked sharply on the rooftop of a house where several white bed sheets hung drying, then swiftly set You Xingluo down to one side. After doing that, and under You Xingluo’s puzzled little gaze, he quickly took a Signal Flare out of his pocket.
Check it, place it, light the fuse, then quickly move away.
The flare’s white fuse burned down with a hiss, and the next instant, it shot into the sky. Before even much time had passed, a bright yellow pattern suddenly burst across the night sky, like a spray of summer fireworks.
“Wow,” You Xingluo exclaimed as he gazed upward in wonder.
The fireworks in the night sky were reflected in his dark eyes, and after that, Ji Qing at his side. You Xingluo knew it was a Signal Flare, yet inwardly he could not help classifying it as a burst of fireworks instead. After all, fireworks, the night sky, the evening breeze… those images were what truly suited what was happening tonight.
They were fleeing beneath fireworks.
But compared with You Xingluo’s leisurely ease, Ji Qing’s nerves were stretched much tighter. After receiving the response from the other team, Ji Qing immediately prepared to hoist You Xingluo up and continue running, because You Xingluo’s physical condition was truly beyond words.
You Xingluo: “Mm? QAQ?”
Tentatively, You Xingluo stretched out a hand. “Shouldn’t this be the part where we hold hands, then laugh as we flee beneath a sky full of fireworks?”
“Do you think you are some runaway Disney princess?” Ji Qing deadpanned. “And what do you mean a sky full of fireworks? Your imagination is absurdly rich. Why don’t you become a novelist instead? Then you could beautify this whole experience with complete justification.”
“And just so we are clear, do not gender-swap me. I would crawl over and strangle you even if I had to.”
Having said that, Ji Qing hurried off with him over his shoulder.
Thus, like a corpse stuffed in a sack, You Xingluo dazedly set out on the road. After they had run some distance, You Xingluo lifted his head and looked back at the receding nightscape of Xucheng behind them. The sights he had seen and the sights he had never seen before all emerged one by one within the night.
Thump, thump, thump…
His heart was beating in an uneven, jubilant rhythm.
You Xingluo had to admit one fact: the nightscape he saw today would become one of the most unforgettable memories of his life.
Several abandoned steel rebars in the distance were drawn over with a wave of Ji Qing’s hand, and they took up the duty of protecting their master in his place. Once the rebars drifted within a certain range, Ji Qing immediately gave up the brick he had in hand and hurled it toward the spot from which the gunshot had come just now.
The brick was shattered by a bullet in the very next second.
Seeing that, Ji Qing understood at once: apparently, they had strayed into another gang’s territory.
That was an entirely normal development. Ji Qing and the others knew nothing about Xucheng, so naturally, they also knew nothing about how the local gangs had divided the city. But when he accidentally caught sight of the dazzling night sky overhead, an extraordinarily bold idea suddenly surfaced in his mind.
“You Xingluo, are you afraid of heights?”
“No.”
“Do you need a hood?”
“Hm?”
“I am worried that by tomorrow, the entire Federation will know you eloped with someone here.”
“Ah…”
Hearing that, You Xingluo immediately pictured several scenes: their classmates, their teachers, and everyone who had ever met them or knew their identities, all seeing the two of them flying through the sky above Xucheng in a newspaper photograph…
—Especially while he was being carried over someone’s shoulder.
You Xingluo: “Then maybe we should for—”
But before You Xingluo could finish that sentence, Ji Qing leapt directly onto a floating steel rebar suspended in midair and manipulated gravity to plunge in a straight line toward the city gate. During that vertical descent, he also made sure to use the rebars to form a circle around himself.
Of course. There was no way he was going to let himself be seen either.
Ji Qing only wanted to distract You Xingluo’s attention, not end up in the Federation’s headlines.
Although “riding steel rebars like a mage from Xucheng’s inner ring to the city gate” did sound very entertaining, it did not change the fact that both of them were people of standing. Ji Qing simply could not imagine how many years Emerald would spend mocking him if Emerald ever found out about this in the future.
Just Ji Qing’s long and unbroken history of defeats in high school was already enough for Emerald to taunt him every single time they met.
Whoooosh…
The wind roared past their ears.
The gale nearly forced Ji Qing’s eyes shut, yet he still gritted his teeth and controlled the direction of the rebars. Only after the first steel rebar slammed heavily into the hard city wall and blasted out a huge crater did Ji Qing suddenly restore gravity to normal.
The remaining rebars continued forward on inertia, while Ji Qing and You Xingluo dropped rapidly to the ground.
Because of the excessive drain on his Ability, Ji Qing’s face had turned somewhat pale, and fine beads of sweat slowly ran down the line of his jaw. They had reached the city gate far faster than the other group, but things were still not over.
Beep, beep…
The emergency alarm device at the city gate spun frantically.
The rebars’ impact had already triggered the alarm at Xucheng’s gate, and the City Defense Department forces were rushing into action. With surprising leisure, Ji Qing teased You Xingluo beside him, “I have a feeling that after us coming here today, they—and the City Lord along with them—are all going to lose their posts.”
“Then let them lose them,” You Xingluo said with a faint smile. “Once this batch of people loses its hold, another batch will take over anyway. Sooner or later, Central City is bound to gnaw through this hard bone called Xucheng. Right now, I only hope the next group in power will improve Xucheng’s food supply. At the very least, they should make Nutrient Solution widely available…”
Tsk, tsk, tsk. How pitiful was it that he could not even get Nutrient Solution?
Ji Qing felt a little more pity for You Xingluo again.
He could feel that his mood at this moment was especially exhilarating, and the flow of his Ability especially turbulent. Even the towering, magnificent city wall before his eyes felt like something he could destroy by his own power, smashing open a path for the Aberrants to pour through.
But… that was wrong.
Ji Qing had already experienced once what the price of indulgence was. When he had drawn away the Flock of Mutated Birds, he had felt that same sense of omnipotence as well. Back then, he had not understood what he needed to do, but this time, he knew.
This time, Ji Qing could only be “Ji Qing.”
