Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Looking for Ye Shaoqin
Ye Lingyue stopped and scanned the surroundings, hiding behind a huge tree. She put out the light on her lamp oil and waited for a while.
After five minutes passed, she still didn’t spot anyone. Silver light streamed down from the moon. Although it wasn’t clear enough, she decided not to use the oil lamp for the time being.
Was it her imagination? She wondered.
She was pretty sure she heard the sounds of footsteps earlier.
However, she couldn’t dawdle here any longer, so she ignored whoever that was. She looked down and frowned, taking light and quick steps in the darkness.
Ye Shaoqin, that clever little guy had left some beads on the ground.
Once she made sure there were no other sounds around except for critters, she lit the oil lamp again, using it to illuminate the forest ground.
The beads were getting sparse. She wasn’t sure Ye Shaoqin had enough on him that it could help her trace the way to the kidnapper’s hideout.
The imperial guards didn’t notice the beads, probably because of the brown color that blended with nature. These beads were sometimes covered by brown leaves.
It was Ye Shaoyin who had made the necklace for her brother.
"Boss, we caught a good one this time! A pity we couldn’t grab the other girl."
Suddenly, she heard a voice from a distance.
Ye Lingyue leaped into the high branch, sitting while quietly looking down to some people a few distance away. Her lips curled up.
She finally found them.
There were a total of three people, Ye Lingyue counted.
"There is another one? Why didn’t you grab her?!" A rough voice rang out, filled with displeasure.
The other two men jolted, and they shook their heads. "Boss, you just returned here. You didn’t know that we almost got caught. The consequence would have been fatal if we did."
"It’s like we were grabbing a meal right from the tiger’s mouth," the other one added.
The so-called boss let out a displeased snort, and asked. "Where did you get that little boy?"
"It’s some sort of convoy. We don’t know their identities. There are so many guards around them..."
The more the man listened, the more he felt it was odd. However, he couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong.
He had just returned to this place after bringing the other children they had kidnapped to another county and hadn’t taken a look at this convoy they were talking about.
"A convoy? A noble family?" He asked.
The two men nodded. "Their guards were pretty skilled. We almost got caught, but fortunately our hiding skills are very good."
The boss’s heart skipped a beat.
He remembered about the news that the Ninth Prince was returning to the Capital. "It was not from the Ninth Prince’s forces, was it?"
They blinked and glanced at each other, certainly bewildered. Then, they turned to their boss and shook their heads. "Boss, you are joking. No matter how many heads we have, how could we dare to steal people from the Ninth Prince?"
"Right! He will hunt us down even if we hide on the other side of the earth. Just thinking about it already makes my knees go weak. Besides, how can a child appear within their forces?"
"It’s usually only him, his attendants, and the soldiers..."
They suddenly seemed to realize something. "Boss, are the Ninth Prince’s forces going to pass by this place?"
The boss pursed his lip. "They should arrive near this place anytime soon."
"Then, what if that noble family told the Ninth Prince about their missing child and asked help from him...?" The man trailed off, shuddering.
His companion scolded him. "Don’t overthink! You are going to jinx it."
Despite his words, he turned to the boss and advised. "Boss, how about we leave this place now? We don’t know the identity of the noble family..."
He gulped. "If the noble family really knows the Ninth Prince, we will be in trouble."
The boss shook his head. "The Ninth Prince spent most of his time on the border. The noble families in the Capital aren’t familiar with him, but... it’s not impossible if they are going to ask help from his forces."
Ye Lingyue listened carefully and wasn’t in a hurry to grab Ye Shaoqin. The little boy was tied with ropes; they had placed him on the ground. There wasn’t any movement from him for a while, seemingly asleep.
She knew that with the little guy’s looks, they would bear to hurt him. It would lessen his worth.
As she prepared the hallucinogen powder out of her storage space, she was also surprised to hear about the Ninth Prince from their mouth.
Is he that scary?
She actually had heard quite about him while she was acting as Shen Wuqing.
A lot of people say that his martial art skills were unmatched. If possible, she actually wanted to try to spar with him and compare their skills.
Of course, it also had to wait until she recovered her previous power. If she were to use this untrained body, she might not last a punch from him.
"Let’s hurry and leave here." One of the lackeys was frightened.
The boss nodded. "Let’s go."
"Who is going to carry the child?" Suddenly, the other lackey asked.
At this time, they had the same thought in their mind. If they were to carry the little boy, wouldn’t he be going to hinder their running speed?
In case the Ninth Prince’s forces were to chase after them, they might get caught.
No one of them offered to carry Ye Shaoqin, and the boss definitely wouldn’t do it himself. He waited for his two lackeys to decide between themselves.
"Who is going to carry him?" He repeated impatiently.
"Boss, I am not good at running. What if the Ninth Prince comes and chases after us?"
At this moment, Ye Lingyue chuckled in a low voice, raising her eyebrows. She already prepared her hallucinogen powder, swinging her legs.
"They look so silly..." she muttered subconsciously. "Is the Ninth really that scary?"
She definitely didn’t expect a deep male voice to answer her.
"How can our kind Ninth Prince be scary?"
