Translator: TYZ Editor: Book_Hoarder
On the second day, in the middle of the night, a man and a woman appeared in the airport of Istanbul. The man was carrying a backpack and the woman was wearing a red-colored dress. The woman held on to the man's waist, appearing like a young couple on an overseas trip.
However, if one took a closer look, he or she would realize that the man's body was completely soft and powerless. His legs could not move at all and the tips of his feet were roughly one centimeter above the ground. He was completely supported by the arm of that woman, making him look as though he was walking on his own.
Naturally, the man and the woman were respectively Ren Baqian and the empress.
Neither of them left the airport after they alighted from the plane. They waited for a night and took another plane to Gaziantep the next day. Gaziantep was the closest Turkish city to the region controlled by that organization.
After arriving in Gaziantep, the pair ate some local food. Of course, only the empress was eating. Occasionally, she would feed Ren Baqian some food. Even though she wasn't as gentle as an ordinary girl, Ren Baqian still felt very fortunate for receiving such treatment from her.
After finishing their food, both of them went to a store nearby to buy some things. Thanks to some translation software, Ren Baqian, who could only speak basic English, and the empress were able to barely cope in a foreign land.
After buying some food and drinking water, the empress picked up Ren Baqian and headed towards their destination. After leaving the city, they arrived at a secluded area and the empress picked up her speed. Even when the empress was carrying Ren Baqian, she still moved faster than the kirin. Strong wind kept on blasting against Ren Baqian's face, causing him to be unable being to open his eyes. He felt that if a rope was tied to his body now, he would fly up into the air like a kite.
Of course, he might be dragged along the ground as well.
After travelling for half an hour at a very high speed, they saw an iron fence. With a tap of her feet, the empress jumped over it.
Far away, a soldier happened to turn his head in their direction and see this scene. Instantly, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief. By the time he opened his eyes, the red shadow had already disappeared.
"Zhansu, what happened?" another soldier looked at where Ren Baqian and the empress disappeared and asked.
"Nothing, I was likely mistaken just now," the guard named Zhansu replied with doubt.
After approximately ten minutes, the pair left the border of Gaziantep and stopped behind a mound.
The empress took out her smartphone and fiddled with it. Following which, a satellite map appeared on her smartphone. Ren Baqian taught her how to use this application before they set off.
Thanks to the media, the regions that this organization occupied could be easily found.
This organization controlled regions in the north, east, and central of this country. Every year, there would be many brainwashed young people secretly joining this organization.
After ascertaining the right direction, the empress picked up Ren Baqian and started moving again. After another hour, both of them entered the region controlled by that organization. They could vaguely see a city in the distance. Suddenly, the empress flew to a huge rock and hid behind it with Ren Baqian in her arms.
After a while, a few vehicles passed by the dirt road not too far away from them. There was a pickup truck at the head and another at the end of convoy. Both of the pickup trucks were equipped with a machine gun. Inside each vehicle, there were roughly six men wearing camouflaged bulletproof vests and helmets.
In the center, there was a truck carrying many people.
From behind the rock, when Ren Baqian saw the vehicles, he knew they were in the right place.
It was also about time for them to return to that world.
After all, they did not have much time left. It was better that they don't waste too much time now. Furthermore, even if they had already gathered the essential information, if they did not obtain the stuff in time, they had to re-gather the information, and it would be quite a long time before they returned here again. They would need to take at least two and a half days before they could return here again.
何况任八千还对实验室那面抱着一点期望.
Furthermore, Ren Baqian still had some hope in the laboratory.
The next time they returned to Earth would be five days later in that world. That would be equivalent to fifteen days on Earth. By then, the laboratory might have found a cure to his disease.
Even though it was highly unlikely that this would happen, there was still a chance.
If they really found a cure, Ren Baqian and the empress did not need to take the risk of obtaining an antidote from the Nine Pavilions anymore.
When Ren Baqian thought of this, he said, "Zixiao, let's go back first."
"Alright," the empress nodded her head and replied.
As soon as the empress nodded her head, both of them vanished into thin air. Following which, they appeared in that world at the same spot where they previously disappeared to return to Earth.
The kirin was lying on the ground with its belly facing the sky. It kept on rubbing its back against the ground, appearing as though its back was very itchy.
The sudden appearance of Ren Baqian and the empress shocked the kirin. Immediately, it stood up from the ground, gave a little whimper, and ran towards the empress.
The empress patted its head and jumped on its back. "Let's go."
...
A few days later. Everywhere in a forest of Great Xia was filled with fiery-red leaves. Every now and then, they would drift down from trees along with the autumn wind, entirely covering the ground of the forest.
Ren Baqian was leaning against the kirin. Feeling bored, the kirin was biting its own claws. It might be biting its claw nails.
This kirin was called Qi Shui. Reportedly, it was found by the first Dayao emperor beside a lake called Qi Shui. Hence, it was given this name. It had already stayed in Dayao's imperial palace for fifty years. Even though its blood lineage wasn't pure, its life span still surpassed ordinary creatures'. Reportedly, it could live up to five hundred years old. Right now, it had merely grown to its adulthood.
At this point in time, Ren Baqian was sitting on the ground with a very thick cloak covering him. It was brought back by the empress on one of her trips to obtain resources.
Most of the time, they were travelling on secluded paths. This way, the probability of them being discovered was smaller. After all, the empress knew how dangerous this trip was.
Occasionally, she would descend from the mountain to obtain some stuff.
Previously, because of the drastic drop in temperature in Great Xia, the empress left the mountain and brought back a cloak and a bowl of porridge. Ren Baqian did not know where she obtained them.
This time around, the empress left the mountain again to search for food. After all, Ren Baqian could not be sustained purely on animal blood.
His sitting posture at this moment was far too uncomfortable. Initially, he was still feeling alright. However, after Qi Shui slightly moved its body, Ren Baqian's posture turned awkward. Even though he couldn't move, he could feel his arms, shoulders, and back turn numb.
Right now, he was hoping that the empress could come back as soon as possible. His current sitting posture was too unbearable. He would rather lay flat on the ground now.
Suddenly, a rustling sound resounded through the air. Immediately, Ren Baqian became alert and looked in the direction of the source of the sound.
A wild beast?
Just as this thought appeared in Ren Baqian's mind, two people wearing tight-fitting clothes appeared from behind the tree. Both of them were equipped with swords. Even though they were covered in grass and dirt, Ren Baqian could tell from their clothing that they weren't ordinary hunters.
Both of them spotted him at the same time as he spotted them. They also saw the beast he was leaning on.
"Is it… a kirin?" one of them asked in alarm.
"I'm sorry, we have walked the wrong way." The other guy grabbed him and dragged him away.
Ren Baqian watched on as both of them disappeared into the forest. Following which, his heart turned taut. He hoped that neither of them wouldn't spread the news of seeing a kirin here.
A kirin like this was extremely rare in this world. The most widely known kirin would be the one in the imperial palace in Dayao.
It was a pity that he couldn't move. Even if he could move, he couldn't do anything to them.
Ren Baqian had an extremely good understanding of his fighting capabilities.
As for Qi Shui, which was lying behind Ren Baqian, did not even bother to look at the two men all this time.
...
"Cheng Wu, why did you pull me away? That is a kirin!" the man who was being dragged away threw off the other guy's arm and asked after they were roughly one hundred meters away from Ren Baqian.
"How can we provoke someone that has a kirin? If he doesn't like us, we won't leave this mountain alive today."
"That's true, but I never expected the day to come whereby we can get to see a kirin. We can brag about it when we return home."
"Other than the kirins that other people have reported to have seen, I only know there's one in the imperial palace of Dayao. Since when is there another one in this world?"
"Eh? Cheng Wu, do you think it's the one from Dayao's imperial palace?" the other guy questioned casually.
"How can it be?" the other guy shook his head and replied.
"But it's a kirin, not a cabbage, why will it appear out of nowhere? Why are you still standing here anyway?"
"Wait, something isn't right." The eyes of the guy named Cheng Wu lit up brightly.
"What?"
"There's something wrong with man just now. His aura is too weak and the way he's leaning against the kirin seems slightly awkward," Cheng Wu replied as he recalled the sitting posture of Ren Baqian.
"What do you mean?"
"That man might be severely injured and he has difficulty moving around," Cheng Wu replied with incredulity. He did not have strong confidence in his conjecture, but the more he thought about the scenario just now, the more likely he thought it was true.