As they exited the underground parking garage, the streets were already teeming with an endless stream of traffic. A sea of intersecting taillights flickered, rging into a continuous river of red under the low-hanging night sky. The ceaseless honking of horns was the city’s restless pulse, and the bright yellow taxis scattered throughout looked like conspicuous fireflies.
As dusk fell, the lights in the towering skyscrapers joined the scene on the streets below, painting a picture of a bustling city night.
Perhaps because the air was growing heavy with humidity, the drivers seed a bit on edge, and the pedestrians walked with even more urgency.
Jiang Ning wasn’t worried about Chen Yuan getting too far ahead and losing him. Just past the Fengting District garage was an intersection they had to pass through, and traffic there often backed up for a few minutes. It only ever flowed freely in the dead of night.
After following him out of the garage, she quickly spotted the license plate on Chen Yuan’s car. For soone so young, Chen Yuan was a steady driver, never trying to cut anyone off or rush ahead, just maintaining an even speed.
Jiang Ning didn’t dare follow too closely; her car was far too conspicuous.
"The light’s green. Based on this direction, he must be heading to the north side of the University City. That area is mostly just apartnt buildings, and it’s not that close to campus." ’Looks like my guess was right. Chen found a place in a hurry... Poor kid.’
"That’s why I said we should just sweet-talk him into coming back," Jiang Yao said, a little deflated as she shrugged. "Once he’s made up his mind, it’s so hard to change it. If you begged him with , we might have a chance, Sis."
"It has nothing to do with begging," Jiang Ning said, shaking her head. "We need to give him so space to cool off. For now, at least, it’s out of the question."
"Okay."
"How was he when you were with him this afternoon? Was his attitude any better?"
"A little. Our little young master is a classic case of being stubborn on the outside but soft on the inside. Maybe we really went too far before. Even now, I don’t want to think about what happened that day. Just rembering it makes tremble. He was so furious."
"What’s past is past. We won’t bring it up again," Jiang Ning said flatly.
As she spoke, she skillfully turned the wheel, weaving through traffic to conceal her car behind others. She looked like a professional on a stakeout. If Chen Yuan found out what they were doing, all her efforts from earlier today would be for nothing.
But they had no choice. Chen Yuan absolutely refused to tell them his address.
Jiang Yao had tried everything, from coaxing to demanding, but couldn’t get a single piece of useful information out of him.
He hadn’t even told his roommates.
They figured he saw his new apartnt as a sanctuary, a place to retreat and lick his wounds. It was in Chen Yuan’s nature to never let anyone see him when he was vulnerable.
In that respect, he was a bit like Jiang Ning.
Before long, under the cover of the deepening, tranquil night, Chen Yuan’s car turned into a residential district at least six or seven kiloters from Lanjing University. Jiang Ning followed close behind, driving in after him.
The two sisters got out of the car. Keeping their distance, they imdiately ducked down like a pair of thieves and spoke in hushed whispers.
"Do you see him..."
"I see him. Ten o’clock. He’s walking toward that building, but I can’t make out the building number... What do we do? There’s no cover around here. If we keep following like this, he’ll spot us the second he turns around."
"Let think." Jiang Ning rose slightly to survey their surroundings, then gestured toward a garden on the other side. "We’ll circle around that way. Let’s go!"
Once they had their route planned, they moved furtively, the very picture of a guilty conscience. Since they were two beautiful thieves, however, they didn’t co off as sleazy. Their clothes were inconspicuous, too. At a glance, Jiang Ning’s jacket blended perfectly with the night—she had deliberately worn a gray windbreaker.
They even used hand signals to communicate.
You could say they were perfectly in sync.
Using rows of low holly bushes for cover, Jiang Ning parted the leaves in front of her and stared at Chen Yuan’s figure.
"What’s he doing just standing there by himself? Why isn’t he moving?" her sister asked.
"I don’t know. It looks like he’s... taking a deep breath."
"You must be seeing things."
"Tsk. Your eyesight is better than mine. See for yourself. Isn’t he taking a deep breath?"
"Let see!"
Jiang Yao squeezed past her sister, craning her neck to get a look. In her view, Chen Yuan was indeed standing there with his hands in his pockets. The wind rustled the leaves in the garden, and he seed to be enjoying the feeling of it blowing through his ssy hair, which fell over his eyes.
It was a surprisingly poetic scene.
"Holy crap, don’t tell our little young master is so kind of Cultivator, is he? He’s about to ride the wind and transform! He’s been hiding it from us this whole ti!"
"Are you serious?"
Jiang Ning yanked her sister back, frowning as she told her to get out of the way. Expecting Jiang Yao to provide any useful observations was a complete waste of ti. All she ever spouted was nonsense.
"I think he’s probably just enjoying the breeze. It is pretty cool tonight, after all."
In fact, Chen Yuan was simply enjoying the fresh air. He’d gone through one of those phases as a kid—not the ani-obsessed kind you see today, but the kind where he’d fantasize about having special powers. It was a stage pretty much every boy goes through. So whenever the spring thunderstorm season rolled around, on evenings when strong winds howled and thunder lood, a six-or-seven-year-old Chen Yuan would run out of his house, stand at the mouth of the small alley, and race madly up and down the stone steps.
It felt as if a great storm was brewing, and he was about to harness its otherworldly power to ascend into the heavens amidst the downpour.
Now that he was older, it wasn’t that he no longer believed in special powers, but that he knew better than to be so embarrassing. So, regardless of the weather, he would never do sothing so ridiculously foolish in front of other people.
Jiang Ning and Jiang Yao were getting a rare glimpse into the inner world of a "boy." In any case, the trip hadn’t been a waste. This was the first ti they had ever seen Chen Yuan act like this.
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