Runaway Flounderers

8.Cracking Nuts and Noses Together

Another few days passed by, the capital still seemed restless. Wen Kexing had tried spying on almost all the court officials, maybe only aunt Luo was left. But she hardly left the palace and rarely talked to outsiders and Wen Kexing did have some genuine trust on her.

The cases that came up in the morning court also seemed bleak, just something about taxes and over stockings at the trade market. Therefore, Wen kexing decided that, to find out the problem, the best way was to play the victim. This, for Wen Kexing, meant time for pink rouge and pretty clothes.

He was dressed in silky white with sky blue designs, currently looking at the a-qing in the mirror. A perfect victim is someone who looks wealthy and weak, so Wen Kexing chose rich looking pearls and diamonds to wear. He finished with pale pink lipstick and a stark jasmine perfume that would announce his arrival to the whole street as if the pleasant sounds the tiny bells in his silver hip chain made when he walked wasn't enough.

Wen Kexing took the secret path via his bathroom, came out through that abandoned house and quickly merged with the market crowd. Ofcourse no one would attack someone in daylight and in the middle of a bustling road, so Wen Kexing turned to lesser and lesser crowded roads. He made sure to not make contacts with eyes that landed on him and his jewels so as to seem timid.

He slowly walked through random silent roads, some filled with houses and some with empty lands while munching on walnuts. Right when he was thinking that maybe he was just overthinking it, he heard stealthy footsteps coming from behind him.

"ayyo pretty lady, quite enjoying cracking nuts under the sun aren't you?" It was a typical burly man dressed like a commoner who pretty much looked like a professional kidnapper. He paced up his steps to Wen Kexing's side and eyed him up and down.

"Why? Are you going to snatch it from me?" Wen Kexing asked without looking at him and increased his pace.

"Ofcourse not, do you know that the shop at the end of this road sells the best roasted nuts? Let me take you there!" said that person as he suddenly grabbed Wen Kexing's left hand and started walking fast. Wen Kexing pretended to be scared and tried to pull out his hand with little strength. That man only laughed and tightened his grip.

Any sane person in such a situation would scream for help, so Wen Kexing silently cleared his throat to weakly scream in a female voice but just as he sucked in his breath, a knife was placed next to his throat from behind. "If you think of screaming for help, this knife will be down your throat the moment you open your mouth" it was another burly man of the same kind who said this in a rough voice.

Wen Kexing, unlike any sane person, was instantly relieved. He didn't have to worry about accidentally drawing unnecessary attention by fake screaming and can get to the bottom of this. Like that man said, they really were pulling him along the road towards the street end. Wen Kexing dejectedly thought, "Wait, they really can't be some aggressive nut dealers right?".

They kept walking straight ignoring the alleys on the sides. This particular area in the capital contained quite the wealthy population. But, the reason it was so deserted was because a solar eclipse was expected to occur on that day. Thus, the imperial court had been dismissed early and the market would soon shut down too. This was also a period where the evil took advantage and these kind of assaults took place.

Those two guys got into idle chatter, clearly underestimating this 'woman', that guy had let down the knife to walk side by side with the other in the front who still gripped Wen Kexing's hand. Suddenly, Wen Kexing heard extremely faint footsteps from far behind him.

He slowly turned his head to see who it was. Probably that person was afraid that he had alerted those guys and quickly ducked into an alley. Wen Kexing only caught a glimpse of the blue-black military uniform and black wrist bands.