Chapter 413: Following the Trail

Two men quickly hoisted Gu Fei into a horse-drawn carriage. The carriage sped out of the alley and quickly departed, leaving only a packet of medicinal herbs on the ground.

The apothecary’s clerk saw the whole thing. Pointing at the departing carriage, he stammered, "That... That—"

The doctor sitting nearby asked, "What’s wrong?"

The clerk cried out in panic, "That young woman who was just buying medicine—she was abducted! She even dropped her herbs at the door."

The doctor was filled with righteous indignation. "How can this be? Report it to the officials! Go report it to the officials at once!"

The clerk picked up the herbs, then ran outside and found a patrolling Government Official to tell him what happened.

The Government Official barely paid him any mind and let it go. With carriages all over the streets, where would he even begin to look?

Gu Fei didn’t know how long she had been unconscious. When she woke, she found herself lying in a moving carriage, her hands bound behind her back and her mouth gagged.

She was about to pull out a knife to cut the ropes, but after a moment’s thought, she remained still.

’Escaping would be easy enough,’ she thought. ’There’s a knife in my space. I could cut the ropes, use Instant Teleportation, and this would all be over.’

’But right now, I don’t want to run.’

’I have to figure out what’s going on. Why was I kidnapped out of the blue? Was I specifically targeted, or did they just grab the first person they saw?’

The carriage left the city and traveled for over half an hour before stopping in a dilapidated courtyard.

A man roughly hauled Gu Fei out of the carriage.

Gu Fei quickly scanned her surroundings. The courtyard stood in isolation; the nearest house was a great distance away.

’Hm, this is a good spot.’

Just then, the other man saw Gu Fei’s open eyes. "Well now, she’s awake. This little missy is quite a looker. Don’t be scared, I’ll take good care of you in a little while."

Gu Fei glanced at him coolly.

The other man said, "What’s the rush? Wait until the client comes to inspect the goods and pays us the Silver."

A glint flashed in Gu Fei’s eyes. ’So there’s a client. It was worth not escaping.’

The man hauled Gu Fei into a room and tossed her carelessly onto the floor.

The two men poured themselves some water and started making small talk.

Gu Fei lay on the floor with her eyes closed, listening.

One of the men stared at Gu Fei. "Boss, this little missy is gorgeous. The more I look, the better-looking she gets. It really gets a man going. What if... what if we don’t sell her? If we kept her for ourselves, couldn’t we enjoy a beauty like this every day?"

The other shook his head. "Fooling around with her for a bit is one thing, but we can’t keep her. It’ll cause too much trouble."

"The client said she has to be sold far, far away."

As they were speaking, a sound came from the doorway, and one of the men went out to check.

A moment later, the man returned, leading a woman into the room.

Lying on the floor, Gu Fei looked up to see a woman whose hair was elaborately decorated with jewels walking in. ’Zhenzhu?’

One of the men pointed at Gu Fei on the floor. "Is this her?"

Zhenzhu nodded and smiled. "That’s right." She briskly took out two Silver ingots and gave them to the men. Gu Fei glanced over; it was about forty taels of Silver.

Then Zhenzhu waved her hand. "You two can go. Close the door on your way out. I want to say a few things to her."

The two men took the Silver and obediently went out.

Zhenzhu stared at Gu Fei on the ground for a moment, then suddenly burst into manic laughter.

Gu Fei shuffled along the ground until her back was against a wall, then she stopped.

With a flick of her wrist, a dagger materialized in her hand, and she began to saw silently at her bonds.

Zhenzhu laughed for a while before stopping so suddenly it was as if her laughter had been choked off.

She glared at Gu Fei, her eyes filled with venom. "You never expected this, did you? I’m still alive!"