Douluo Continent: The Holy Son of the Spirit Hall, who intercepted the immortal herb

Chapter 52 The Black Forest Blocked the Road, Xu Tinglan Called His Name for the First Time

The deeper the night fell, the colder the forest became.

Su Chen followed the faint light inside, his footsteps barely making a sound. The ground was littered with fallen leaves and broken branches.

The pebbles were not obstacles in his eyes, but rather became clues.

Someone just passed by here.

more than one.

three people.

One footstep was heavy, like a guard. Another's steps were light, like a habitual offender. There were also drag marks, clearly indicating someone was moving something.

Not a child.

It's a box.

Su Chen's eyes darkened.

This means Xu Tinglan guessed correctly.

The black van we just saw was just a stopover. What we really wanted to protect wasn't the two children inside, but another shady business.

The fire ahead flickered again.

very short.

It's like it was done on purpose for people to see.

Su Chen didn't slow down; instead, he sped up.

The fact that Han Su's group still dared to leave people behind to cover their retreat shows that what those people in front of them were carrying was definitely not insignificant.

Now that he's come all this way, he doesn't plan to go back empty-handed.

After passing through a dense, dark grove of low trees, the terrain suddenly dipped down ahead.

It was a dried-up riverbed.

The riverbed was shallow, with gravel and broken logs on both sides. In the middle, a small cart with its tarpaulin removed was parked, its shaft tilted to one side, and two horses were tied to it.

Sure enough, there was someone by the car.

One is rummaging through a box.

One is lighting a fire.

There was another one, standing on the edge of the river, with its back to this side, as if it were keeping watch.

As soon as Su Chen stopped, the lookout seemed to sense something and suddenly turned his head.

"who!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Su Chen had already moved.

The Holy Sword of Judgment was not fully drawn, only half of its golden edge was visible, like a cold bolt of lightning slicing across the ground in the night.

The man only had time to draw his sword.

The next second, the knife flew away.

The person also flew away.

boom!

He was struck by a sword sheath just below his Adam's apple, his body arched as he crashed into the rubble, and he passed out without even uttering a second cry.

The expressions of the other two people beside the car changed drastically.

"Damn it! They've really caught up with us!"

"Burn! Burn it now!"

The man who lit the fire did so almost without hesitation, grabbing the tinderbox and stuffing it into the box.

Su Chen raised his hand.

A glimmer of golden light pierced the sky.

It's not a sword.

It's half a pebble.

Snapped!

Just as the tinderbox touched the edge of the wooden box, a pebble precisely pierced his wrist. The man screamed in pain, and the tinderbox slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

The one who rummaged through the box reacted even faster, turning and running away. He clearly knew he couldn't win even if he stayed, so he took whatever he could.

But he had only taken two steps when the ground beneath his feet suddenly darkened.

It wasn't dark.

The shadow arrived first.

Su Chen stepped behind him, pressed his palm directly onto the back of his neck, and slammed him down.

boom!

The man's entire face, along with half of his shoulder, was slammed into a pile of rubble by the riverbank, and blood immediately gushed out.

"Why are you running?"

Su Chen's voice was not loud.

But the calmer it is, the more unsettling it becomes.

"Things haven't been explained clearly yet."

The remaining guy, whose wrist had been pierced, was completely panicked. He covered his hand and backed away, his eyes filled with terror.

"No, don't come any closer!"

Su Chen didn't even look at him, but instead bent down and pulled up the man on the ground whose face was covered in blood, and casually tore open the black cloth bag in his arms.

It was indeed not money inside.

It's a booklet.

Two books.

One is thin and one is thick.

There were also several transfer documents that were only half-stamped.

Su Chen casually flipped to the first page, his eyes immediately turning cold.

first name.

serial number.

age.

The destination is blank.

It wasn't simply a matter of leaving through the black market.

Someone is using the transfer quotas from the Martial Soul Branch Hall to launder the identities of these children in batches.

This is no longer a task that Han Su can handle alone.

There were more people behind them.

"Who connected the line for you?"

Su Chen, carrying the booklet, looked up at the two still-alive guys.

Neither of them spoke.

dare not.

I don't want to die either.

Su Chen nodded slightly.

"OK."

"I won't tell you, I'll translate it myself."

Just as he looked down at the thick book, a very faint bowstring twang suddenly sounded from the other side of the river.

collapse.

It's very light.

But it was ridiculously fast.

Su Chen turned his head almost instinctively.

Whoosh!

A black arrow grazed past his ear and embedded itself in the wooden planks of the car behind him, its fletching still trembling slightly.

It carries the virus.

The angle is also awful.

It was aimed at his temple.

Su Chen's eyes darkened instantly, and he looked up at the opposite bank of the river.

There was someone else over there at some point.

Dressed in black.

Masked.

He held a short crossbow in his hand.

He wasn't tall, but he stood firmly, clearly not an ordinary guard.

Seeing that the first arrow missed, the opponent did not hesitate for a moment and raised his hand to fire a second arrow.

This time, it wasn't Su Chen who was targeted.

It was the two people who had been captured and shot at the ground.

To silence them.

Su Chen drew his sword with a backhand motion.

A golden thread flashed.

The two black arrows were cut into four pieces in mid-air, and the broken arrows spun and fell into the river.

"That's quite professional."

Su Chen looked at the person opposite him and finally drew the Judgment Holy Sword completely.

"It's a pity it was a bit slow."

The man in black clearly hadn't expected Su Chen to be able to stop him even at this distance. His eyes narrowed, and he turned to leave.

Su Chen lightly touched the ground with his foot and immediately gave chase.

The distance between the two sides is not far.

But the other party clearly knew the way. After climbing over two broken rocks, he disappeared into the deeper forest. His movements were very slippery, unlike the rough guards from Soto City.

The more Su Chen chased, the colder his eyes became.

This line has indeed extended to the Soto branch temple.

the other side.

After handing the two children over to the stewards who arrived later, Xiao Wu and Xu Tinglan did not retreat at all.

Especially Xiao Wu.

She didn't say anything, but her eyes were fixed on the direction where Su Chen disappeared.

"Still watching?"

Xu Tinglan held the unconscious little boy, her voice lower than usual.

"Aren't you the one who listens to him the most?"

Xiao Wu bit her lip, her face looking terrible.

"That depends on the time."

"The kind of person in front of me is clearly not just a lowly thug giving away kids."

She looked up into the depths of the woods, her agitation growing stronger.

"I'm worried."

Xu Tinglan remained silent for two breaths.

She was actually worried too.

But she's always been better at suppressing it.

She could suppress her expression, but not her fingertips. The moment Su Chen chased after her alone, the string in her heart had already been stretched to the breaking point.

"Hand over the child first."

Xu Tinglan spoke.

"Then chase after them."

Xiao Wu immediately turned to look at her.

"Are you going too?"

"Otherwise what?"

Xu Tinglan handed the little boy in her arms to the legal officer behind her, her voice regaining some of its composure.

"If he really gets to the deeper end of the trail, he alone might not be able to spare the manpower to keep the prisoners alive."

97

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up immediately.

"Walk!"

The two rushed out almost simultaneously.

The wind rustled through the woods, and the tracks on the ground were also disordered.

Xiao Wu follows her intuition, while Xu Tinglan follows his path.

Soon, they saw the dried-up riverbed and the two men on the ground who weren't quite dead yet.

And, the opened booklet and the black arrow nailed to the wooden board.

Xu Tinglan's expression changed.

"crossbowman."

Xiao Wu had already squatted down and picked up the broken arrow.

Her brows furrowed instantly.

"This arrow is different from the previous ones."

"The grooves are finer, and the fletching is more stable; it's not the rough work done in the Soto City black market."

Xu Tinglan looked at the footprints on the ground, her voice tense.

"The people behind them have arrived."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a muffled thud came from deeper in the woods.

Not big.

It looked like someone had been smashed into a tree trunk.

Xiao Wu's expression changed, and she darted away.

"Su Chen!"

For the first time, Xu Tinglan sped up to catch up without any hesitation at this moment.

After passing through a patch of tangled trees, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

In a low mountain hollow, Su Chen kicked the black-clad crossbowman away.

The opponent's back slammed into a broken tree, the bark burst open, but he didn't die. Instead, he used the impact to roll to the side and raised his hand to fire another crossbow bolt.

This time, the direction was actually Xiao Wu, who had just rushed in.

"Be careful!"

For the first time, Xu Tinglan's voice lost its composure, and the words almost slipped out.

But Su Chen was faster.

He didn't even turn around, but instead swung his sword backhand.

clang!

The black arrow was shattered on the spot by Jin Feng, and the fragments flew past Xiao Wu's ear and embedded themselves in the ground.

Xiao Wu didn't even stop, her eyes instantly turned red.

"You dare come at me!"

She lunged forward, her movements as swift as a fleeting pink shadow skimming the ground.

The man in black clearly hadn't expected two more people to appear halfway through his journey. Just as he was about to put away his crossbow, Xiao Wu bumped into his arms.

Close-fitting.

Don't put your leg down.

Twist your waist.

He fell.

boom!

This fall was even harder than before; it felt like the man's entire back was smashed apart. The crossbow flew out of his hand and rolled into the mud.

Xiao Wu pounced on him, wanting to deliver a second blow.

"Keep alive."

Su Chen spoke.

Xiao Wu's raised fist stopped abruptly, and she was panting with anger.

"You'd better be useful!"

The man in black barely managed to lift his head, his mouth already covered in blood.

He clearly wanted to deny it no matter what.

But when she looked up, she was met not by Xiao Wu, but by Xu Tinglan.

The moment Xu Tinglan saw half of his face, her pupils suddenly contracted.

"It's you."

Xiao Wu was taken aback.

Su Chen also turned his head to look at her.

Xu Tinglan's face gradually paled, but her voice became even colder than before.

His name is Lin He.

"Three years ago, I worked in the Department of Justice for a period of time to verify documents for external investigations. Later, I absconded with a batch of records."

"I thought he was long dead."

Upon hearing this, the man in black on the ground actually laughed, his mouth filled with blood.

"Xu Tinglan————"

"You really haven't changed at all."

Xiao Wu's eyes flashed sharply.

"You knew her, yet you still dared to try and kill her?"

Lin He coughed twice, but his gaze remained fixed on Xu Tinglan's face.

"You're too late."

"You can take the money, and you can cut the thread."

"But the batch sent out tonight won't go through Soto."

Su Chen squatted down, the sword tip gently pressing against his Adam's apple.

"Which way?"

Lin He looked at him and grinned.

"you guess."

Su Chen's eyes remained expressionless.

The sword tip pressed down an inch.

Lin He immediately drew blood from his neck.

The smile in his eyes finally faded a little.

"East."

"Before dawn, cross the rocky ferry."

"Once you cross the ferry, it's no longer a place where your Soto branch temple can have the final say."

Xu Tinglan's expression changed on the spot.

"The border trade route is connected to Luanshi Ferry."

"Once they are incorporated into the border caravans, it will be difficult to find them again."

Xiao Wu suddenly panicked.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's chase after them!"

Su Chen did not move immediately.

Because he saw that Xu Tinglan's expression wasn't just unpleasant, but rather something deeper was suppressed within her.

"What else do you know?"

Su Chen asked.

Xu Tinglan bit her lip, her voice tightening for the first time.

"I checked the border trade route once before."

"Behind that line, there's more than just Han Su."

"And—the people outside the Spirit Hall."

Xiao Wu got annoyed as soon as she heard it.

"It's rotten inside and out, are we still going to chase it?"

"Chase."

Su Chen stood up without the slightest hesitation.

"You can catch up with them before they even cross the river."

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up immediately, and her whole body tensed up.

"Let's go!"

She had just taken a step when a sudden wave of tingling and numbness surged through her calves and thighs, causing her to sway and nearly fall.

She had been holding on for far too long.

Fighting all day, chasing, rescuing, and chasing again at night, and just now having another fierce battle, my body has long been at its breaking point.

Su Chen reached out and steadily supported her.

Xiao Wu's face flushed, and she immediately tried to stand up straight.

"I'm fine."

"He can't even stand up straight, yet he's fine."

Su Chen's tone was somber.

Xiao Wu gritted her teeth.

"We still have to chase after them."

"Who said we're not going to pursue it anymore?"

Su Chen glanced at her, and the next second, he picked her up again and carried her horizontally.

Even more decisive than before.

Xiao Wu was completely stunned.

"Su Chen!"

Even Xu Tinglan was completely stunned this time.

The night wind was cold.

But as she stood there, watching Su Chen pick up Xiao Wu, her heart felt as if it had been gently bumped by something.

This isn't the first time we've met.

But every time I see it, I still get flustered.

Xiao Wu goes without saying.

She had been gritting her teeth and trying to hold on, but now even the tips of her ears turned bright red.

"You, you're doing it again!"

"Saves time."

Su Chen picked her up and turned to leave, not even bothering to explain.

"If you keep causing trouble, I really won't be able to catch you tonight."

Xiao Wu choked for a moment.

She was furious, yet she knew he was right.

In the end, all I could do was bite my lip, turn my face to the side, and lower my voice.

"You've gotten addicted to hugging me tonight, haven't you?"

"no."

I don't believe a single word of your answer.

"Then remember this."

Xiao Wu stared at him, her eyes burning with intensity.

But after staring at it for a while, in the end, she couldn't bring herself to struggle.

She simply raised her hand and grabbed the front of Su Chen's shirt.

It was gripped very tightly.

It was as if she was afraid he would really throw her down.

Xu Tinglan watched the two figures as they walked away, her fingers slightly clenching, and then she followed them.

She didn't look at Lin He on the ground anymore, but only said to the legal officers who came after her, "Tie him up and take him back. Don't let him die on the way."

"yes!"

Su Chen carried Xiao Wu out of the mountain valley. The night ahead was even darker, and the wind was already faintly damp.

Luanshi Ferry is not far away.

Xiao Wu was held in his arms, her heart pounding, but her eyes shone even brighter than before.

She tugged at his collar and suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"Su Chen".

"Um."

"I caught up this time, and I want to beat those guys up with my own hands."

Su Chen glanced down at her.

"OK.

"I'll save you a front seat this time."

Xiao Wu's lips curled up into a smile.

Xu Tinglan followed behind, listening to this, her gaze falling on the back of the figure carrying someone ahead, and suddenly she pursed her lips slightly.

For the first time, she couldn't quite put her finger on whether she cared more about the nearly broken wire or the man in front of her.

The night grew even darker.

The real ambush was finally about to take place at the ferry crossing.