Xingtie: My silly online friend is actually a raccoon!

Lu Ze was on the phone with Xing when suddenly a strange girl's voice came through his Bluetooth headset.

The girl's voice was languid and soft, exactly the signature voice of Qingque.

"There's a pile of junk in the back alley of the card shop, and behind it is a low wall. After climbing over it, there's an abandoned freight passage. Follow the passage straight, and the exit is under that crooked ginkgo tree next to the side gate of the Tabushi."

As Lu Ze listened, he quickly scanned his surroundings and soon locked onto the mahjong parlor with a plaque hanging not far away, located just to his upper right.

He glanced back; the two Cloud Cavalry soldiers were still hot on his heels.

Lu Ze withdrew his gaze, turned his foot, and ran directly towards the card room.

The two Cloud Riders naturally followed closely behind, their boots making a rapid clattering sound on the stone pavement.

"Halt! According to the laws of the Immortal Ship, eating without paying is punishable by three days of hard labor! Running away again is considered desertion! That's an even more serious crime!"

A warning came from behind the Cloud Cavalry.

Lu Ze didn't even bother to turn his head.

Either don't run away in the first place and just accept the punishment when you're caught; or if you've already chosen to run away, stopping now would mean all your previous efforts were for nothing.

As they got closer to the card room, Lu Ze suddenly made a sharp turn and entered another alley, his figure disappearing in a flash around the corner.

As soon as he was out of sight of the two Cloud Riders, Lu Ze immediately activated the invisibility talisman that he had been holding between his fingers.

The talisman spontaneously combusted, and a faint golden aura spread from his fingertips to his entire body, completely concealing his figure and aura.

He then decisively turned around and passed by the two cloud riders who had just caught up with him.

The two Cloud Riders rushed to the corner, only to find an empty alleyway in front of them, and both of their eyes were simultaneously blindfolded.

Lu Ze clapped his hands.

This technique of using a stealth rune in conjunction with a sharp turn and then returning was something he learned in the game.

Commonly known as: Emperor's Step.

Seeing that the two Cloud Riders were wandering around aimlessly after losing track of them, he finally started walking towards the back alley of the card shop.

Just as Qingque had said, at the end of the alley was a pile of dusty junk and several crooked old wooden boxes.

He pushed aside the innermost few boxes, revealing a low wall.

After crossing over, a quiet freight corridor came into view.

Several dim, ever-burning lamps were embedded in the walls on both sides of the passage. The light was weak, but it was enough to make out the path underfoot.

The road was covered in dust, indicating that no one had walked on it for a long time.

Lu Ze quickened his pace, glancing back every now and then to make sure the Yunqi Army wasn't chasing after him.

He hadn't gone far when he bumped into a pink figure.

That was Fu Xuan, who was also taking a shortcut.

He was so busy looking back that he didn't notice a person suddenly walking out from around the corner.

Lu Ze didn't have time to react and collided head-on with the other party in the next second.

A faint scent of peach blossoms followed, sweet but not cloying, mixed with the rustic fragrance of ink.

Lu Ze subconsciously reached out and put his arm around the other person's waist, his arm almost reflexively wrapping around to pull the person towards him, thus stabilizing their center of gravity.

A delicate and soft touch came from my palm, and I could feel the warmth of her waist even through the fabric.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

In Lu Ze's arms, Fu Xuan looked up at him and reprimanded him in a cold tone.

Lu Ze quickly released his grip, took a half step back to create distance between them, and subconsciously raised his hands in front of him, making a harmless gesture.

"Sorry, it was in a moment of panic—"

Lu Ze quickly explained.

Only then did he have the chance to see Fu Xuan's appearance clearly.

Fu Xuan's long pink hair was styled into an exquisite flying bun, with a golden hairpin inserted diagonally at the back of her head. She wore a purple and white dress with auspicious cloud patterns, and the celestial symbols of a diviner were embroidered on the lapel.

What a beautiful pink-haired girl.

Lu Ze subconsciously thought to himself.