ATPnovel Chapter 52 The Grand Escape
Chapter 52 The Grand Escape
The clues on these two maps, when put together, read: "Unopened without blood, untraveled without the moon. When the six keys are combined, the treasure will appear."
The former refers to how to open the treasure after collecting all the keys and the time it takes for the treasure to open, while the latter refers to the fact that six keys are needed for the treasure to appear.
Now all that's missing are the "location" and the "treasure appearance".
Wu Cheng closed the lid and handed the sandalwood box to Qingque, then turned to look at Li Anchan.
Li Anchan's smile swayed amidst the glittering jewels, still managing to momentarily dazzle Wu Cheng.
No! Finding Sister Qingque to train and improve my resistance to suppression needs to be put on the agenda as soon as possible!
But Li Anchan spoke up at this moment, saying, "You don't seem surprised at all."
"You've come all the way from Beisheng to Luoyang, exposing so many of your spies. You couldn't have come just to treat me to drinks and candied hawthorns," Wu Cheng chuckled, then turned and walked out of the secret chamber.
Li Anchan and Qingque followed in his footsteps. Li Anchan pressed on, "What do you plan to do with this treasure?"
"This is indeed a problem." Wu Cheng continued walking forward.
Li Anchan said, "The whole city is filled with the Divine Pivot Camp and the City Patrol Guard. Many people died today. Even the Prince of Yu and the Magistrate of Luoyang died at your hands. It will be difficult for us to take those children out of the city smoothly, let alone take so many things."
At the door of the study, Wu Cheng stopped in his tracks upon hearing this. Moonlight fell on his shoulder. He turned back to look at Li Anchan, a smile curving his lips. "Then let's have a grand escape that will be unforgettable for a lifetime."
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It was already past 3:45 AM, but Luoyang was still brightly lit.
There were all sorts of people, some fighting fires, some patrolling, and some gathering information.
At that moment, a carriage suddenly rushed out from the heavily guarded main street!
Wu Cheng stood on the carriage he had taken from the stables of the Luoyang government office, holding the reins in his left hand and a handful of gold leaves in his right.
Behind him in the carriage were several boxes that had been moved from Yuan Hao's secret room, and the rest of the jewelry and precious stones were packed in more than a dozen cloth bags and stacked on both sides of the carriage.
Qingque crouched on the top of the carriage, holding an oil-paper umbrella in her left hand and pressing her right hand on the handle, looking around. Her sharp peripheral vision was scanning the torchlight gradually gathering at the street corner.
Li Anchan sat in the carriage, holding a piece of jewelry in each hand.
Wu Cheng tilted his head and chuckled, "Are you ready?"
Qingque nodded slightly, while Li Anchan said helplessly, "I really don't know why I'm going crazy with you."
Although she spoke with a sense of helplessness, she couldn't hide the smile in her eyes.
"In that case, let's begin!"
Wu Cheng's face lit up with an eager smile, just like when he and his buddies sneaked out of the internet cafe for an all-nighter back in his school days.
Then he took a deep breath and gathered his energy in his chest, and the next moment his voice exploded like a bell throughout the entire city of Luoyang!
"Luoyang Magistrate Yuan Hao is dead! People of Luoyang, listen up! The ill-gotten gains that the corrupt official Yuan Hao plundered from the people will be returned to you tonight!"
The carriage sped forward, and the first gold leaf was tossed high into the air, tracing dozens of glittering arcs in the moonlight and firelight of the night sky before clattering and falling all over the street.
Then came the second game, and the third game.
Wu Cheng was throwing money around, and Li Anchan was also throwing her jewelry around forcefully.
In an instant, countless gold and silver jewels crashed onto the bluestone pavement, creating a dense, crisp sound.
At first, when Wu Cheng and his carriage were running around aimlessly, most people were still watching and observing. But when the first person rushed out and picked up a gold leaf and found that nothing was wrong, the entire city of Luoyang exploded like a hornet's nest that had been poked!
The residents living along the street opened their windows, and some peeked out before quickly retreating back inside. Then, they hurriedly rushed out, wearing only a thin coat.
The night watchman threw down his clapper, the porter dropped his carrying pole, and even the beggar huddled in the street corner got up from the ground and barefoot, rummaging for gold leaves in the cracks between the stone slabs.
More and more people poured out from the alley entrance, under the bridge, and behind the wooden planks of the shops.
Meanwhile, the constables and even the city guards who were originally patrolling and chasing Wu Cheng and his men could no longer restrain themselves and threw down their weapons to rush forward and desperately fight for the gold and silver jewelry.
Several mounted officers charged left and right through the crowd, cracking their whips, but they couldn't budge an inch.
"drive!"
Meanwhile, Wu Cheng, who had already spent money all over half of Luoyang, shook the reins and returned to Tianjie Street, then sped off towards the North Gate!
Qingque crouched on the top of the carriage, her slender sword already drawn.
Suddenly, her sword flashed and cleaved a cold arrow shot from the shadows in two!
Having already scattered the jewels, Li Anchan glanced sideways at Wu Cheng, who was standing on the carriage shaft.
He held the reins with his left hand while his right hand continued to grab pieces of gold and silver and scatter them to both sides.
The night wind filled his robes and tousled his hair, yet he continued to laugh heartily.
She couldn't help but think of Chang'an that summer.
He stood alone in front of Xuanwu Gate, facing hundreds of armored soldiers, still laughing freely and unrestrainedly with only his sword.
The handsome, angular face gradually overlapped with the still pale, youthful face, causing Li Anchan to momentarily lose her composure.
She lowered her head slightly, and a genuine smile unconsciously appeared on her lips.
"It's so good to see you again..."
A moment later, the north gate could be vaguely seen ahead.
The torches on the city wall resembled a winding fiery dragon, indicating that the soldiers guarding the city had clearly received the order to close the gates.
At this moment, the heavy city gate was slowly closing. A barricade stood in front of the gate, and behind the barricade were two rows of gate guards holding long halberds.
Seeing the carriage about to rush towards them, the hundreds of soldiers instantly formed a battle formation and stood ready for battle.
"Senior brother!" Wu Cheng shouted.
As soon as he finished speaking, two figures darted out from the dark alley on the side of the city gate.
"Junior brother, don't panic, I'm here to help you!"
Zhou Ke, holding a judge's pen in each hand, charged into the row of city gate guards on the left like lightning!
He touched the wrists of two soldiers with the tip of his judge's pen, and their halberds fell to the ground with a thud.
Xue Jianren flanked from the right. Although his longsword was not as fast as Qingque's, it was powerful and heavy. He slashed at the iron chain of the barricade, and the chain snapped in two amidst sparks!
Wu Cheng pulled hard on the reins, and the carriage just turned three feet away from the chevaux-de-frise. The side panel of the carriage scraped against the wooden splinters of the chevaux-de-frise, sending up a cloud of flying debris!
Qingque leaped down from the top of the carriage, her rapier sweeping across the ground, forcing the surrounding city gate guards back several steps!
Wu Cheng glanced to the side and saw that the north gate was about to close with only one last gap!
Wu Cheng loosened the reins, and a burst of energy erupted from the Yongquan acupoint on his left foot, propelling him off the carriage like an arrow!
He took three steps in mid-air, each step creating a visible vortex of air beneath his feet, and his body rose more than ten feet in height!
Three steps later, he was already standing on the crossbeam of the city gate!
Then he flipped in mid-air, drawing his iron sword from his left waist. The moment he flipped to face the city gate, he channeled his profound energy, attaching his powerful true energy to the sword and compressing it into a tangible sword aura. He then slashed down forcefully from top to bottom!
The next moment, the thick iron bolt that ran across the inside of the city gate was cut in two by a single sword strike, the cut as smooth as a mirror!
Just as he was about to land, Qingque maneuvered the carriage to rush in front of him!
Wu Cheng jumped onto his horse, and casually pulled Xue and Zhou, who were about to be surrounded, onto the carriage. Then the carriage sped out of the north gate of Luoyang and drove away!
Only the city guards behind them were left dumbfounded!