Futile Devices Scans

As dawn approached, the temperature began to drop. Mu Xueshi only regained a trace of awareness because of the cold. Su Ruhan felt Mu Xueshi stir slightly, as if instinctively seeking warmth and burrowing inward. He tightened his hold, wrapping both arms around him so that Mu Xueshi was completely nestled in his embrace.

Seemingly more comfortable, Mu Xueshi closed his eyes again and drifted back into deep sleep.

Although Mu Xueshi slept soundly, Su Ruhan did not close his eyes the entire night. The soldiers had searched the area all night—he wasn’t sure whether nearby households had been disturbed. They passed through this place again and again, but because of the darkness, they never spotted the two of them. Now that dawn was near, Su Ruhan knew it was time to leave.

Mu Xueshi shifted a few times in his arms before finally opening his eyes. The person beside him felt familiar—he turned his head and met Su Ruhan’s deep gaze. After a few seconds, Mu Xueshi seemed to recall what had happened the night before. His eyes widened, and he immediately started shouting, “Qingya and the others didn’t go to watch the festivities—Master, you tricked me, didn’t you?!”

Su Ruhan felt a bit helpless. Even at a time like this, Mu Xueshi was still hung up on that. It seemed sealing his acupoints last night had been the right decision—otherwise, with that mouth of his, they might have been surrounded countless times already.

“Why are we in a tree?” Mu Xueshi suddenly exclaimed, his body swaying left and right, making the branches rustle noisily.

Su Ruhan quickly pressed him back down onto his lap and covered his mouth, warning in a low voice, “The palace guards are searching everywhere for us. If you keep making noise, you’ll be caught and taken back.”

Taken back…?

“Why are they trying to catch us?” Mu Xueshi could only question him with his eyes, his mouth still covered.

Su Ruhan knew that if he didn’t answer, Mu Xueshi wouldn’t let it go, so he made up an excuse.

“The Emperor has ordered that no one in the palace is allowed to leave. We escaped, so of course they’ll capture us.”

“Why isn’t anyone allowed to leave? Isn’t it normally fine?”

Mu Xueshi had slept well and regained his energy—now his head was full of questions for Su Ruhan. But Su Ruhan couldn’t explain too much for fear of making him overthink, nor could he brush him off with a few simple words. In the end, he frowned and shot Mu Xueshi a sharp look. Mu Xueshi immediately fell silent.

But Mu Xueshi was not one to obediently accept things. Hearing this explanation, he began to mull it over in his mind, trying to piece everything together. As for Su Ruhan’s excuse, he didn’t believe it at all.

After thinking it through, he came up with only one possibility—

Hao Lin wants to capture me.

Other than the few people around him, no one else in the palace wanted him to stay. Princess Wenyang certainly saw him as an enemy, but she had no reason to bring him back—his departure should have pleased her.

The moment Hao Lin’s sinister face appeared in his mind, Mu Xueshi couldn’t help but shiver.

Su Ruhan noticed the change in him and softened his tone slightly. “Cold?”

Mu Xueshi shook his head and said seriously, “Master, let’s hurry and run farther away.”

Su Ruhan didn’t know what Mu Xueshi had figured out, but judging from his expression, he seemed to understand their situation. He gently patted Mu Xueshi’s head and reassured him, “Don’t worry. It’s not the right time yet. Our horse hasn’t returned—if we run now, we’ll be caught in no time.”

Mu Xueshi let out a dry laugh, pretending to be calm. “What am I afraid of? I’m just—”

Before he could finish, Su Ruhan covered his mouth and nose again.

Mu Xueshi then noticed a large group of soldiers advancing nearby—some on horseback, others on foot. They carried weapons, their faces cautious, eyes scanning everywhere as if afraid of missing anything. Even slightly taller patches of grass were being stabbed at with swords.

Those blades… they’ll stab me next…

Suddenly, one rider approached the tree, as if sensing movement. Mu Xueshi’s whole body stiffened like stone. Su Ruhan, however, remained expressionless, watching the man coldly.

The rider circled the tree once, finding nothing suspicious, and slowly looked up.

Mu Xueshi had just opened his mouth to react when the man suddenly collapsed onto his horse—everything happened in an instant, leaving him no time to process it. In the next moment, Su Ruhan leapt onto the horse with Mu Xueshi in his arms and sped off toward the empty eastern direction.

At first, no one noticed them. However, this horse was slower than Su Ruhan’s own. After running for a while, it clearly began to lag. Ahead lay the edge of the forest—beyond it was the road. Once they reached the streets, escaping would be much easier.

Suddenly, the horse seemed to step on something and stumbled violently. Mu Xueshi nearly fell off. Su Ruhan quickly grabbed him and steadied his body. At the same time, a chorus of birds shrieked around them, sharp and eerie.

Su Ruhan immediately realized—it was a signal.

They had walked into an ambush.

He tugged at the reins, but the horse could no longer move—its legs were entangled by something unseen. Without hesitation, Su Ruhan lifted Mu Xueshi and leapt off the horse. Just as his feet were about to touch the ground, he reconsidered—there might be more traps. He pushed off again, using his inner strength to leap farther away.

But before they could go far, a massive net suddenly dropped from above—dozens of meters wide and long—completely covering both of them.

At the same time, the thunder of hooves erupted from all directions. Soldiers, responding to the signal, charged toward them from every side.

Mu Xueshi’s head was spinning from all the sudden movements—leaping up and down—and now, seeing such a huge net, a phrase immediately came to mind:

A turtle trapped in a jar…

So this is it…

He had already prepared for the worst—if they truly couldn’t escape, he would let himself be taken back so that Su Ruhan could leave alone.

But in the blink of an eye, the net was gone.

Mu Xueshi turned to look beside him—and his eyes widened in shock.

That massive net, spanning dozens of meters, was now in Su Ruhan’s hands. He swung the hundreds-of-pounds weight as effortlessly as if it were a silk scarf. In moments, the net was flung over dozens of soldiers charging from one direction, trapping them instead.

Su Ruhan lifted Mu Xueshi into his arms and stepped across the heads of the soldiers trapped beneath the net as if walking on flat ground. Mu Xueshi’s eyes nearly popped out—this was his first time walking over people’s heads. The feeling was unbelievably thrilling, as if he had suddenly become some great martial hero.

Just as they were about to reach the edge, Su Ruhan spotted a horse, kicked its rider off, and leapt onto it with Mu Xueshi in his arms, fleeing in the direction the soldiers had come from. This way, they no longer had to worry about traps ahead. With a crack of the whip, the horse surged forward.

The pursuing troops quickly turned and chased after them. After circling around, they were now farther from the street again. Su Ruhan put his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle. Soon, another horse came galloping toward them. Su Ruhan leapt into the air again, landing steadily with Mu Xueshi on its back.

At this point, Mu Xueshi had completely lost any sense of danger. In his eyes, Su Ruhan had become nothing short of a god. After everything that had just happened, his blood was boiling with excitement, as if all his heroic spirit had been awakened.

If only I hadn’t been so lazy before… If I could ride my own horse now and gallop side by side with Master… how dashing that would be…

Su Ruhan was now riding his own horse, its speed far surpassing those behind them. Soon, they reached the streets. Ahead, five roads branched out—just like when Mu Xueshi had first arrived here. Which path to take was a decision Su Ruhan had to make instantly.

Their destination was a rendezvous point on a main street that intersected all five roads. No matter which route they took, they would eventually reach that main road—but the distances varied greatly. And there would certainly be an ambush waiting there. Su Ruhan needed to shake off their pursuers first and then charge onto the main road as quickly as possible to reduce the pressure of being surrounded.

After deciding, Su Ruhan suddenly slowed the horse, heading slowly north along the westernmost street. Mu Xueshi immediately noticed the drop in speed and grew anxious. He turned back toward Su Ruhan and asked, “Master, is the horse tired?”

Su Ruhan shook his head without answering. Soon, the thunder of hooves from behind caught up with them.

Only then did Su Ruhan accelerate again. One of the pursuing riders caught up and rode side by side with him. Su Ruhan controlled his speed carefully—not overtaking, but always staying just out of reach.

This, however, was torture for Mu Xueshi. The blade behind him hovered just millimeters away from his body. I’m dead in the next second… he thought. But the next second passed—and the blade was still just as close. His heart pounded wildly as he silently begged the horse to push just a little faster. By the end, Mu Xueshi was drenched in sweat, stuck in this life-and-death balance the entire time.

Calculating the timing, when most of the soldiers had gathered onto this street, Su Ruhan suddenly reached out, grabbed the soldier beside him, and yanked him onto his own horse. Then he shouted behind him, “Hold on tight!”

In the next instant, he leapt off, retreating rapidly in the direction they had come from.

His speed was unbelievable—like a gust of wind slicing through the formation. The soldiers behind didn’t even realize what had happened and continued chasing forward, while Su Ruhan had already slipped past them, returned to the original fork, and then dashed toward the easternmost street. From a horse market, he seized another horse, tossed down some silver coins, and rode off along the eastern road.

Meanwhile, the soldier he had thrown onto the horse couldn’t control it and was forced to continue galloping forward, quickly leaving the rest behind. The pursuing soldiers couldn’t see clearly ahead and assumed the figure in front was still Su Ruhan and Mu Xueshi, so they kept chasing relentlessly.

Only when that soldier fell off the horse did the leaders realize something was wrong. They quickly reined in their mounts and shouted for the others to stop.

But the troops behind were moving too fast—many couldn’t halt in time and crashed into the horses ahead. Chaos erupted. The leading officers began arguing—some insisted Su Ruhan and Mu Xueshi must still be hiding in the street and should be searched for, others believed they had already taken another route to the main road and should retreat, while some argued they should continue forward in pursuit.

By the time Su Ruhan and Mu Xueshi had ridden on for a long while, no pursuers were in sight. Dawn had finally broken. There were still few people on the streets, and the two of them rode almost unimpeded.

Mu Xueshi finally let out a breath. After everything that had just happened, he was soaked through with sweat.

The thrill had faded. Now, all he wanted to know was—how long are we going to keep running… and when will we finally be safe?

Su Ruhan noticed Mu Xueshi’s pale expression. After riding for so long, he himself had recovered somewhat—but Mu Xueshi might not be able to endure this. His body was far weaker than his spirit—he had just recovered from major injuries, only to suffer minor ones again and again.

Just as Su Ruhan was thinking this, he heard Mu Xueshi’s muffled, pleading voice:

“Master… I need to pee…”

Su Ruhan was taken aback. “What?”

Mu Xueshi hung his head, clearly exhausted after the fright. Logically, after sweating so much, there shouldn’t have been anything left—but psychologically, he felt he couldn’t endure it any longer.

Su Ruhan frowned. They were still fleeing—forget stopping, even slowing down could get them caught. But Mu Xueshi looked truly miserable.

For once, Su Ruhan hesitated.

“Can’t you hold it a bit longer? We’ll rest soon,” he coaxed patiently.

Mu Xueshi’s face fell as he protested, “How am I supposed to hold something like that? If I don’t go now, it’s coming out!”

Hearing that, Su Ruhan immediately made up his mind. He spurred the horse faster and said firmly, “Then let it come out. You can wash it later. If you really can’t hold it, just let it be. Don’t worry—I won’t mind.”

Mu Xueshi caught the faint hint of amusement in his tone and clenched his fists in frustration.

…Unbelievable…

But with no other choice—and still depending on him to survive—he gritted his teeth and endured it.

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