57: Whereabouts exposed, analyze the reasons

After leaving the city gate, Su Yun headed toward the north of the city.

Cuiyan City's gate was in the east, the residences of the great families were in the west, and both the north and south of the city were where commoners lived.

After crossing two streets, Su Yun just wanted to catch his breath when he suddenly heard a commotion behind him.

"Quickly search here, the An Family's Second Miss is nearby!"

"Search carefully, everyone! Don't let a single corner slip by!"

Twenty or so City Guards abruptly appeared at the entrance of the alley.

"I see him, it's that man! Get him!"

Several soldiers wearing light armor rushed forward with blades in hand, attacking Su Yun directly.

"So fast?"

Su Yun was also somewhat surprised at this moment.

How were his movements exposed so quickly?

He had been very careful on the road, changing directions several times to prevent anyone from following him.

Furthermore, he hadn't left any footprints while traveling, let alone An Yuyao, whom he had been holding the entire time.

Since he hadn't exposed his whereabouts or left any traces, how did these soldiers find them?

While he was thinking, several soldiers had already rushed over.

Su Yun could only set aside his questions for the moment, tightening his left arm around An Yuyao.

He gripped his blade with his right hand and swung it fiercely; several soldiers fell instantly.

Although the attack was clean and efficient, it consumed more of his Vital Qi.

"Attack together! Kill the man directly, just make sure the An Family's Second Miss stays alive!"

The remaining dozen or so soldiers rushed forward, hoping to use their numerical advantage to kill Su Yun.

However, Su Yun nimbly dodged the swinging greatswords.

During this process, An Yuyao clung tightly to Su Yun's chest, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

She was afraid of distracting Su Yun; if she caused him to get injured because of her interference, she would certainly never forgive herself.

After dodging the attacks, Su Yun quickly struck out a dozen times with his blade.

He was already somewhat out of breath by now.

"Not good, too much Vital Qi has been consumed!"

Su Yun felt his body weakening and thought to himself that things were looking bad.

After dealing with this wave of soldiers, Su Yun carried An Yuyao and left in a different direction.

But after crossing two more streets, another squad of soldiers appeared; this time he avoided them directly and changed direction again.

Strangely, just as he crossed two more streets, a group of An Family Guards caught up again.

After finally shaking off the An Family Guards, Su Yun arrived at a secluded alley to take a short rest.

Seeing Su Yun's pale face, An Yuyao hurriedly took a handkerchief from her sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

At the same time, she said with a look of heartache:

"Su Yun, why do you look so unwell? Are you feeling sick?"

"Is it because you've been carrying me for too long and you're tired?"

"You should put me down!"

"It's nothing. Holding Yuyao actually makes me more energetic; I'm not tired at all. I could carry ten more of you."

"Smooth talker!"

An Yuyao was amused by Su Yun's words, and the originally heavy atmosphere lightened.

After thinking quietly for a moment, Su Yun began to analyze the details he had noticed earlier.

First, no one was following him on the route he took.

Because he didn't hear the sound of anyone else following nearby,

The probability of someone having followed him the whole time was very small.

Secondly, he had changed routes several times just now and intentionally increased his speed.

Yet those people were still able to find him accurately, which meant they were using special means.

Based on this information, he deduced that they were using some method to locate his and An Yuyao's positions.

Additionally, since there were no cultivators in this illusionary realm, it was impossible for there to be a tracking Spell.

Finally, he could deduce that it was scent that exposed his location.

Perhaps the An Family and the Ji Family had a method of finding people through scent.

And since he hadn't left much of a scent at the An Family, they were tracking them by locking onto An Yuyao's scent.

"Yuyao, it seems we have to go bathe in that river in the city!"

"Ah?"

An Yuyao was bewildered after hearing this; she didn't understand what Su Yun meant.

But hearing the word 'bathe,' she blushed slightly, and a scene of her and Su Yun frolicking in the river suddenly flashed through her mind.

In the scene, the two of them were completely exposed to each other, making her nose feel a bit itchy.

"After bathing, the scent on our bodies will be temporarily washed away by the river water."

"When that time comes, it won't be so easy for those people to track us."

"So it's to wash away the scent, I thought..."

The fantasy in An Yuyao's mind vanished instantly, and an embarrassed expression appeared on her face.

Fortunately, she hadn't spoken her fantasies aloud just now, or her beautiful image in Su Yun's eyes would have been shattered.

"Thought what?"

"Nothing."

Su Yun looked at An Yuyao with some confusion; seeing her embarrassed expression, he couldn't guess what she was thinking.

However, he didn't pay it much mind; after all, the most urgent matter now was to get to that river in the city.

Su Yun picked up An Yuyao again and headed toward the river.

After shaking off three waves of pursuers, Su Yun finally arrived at the riverside.

There was a large bridge over this river, connecting the two banks.

It was currently late at night, and the river surface was pitch black; the situation on the opposite bank was almost invisible.

"Let's go down!"

"Okay!"

"We'll need to hold our breath for a while; those people will definitely chase us to the riverside."

"As long as we don't show our heads, they'll think we washed off our scent and went to the opposite bank."

Su Yun gently set An Yuyao down, then took her hand and jumped into the river together.

Ripples spread across the surface of the river, returning to calm shortly after.

Not long after Su Yun and the other hid in the river, a large group of people arrived at the bank.

They held torches aloft, and for a moment, the river water became clear and bright under the firelight.

"Dammit, the scent disappears here!"

"They wouldn't be in the river, would they?"

"Let me see... I don't see anything!"

"They definitely changed their clothes and swam to the opposite bank!"

"Quick, let's chase them! We can't lose them!"

The group of people crossed the bridge directly to the opposite bank to continue their search.

At this time, Su Yun was kissing An Yuyao's pink lips while hidden at the bottom of the river.

Actually, he hadn't intended to do this.

It was just that shortly after he and An Yuyao entered the river, he discovered that An Yuyao couldn't hold her breath any longer.

Just as he expected, after a short while, An Yuyao choked on a few mouthfuls of water.

So Su Yun directly blocked her mouth with his own to give her air.

While he was giving An Yuyao air, that group of people had arrived at the riverside.

Fortunately, he had a sudden inspiration and held An Yuyao at the bottom of the river, so the two of them weren't discovered.

Only after confirming that those people had gone far away did Su Yun swim up from the bottom of the river while holding An Yuyao.

As soon as the two of them reached the shore, they breathed in the air greedily.

What Su Yun didn't notice was that An Yuyao's cheeks, neck, and ears were all bright red.

She hadn't expected to kiss Su Yun for so long in the river.

So long that even her lips felt a bit numb; this was just too embarrassing!

"I'll help you dry your clothes!"

Su Yun's palm pressed against An Yuyao's shoulder, and then a stream of heat was transmitted to her body.

An Yuyao felt the wet clothes on her body dry by more than half in an instant.

She looked at Su Yun with a face full of admiration and asked curiously:

"That's amazing! Su Yun, how did you do it?"