"Hey, watch where you're going!"
"Ahh"
"Ugh!"
The crowd was fairly packed in together for a gathering consisting of only around 100 of them. If I wanted to get through them I had to come into physical contact with them. And so I did, I tried to minimalize the amount of aggressive movements I made, like shoving and pushing, towards the people I was weaving through.
The gaps I found seemed to never be large enough for me to fit through though, so in the end there were quite a number of times when I had to shove others. With each shove I had to committed the more others would notice me creating a scene within the crowd.
'I can't keep this up forever, I was supposed to remain low-key! Why did that girl appear before me!? At least they still think I'm one of them for now. Once that cover is blown then the little scene I'm making now won't even be able to compare to it. What can I do to escape their chase? Wait let me make sure they're even still chasing me first. Maybe there's a chance I did lose them in the crowd.'
I slowed down and expanded out my Qi Sense, scanning the 5 meter radius around me. It didn't take long though for someone to enter my sense though. They also closed in on me with a moderate speed.
'Oh shit! They are!' scanning my eyes around I remembered a crucial point about my appearance. 'Oh that's right! There isn't even 10 people originally in this crowd who wore their hood. But.. I also can't let them see my face can I? It's a lose, lose situation!
But maybe I could just distract them long enough for Chen Huang to free the hostage. He doesn't need me to help him untie some ropes the hard part will probably be taking him out of the tent with all these people watching.'
"HEY! WHERE ARE YOU!
Don't you know who I am?!
Do you really not want to be my boyfriend?!
I just want to talk to your girlfriend that's all!" Her amplified voice was heard over the voices of others. A numerous amount of people looked in her direction as she said so and that gave me two choices.
I could stop running and look with the crowd to blend in or I could just keep going and stand out as the person she's looking for. But it's clear which one I'll pick.
I kept running and bumping into people, this time on purpose. There was no way I could suddenly stop and pretend that no one was chasing me, that guard of hers would definitely catch up then. that leaves the only option for me to cause as much of a scene as possible.
Pushing others while running in the opposite direction would definitely attract other's attention. It was basically labeling myself as the person she was after, but the more attention on me meant the less on Chen Huang.
He had already vanished from my sight, probably inside one if the tents by now. I just have to hope that this will bring their focus away for long enough so he could escape with that sacrificial hostage.
"He's over there! Someone, stop him! I'll reward anyone who does handsomely!" When that line of speech exited her mouth I began to see numerous eyes turn towards me, clearly filled with greed.
"Yes my lady! I've have him brought over in no time!"
"Don't worry he won't escape me!"
"I'll catch him for you!"
Instantly my way of gaining extra attention, shoving and pushing people, became dangerous as whenever I neared anyone they would try to get a hold of me.
"Come here!" A grasping hand appears from my peripherals, but I dodged it by side stepping to my left.
'Oh god, I need to find out where they're coming from! Perhaps I could try to use Qi Sense while running around instead of walking or standing still. Closing my eyes would help it work better as well, but being able to see forward infinitely is probably better.'
Spreading out my sense I notice the difference of it's radius almost immediately. It was barely a meter out around me; the only plus side was that the size was proportional to it's cost in Qi.
'Okay, that sucks. By the time I notice it it would have already been too late for me to act. I might as well try the closing my eyes technique.'
Once I was relatively safe I closed my eyes and concentrated a bit more on my Qi Sense. The change was pretty dramatic as it had increased the radius by another meter, raising it to around 2.
Now if they came within my Sense range then I had a good chance to dodge their grapple. It was all in real time after all so my reflexes had to be good enough to react to their moves. The only problem I had now was that I couldn't really see where I was going since I had limited my own vision.
Using my memory and visual map I drew up of the area I should be around the middle of the crowd, but I might have been moving faster then I thought.
I could be anywhere within the crowd, from the center of it to the edges. The only way for me to know where I am is by the density of the people packed around me. If I ever find a section where there's a sudden shift in the amount of people then that might be the edge.
All I know now is that I'll probably reach the edge in a bit after all I've been running and dodging in a mostly straight line. Well, from beginning to now I was only heading in one direction at least.
"What the hell?! Why can't I seem to grab him?!" There was hints of anger which slowly increased as he spoke.
Hands entered my Qi Sense's range and from the increased range, and I felt like I had all the time I needed to dodge them. An arm appears from my left, adjust to the right. Someone goes for my legs, jump over it and keep going. Someone in front of me, juke the bitch!
After a point I was even starting to have a bit of fun, thinking of the ways to dodge their grapples. It was exhilarating, especially when I just barely managed to avoid their hands. I even forgot for a moment that they were actually trying to catch me.
It was like playing tag, but in reverse. The person who was it was the one that everyone else had to chase and touch. It was a good thing that none of them had tried team work and form a wall with their bodies or anything like that.
"What's going on out here!?!" A voice of a man thunders and echoes throughout the crowd.
It seemed to even produce a shockwave throughout the area, which broke my concentration. Opening up my eyes, I realize I was just about to reach the edge as well. Only around 3 people who barred my path at this time.
I was going to readjust myself before running again, then I felt a light wave of pressure push down on me. It was an unexpected outcome and as I looked around I noticed the eyes of many people looking towards the voice's direction.
When I turned too I saw the man who headed this whole crowd. It was the leader from before, but his eyes seemed to be set upon me. There was a somber sense in his eyes as it gaze at me.
"You! What do you think you're doing? Creating such a commotion out here when we're completing our preparations? Don't you know how important this is? Come to the tents right now!" He spoke staring right at me.
"No! Let Liao Mu go!" The girl from before spoke up on... my behalf? Hearing her speak up the man looked away from me and instead focused his attention on her.
'Who's Liao Mu? Wait, is that who's robes I'm wearing? Is there a some kind of identification on these robes I didn't notice?! It least it wasn't because the robe's hood didn't work. So where are these identifiers? I know she grabbed me from behind so is there something there?'
Turning around I scan my back, waist, and other parts that I think might of had the identifier. In the end it was a small patch etched onto the bottom cuffs of my robe, a number identifier: 83. The place where she had grabbed onto me from.
In the span of a few seconds I found it and moments after the leader spoke up once more.
"Why should I after the commotion he's caused? Hmm... weren't you sent out with a group of people earlier? Why didn't you report that you've returned?" He asked the girl a question before seemingly remembering something and started asking me some questions.
Quickly thinking up something on the spot I told him, "I was actually on my way to report it now, but that girl stopped me from doing so, demanding something from me."
""That girl?" Liao.. Mu? Don't you remember me? I'm Zhen Hao!" Tears began to well up in her eyes as she looked towards me and her voice turned shaky at the end.
'Is she trying to guilt trip me? Cause it's working! You're making me feel bad! Don't look at me like that! I don't actually know you!'