After An Ming said goodbye to Erica, he found that the cloaked man had disappeared at some point.
An Ming felt a little regretful.
After three years, he finally met an oriental person again, which reminded him of the woman who was forever young like honeysuckle. She once said that she could never return to the city located at the westernmost part of the oriental continent. In the past, An Ming had thought about visiting his "mother's" hometown. If he could bring back a bag of red soil and sprinkle it on her grave, she would be happy in the afterlife.
Unfortunately, the mission failed. He should have understood that the cloaked man was kidnapped to the West and now he was like a frightened kitten in a foreign land. You need to be careful when playing with a cat, let alone a human being?
It was too late to say anything now. The cloaked man had already disappeared without a trace, so there was no point in regretting it.
An Ming decisively canceled his plans for tonight. He planned to go to a store he often visited to buy a midnight snack and then go home directly.
Too much happened today, he needed to go home and get some sleep.
An Ming's home is not far from the Administration Bureau, just a few blocks along the main road.
It was an old seven-story building that was built twenty years ago with low housing prices, but now there are only a few residents.
When An Ming moved here three years ago, the director recommended him to live here. Although it is located in a remote area, the house is just like Hei Bier, the most remote of the remote.
Unlike others, An Ming actually likes that environment. Although it is a bit old, no one will disturb you. It is quiet and independent.
The raindrops dripped on his clothes. He felt a little cold, so he pulled his collar around his neck and rushed into the rain with his head down.
But after taking a few steps, he discovered something strange.
When did this street become so quiet?
Morrow Street is not like the Caochang District which is a little further away. This street is a little further towards the city center, and it is the "city center" of the rural area. Even in the middle of the night, there are still nightclubs with their doors open, and neon lights of various colors illuminate the street brilliantly. Workers who come back from clubbing get drunk and stagger on the street.
But now An Ming didn't see anyone on the street.
At this moment, a black propeller cut through the rain and crossed the street. The roar of the Yodel heavy steam engine tore the silence apart. The white pressurized neon light on the nose of the engine shone on the street, and the dazzling light pierced through the majestic water curtain like a sharp sword.
Looking in the direction the propeller was flying from, An Ming discovered that there were several long and narrow neon light beams flashing in the distant sky, and at the end of the light beams there were ten propellers hovering. Those raptor-like iron birds were staring at him eagerly, like hunters waiting to share their prey.
Damn it! Did the three major federal departments go all out? They actually sent eleven spiral machines to this barren border city!
You should know that when An Ming was still working in the Federal Judiciary Bureau, the three major federal departments had less than 20 spiral machines. Ten of them would be stationed in the capital city, and the others would be managed by various departments.
The manufacturing process of the propeller wing is extremely demanding, and the steam engine will overheat due to long-term operation, so it needs to use dual-core linkage. One core works while the other core dissipates heat. Therefore, a propeller needs to consume two military-grade top-level steam cores, and it also needs to pass a large number of stability series tests before it can be officially used.
I'm afraid that the big guys that An Ming sees now are all the screw machines that can be deployed by the three major federal departments.
People who don't know the truth would probably think that some bandit had robbed the federation's old men's coffers, otherwise why would they be so anxious to send out a large number of top-level armed forces?
But An Ming didn't think so. He immediately put on his hood and hid in the shadows of the street.
The streets were dark not because they were on holiday, but because the federal government had declared martial law in the city today. The streets were taken over by three major departments.
They are probably here to arrest that Oriental guy.
The Oriental man had no relationship with An Ming. Although he would not take the initiative to tell her whereabouts, he would not develop sympathy for her just because of a few words with the other party.
However, the situation at this time is not optimistic for An Ming.
Although An Ming was an employee of the 208 Administration, there was no actual proof for a temporary worker. In fact, with his dark background, An Ming could only work illegally. No matter how powerful the director was, he would not allow him to tamper with the documents of the government agency.
As long as he appeared in front of those guys, he would be questioned. His identity as an illegal resident could not withstand the scrutiny of the executioners from the capital, and he might be escorted back halfway through his explanation. They might even find out that An Ming, an illegal resident, had appeared at the mysterious car pick-up scene not long ago.
It's very suspicious no matter how you think about it.
Therefore, if his identity was exposed at this time, it would be a matter of life and death for An Ming.
When the propeller above his head flew to another street, An Ming immediately used the winding alleys to leave this troubled place.
But as luck would have it, he was still too slow. The end of the city street was blocked by a wire fence, and checkpoints were set up on every must-pass road. A tall man in a black coat, holding a steam pistol in his hand, stood in front of the sentry post like a door god, carefully watching even the slightest movement on the road.
An Ming smacked his lips slightly and quickly changed his route. Heibil was very big, and the east of Moruo Street was all grassland. The weeds in those abandoned grasslands were taller than people, which was just right for cover.
As expected, although this abandoned field had been urgently surrounded by fences and barbed wire, there were not many people stationed here.
An Ming took off his coat and covered the barbed wire with it, then nimbly climbed over the fence.
But before he took a few steps, he noticed that the grass not far away was shaking unnaturally.
He immediately dropped to the ground, holding his breath.
Who suddenly appeared here? Has he been discovered? Or has he been following him?
No, it's not possible.
An Ming was quite confident in his stealth ability. At least he was not a third-rate person who could not detect the person following him all the way. Even if he wanted to play hide-and-seek under his nose, he had to be at least at his father's level.
It was as if An Ming had discovered the other party, and the other party seemed to have discovered An Ming as well. From the moment An Ming fell to the ground, the other party also stopped moving.
The two of them hid in the bushes, facing each other motionlessly.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes... At this time, the beam of light from the spiral machine not far away came here. Seeing the spiral machine getting closer and closer, the opponent lost his composure first. There was a rustling sound of the grass shaking. The opponent ran away.
He found the spiral machine approaching but ran away? But why did he run away? Could it be! An Ming immediately thought of the possibility.
He should have left at this point, gone home to eat some leftovers and have a good sleep. But his body seemed to have its own consciousness and moved on its own, following the direction the man was running in, moving forward with his body lowered.
The distance between him and the mysterious man was getting closer and closer, ten meters, seven meters, five meters, three meters, one meter...
At this moment, the mysterious man suddenly came back to attack. An Ming sensed a sharp murderous intent and immediately dodged to the side.
However, the man was like a wild beast. After falling to the ground, he immediately bounced up and flew towards An Ming.
An Ming was unable to dodge and was pushed away by the man. The two twisted and rolled together, and finally crashed into an abandoned farm warehouse.
Light and rain leaked in through the warehouse's dilapidated roof. Two figures landed in the middle of the warehouse. An Ming was lying on the ground, and the other was riding on top of him.
Two metallic sounds rang out at the same time.
An Ming put the black steel gun muzzle against the opponent's head, and at the same time he felt a dagger on his neck.
Neither of them took the next step.
They both knew that the weapon in the other's hand was not enough to kill them, and it was just a warning. Two cold murderous intentions wrestled together in the warehouse, declaring deterrence on behalf of their master.
An Ming raised his eyes slightly, and the light that occasionally swept through the warehouse flowed in, like an arc of light across the darkness.
He was stunned.
The hood of the cloaked man was ripped off during the scuffle, and his long silver hair that shone like light rain swayed in the wind. His white jade-like cheeks, which were stained with a little mud, and his scarlet eyes filled with anger pierced like knives.
She looked like a wounded little lion, lonely and alert. Lions are proud animals who would rather die than surrender.
Although their face shape was very different and their ages did not match, An Ming still saw the shadow of that man in her face.
That woman was also a proud person. Even when faced with inevitable death, she would proudly say her own name and tell those cowards that she would never retreat.
An Ming couldn't help but hate himself a little. He knew that the dead woman would never come out of the grave again, and the girl in front of him was not that person.
He knows.
he knows...
"Put your weapon down, please. I'm not here to hurt you."
He put away his steam pistol and raised his hands.
Hearing the familiar vampire language, the silver-haired girl was stunned at first, and then she immediately realized that the boy in front of her was the person who escaped with her on the subway not long ago.
She hesitated for a moment, and finally put away the gorgeous dagger in her hand.
"...Aren't you here to arrest me?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, you are not on my wanted list," An Ming got up from the ground and patted the mud on his body, "and we escaped from the subway together. If I wanted to catch you, I could have done it then. Why wait until now?"
"Then why are you following me?"
"I also thought you were here to arrest me. Unfortunately, we are now companions. I also have reasons not to be discovered by them." An Ming shrugged.
The silver-haired girl looked An Ming up and down several times. Seeing that he was dirty and covered in mud, looking even more beggarly than a beggar, she seemed to realize that he could not be the bastard who was chasing her.
"Can I ask you a question?" An Ming asked, "Why did you come here?"
"At first I was looking for a place to hide... then I got hungry."
The silver-haired girl turned her head away as if embarrassed.
"You came to the grassland area just to find food, didn't you?" This beautiful girl who looked like a little princess was unexpectedly so wild in her actions. An Ming couldn't help but twitch his lips. "Did you find food?"
The silver-haired girl shook her head, "It ran away."
That's right, how could a little princess like this possibly catch small animals? Even a little rabbit is not easy to catch.
"That cow was so ungrateful that it turned and ran away when it saw me!"
The silver-haired girl said with confidence.
Damn it, did she go to catch a cow? Are all Oriental people like this?
In his impression, Shirika seemed to be a representative of Oriental people. She was always shy and elegant. But now this impression was shattered by the silver-haired girl.
Shirika wouldn't be so wild as to run to the forest and catch a bison with her bare hands when she's starving, right?
No, it's hard to say. Shirika must have been restraining herself the whole time, and the heroic her that night was probably the real her.
An Ming shook off the random thoughts in his mind and looked at the silver-haired girl again.
"...Do you want to go home?" he asked suddenly.
The silver-haired girl's eyes widened when she heard An Ming's question.
"I want to go back!" he answered without hesitation.
"Okay then, I'll take you home."
An Ming didn't know whether his choice was correct, but he knew it was full of risks.
He should have pretended he had never seen the girl, left the warehouse and went home to sleep. But he simulated it countless times in his mind and found that he couldn't do it.
He still remembered that Shilika mentioned her hometown with a wry smile, she had wandered to the West for many years and could never go back. Now he met an oriental girl who looked like Shilika, and she was also trapped in this foreign country.
She said, "I want to go back."
After hearing this, An Ming couldn't just sit there and wait for death, and even had to watch her being captured by those bastards and used as a test subject.
"My name is An Ming. An Ming Ye Yuan."
An Ming mentioned his last name which he had not mentioned for a long time. In fact, it was not a last name at all. It was the sign of Ye Yuan Welfare Home. It was thought up by his sister, and later the whole family also took on this last name. An Ming rarely used it because it was too embarrassing.
But at this time he wanted to use this name. For An Ming, this might be the end.
"Xia Lin. My name is Xia Linnaer Shuoyue."
Xia Linaer answered seriously.