SDIWD - Chapter 74

Chapter 74

"Mumu, if we go back, you should apologize properly to your aunt and father."

Bai Zhen had no intention of running any further. For someone of Hua Mu's status, returning was the safest option. And as a Sentinel, she herself would inevitably have to return to the Tower.

Hua Mu, not yet aware of the approaching danger, pouted. "Hmph, they're the ones who should apologize to me. They never do what they promise. All they know how to do is lie to me."

Bai Zhen didn't know the details, but from Hua Mu's words, she guessed that the two adults were too busy with official duties to take care of her.

"Adults are usually very busy with work. Given your aunt and father's positions, they must be even busier…"

"Why are you taking their side too… Wait, how do you know who they are?"

Hua Mu's brow furrowed in confusion, just as the footsteps Bai Zhen had been hearing grew closer and closer.

"I-I recognized you. You're the Grand Duke's daughter."

Hua Mu said, annoyed, "So you knew who I was all along. Why didn't you say so? I was being so careful with my words for nothing."

Because she was afraid that if she said anything, Hua Mu wouldn't want to play with her anymore.

Bai Zhen lowered her head, a little dejected. A squad of uniformed soldiers had already blocked the entrance to the eatery. Hua Mu ignored them, staring at Bai Zhen. "Did you call them here?"

Bai Zhen quickly shook her head.

Hua Mu let out a sigh of relief. "Good, it wasn't you. Otherwise, I'd be angry with you."

"Miss, the Grand Duke is very worried. He hopes you will return with us immediately."

The soldier who appeared to be the leader was the first to speak. Only then did Hua Mu look at him.

"You're not from the Royal Guard. What unit are you from? What's your designation?"

Unit designations were for internal use only; publicly, only code names were used. Though Hua Mu was young, she had not missed out on any part of her education. Her lessons had only increased, especially after she was confirmed as the second in line to the throne.

The soldier didn't answer her, simply saying, "Please stop being willful and come back with us."

Hua Mu had only asked the question out of mild suspicion. After all, her father and aunt would never make a big deal out of her running away from home, so dispatching the Royal Guard would have been the most appropriate choice.

And the Royal Guard usually operated in plain clothes, whereas these men were wearing the uniforms of the armed police, as if they were afraid people wouldn't know who they were.

"Are you really here on my father's orders?"

Hua Mu frowned, a sense of vigilance rising within her. Seeing that something was wrong, Bai Zhen secretly gathered her strength. A dozen soldiers had surrounded the shop, and the other customers and staff had long since been driven away.

The "captain" seemed to lose patience with talking to a child and gestured to his men to make a move.

Hua Mu cried out. In perfect sync, Bai Zhen vaulted over the table, scooped her into her arms, and dashed toward the shop's back door.

Her explosive speed clearly took the others by surprise, but the man who looked like the captain remained relatively calm. He spoke into his communicator, ordering, "She's heading for the back door. Ambush team, get ready."

Bai Zhen's hearing was sharp, her senses fully engaged. She had already detected the ambush at the back door. Just before reaching it, she abruptly turned and ran up to the second floor.

The Fude Building was a commercial structure, and each floor was over six meters high, designed to be partitioned according to different needs. The teahouse they were in occupied two levels. After carrying Hua Mu to the second floor, Bai Zhen jumped straight out of a window.

A commotion erupted from the crowd below, and Hua Mu couldn't help but let out a scream.

The freefall through the air was far too thrilling; she was still too young to experience such amusement park rides.

Bai Zhen moved with agility, her power at full throttle. An ordinary person wouldn't have even had time to react, watching helplessly as she vanished into the sea of people.

By the time the "captain" chased them to the second floor, he only saw their retreating figures. The guards stationed below were completely useless, and he was so furious he felt like opening fire on the spot.

"Boss, that kid seems to be a Sentinel."

This squad was, of course, not composed of imperial soldiers, but mercenaries for hire.

"How can there be a Sentinel? Didn't they say she had no protection? Is the intel accurate or not?"

The man kicked over a stool, fuming, "What the hell is wrong with the higher-ups? Dragging me back from the battlefield for this deadly job, and we have to act so damn cautiously."

"Boss, we still need to find those two kids first, or else…"

The man waved his hand. "Release the tracking dogs. And have someone contact the client. Having a Sentinel involved changes the price."

---

Bai Zhen ran at full speed, carrying Hua Mu. She descended twelve floors before finally stopping near a fire escape on the forty-seventh floor.

Hua Mu was dizzy and disoriented. It took her a long moment to keep from throwing up.

"S-Sister Bai Zhen, what's happening?"

Bai Zhen held her and sat down in a corner, panting heavily. "We should… should have lost them… Who are those people?"

How would Hua Mu know? She shook her head. "I've never seen them before. But if my father sent them, they wouldn't have been so rude."

So they were enemies.

"It's okay, I'll protect you. I-I just need to rest for a bit, then I'll take you home… You'll be safe once you're home."

Because the men were wearing armed police uniforms, Bai Zhen didn't dare go directly to the police station.

Faced with such a large-scale operation, Hua Mu was also a little scared. She nodded repeatedly. "Okay, okay. You'll come home with me."

Bai Zhen said she only needed to rest for a moment, but she had expended a great deal of energy, and she had run out of her Little White Pills several days ago. After sitting down, she found she could barely get up, and her face grew paler and paler.

Hua Mu waited for a while, then noticed something was wrong. She asked, anxious and worried, "Sister Bai Zhen, are you okay? You look… you look like you're in a lot of pain."

Bai Zhen shook her head, then held Hua Mu and shakily stood up.

"I'm fine, Mumu. I'll take you home…"

"Maybe… maybe you should rest a little longer?"

Bai Zhen was afraid that if she rested now, she would never be able to stand up again. "I'm fine. Just bury your face in my shoulder so no one sees you."

Hua Mu obediently wrapped her arms around her neck, her voice tinged with tears. "But you look like you're really hurting. D-did you get injured when you jumped?"

"No, that height is nothing for a Sentinel. Don't worry, Mumu, I'm fine."

"Sister, are you a Sentinel?"

Hua Mu was a little curious. Her father and aunt were powerful Guides, but she had never been this close to a Sentinel before. Her guards were mostly respectful but distant; all she knew was that they were very strong.

"Yes, I am."

"No wonder you're so amazing… But why are you out here all by yourself? I remember Sentinels and Guides are supposed to go to the Tower."

Taking the stairs might have been safer, but Bai Zhen didn't have much strength left, so she had to risk the elevator. Holding Hua Mu, she walked through the crowd, answering her questions in a low voice.

"I ran away… I don't like it there."

"So you ran away from home, too?"

The little girl's attention was drawn to this new piece of information, and she seemed to have completely forgotten the crisis from moments ago.

"Yeah…"

Hua Mu seemed very happy, giggling against Bai Zhen's neck. "Then we're the same… Why don't you like it there? Do the adults not spend time with you either?"

In this unfamiliar environment, Bai Zhen had never made any friends due to being so different and having an introverted personality. Naturally, she'd never had the chance to confide in anyone. But in front of Hua Mu, in front of this girl so much younger than herself, she felt an inexplicable urge to pour out all the words she had kept in her heart.

"No… it's not like that. It's because I'm… I'm different from everyone else…"

"Different? How are you different?"

"My skin is very dark…"

"It's not that dark. It's beautiful. I like it."

"I grow very fast, and I eat a lot, not like a normal girl…"

Hua Mu was puzzled. "But isn't that a good thing? It's good to eat a lot and grow fast. I want to be like that, too. I want to grow up quickly."

"But it's not like a girl…"

"Why isn't it like a girl? You are a girl. I call you sister. You're very pretty, and I like you."

Bai Zhen's heart warmed at her words, and she hugged her tighter. "But aren't girls supposed to be cute like you? And… and I'm a Sentinel… I think I'm the only female Sentinel in the Tower."

"Is being a female Sentinel strange?" Hua Mu didn't understand.

"Yeah… It's very rare. Usually, Sentinels are male, and Guides are female."

"But my father is a Guide, and he's not strange at all. You're not strange either. You're both very good people. Being different from ordinary people just means you're special. And special is good. I like special. Sister, I like you, so don't be sad."

What kind of angel was this?

Although Hua Mu's words didn't completely resolve Bai Zhen's long-held confusion, bewilderment, and low self-esteem, her spirit was still greatly soothed.

"Mumu, you're such a good kid."

Hua Mu was a little shy, hugging her and giggling. "No, I'm not. Daddy always says I'm too naughty. Sister, if you don't like the Tower, then come home with me. You protected me, so Daddy will definitely agree."

Bai Zhen didn't think the Grand Duke would take in a Sentinel who had deserted the Tower, but she nodded anyway.

Bai Zhen deliberately chose an elevator with a high volume of people, hoping that the men wouldn't dare to make a move in public. However, judging from their earlier actions, they didn't seem to be the cautious type.

But it would be easier to escape in the chaos. The greater the commotion, the safer the two of them would be.

It would take about three minutes to get from the forty-seventh floor to the sky-rail station on the twentieth. From the moment she stepped into the elevator, Bai Zhen had been counting silently in her head. Forty-sixth floor, forty-fifth… As she watched the floors descend one by one, the numbers getting smaller, Bai Zhen grew more and more nervous.

In their current situation, taking the sky-rail was the fastest and safest option. The sky-rail station had permanent security and guards, so she figured the men wouldn't dare to act there. Considering their numbers and the number of elevators, it was most likely they would station people in the fire escapes and at the elevators between the twenty-first and twentieth floors.

So when the elevator's display finally stopped at twenty, Bai Zhen was so tense that every pore on her body had opened.

The elevator doors slowly slid open. The area outside was empty. The other people in the elevator didn't seem to notice anything amiss and filed out. Ground transportation was a rarity these days, so the floor with the sky-rail station was often the final destination. Bai Zhen hesitated for only a moment, and the elevator was already empty.

"Sister, aren't we going?"

Bai Zhen realized she was being overly nervous. Her craving for Guide-hormones made her nerves taut.

"Let's go—"

"Waaaaah!"

Bai Zhen's sense of crisis suddenly peaked. The elevator jolted, then began to plummet uncontrollably.

Hua Mu let out her third scream of the day.

Get instant access to all chapters now.

Previous Table of Contents Next