Chapter 17

As night gradually descended, a cool autumn breeze swept across the bridge of the royal city. Qingchen stretched his body as he ran, and the wind blew his clothes backward.

Perhaps it was a change in his mindset; he felt as if...

The shackles that his family and environment had placed on him were slowly being unlocked.

Qingchen ran faster and faster.

Occasionally, passersby on the bridge would turn to look at him. Everyone could sense the inexplicable youthful energy, impulsive yet abundant.

The Silver Run Central Garden was one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Luocheng and was also a well-known wealthy area.

So, it wasn't surprising that Huang Jixian, as a second-generation rich kid, lived there.

The property security here was relatively strict, and entry and exit required a card.

Qingchen circled around to the back gate, trying to see if there was a way to get in.

However, before he could figure out how to get in, he saw six men in black suits walking out from the back gate of the neighborhood.

These men had straight backs, looking as sharp as bayonets.

As they walked, their steps were always in sync, the timing and distance of each step as if measured by a ruler.

Wait, Qingchen was stunned because he saw that one of the six men was carrying a teenager... Huang Jixian!

At that moment, Huang Jixian looked dazed, muttering incomprehensible words about prison, machinery, and monsters...

They quickly climbed into two black SUVs parked outside the back gate. One of them, seemingly sensing something, turned his head from the passenger seat to look in Qingchen's direction.

Qingchen immediately turned away, pretending to play with his phone as if nothing had happened.

The man didn't seem to pay much attention to him, and the two black SUVs sped away into the night.

Qingchen stood outside the neighborhood gate, looking at his phone without a word.

Who were those people?

Why did they take Huang Jixian?

Was it because of his identity as a穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, which can be translated as "穿越者" in English, but in this context, it means "穿越者" or "穿越者")?

It must be because of that, Qingchen didn't believe in coincidences.

He turned and headed home.

On the way, he pondered the identity of the men in black, but gradually, he noticed something was off.

A young man in a black hoodie had been quietly following him for five blocks.

A strange sense of familiarity... He had seen this person before.

In an instant, Qingchen felt his muscles tense, and an无形的压迫感 (无形的压迫感 means "无形的压迫感" in Chinese, which can be translated as "无形的压迫感" in English, but in this context, it means "无形的压迫感" or "无形的压迫感") was eroding his sense of security.

It was as if he was being intensely watched by a predator.

He recalled that when he encountered the men in black at the back gate of the Central Garden neighborhood, this person was nearby, looking at his phone. However, while looking at his phone, his fingers never touched the screen.

Qingchen couldn't analyze everything he saw every second; that would be too mentally draining. But he could recall his memories.

Thinking about this, Qingchen casually pretended to take a call, stopping and lowering his head: "Hey, I'll be home late for dinner..."

A baseball cap hid his face in the shadows.

The young man in the black hoodie walked past him without stopping.

Qingchen kept his eyes on the man, but the man never looked back.

This made Qingchen a bit puzzled. At one moment, he even doubted if he was overthinking.

On the bustling street, the man in the black hoodie quickly disappeared. Qingchen hung up and continued walking.

Thankfully, he had changed out of his school uniform and put on a hat, otherwise, the man would have known he was a student from Luocheng Foreign Language School just by seeing his uniform.

Just as Qingchen was about to relax, he noticed at the next intersection, among the people waiting for the traffic light, a familiar face.

It was the same person he had seen at the front gate of the Central Garden neighborhood.

It wasn't a coincidence.

It was a cross-tracking.

Each person responsible for tracking only followed for a segment of the journey, and each had to ensure they looked like a passerby and remained unnoticed. If the target stopped, the tracker would continue walking as if nothing happened, and another member would take over.

This was one of the safest tracking methods.

Qingchen was grateful for all the useful and useless books he had read.

He finally understood that when the man in the SUV looked at him, he had already been targeted.

There were more than six of them, and others were hiding in the shadows.

What kind of secret organization was this, so well-trained and so interested in matters related to穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, which can be translated as "穿越者" in English, but in this context, it means "穿越者" or "穿越者")?

Qingchen suddenly felt that he might not be the first batch of穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, which can be translated as "穿越者" in English, but in this context, it means "穿越者" or "穿越者"). Perhaps he was the second or even the third batch.

Otherwise, even if someone learned about穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, which can be translated as "穿越者" in English, but in this context, it means "穿越者" or "穿越者") today, they wouldn't have been able to react so quickly.

These people were well-prepared.

The young man's black eyes were deep and intense. He noticed every detail: the night runners on the pedestrian path, the uncle selling candied haws by the roadside, the slender woman in high heels, and the changing shadows cast by the yellow streetlights.

He memorized every detail and reminded himself not to make a mistake.

The traffic light had 12 seconds left.

The man in black who had passed him earlier was likely already circling back to take over the next segment of the cross-tracking.

Calculating the route through Wangchun Gate Street, Zhenghe Road, and Kaiyuan Avenue, it would take an adult running at a normal pace about ten minutes.

If he wanted to shake off the trackers...

Now was the time.

The green light turned on, and the man following him lifted his foot to cross the street, but Qingchen suddenly turned and walked in the opposite direction.

The tracker continued across the street nonchalantly and whispered, "The target didn't cross the street. He turned back. How much longer until you're in position?"

It looked like he was talking to himself, but if someone paid close attention, they would notice a half-transparent earpiece in his left ear.

"I can't, I need two more minutes to get into position."

In an instant, the tracker crossing the street sensed something was wrong and turned to look for Qingchen, but he couldn't find the young man.

"I lost him," the tracker at the intersection sighed.

The young man in the black hoodie, who was sprinting at full speed in the distance, laughed in response, "How embarrassing, two people tracking one person and still losing him."

"It was your idea to track him."

The young man in the black hoodie laughed, "Do you think he noticed we were tracking him?"

A voice came through the earpiece, "I'm sure he noticed. He's a pro."

The young man in the black hoodie thought for a moment and said, "That teenager looks to be about seventeen or eighteen, probably still in high school. If he really noticed we were tracking him, that's incredible. And you noticed how naturally he handled it. When he first stopped to make a call, I didn't think he had noticed me. Otherwise, I would have controlled him right then."

"I'm curious, why did you decide to track him on the spot? We have a lot of tasks today, and there's no need to waste time on a passerby."

"It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. When the team was escorting the 009 target, I noticed he avoided the team leader's gaze."