The morning streets of Linhua bustled with merchants, carts, and gossip —
but Ju Xian stood out like ink in snow.
Her noble bearing was impossible to hide, even beneath the plain cloak she
now wore. She kept her head low and steps quick, avoiding the guards
patrolling near the east market. She couldn't go back. Not now. Not ever.
> "Coward," she muttered under her breath, thinking of Taotao. "Probably
halfway to the next province already."
In truth, Taotao wasn't far. He lounged on the roof of a crumbling
apothecary, chewing on a plum and watching the street below.
> "She'll go home," he muttered. "They always go home."
But she didn't.
Ju Xian ducked into a low teahouse on the edge of the spice quarter. Inside,
she met Meilan — dressed as a merchant's servant — who slid her a parcel.
> "Food, coin, and the map," Meilan whispered. "Take the old canal road.
They won't expect you there."
Ju Xian squeezed her hand. "Tell no one you saw me."
Meanwhile, Taotao descended from the roof and made his way toward the
outer district, determined to disappear into another town. Another scam.
Another rooftop.
Yet as he turned the corner, he stopped cold.
A patrol captain stood in front of a wanted poster — not Ju Xian's, but his.
> "This one was seen near the noble quarters last night," the captain said,
tapping Taotao's face. "Double the reward now. Dead or alive."
Taotao backed into the alley with a curse.
> "So much for clean exits."
At dusk, a thunderstorm began to roll in over the city.
Ju Xian crouched beneath an abandoned vendor cart, drenched, shivering —
clutching her stolen coin pouch and the map Meilan gave her. Her eyes
darted toward the empty street.
Taotao, meanwhile, was cornered by three guards in a narrow alley.
> "I just paid off my last mess," he shouted, dodging a spear. "You people are addicted to me!"
He ducked, rolled, and vanished over the rooftops.
By midnight, the storm howled through Linhua.
And both Ju Xian and Taotao — separately, soaked and stubborn — wondered
why escaping was always the hardest part.