"The water is a bit unclear, so I went farther to look for clean water." He tried to keep his voice steady as he handed her the water bottle.

She turned her head to receive it, but he turned his face away, his hand blocking the sunlight, casting a shadow over his face, concealing his pale complexion.

"What’s wrong?" Ye Lu felt that he was acting strangely, turning to face her.

"Nothing. You boil the water, I’ll go in and look for something."

Third Young Master Jun turned and crawled into the tent, his fingers trembling as he grasped the small medical box, dumping everything out to reveal a secret compartment at the bottom.

He fumbled out a packet of something from it, his eyes darkening, his fingers twitching.

He had anticipated the possible problems that might arise and had prepared for them to ensure absolute safety, but things had developed faster than expected.

And now, having reached this point, there was no turning back; he could not afford to fall at such a time, no matter what. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

There was no other way.

He clenched his fist, then relaxed it and opened the packet, which contained small tablets that weren’t medicine but narcotics—the Triangle being abundant in poppies and grains, never short of various drugs.

Among them, the extracted morphine had potent pain-relieving effects.

Third Young Master Jun took a tablet, put it in his mouth, and swallowed it, feeling a swarm of emotions. He never thought that one day he would sink to this.

Even in his most decadent past, he never touched these things.

Sitting inside the tent for a long time, he felt the pain in his body lessen considerably, and he sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, Ye Lu had already prepared breakfast outside. Seeing him in silent stillness within the tent, her curiosity deepened; she approached, opened the tent, and Third Young Master Jun suddenly opened his eyes, pulling his arm back and hiding his hands behind him, pretending as if nothing had happened, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Sneaking a lazy moment, and you’ve come to check on me."

Seeing him appear untroubled, Ye Lu thought she might have been overly alarmed, so she called him out to eat.

After Ye Lu left, Third Young Master Jun quickly stuffed everything back into the secret compartment, his heart exclaiming that was close, almost getting caught.

After breakfast, they embarked on a new day’s journey.

Third Young Master Jun still carried Ye Lu on his back, dragging the luggage along.

"I can walk by myself tomorrow; my foot is almost healed." Ye Lu said somewhat happily, thinking that once she could walk, they could speed up their journey, and he wouldn’t have to suffer so much.

Third Young Master Jun merely responded with a faint "hmm."

...

For several days, the widespread manhunt ensued, yet no news came from anywhere, causing Su Feiman’s expression to grow increasingly grim, as dark as dead waters.

"So many days of searching, and still no trace or clue—this is the result you give me?" Cold and devoid of warmth, his gaze swept over Flying Eagle, carrying a frightening chill.

"This subordinate has failed." Flying Eagle hung his head low, "Every town, every village has been notified, to report immediately if they spot any trace of them, but these past days, there truly has been no clue; they seem to have vanished into thin air."

"Vanished into thin air? Now, even a mosquito wouldn’t be able to fly out," Su Feiman’s eyes darkened, and he contemplated for a while, "He has always been full of clever strategies and is not the type to surrender easily; he must have thought of a way to evade all tracking. But, what could it be that has made everyone unable to find him?"

Propping his chin, Su Feiman pondered; having followed Jun Huang for so many years, he had a deep understanding of his adopted son—a person of extraordinary intelligence who could come up with methods that others couldn’t even imagine.