But Zane still kept an extra layer of caution. He didn't just casually walk out of the north gate. Instead, he hid in a concealed corner and quietly looked toward the direction of the north gate.
Sure enough, just as Zane expected, two familiar figures, one in black and one in white, were standing at the north gate, waiting calmly for him to walk right into the trap.
Seeing this scene, how could Zane not realize he had been set up by Xiangli Yao.
First, he openly told him that Jihnsi had already issued a bounty on him, then gave him supplies to lower his guard.
Finally, after learning everything, he would definitely speed up his escape from Jinzhou…
And the result would obviously be getting caught red-handed by Jihnsi and Rover.
"Hmph, I, Zane, am not that easy to catch."
Rarely having the upper hand in intelligence, Zane chuckled, then immediately turned and headed toward the west gate.
This move was called shedding the golden cicada's shell.
While Jihnsi and Rover were both at the north gate, he only needed to take a small detour from the west gate and could still reach the Beiluo Wilds.
But after just taking a few steps, Zane stopped.
The wind carried a dangerous scent. A faint smell of blood was spreading through Jinzhou City with the night air, then gradually fading.
But none of this escaped Zane's perception. He pursed his lips, thought for a moment, then ran toward the direction where the smell of blood came from.
Although he didn't have resonance abilities and couldn't use tools like grappling hooks to travel quickly, his strong physical condition was enough to make up for it.
After all, for more than ten years, he had done 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats every day, run a lap around Jinzhou City, and then used a one-handed sword to mine.
Zane looked up and observed the surrounding buildings. With a light push of his foot against the ground, he borrowed the force to leap into the air, landing lightly on the roof of a nearby house.
Using the terrain and the faint moonlight, Zane clearly saw the "crime scene."
A white-clothed girl was standing among a group of fallen red-clothed people, with something like vines wrapped around her.
Seeing this, Zane frowned tightly, leaping forward like the wind. After a few jumps, he arrived at the scene.
Looking at the group of red-clothed people lying there asleep, Zane sternly questioned the girl, "Hey! How can you just throw garbage around like this! Don't you know it makes things very inconvenient for the sanitation workers to clean up!"
The group of red-clothed people lying on the ground, sleeping soundly, were none other than the Fractsidus that he had just loved so dearly during the day.
Just look at how peacefully they were sleeping. They didn't even hear the "thud" when Zane landed.
The white-clothed girl also didn't seem to have expected her actions to be discovered. When she heard Zane's voice, she clearly froze for a moment. Then she came back to her senses, turned her head, and looked him up and down.
"Garbage? Hmm… what you said does make some sense. These guys really are just garbage that only trample the garden."
The girl placed her pale fingers against her cheek, thought seriously for a moment, and then expressed her agreement.
Since the ones lying there were from the Fractsidus, there was nothing surprising about it.
Just like...
"Well, you'd better deal with these, so they don't cause trouble for the people in the city."
Looking at the girl in front of him, Zane had to admit, this girl was dressed really lightly.
There was always a smile on her face, but that smile looked a bit abnormal. Among her pure white hair, there was a single black ahoge hanging in front.
Her white twin ponytails were tied up with hairbands decorated with black flowers. Paired with her smile, she gave off the feeling of a slightly unhinged girl.
It felt like if you said one wrong word, she would smile and slice your head off with a knife.
Two ribbon-like bands wrapped in her white hair spiraled downward, hanging behind her like vines. When they swayed in the wind, you could even faintly see buds waiting to bloom on them.
On her red-and-white dress, at the sound-mark on her chest, four petals were quietly blooming around it.
Her legs were wrapped in what looked like one and a half pairs of white stockings… what, you're asking why one and a half?
Of course it was because her right leg wasn't fully covered. Instead, it was wrapped in a spiral like the vine-like strands in her hair.
At the same time, it satisfied both white-stocking lovers and bare-leg lovers.
"Nice to meet you, Gardener."
The girl gave a slight bow to Zane, then suddenly raised her right hand. A monster-like vine instantly grew out from her wrist, splitting into four tooth-like leaves as it bit toward Zane.
But Zane had already expected this. He lowered his center of gravity, dodged the vine, then grabbed the vine at a vital point.
With a sudden force from his left hand, he pulled the girl toward himself. At the same time, he clenched his right hand into a fist, preparing to give this dangerous girl an "abdominal massage."
At this moment, the girl's white hair had already quietly turned into a vivid red like blooming flowers, and a plum blossom bloomed within her pupils.
The girl hadn't expected to be lifted by such a force. But even so, she still wore a full smile, and in the silent night, a bell-like laugh echoed.
Using Zane's force, the girl leaped high into the air like a gymnast, drawing a graceful arc midair. The vine in her left hand shot toward Zane again.
"Damn, you're not very proper, are you? Why do you like playing bondage play?"
Seeing that the girl hadn't been pulled over, but instead used the momentum to leap into the air and close the distance, attacking with the vine in her other hand, Zane had no choice but to turn his fist into a palm. A riot baton instantly appeared in his hand.
No choice. That vine clearly looked like it could eat people. Zane didn't dare let his flesh body touch that big mouth directly.
With one strike, he knocked away the incoming vine. His left hand instantly exerted force, throwing the girl away.
The girl clearly hadn't expected Zane to give up closing the distance and attacking, but relying on her combat instincts, she flicked the vine, hooked onto a nearby building, spun lightly, and landed on the ground.
Like an elegant dancer finishing her final bow.
"You're really full of surprises, just like my dear seed of fate."
The girl giggled. Her red hair turned back into white again after landing.
'So red is her combat form? When her whole body turns red, she can fully unleash her power?'
'If that's the case, why not just use the red form from the start?'
She didn't know that Zane had already planned out her entire combat style for her.
"You said 'Gardener'? What does that mean?"
Based on her fighting style, Zane could roughly guess that the girl in front of him was a plant-type resonator.
And she didn't seem to have any hostility?
"Gardener." The girl blinked her sky-blue eyes, still wearing the same smile from when they first met.
"'The garden' nurtures countless unripe fruits, and you will be the final trump card protecting this 'garden.'"
"My role is similar to yours, except I want to taste the sweetness of the fruit, while you plant the ripe fruit back into the soil and wait for it to sprout again."
Listening to the girl's riddles, Zane felt like his brain was about to overheat.
'What garden, what gardener, do you people really love speaking in riddles that much?'
"These Fractsidus people, were they watching Rover?"
Hearing Zane's guess, the girl raised her brows.
"Oh my, how sharp. As expected of the 'Gardener.'"
Looking at the girl smiling brightly, Zane put away his riot baton.
No matter what, the fact that Rover could meet Sister Jihnsi safely late at night earlier, this girl definitely deserved credit. Right now, she was probably just handling the cleanup.
At that moment, Zane suddenly noticed that the girl who had been standing not far away had already disappeared.
All that remained by his ear was a soft whisper carried by the night wind, "I am Cameliya of the Black Shores. I look forward to our next meeting, 'Gardener.'"
'When did she leave?'
Zane felt like he suddenly couldn't make sense of anything.
"Zane…"
A clear female voice broke the silence of the night.
In that instant, Zane felt like what was broken along with it was also his dao heart.
'You all planned this together, didn't you! Didn't you!!'