After Barry left, Barton let out a sigh and said to Dudian, "Dian, don't blame Barry. He has already found his own happiness. Since the end of last year's Black Snow Season, he has been planning to have a child. It's really difficult for him to give up his family."
Dudian was slightly silent and said, "I can understand."
Kroen said in a low voice, "Dian, what exactly is this big thing you just mentioned you want to do?"
Dudian didn't answer but instead asked, "Do you still have any of the gold coins I gave you last time?"
The three of them exchanged a look. Joseph scratched his head and said, "Originally, after deducting the tuition fees and the money for buying materials, there were still twenty-eight gold coins left. Later, Barton and I got sick and used some of the money. We also spent some on food and daily expenses. Then, seeing that you hadn't come back for a long time, we thought that renting a house was too expensive, so we bought a house and spent some more. Now, there are only nineteen gold coins left."
Dudian nodded slightly and said, "I originally said that the extra gold coins would be your labor fees. Now that I've been framed and imprisoned, all my savings of thousands of gold coins are gone. I can only borrow a little from you first."
The three of them were stunned and stared at Dudian in surprise.
"Thousands of gold coins in savings?"
"This, so much?!"
The eyes of the three of them widened. What was the concept of thousands of gold coins? They could cover an entire bed, and one could lie on them and sleep!
"Could the thing about you being framed have something to do with your money?" Barton couldn't help but ask.
Dudian's eyes flickered slightly but he didn't say anything. He said, "We'll talk about this later. Now, time is pressing. The wanted posters are already everywhere. The longer it takes, the greater the chance of me being exposed. We must act quickly. The first step now is to enter the commercial district."
"Enter the commercial district?" The three of them were stunned again.
Kroen couldn't help but say, "The commercial district is behind the residential district, isn't it? There are all nobles and wealthy businessmen there. How could people like us possibly get in? We can't even enter the residential district."
"There's no place I can't enter," Dudian glanced at the three of them and said, "Don't worry about this. I have my own way. Now, let's go and get the money first."
The three of them exchanged a look and nodded.
Dudian asked the three of them to lead the way and they returned to the house where they lived.
The location of this house was remote, the streets were dirty and messy, there were garbage dumps everywhere, no one cleaned them up, and flies and insects were flying around.
Dudian waited outside the door. After a while, the three of them came out, carrying luggage bags and a small coarse cloth bag, and handed the small bag to Dudian.
"Dian, what about Barry's share..." Barton hesitated and opened his mouth.
Dudian waved his hand and said, "Let his share be his. In fact, I've already smelled through my sense of smell that Barry has already come back in advance. He just left, and I guess he has already taken his share."
"Let's go," Dudian took the gold coins handed over by the three of them. There were a total of fourteen gold coins. He turned and left this street.
After a while, they came to a tailor shop. Dudian took out two silver coins and gave them to Barton, asking him to go into the shop alone to buy clothes, one set for each of them, and the quality should be the best.
Barton took the silver coins and entered the tailor shop. He soon came back with four sets of clothes made of a mixture of linen fabric and silk.
Dudian asked the three of them to change into the new clothes respectively, and he also put on the new clothes. The clothes they took off were all thrown into a nearby sewer.
After that, Dudian took the three of them and hired several burly men. He led them to the abandoned factory and moved all the materials they had bought on the ground outside the factory and discarded them.
Seeing these materials worth dozens of gold coins being discarded like this, Barton and the other two were a bit surprised and felt heartbroken at the same time. But more than that, they saw Dudian's courage and determination, and they became even more certain that their choice was correct.
"Dian, why are you throwing these away? Weren't these the materials you spent a lot of money on?"
"This place will expose us."
"Are you worried about Barry? Dian, Barry isn't that kind of person. He won't inform on us."
"I'm not worried about him. I'm worried about the Tribunal."
"Will they track us down here?"
"It's hard to say. It's best to be on the safe side."
After all these materials were discarded, Dudian asked the three of them to wait for him in front of the second boundary wall, while he returned to the Yuanshan Factory. After giving the old man five copper coins, he asked him to call out Barry.
"Di, Dian," Barry looked a bit nervous and guilty when he saw Dudian coming.
Dudian found a remote and quiet place and said to him, "With just Barton and the other two helping me, it's not enough. I really hope you can come. If you change your mind, you can come to Eagle Mountain in the outskirts to find us."
Barry had a complicated expression and said, "I'm really sorry. If I was alone before, I would be willing to take risks with you, but now... I just want to live a stable life."
Dudian sighed, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Think about it again." After saying that, before Barry could say anything more, he turned and left.
Barry stared blankly at Dudian's departing back, and his palm that had been tightly clenched in his pocket loosened.
After saying goodbye to Barry, Dudian came to the second boundary wall. By tracking the smell, he immediately found Barton and the other three. He went up to them and said, "Follow me later and act according to the situation." After saying that, he walked towards the boundary wall.
The three of them looked at each other, feeling a bit nervous, but they still summoned up their courage and followed Dudian.
"Stop!" The guard standing in front of the wall blocked Dudian's way. With his triangular eyes, he glanced at Dudian. Seeing that he had an extraordinary temperament and his clothes were also quite valuable, his attitude wasn't too cold and harsh. He said, "If you want to enter the residential district, please show your identity card."
Dudian nodded slightly, approached him, took out a gold coin from his pocket, and handed it over. He lowered his voice and said, "Do me a favor."
The guard was stunned. His gaze moved from the gold coin to Dudian's face. After being silent for about two seconds, he took the thing and waved his hand impatiently, saying, "Go on, go on."
Dudian let out a sigh of relief, waved to Barton and the other three who were following behind, and entered the passage.
Barton and the other three's hearts were pounding. They didn't expect that Dudian's way of entering the residential district was to bribe, and it was a direct bribe in broad daylight. Such a bold act made the three of them break out in a cold sweat. Even after coming out of the passage, the three of them were still tense and stiff, not daring to breathe too loudly.
After entering the residential district, Dudian hired a carriage by the roadside, beckoned the three of them to get on, and said to the coachman, "Go to the boundary wall."
Inside the carriage.
Barton patted his chest, with cold sweat seeping out on his forehead. He said to Dudian, "Dian, you're so brave. What if that guard got angry?"
"Then we would just have to turn around and run away," Dudian spread his hands and said.
The three of them looked at each other and smiled bitterly, speechless.
"I really can't believe you dared to do this. We wouldn't have dared," Kroen said dejectedly.
Dudian smiled slightly and said, "You're all law-abiding good citizens, so of course you wouldn't dare. I wouldn't have dared either in the past." In addition to digging the passage in prison during these three years, he had learned more than just enduring hardship and punishment.
"I didn't expect it to be so easy to enter the residential district. Just one gold coin was enough," Joseph said with some emotion. The residential district had been out of reach for them.
Dudian gave a faint smile and said, "As long as you have money, everything is easy, including killing someone."
"Killing someone?" The three of them were startled when they heard these two words. Barton suddenly thought of something and said to Dudian, "Dian, you're going to the commercial district. Don't tell me you want to take revenge on the person who framed you?"
Dudian smiled slightly. Just as he was about to speak, suddenly his nose twitched. He smelled a distinctive smell rushing towards them from a distance. He couldn't help but lift a small corner of the carriage curtain and look out.
After a while, on the road where the carriage was galloping, five large black horses galloped towards them. On the horses were people wearing all-black armor, with long spears and thin swords at their waists. They passed by the carriage.
Through the gap in the carriage curtain, Dudian noticed that there was a thistle medal on the shoulders of these people.
"Are these the vicious dogs chasing after me..." A hint of coldness flashed in Dudian's eyes.
...
...
After a while, the five black horses came to the boundary wall. The person in the lead pulled on the reins and stopped. He shouted at the several guards, "Have you seen the person on the wanted poster?"
The several guards exchanged a look and shook their heads, saying, "No, we haven't."
"Hmph!" The person in the lead snorted coldly and said, "Keep a close eye these few days." After saying that, he urged the black horse and entered the slum district.
After these five people left, several guards turned their heads and curled their lips.
"The criminal escaped from prison, and he's still acting high and mighty towards us!"
"He's not our superior, yet he's giving us orders."
"What's this Thistle Flower Prison that claims to be the top prison? Didn't they say that no prisoner has ever been able to escape? And now a sixteen-year-old kid has escaped from prison. It's really ridiculous!"
Naturally, these five Black Cavalry soldiers didn't hear these words. Otherwise, they would have been so angry that they would have drawn their swords on the spot.
"Captain, will that criminal come here?" The second Black Cavalry soldier asked the young man in front of him.
Frank didn't look back and said, "The adults said that the criminal's smell finally disappeared in the living area. Judging from the two horses he bought at the post station, he should have planned to enter the residential district. We didn't find him at his adoptive parents' place, which means he didn't go home at all but hid somewhere else! This slum district is where he originated. Let's go to Meishan Orphanage first and ask if he has any friends there."
"Yes."
A few hours later.
In front of the Yuanshan Factory in the North District.
Frank was sitting on the black horse and said to the old man, "Call out Barton, Barry, Joseph, and Kroen."
The old man saw the armor on these people and knew they weren't ordinary civilians. He quickly said, "Okay, okay. Please wait a moment, sirs." After saying that, he trotted into the factory.
After a while, Barry was brought out by the old man.
Frank frowned and said coldly, "Why is there only one person?"
The old man quickly said, "There was a person who came here earlier and took the other three away. Only Barry came back."
Frank was stunned. Two cold glints shot out from his eyes and he said, "What kind of person was it? Did he look like the person on this wanted poster?"
The old man was startled and said, "This, this, I didn't pay much attention. It seemed, seemed a bit different. But that person also didn't look very old. At most, he was eighteen or nineteen years old. Anyway, he was quite young."
Frank's gaze turned gloomy. He shouted at Barry, who had a pale face behind the old man, "Kid, tell the truth. Was that person Dudian?"
Barry's body trembled slightly. The oppressive aura of the other person sitting on the tall black horse and looking down at him made him feel terrified. He didn't expect that Dudian, since he escaped from prison, had been chased down by these important people in such a short time. He couldn't help but clench his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "No, that person was just an ordinary friend of mine."
Frank narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Do you know what the crime of harboring a wanted criminal is?"
Barry's face turned deathly pale and he said in a trembling voice, "I'm not harboring him. I, I..."
"Hmph! Since you're stubborn and won't say it, I have to send you to prison. Even if you're willing to talk later, you'll still be charged with harboring a wanted criminal. According to the law, you'll be sentenced to at least thirty years in prison!" Frank waved his hand and shouted, "Take him away!"
Barry was so scared that his body shuddered. Yellow liquid dripped from his crotch. He said in a trembling voice, "M, my lord, I'll talk, I'll talk. He said he's at Eagle Mountain in the outskirts..."
Frank looked at him coldly. After confirming that he didn't seem to be lying, he snorted coldly, reined in the horse's reins, turned around, and rode away.