When Shad found Miss Brown hiding in the north district again from Canary Manor in the south district of Tobesk, the last ray of sunset had already fallen below the horizon.
The city ushered in a new night, but the good news brought by Shad made Miss Brown's mood change from night to day.
Miss Brown's eyes were red with tears and she didn't know what to say about the help Princess Margaret mentioned. But Shade didn't have time for the lady to express her gratitude or admiration for the princess:
"Let's go quickly. When I came here in the carriage just now, I saw that there were more police on the streets than usual. Now it's night, and I think there will be police raids all over the city tonight. Let's go and meet up with Mr. Feringa first."
Miss Brown has a map here. Shade unfolded the map and spread it on the ground:
"Look, we need to go into the center of Tobesk first, enter the underground sewer pipe from this alley, and find your fiancé."
He pointed to the center of the map:
"Then go west from here to the banks of the Terraril River. There is a dock on the east bank of the river. The cargo ship carrying goods for the princess will probably stay there until eleven o'clock tonight. As long as we get you on board before eleven o'clock tonight, you will be safe."
After talking about the plan, the two simply packed their things and put them into two suitcases. It was really troublesome to walk at night with these two pieces of luggage, so Shade asked Miss Brown to leave them here first, and said that someone would deliver them to the dock on the Tyrare River in a while.
But in fact, Shad asked Miss Brown to go downstairs first, where he dealt with the traces of the two people and took advantage of this time to turn the two suitcases into toys and put them away.
"Ma'am, follow me closely."
They went downstairs together. Miss Brown was wrapped in a black lady's coat, a hat, and a bulky cotton coat to cover her body. Her legs were still inconvenient, so she couldn't run fast. But due to the situation tonight, Shade couldn't take her in a carriage, which made the next section of the journey very difficult.
The two hurried into the night, with Shade in front and Miss Brown behind him. They first left the Chang'er Lane, which had no street lights, and then turned into another alley, one after the other.
According to the map, they chose remote alleys as much as possible, and at each fork in the road, Shade would first check if there were any patrolling police nearby, while Miss Brown would half-crouch and hide behind a cover. If there were no police, the two would quickly pass through, and if there were, they would detour around the nearby blocks.
Of course, if he really encountered a policeman who could not be avoided, it would be up to Shad to talk to the policeman and ask why there were so many patrolmen tonight. As a well-known gentleman living in St. Teresa's Square, his identity was very deceptive. While Shad attracted the attention of the police, Miss Brown passed quickly nearby.
The slums in the north of Tobesk are interconnected, and it is easy to get lost even with a map. The police are not the biggest obstacle to the two's progress. The robbers and drunkards who appear at night are the most dangerous people in the north.
Since he couldn't shoot, Xia De had no choice but to go forward and fight with them himself. He was tired after a day of hard work and was not in a good mood, so when he was beating up those guys who were in his way, he couldn't help but feel a little bit overwhelmed, which made him realize how powerful he was.
Once they encountered a dead end in the alley, or a low wall that was not recorded on the map, in order to avoid wasting too much time on detours, Shad had to find a way to jump over with Miss Brown on his back, or find some debris nearby to build steps or ladders so that the disabled lady could climb over.
These were only the difficulties encountered in the North District. Once you crossed the North District and entered the central city of Tobysk, there were fewer remote alleys and more main roads with bright gas street lamps, and there were also more police officers.
Even though tonight was like most nights of the year, with a gray haze floating in the city, it was still very difficult to conceal one's identity in the center of Tobesk. The most dangerous time occurred on the uphill street. Shade went up first to scout the situation, and Miss Brown hid in the dark gap between two shops on the downhill side.
But at this moment, a team of patrolling policemen came from behind them. There were three people in the team, and the leader was holding a kerosene lamp.
When Shade saw them from the uphill part of the road, he was really scared, but fortunately the three did not find Miss Brown hiding in the crack of the wall. If they did find her, Shade would probably have to let them sleep here for a while.
Anyway, after crossing half of the city with difficulty, at 8:10 on Wednesday night, the two finally found the alley pointed out by Mr. Feringa. Shade opened the trap door on the ground and helped Miss Brown enter the sewer pipe.
Unlike the smelly pipe they entered with the doctor last week, the pipe chosen by Mr. Feringa was still warm and humid, but it did not smell bad. After all, not all areas of the sewer are for sewage. When Shade and Miss Brown found Mr. Feringa along the pipe, they found that he was hiding in a dark room similar to a lounge.
"This is the lounge for the guys who repair the pipes."
After only explaining to Shad, Mr. Feringa and Miss Brown kissed each other. The man and the woman cried and said sweet words to each other, and promised to run away together and continue their lives in a place where no one knew them.
“Ahem~”
Because they talked for too long, and seemed to have forgotten that Xia De was standing beside them, Xia De had to cough to remind the two of them that it was time to leave. He didn't like the environment in the sewer very much:
"We have to set out for the Tyrare River as soon as possible. The journey ahead is not easy. If you want to talk to each other, there will be plenty of time when you get on the boat."
He briefly explained the next plan to Mr. Feringa. The man who used to be in charge of sewer and gas pipeline maintenance said while wiping his red and swollen eyes:
"Thank you so much, but if that's the case, we don't actually have to go on the ground. From here, yes, in the sewer, I know a way that leads directly to the dock on the Tyrael River, but some areas along the way are locked with metal fences, and there are rats in some areas."
"It's okay. I have a master key with me. As for the rats, I don't think we will care... unless there are hundreds of rats attacking us together."
Xia De said casually, waving to the two of them:
"Let's get going."
If it were an adventure game in a stranger's hometown, or a knight's novel in this world, moving through the sewers would inevitably lead to encountering enemies such as ghouls, mutant rats, and even sleeping evil witches. But in fact, the sewers of Tobesk were very peaceful. Although they heard someone talking in the distance, no one appeared in front to stop them.
The only danger is the small creatures that are everywhere, spiders, mice, and many other small creatures that hibernate underground because of the coming winter.
Shade even saw groups of wild cats living in the sewers. These cats, like the cats on the ground, liked Shade very much. Although they did not approach him directly, more than a dozen cats led the way in front, dispersing the groups of rats and allowing them to pass the most dangerous part of the journey.
In return, Shade gave the wild cats a lot of Mia's cat food. In this way, all the cat food on him was consumed, and he hoped that Mia would not find out about this.
Thanks to Mr. Feringa's familiarity with the sewer, although they took the wrong path twice along the way, they finally reached the end of the sewer pipe at 9:30 in the evening.
After Shade opened the rusty iron door, there was a long and narrow dark passage outside. He continued walking forward and kicked open another door not far away that was stuck in the wall due to deformation. Outside was the river channel of the Terraril River, which seemed to be an abandoned drainage outlet.
The pier was less than a hundred steps to the left of the three people.
In the dark night, the cargo steamship was quietly docked at the pier. There was some light on the ship, but its shadow was so vague that its specific shape could not be seen.
Shade used the excuse of going to investigate nearby to change the suitcase in his pocket and returned it to Miss Brown. Then the three of them hurried to the dock under the cover of night:
"Hurry up, your freedom is just around the corner."
Shad lowered his voice and urged Miss Brown and Mr. Feringa to go forward first. He was very worried about the scene of hundreds of guns appearing behind him.
But what he worried about did not happen. The night was still so dark and there was no one on the riverside avenue.
“Oh, there’s someone there!”
But Miss Brown, who had walked ahead, stopped. Shade turned around and saw someone waiting for them on the small pier. It was not the captain who had received the news in advance, but a blonde girl wearing a cloak and a hood, who was standing by the pier with her maid, watching the three people approach.
Mr. Feringa and Miss Brown's eyesight was far inferior to that of Shad, so only Shad recognized Princess Margaret of Anjou at a glance.
"Don't worry, it's your highness."
Shade explained, and Miss Brown immediately began to tremble all over.
"Don't waste time, follow me."
The three of them hurried onto the pier. Princess Margaret also came over, but deliberately avoided her former maid. The princess was still unwilling to talk to Miss Brown.
"Sir, Madam, come on board quickly, the boat is about to sail!"
The sailors on the deck also urged them to go, and Shad immediately pushed the two men towards the wooden ladder. Princess Margaret stepped back and watched Shad talking to the two men, but she remained silent.