第一百零二章 慌逃
Ning Yang nodded somewhat awkwardly, practically admitting that the story of one person dominating the entire shed area in a Jiazi interval was not without basis.
宁洋略显尴尬的点点头，算是承认了甲子间一人就镇住整个棚区的事不是空穴来风。
Zhao Qi exclaimed in surprise, “So there really is such a formidable person? And a guy like that actually became a thief?”
赵启异道：“还真是有这样厉害的人啊，这样的家伙居然去做小偷？”
“He didn’t steal anything; it was just a misunderstanding.”
“他没偷，误会而已。”
“Oh?” Zhao Qi’s eyes sparkled with interest. “Your men here don’t say that.”
“哦？”赵启目中神采连连：“你手下这些人可不是这么说的。”
“We just said that to deceive the real thief.” Ning Yang explained.
“我们只是为了麻痹真正的小偷。”宁洋道。
Suddenly, a folded line shot toward him. A silvery-white ring shimmered into existence in front of Ning Yang’s chest, a breach occurring between interlacing pieces of law.
突然一道折线射来，宁洋胸前自动浮现出银白圆环。
{Ning Ge, some of our residents just said that their friends saw the high-quality water well Lost Engine being auctioned at Wuyou, and it seems to be the one we lost.}
{宁哥，刚才咱们某些住户说，他们的朋友在无忧那边见到了正在拍卖的优质水井失念引擎，好像就是咱们丢失的那个。}
“He’s not mistaken?”
“他没看错？”
{Absolutely certain.}
{千真万确。}
Ning Yang was burning with anxiety and anger.
宁洋火急攻心。
Two things made him both ashamed and furious: one, that the engine was being auctioned, and two, that every damn person knew his settlement had lost something.
让他羞怒的有两样，一是引擎正在拍卖，二是什么鬼东西都知道自己家丢东西了。
Why are these people’s tongues so long!
这些人的舌头怎么这么长！
“Who’s selling it!”
“是谁在卖！”
Too busy to blame the big mouths in the shack area, Ning Yang asked urgently.
来不急怪罪棚区里那群大嘴巴，宁洋心切的问。
{Someone claiming to be an assistant from Jiazi Studio.}
{是自称甲子间助理的人。}
Ning Yang almost spat blood.
宁洋差点吐血。
Could it really be that bastard who stole it? What exactly is he trying to do, mess with me?
难道真是那家伙偷走的？他到底想干嘛，玩我？
“Can we buy it back?”
“能买回来吗？”
{Bro, the price is too high—it’s already been bid up to forty-eight hundred years.}
{哥，价格太高了，已经炒到四千八百年了。}
“I’ll fuck his damn grandpa!”
“我干他大爷！”
……
……
Within the auction hall, the price of the water wells kept climbing. At the same time, more and more people from afar learned through their informants that a high-quality water well had emerged.
拍卖会场内水井的价格不断走高，于此同时，更多远方的人从线人的联系中知道了优质水井出世的事情。
{Bid with all you’ve got, but don’t go over eight thousand.}
{全力竞价，但不要超过八千。}
“Yes.”
“是。”
{Do you know who the producer is?}
{制作人是谁知道吗？}
“They say they’re right nearby. Just now, quite a few people have spotted them, but they haven’t accepted a Mental Link.”
“据说他就在这附近，刚才好些人已经发现到他了，不过对方没有接受心灵链接。”
Inside the hall, exchanges like these were happening everywhere, and quite a few of the larger shed areas were stirring with activity.
会场内，类似的交流随处可见，好些大点的棚区都有异动。
“The agent in Room 67 hasn’t answered me. The good news is, it seems they haven’t answered anyone else either.”
“甲子间没有回应我，好消息是应该也没回应他们。”
In the hall filled with rows of wooden seats, a person reported to the zone master behind them.
排排木制座椅的会场内，一人跟自己背后的棚主道。
{After this, make a missing person notice indicating that we want to mass-purchase these Forgotten Engines from him, at five thousand Sequence Moments per piece.}
{出去后，制作张寻人告示牌，示意可以从他手上大量收购这种失念引擎，价格五千时序一枚。}
“Good, I’ll have it done right away.”
“好，我这就让人去做。”
……
……
In the material shop, Su Qing chuckled. “See? Now you’ve tasted the glory of being famous.”
材料铺内，苏晴笑道：“怎么样，体会到名人的烦恼了吧。”
Yang Zicang felt utterly helpless. The constant stream of flickering, fine lines never let up, and he finally understood why everyone he met seemed to have heard of him.
杨子藏非常无奈，闪烁的细密线条就没有结束过，他终于是知道为什么对面的人听说过自己了。
The very thief who had stolen the water well engine had dared to impersonate his assistant and come here to sell it!
偷走水井引擎的人居然冒充自己的助手来这里售卖！
And wouldn’t you know it—he himself had actually shown up, too.
好巧不巧的是，自己还真的来了。
“Damn it.” Yang Zicang clenched his teeth and cracked his knuckles out of frustration.
“该死的东西。”杨子藏牙痒痒的摁了摁手关节。
He had no idea what the person impersonating his assistant even looked like. He badly wanted to go wait at the auction hall right now. If that thief were to hand over the materials bought with the auction proceeds to him directly—wonder what kind of expression the guy would make.
不知道那冒充自己助手的人是什么样，他很想现在就去拍卖会场等着，要是直接接手拍卖所得的物资，不知那小偷会露出怎样的表情。
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
哗哗哗！
The sound of heavy footsteps rose outside the house.
屋外响起成群的脚步声。
“Su Qing!”
“苏晴！”
A deep voice sounded outside the door. A man with solid muscles cautiously eyed the few people inside the room.
浑厚的声音在门外响起，拥有坚实肌肉的男人谨慎看着屋内几人。
Su Qing quietly stepped back two paces, Yang Zicang staring fixedly at his movement.
苏晴轻轻往后退了两步，杨子藏直勾勾盯着他的动作。
“Spread out your model,” the leader bellowed, motioning for a few people to come out.
“把你的模型展开。”领队的吼道，并示意几人出来。
Teacher Chen and another person hastily dragged the box out, still unaware of what was happening.
陈老师两人慌忙拖着箱子出来，他们还不清楚发生了什么。
“Oh? Captain Wang, I think there’s some kind of misunderstanding between us.”
“喔？王队吧，我们之间是不是有什么误会。”
“If you don’t do it, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
“不照做的话，就别怪兄弟我无情了。”
Captain Wang pointed his sword directly at Su Qing, while also glancing at the khaki-jacketed young man inside the room, who looked as if he had nothing to do with it.
王队提剑直指，同时他也看着屋内一副事不关己样子的卡其外套青年。
“Don’t waste time on nonsense.”
“别废话。”
“Hmph, if that’s how it is.” Su Qing smirked. “Thank you, everyone. I am very satisfied with this visit.”
“呵，既然如此。”苏晴笑道：“谢谢了，各位，今次的拜访我非常满意。”
Suddenly, the ground outside the door churned.
赫然，屋外大地翻滚。
Bang! Bang! Bang!
砰砰砰！
Aah! Aah!
啊啊！
Their bodies were instantly sent flying. A monster with the features of both a crocodile and a pangolin suddenly erupted from the ground, biting at two people’s protective timings with its jaws; it was about to tear them apart.
两人身体瞬间被抛飞，似鳄鱼又似穿山甲的怪物突地从地面冒出，有人当场被怪物两口咬掉保护时序，就要将其身体撕成两半。
“Watch out!” the group exclaimed in alarm.
“小心！”众人惊呼。
Yang Zicang gently shut his eyes, and a wave of mental energy radiated outward.
杨子藏双目轻轻一闭，一道精神波浪扩散而出。
Everyone was momentarily overwhelmed by a faint sense of being abandoned by the world, as if the surrounding ground, the woods, and even the air were stamped with a label that did not belong to them.
众人瞬间有种轻微的，像是被世界遗弃之感，仿佛周围地面、树林乃至空气都被打上了不属于自己的标签。
Whispers echoed in their ears.
窃窃私语在耳边回响。
“Ah, help!”
“啊，救命！”
Someone who had been hurled several meters into the air cried and screamed as they fell back down.
一道被顶上几米高空，又往下落的人放声哭喊。
Within the ring before Yang Zicang, which had been continuously appearing due to Mental Link, suddenly rotated and produced flickering quadrilateral lines.
杨子藏身前本就因不断的心灵链接而浮现的圆环中，突然旋转出闪动的四边形线条。
Whoosh! The person who had already fallen into the crocodile’s mouth suddenly accelerated forward amid his screams, landing in a parabola on the eaves of the house.
嗖！那已经落入鳄鱼口之人的身体突然加速冲向前方，在他尖叫声中，呈抛物线落在了房檐上。
Yang Zicang pressed down with his toe, and with a time-sequence stamped kick, sent a grain of construction sand flying. It traced a parabola out of the house and exploded. At the same time, the soil scattered in the air was coated with golden splendor by the explosive burst of the sand grain.
杨子藏脚尖一踩，地上一粒用作材料的沙石被附带时序一脚踢出，它划过抛物线冲向屋外炸开。同时空中抛洒的泥土便被炸开的沙石附上了金辉。
The moment the golden radiance descended, Su Qing inside the room looked astonished, then frowned sharply.
在它们落下的瞬间，房间内的苏晴脸上愕然，随后眉头一皱。
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
嘭嘭嘭嘭。
The golden, luminous soil struck like swerving bullets against the exposed monsters’ heads.
金辉泥土如拐弯子弹般撞向冒头的怪物们。
The scent of blood instantly filled the air as screaming, Teacher Chen and the others recoiled onto the steps.
鲜血味道霎时弥漫空气中，陈老师两人尖叫着缩回台阶上。
“My God!”
“天呐！”
The ground looked as if bombed by explosives; the crocodile corpses, missing half of their bodies, were still writhing below, gradually losing signs of life. The crocodiles untouched by this soil dared not emerge again.
地面仿佛被炸弹炸过般，缺失半截身体的鳄鱼尸体们还在地下摆动，逐渐失去生命气息，未被这些泥土碰到的鳄鱼也不敢再浮现而出。
Su Li, trembling, leaned against a tree trunk, turning to look at the young man in the room in disbelief that he could achieve such a feat.
苏黎颤抖着倚靠在棵树干上，他转头看向房间内那年轻人，不敢置信他能做到如此地步。
“So strong.”
“好强。”
The crowd broke out into an uproar.
众人一片哗然。
“So, why aren’t you willing to unfold the model?”
“所以，你为什么不愿意展开模型？”
Yang Zicang opened his eyes and stared at the sweat-soaked Su Qing.
杨子藏睁眼，看向冷汗淋漓的苏晴。
Su Qing’s hand, gripping the Lost Engine, kept exuding traces of perspiration.
苏晴握着失念引擎的手不断渗出汗渍。
“My mistake, pal.”
“误会，朋友。”
It turned out to be a quadrilateral model, one capable of attaching time sequence to a spot several meters away. Su Qing’s heart had already sunk to the depths.
竟然是四边形模型，还是能将时序附着至几米外的四边形，苏晴的心已经沉入谷底。
Yang Zicang reached out and shook his hand before him. Only after he had started did he realize it was a silent request—to hand over the very Won-Nien Engine he had nearly pocketed on the spot.
杨子藏冲着他伸出手晃了晃，他愣了下后，才反应过来是问自己要这枚差点被自己直接收入囊中的失念引擎。
The engine traced a parabola through the air and landed firmly in the hands of the man before him.
引擎呈现抛物线稳稳落在对面之人手上。
“Impressive. No wonder you know so many formulations.” Su Qing forced out a smile.
“厉害，难怪会知道这么多配方。”苏晴挤出笑容。
Yang Zicang, his back against the wall, smirked and waved faintly.
背靠墙壁的杨子藏淡笑着挥动了下手臂。
“Hand over all the time sequences and then surrender without a fight.”
“交出所有时序，然后束手就擒。”
Su Qing let out a gentle puff of stale air from his lungs and cast a glance at Su Li, who outside seemed ready to devour him alive.
苏晴轻轻呵出肺中浊气，他看向外界仿佛要将自己生吞活剥般的苏黎一眼。
“I admit you are strong, but how do you know that my end would truly be here?”
“我承认你很强，但你又怎么知道，我的终点会在这里呢？”
In an instant, a red ring materialized on his chest.
他胸前瞬息间浮现出红色圆环。
A heavy rumble sounded as the ground collapsed beneath them in a thunderous crash. Su Qing, still smiling, vanished into the pit that opened beneath him.
一声沉响，地面轰然坍塌，苏晴微笑着的身影掉落进坑洞内。
Suddenly, White Shadow Thought-Dragon charged forward and shot into the hole.
白影念龙赫然冲出，射入洞中。
“Psi-body?!”
“念力体？！”
A shell-shocked voice came echoing from the pit below.
下方传来道震惊的人声。
BOOM!
轰隆！
Gushes of mud and filthy water spouted upward, clogging nearly half the house.
大量泥土和污水喷出，将房屋阻塞了大半。
White Shadow Thought-Dragon tore into crocodiles that burst from the deep walls of the pit. Resisting his own instinct to greedily devour their psychic energy, Yang Zicheng restrained the dragon and—angered inside—without a pause drove him deeper down.
白影念龙撕咬住了好几个深洞壁上窜出的鳄鱼，它本想贪婪地吞噬其念力能量，却被杨子藏阻止，命其继续往下。
Seeing the terrifying semi-transparent phantom tearing through the mud toward her, Su Qing felt a chill crawl up her spine, as if she had been locked onto by the Grim Reaper.
瞧见恐怖的半通明幻影穿透泥土冲来，苏晴感觉自己背脊发麻，似被死神锁定。
“Damn thing!”
“可恶的东西！”
His hand quickly reached his chest, his fingers grabbing the zipper of the shirt under his jacket and pulling it down in one swift motion.
他的手快速摸到胸前，手指捏住外套里面衣服的拉链往下一划。
Rrrip! The skin of a nearby crocodile monster split open like a zipper, peeling apart to either side.
撕拉！身旁一具鳄鱼怪物的表皮如同被拉链拉开般破开向两旁。
The White Shadow Thought-Dragon charged through more than a dozen monsters burrowing underground, their psionic bodies buying Su Qing precious seconds.
白影念龙从十几具在地下穿行的怪物之间冲来，它们的念力体为苏晴争取到了些微时间。
As the skinless figure shed Su Qing’s appearance during its fall, it reached out to touch the crocodile hide, swiftly pulling it over itself like a suit.
褪去苏晴外表的无皮人在摔落途中，伸手触碰到那具鳄鱼皮肤，嗖地将其套在身上。
After the White Shadow Thought-Dragon rushed to the spot where the person had been, it turned its head to look at the crocodile now wearing a human jacket.
白影念龙冲到这人原本的位置后，扭头看向那条穿着人类夹克衫的鳄鱼。
A red circle flickered on the crocodile’s chest as it clung to the edge of the pit, shoving its head into the dirt.
鳄鱼胸口闪动着红色圆圈，它正抓住坑洞边缘，将头往泥土里钻。
{Hurry, get more crocodiles to save me, Niya!}
{快让更多鳄鱼来救我，颚哑！}
{Skin shed, do you even know how many of my babies you’ve killed? I’ve worked so damn hard to build this place up here, and you’ve ruined it all today!}
{蜕皮，你让我的宝贝们死了多少你知道吗，我在这里苦心经营这么久，今天被你给毁了！}
{Shut up, we’ve got the formula now, we’ll make it all back. Just get me out of here!}
{闭嘴吧，配方到手了，都会赚回来，快救我。}
The crocodile clad in the jacket frantically burrowed forward into the hole. Skin shed could feel the icy breath of death closing in from behind.
穿着衣服的鳄鱼惊慌失措的不断往前掏洞，蜕皮能感觉到背后极速靠近的死亡气息！
More crocodiles hidden underground sprang up from the mud like a torrent of raging beasts.
更多隐藏于地下的鳄鱼如同洪水猛兽般从泥土中窜来。
“Faster! Hurry up!!”
“快啊！快！！”
Feeling himself gradually turning into a beast, Quipis’ eyes were bleeding; if he stayed in this state for too long, he would truly become a monster.
感觉自己逐渐兽化的蜕皮双目渗血，变成野兽的他若是时间过长，真的会成为野兽。
“Roar!” He couldn’t help but let out a panicked cry from the beast’s throat.
“嗷嗷！”他不由得用怪兽的喉咙发出惊慌失措的叫声。
Before White Shadow Thought-Dragon could be summoned again, the dark mud loosened, and a crocodile appeared. Quipis eagerly twisted his claws, hooking them at the zipper under his chest and abdomen.
在白影念龙再次被驱使而来前，暗沉的泥土一松，一只鳄鱼出现，蜕皮迫不及待扭曲着爪子，勾向胸腹下的拉链。
Bang! White Shadow Thought-Dragon passed through the crocodile’s body ahead and instantly snatched out its willpower body, but it quickly dissipated and lost its energy.
嘭！白影念龙穿过前方鳄鱼身体，一口叼出鳄鱼的念力体，但这念力体很快就消散失去了能量。
Quipis had already completed the body swap two seconds ago, leaving behind only the undigested flesh of the previous crocodile.
蜕皮已经在这两秒前完成了身体更换，遗留的只是还没消化完的上条鳄鱼血肉。
Inside the house, the swarm of crocodiles created chaos and confusion.
屋内，大量鳄鱼的出现让人手忙脚乱。
Having to protect everyone while also keeping an eye on the fugitives underground, YangZicang felt stretched thin.
又要注意保护众人，又要关注地下的逃跑者，杨子藏只觉得分身乏术。
Underground, a large horde of crocodile monsters burst through the soil, rolling out and gathering in front of White Shadow Thought-Dragon—a great pile of delicious prey.
地下，一大群鳄鱼怪物突破泥土而出，翻滚着聚集在白影念龙跟前，这是一大堆美味。
Feeling that White Shadow Thought-Dragon was once again drawn to these monsters’ willpower bodies, YangZicang was helpless, knowing that he probably couldn’t catch up to that man.
感觉白影念龙再次被这些怪兽的念力体所吸引，杨子藏无奈，他知道那人应该是追不到了。
My connection with Thought-Dragon was a bit peculiar; it wasn’t really a part of me, yet not entirely separate either. This monster existed by drawing from my own mental powers.
自己跟念龙的情况有点特殊，说它是自己的一部分，它并不算是，但说它不是，这怪物又是借自己的精神力而存在。
Driven by Yang Zicang’s will, the Nian Long swept its gaze into the mud with slight confusion, sensing numerous delicious psionic forces there, but the distinctive aura of the target kept getting mixed with those of the other crocodiles, causing its unique scent to fade steadily.
有着杨子藏的意志继续驱使，念龙有点疑惑的扫向泥土内，它能感知到很多美味的念力，但那个属于目标的特殊气息却在不断混杂着其它鳄鱼的气息，让他的特殊味道不断减弱。
“I almost died for real!”
“差点就真的死了！”
Tuipi felt an excruciating pain splitting his head.
蜕皮感觉自己的头疼痛欲裂。
“Damn it, where the hell did that bastard come from? How infuriating!”
“该死的东西，那家伙是哪冒出来的，可恶啊！”
Having pushed his limits using his malicious nightmare five times in a row, while digging his tunnel, he vomited out a mass of blood and grime from his mouth about the size of his body; with his head spinning in daze, he continued clawing and tunneling forward.
那连续五次使用恶魇能力的他早已到达了极限，掏洞途中，他张大的口中呕出堪比身躯般大小的血肉秽物后，头昏脑胀地继续刨土钻向前方。
It was the most dangerous escape run in history.
这是有史以来，最危险的逃命旅程。
“To think such monsters exist in the Out-of-Sync Region.”
“失频之地竟然有这种怪物存在。”
Tuipi never expected that this newly emerged supposed Engine Forger would be so damned powerful!
蜕皮未料到，那新冒出来的所谓引擎铸造师，居然实力这么强！
“And I had the misfortune of running into him.”
“竟然还被我遇到了。”
The commotion here quickly drew the attention of the guards from the Carefree Trading District.
这边的动静迅速引起了无忧货贸区的守卫们的注意。
Not long after, a crowd cleared out the mud that had oozed into the material shop. After peering at the broken hole’s edge, the Guard Leader felt a sudden spell of dizziness.
不久，一群人清理完材料铺内的淤积泥浆后，护卫队长站在破损的洞边看了眼，顿时觉得一阵眩晕。