A lilting song played inside the RV.
Su Jin was still driving. Another day had passed.
Now Yunlian sat in the passenger seat instead of Du Wenyan.
After several days of good food, drink, and kind treatment, the shy girl had grown much more comfortable with Su Jin.
She even trusted him quite a bit.
Now she watched the scenery through the window with excitement.
She had spent plenty of time in the RV, but this was her first chance to watch the view from the front seat.
"Brother Wu, how can you pull the house while sitting inside it?" Yunlian asked.
Su Jin smiled, unsure how to explain it.
After a moment, he made something up. "The animal pulling us is under the vehicle. See how my feet keep moving? When I press down, it knows to run. This wheel is connected to its head. I turn it, and it knows which way to go."
"Oh!" Yunlian looked distressed. "Doesn't that hurt it?"
"No. It was born to do this. If it doesn't run, it'll rust and get sick."
Then he changed the subject. "Yunlian, do you know why I asked you to sit up here?"
"No."
With one hand on the wheel, Su Jin held out the other, showing her a seed in his palm.
"You can make plants grow, right? I want to test your ability some more. I think there's more to it than we've seen."
He closed his fist. "Can you make the seed grow while I'm holding it?"
"I've never tried anything like that... Hmm..." Yunlian stared at his fist, puffing out her cheeks with effort.
Su Jin glanced over and felt a faint change in his palm.
But the seed hadn't grown.
After two more attempts, Yunlian was breathing hard. "I can't. Getting through soil feels completely different from getting through flesh."
"I can sense the seed and use my ability, but it feels as if there's something thick in the way. Maybe I can do it when I'm older."
Su Jin said nothing. He reached into his chest.
He drew out his Multiplication ability and tossed it to Yunlian.
The ball of light went straight into her body.
This was the first time Su Jin had given an ability to someone else, and he paid close attention to the subtle change.
The Multiplication effect had indeed transferred to Yunlian.
But he still controlled when it activated. How strange.
After a moment, Su Jin activated it, took the seed in his fist again, and held it out.
"Try again."
Yunlian stared at his fist without another word.
With Multiplication active, what Su Jin felt in his palm was entirely different.
His palm itched, and the seed bounced against it.
After a few seconds of trembling, a thin shoot slipped out between his fingers.
Once the green tip emerged, it began growing even faster.
It shot up more than ten centimeters, then quickly withered and died.
"I did it!" Yunlian exclaimed. "Why does my ability suddenly feel so much stronger?"
"Good. It's a powerful ability. We might never run short of food." Su Jin ruffled her hair. "I used an immortal art to make you stronger. If we survive, how about I give you that art as a present?"
Yunlian froze. "Brother Wu, are you a Suzai too? I can't accept anything so precious..."
"Forget that word," Su Jin said with a scoff. "Remember this, Yunlian: people can be persuaded by reason, but they should never let words tame them. If others call you a Suzai and you call yourself one too, you're accepting that you're beneath them. You're making yourself their slave."
"This immortal art is valuable, but I may have no use for it later. You'll get more out of it. I have plenty of seeds from the immortal realm too. But first we have to survive. Learn to control your ability as well as you can. Practice here whenever you have time."
"I will!"
In the living area, Du Wenyan sat at the table, staring toward the driver's seat.
She had heard every word.
Suzai... Hadn't she let that word tame her too?
She hadn't expected a man to make her see it. Brother Wu really was...
Something at the edge of her vision broke her train of thought.
She picked up the binoculars and looked into the distance.
Su Jin had shown her this marvelous device the day before and left it with her to watch their flank.
Through the lenses, she saw three distant specks: riders galloping so quickly that they raised a faint trail of dust.
....
"Here. Take these." Su Jin handed Yunlian a handful of cherry pits left over from eating.
"Holding the seeds yourself won't help you practice, will it? There's a compartment in front of you. Put them inside and practice through it until you're tired. Eat, then practice again."
"All right..." Yunlian opened the glove compartment as he directed.
As she put the seeds in, she noticed a slip of paper.
She took it out. "Brother Wu, there's a note here. I'm afraid I might damage it while practicing. Where should I put it?"
"A note? What note?" Su Jin took it and looked.
[Press and hold the optical and soundproofing buttons together for ten seconds. The nuclear battery will detonate after five minutes by default. Use the turn-signal stalk to add ten minutes at a time. Estimated core destruction radius: 0.7 kilometers. Thermal injury radius: 1.5 kilometers. Radiation zone: 4 kilometers.]
The RV swerved sharply, then straightened out.
Su Jin's heart raced.
Shit! He really was sitting on a nuclear bomb. The Steward had tucked a note this important into the glove compartment?
Why hadn't the Steward told him? Afraid he'd refuse to ride, or had he simply forgotten?
Or was the Steward so unsure of his own work that he'd hidden the warning?
"Brother Wu, what happened?" Du Wenyan came forward, interrupting his thoughts.
Su Jin quickly composed himself. "Nothing. Did you see anything?"
"Yes. Another group of riders, three of them. Xuanjia Army," Du Wenyan said gravely. "We've seen at least four groups in two days. If they're searching for us this hard even out here, we must be very high on the wanted list."
"Why? Are we that important? Even with Yunlian's unusual identity, why would the Xuanjia Army spend so much effort?"
"Normally, they wouldn't." Du Wenyan hesitated. "It may be because of me. I know too many nobles, and then I escaped from prison and took Yunlian with me. The court is bound to be wary."
"I'm sorry, Brother Wu. I've dragged you into this."
"Don't say that. We're family now," Su Jin said with a smile. "Compared with what's coming, this is nothing."
"Brother Wu..." Moved, Du Wenyan laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. I won't abandon either of you." Su Jin watched the road. "We'll reach the Wunian River tomorrow, right? We'll park among some trees. You two can bathe while I get the boat ready. Then we can cross feeling fresh. If the river's safe, we'll enjoy the scenery and relax a little."