Emily Brooks finally erupted. Although she was tied up and unable to do much, she still twisted her head clumsily like a silkworm and rammed it toward Brian Carter, baring her sharp little white teeth to bite him. Her beautiful eyes were bloodshot, and her disheveled hair gave her a rather fierce look.

　　"Looks like you still need to calm down."

　　Brian Carter shifted to the side and said with some regret.

　　"This is Fangzetan. You should know this place. If you just lie here quietly, nothing will happen to you in the short term. Nothing will come up here. But if you start shouting, I can't guarantee what might happen. If you really attract people, they probably won't let you go. Most likely, you'll be raped and then killed. Maybe you'll even be sold to a low-class brothel. You should know what that means. I have some things to take care of. I'll definitely be back before dawn, and then I'll take you south. There will be a surprise waiting for you then."

　　He stood up as he spoke.

　　Emily Brooks could only sob in utter despair, as if she had already been raped by Brian Carter.

　　But she was a smart woman and definitely wouldn't call out. In a place like this, if people came, they wouldn't just tease her like Brian Carter—they'd really take turns with her. Besides, no one would hear her anyway. Fangzetan was over 130 meters long and wide. Not only was there no one around the altar, even if there were, her voice probably wouldn't carry seventy meters away.

　　With that, Brian Carter left with peace of mind, carrying his climbing device. He quickly climbed back over the city wall near Andingmen, hid the device, and headed straight for their hideout. When he arrived, he first scouted the area to make sure nothing was amiss, then climbed over the wall into the courtyard. But there was no one on guard outside—probably everyone was exhausted and had fallen asleep. He silently crept to Princess Grace's room, tried the door and found it unlocked. Eager to admire the beauty's sleeping form, he didn't think much of it, gently pushed the door open, tiptoed to the bed...

　　"What the hell, where is everyone!"

　　He suddenly cried out in shock.

　　They were gone!

　　He rushed out at top speed and slammed open Franklin Roosevelt's door...

　　Still no one!

Chapter Eight: Your Majesty, the World Outside Is Very Dangerous

　　They were gone.

　　Everyone was gone.

　　Franklin Roosevelt, his daughter, and the three of them, David Clark, and the sixteen armed eunuchs or inner attendants who had last followed them—all had disappeared.

　　But they probably hadn't been captured.

　　Brian Carter quickly confirmed this by the footprints in the muddy courtyard. Although it had rained and snowed all day, there was no snow left, but the roads in Beijing at this time were all dirt—not the kind of dirt roads we have today. After rain, they turned into mud pits, and all kinds of footprints were clearly visible outside. From the number and chaos of the footprints, it was clear they had left in an orderly retreat, not been captured. After thinking for a moment, he more or less guessed the reason: it must have been that eunuch who had been with him, returning to say he was caught by Li Zicheng. Franklin Roosevelt was worried he would betray them and lead the Shun army here, so they took the risk and evacuated.

　　That was a reasonable reaction.

　　But now it had screwed him over.

　　How was he supposed to find them now?

　　He and Emily Brooks had tangled for several hours, and in that time, Franklin Roosevelt could theoretically have made it to the outer city. In this vast Beijing, looking for them was like searching for a needle in a haystack. What's more, once dawn broke, he would have to hide, and at the same time, Li Zicheng would launch a citywide search.

　　The latter would definitely find them before he did.

　　If he wanted to rescue Franklin Roosevelt, he had to find them before dawn, or else it would be pointless. Helplessly, he followed the footprints out, but soon they merged into the chaotic prints of a main street nearby, making it impossible to distinguish them. He stood gloomily in the shadows, looking at the north and south ends of the street. Both directions were shrouded in the dark night, and his future seemed just as bleak. He hadn't rescued Franklin Roosevelt, had lost the beautiful princess, and couldn't bring himself to defect to Li Zicheng.

　　He was feeling a bit lost.

　　Just then, a commotion reached his ears, and at the same time, the light of a string of torches flickered at the end of a small alley across the street. Clearly, a large force of Shun soldiers was passing through, and he could even hear the sound of hooves.

　　He hesitated for a moment.

　　"Damn it, one last try. If it doesn't work, I'll take Emily and run tomorrow and figure something else out!"

　　He quickly made up his mind. At least he had gotten a beauty out of this trip. Even if she was already 'third-hand,' she was still a luxury car, so it wasn't a total loss. If he could rescue Franklin Roosevelt, great; if not, he'd just take Emily and run. In this chaotic world, starting a new force from scratch wouldn't be too hard. So he immediately turned south and ran at top speed to the fourth alley ahead, then rushed to the end as fast as he could. Just before the sound of hooves arrived, he quickly hid behind a tree and watched as the Shun soldiers passed by.

　　Several officers on horseback, infantry carrying torches—a two-hundred-man unit gradually marched past.

　　Soon, the end of the unit was in sight.

　　He took a deep breath.