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Qi Yi suddenly said, "You need to be quick when you enter, as this door seems to close automatically. Young Master pushed me out at the last moment before the door closed."

I was startled, and looked again at the door; it was only half open. Qi Yi slipped inside first. It was pitch black inside, so he lit a tinderbox, which provided some light in the passageway behind the door. Suddenly, he shouted, "Who goes there?"

The door shifted a little to the left, and suddenly several people fell out.

The author has something to say: If you want to revise the text, go back and read the previous parts. I feel that changing one thing affects everything; revising the text is so difficult.

Chapter Forty-Five: Meeting

A faint voice responded, "Who goes there?" The voice carried a hint of authority, but lacked strength.

The voice sounded familiar. I pushed aside the Duanzhou soldiers who had been protecting me and looked closely. The four or five people who had fallen out were Bai Xianglong, Tao Wang, Nan Cong, and others. I was shocked and knelt down to examine them. I saw that they were covered in blood and their faces were dark, clearly poisoned. I quickly had people help them up: "What happened?" It was no ordinary person who could have injured these men.

Bai Xianglong took a breath and said, "Princess, it's the Ouyang family. They brought ten people with them, and they were all Western barbarian soldiers. We didn't notice at first, but after entering, we found a storage room, and the people inside became chaotic. That's when we realized what was going on with them."

I hurriedly asked, "What about the others? How did you get poisoned?"

He shook his head with difficulty and said, "We don't know when we were poisoned. It was probably some kind of powdery poison. The degree of poisoning varied from person to person. It was because we were poisoned that we were no match for them. Each of our sects only sent five people. Fei'er, he went to look for you and didn't come in with you. It's a good thing he didn't come in."

I asked anxiously, "What about Yi Ge?"

Tao Wang replied from the side, "When he went in, he was only accompanied by two or three people, who also seemed to be poisoned. However, they went inside with the Ouyang family and other sects. Because we were more severely poisoned, we decided to retreat, but when we got to the door, we found that we needed a key to enter and exit. We could only stay behind the door for the time being. Yi Ge is also a very shrewd person."

My heart skipped a beat. He was also poisoned. He couldn't have given him the poison. How long could he hold on?

I then asked, "How are you feeling? Are you able to go out on your own?"

Bai Xianglong shook his head with a wry smile: "After discovering the poisoning, we fought and the poison spread through our meridians. Although we managed to force some of the poison out with our skills, we couldn't get rid of it completely. In addition, we hadn't eaten for a day, so we were somewhat exhausted."

I thought for a moment, then took out a small porcelain bottle from my bosom, poured out four emerald green pills, and handed them to them: "I don't know what kind of poison you've been poisoned by. These are Snow-Condensing Pills made by my mother, which can cure all poisons. It'll help you suppress the symptoms for now. How about I have them help you to the front hall, where it's less cramped and stuffy, so you can practice your breathing exercises? But things are chaotic outside; the four kingdoms are at war, so don't go out yet."

"

I asked Qi Yi and a few others to help them out, but Qi Yi's expression wasn't very good. I guess he thought those people were all coveting the treasure hidden in the Ghost Palace, so why bother saving them?

Seeing this, I didn't force them. I simply called over a group of soldiers and had four of them help Bai Xianglong and his companions out.

In that short time, the door had been fully opened, but it hadn't closed. I looked at the sapphire embedded in the wall and understood: if the key was left inside, the door wouldn't close; but if it was removed, it would close automatically.

I intended to leave the sapphire there, but Qi Yi said, "Why don't we remove it and bring it inside? If someone with ill intentions removes the key after we go inside, we won't be able to get out."

That makes sense. I pulled out the sapphire, and the door slowly closed.

Behind this door was clearly a natural cave, with no other light sources on either side, relying solely on our tinderboxes. After walking for a while, the stench of blood grew stronger, and my feet felt sticky. Shining the tinderbox, I saw, sure enough, thin lines of blood snaking their way towards us. I told Qi Yi to move the tinderbox further away, and there were several people lying on the ground ahead.

Some of them had arrows stuck in their bodies, some had throwing knives stuck in their bodies, and there were also a few arrows, a few throwing knives, abacus beads, throwing needles and the like scattered on the ground.

There was a trap set in the passage, and I stopped in my tracks. Qi Yi said, "The trap has already been activated, and there may not be another one. Otherwise, even if Master Bai and Master Tao had come out just now, they wouldn't have been able to escape. If we want to be safe, we might as well step over the corpses."

I carefully made my way through the corpses; there was no movement around me or above, so I guessed the mechanism had failed. But after going a little further, I was forced to step over the corpses. The passage was narrow there, and there were quite a few bodies. Their bodies were still soft. I tiptoed over them, but I always felt as if a hand would reach out from the pile of corpses and grab my foot.

Only after leaving the pile of corpses did they discover a stone chamber over there. It was indeed a storage room, containing some large jade carvings that were difficult to move and were therefore still intact.

Further ahead, the path forked, and I headed straight for the place with the strongest stench of blood. Sure enough, corpses appeared one after another along the way; I even saw the bodies of disciples from the Fengming Sect and Liuhe Manor. Although I kept telling myself that it was a good thing I hadn't seen Yi Ge's body, a growing sense of panic was creeping into my heart.

My steps were hurried, and before I knew it, I was using the "Thousand Mountains Flying Snow" technique. The light from the tinderbox behind me gradually faded into the distance.

Darkness, bloodshed, I seemed to be the only living person in this passage, and the long passage seemed to have no end.

As I walked further, the light from the tinderbox in my hand gradually dimmed, and it looked like it was about to burn out. I had been blindly pushing forward, but now fear slowly crept into my heart. I wasn't afraid of blood, thunder, snakes, insects, or rodents, but I was afraid of the dark and the silence.

The tinderbox finally gave its last gasp and went out. I stood in the passageway, my senses heightened, and I thought I heard very faint footsteps and breathing sounds, getting closer and closer. I froze.

Suddenly remembering the luminous pearl I had just swiped from my pocket, I quickly took it out and held it up, my hands trembling slightly. Apart from a few corpses along the passageway, there was no one else. Cold sweat began to bead on my back, and I instinctively called out a few times, "Yi Ge, Yi Ge!"

The thin, hollow voice echoed through the stone walls, sounding almost like a sob to my ears.

Suddenly, I heard heavier footsteps and smelled a strong stench of blood. I instinctively put away the bead and drew my Swift Shadow, on high alert. A whoosh of wind swept against my left arm in the darkness. I took a step back and lashed out with Swift Shadow. Someone groaned, likely struck by the attack, but the person didn't retreat. Before I could strike again, a hoarse voice cried out urgently, "Mist Treasure, is that you?"

My swift shadow could no longer lift itself. A large hand grabbed my right arm and pulled me into a cool embrace. A faint scent of pine wafted through the stench of blood. The voice above me trembled with excitement: "Misty Baby, is it really you? It's me!"

My legs seemed unable to support my body, and I leaned weakly against him. My hand reached out to his face, and when I touched it lightly, it was sticky and thick—was it blood? I straightened my back immediately, but he held me tightly in his arms. He took my hand in his other hand, pressed it to his lips, and kissed it carefully, whispering, "Wu Bao, are you alright? That's good."

My nose stung, and large tears streamed down my face. I no longer cared where I was, and reached out to hug his neck, sobbing, "Yi Ge, are you alright?"

He didn't say anything, but just leaned down and kept kissing my face. Suddenly he said, "Wu Bao, I love you."

My body jolted, and I looked up, but I couldn't see his face in the darkness. What had he been through that day that he would say those words without hesitation the moment he saw me? I reached out and touched his face, cupped it in my hands, and carefully tiptoed to kiss him, whispering, "Yi Ge, I love you too."

I could hear his heartbeat quicken suddenly, and then I felt him kiss my lips passionately, repeatedly. So hard, so hard that my body trembled slightly.

Yi Ge suddenly pulled me close and darted to the side, hiding behind a protruding stone wall inside the passage.

The light from a tinderbox flickered where I had just come from. Footsteps approached, faint yet echoing powerfully in the empty cave.

Qi Yi and the remaining soldiers arrived. Yi Ge took my hand and led me outside.

Qi Yi was extremely excited to see Yi Ge and exclaimed with delight, "Young Master, are you alright?"

In the light of the tinderbox, Yi Ge's face looked tired. He said, "Two brothers died. I'm fine."

I suddenly remembered what Bai Xianglong had said about them all being poisoned, but Yi Ge's complexion didn't look like he was poisoned. He was just covered in blood, whether it was his own or someone else's. When I touched his body, he shook his head slightly and said, "It's just a flesh wound, nothing serious. I'll apply some wound medicine later."

My heart calmed down a little, and my doubts slowly surfaced. I asked him, "You, you weren't poisoned? Of all the people who went in, are you the only one left?"

He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "I need the antidote. Of the thirty-odd people who followed me through this door, only six or seven of them went deeper with me. Just now, I heard you call me and rushed out first. There should be a few more behind you."

"You need the antidote? Was it the Ouyang family who poisoned it?"

He nodded and said, "Yes, I captured the eldest young master to threaten the second young master and obtain the antidote."

"Where are they?"

"There are not many antidotes left. Some of the others died in the fighting and snatching of them. The two Ouyang brothers, fearing that others would pursue them, went astray on their own. Their whereabouts are unknown."

Later I learned that the wrong path was not a good place to go.

I placed my hand on the hand that was supporting my shoulder and said, "Then let's go."

He said, "I haven't seen Zhu Hong yet." He added, "It's winding and twisting inside, and I don't know how deep it is. There's also a small hidden room."

I shook my head hastily and said, "No, I don't want it."

Before he could say anything more, weary footsteps sounded behind him. We turned around alertly and saw Nan Qingyong and the leader of the Fengming Sect emerge.

Qi Yi stepped forward and stopped them. Nan Qingyong shook his head helplessly and said, "We didn't take anything. We just felt bored. Coming here was the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life."

A silence fell over the passage. They glanced around at the corpses, silently found the body of their own sect member, carried it forward, but their steps were unsteady.

Back at the entrance, I used a tinderbox to find a hollow in the rough rock wall, took out the key, and the door slowly slid open. Watching them carefully move the corpses out, I called to Qi Yi, "Why don't we move some of those corpses out too? What's the point of piling them up inside?"

There were about twenty corpses in the storage room and passageway inside. Moving them took quite a bit of effort. Once we saw that it was almost done, I ordered that these corpses be gathered in the storage room first, and then people be sent down to deal with them later. After all, it's May, and if we don't deal with them in time, I'm afraid this place will really become a graveyard, and no living person will be able to come in again.

While we were busy with these things, Yi Ge leaned against the door without moving, seemingly exhausted. I had a lot to say to him, but seeing how tired he looked, I decided to let him recover first.

Seeing that the corpses inside the door had all been moved out, I turned around, took out the sapphire, and planned to help Yi Ge out. The time my brother had given me was about right.

Qi Yi turned around to help me, but without warning, we heard a deafening roar, our ears ringing, and we couldn't hear anything. At the same time, a blast of air pushed Yi Ge and me back into the doorway, causing us to stumble and fall to the ground. Large and small stones flew overhead. I saw Qi Yi shielding his head with one hand and rushing towards us, but his path was blocked by the falling rocks. By the time Yi Ge helped me to my feet, the door was only a crack, about the thickness of a thumb. Qi Yi's face flashed outside, and the door slammed shut, shaking a few times afterward.

I was about to insert the sapphire immediately, but Yi Ge pulled me down to squat against the wall, still protecting me above my head. He had seemed exhausted just moments before, but the pull he gave me was incredibly strong, almost causing me to fall. The rumbling continued above, with rocks and mud constantly falling. It sounded like gunpowder. Had the time come, and the people of Thunderbolt Fortress had already made their move?

The dust settled, and I inserted the sapphire into the keyhole, but it wouldn't budge. The door had been blown up.

Yi Ge and I are trapped here.

Author's Note: I updated today, but there won't be any updates tomorrow or the day after. I'm busy this weekend, so please forgive me.

Chapter Forty-Six: Finding the Way

We finally have plenty of time to be alone, even under these circumstances.

At first, Yi Ge spoke to me, but I couldn't hear anything. He had to drag me inside by the hand. It wasn't until we reached the stone chamber where the jade carvings were stored that my ears regained their hearing.

I asked him, "Is there any other way out?"

He said, "We're still walking in, we haven't reached the end yet."

I asked again, "How do you know the way?"

He released my hand, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, and said, "We have a diagram."

When I took it, I saw that it was the dotted diagram that I had copied from the back page of Tongda Gong that day.

I asked in surprise, "How did you know this map was a route map?"

He put his arm around me and we sat down on the ground. He said, “After I got the key from you, I tried opening it here. I have a good memory for maps, and after walking a few steps, I had a feeling that this terrain was probably as depicted on the map. Look where we are now; it’s a completely natural cave. It’s probably not man-made, but rather it’s utilizing the existing terrain. Those circles represent stone chambers, and the crosses represent dead ends. Circles with crosses inside might be doors or mechanisms. Look at this map; at the bottom, there’s an oval with a cross, which represents that stone door. Then look at the small circles and crosses drawn on the left and right sides of the passage, but there are no doors there, so I guess there must be mechanisms there. You can’t go to the sides; you can only go to the middle. And look at this stone chamber; it’s on the right side of the path. Isn’t there a circle here? And I found a small stone chamber ahead; look, it’s over here.” He pointed to a circle to the left of the thick black line on the map.

I couldn't help but gasp: "But the route on this map is too complicated. It's not a straight line at all, and there are many branching paths. Even without any traps, it would make people dizzy."

He nodded: "Yes, there are straight lines, but those on straight lines are not necessarily the main roads. You still have to follow the thick, dark lines."

I couldn't help but feel a chill. I was lucky I found him by smell; otherwise, if I had just kept going straight, I would have ended up on a side road.

His finger lightly traced the thick black lines on the map: In this depth, there are several circles, I don't know what they are, and there is another circle with a cross over it, perhaps that is another door?

I got a little excited: "Shall we walk further in, now?"

He remained seated on the ground, a smile playing on his lips, but it appeared somewhat pale under the glow of the luminous pearl. I immediately recalled that his earlier demeanor seemed rather abnormal, and that his wounds hadn't been treated.

I really lack any sense of responsibility as a person or a wife, and I don't know how to take care of others.

I gave him an awkward smile, feeling a little guilty: "Yi Ge, I... I'll apply the medicine to your face first. But why is your face..." A faint layer of black mist had appeared on his face.

I was shocked: "Didn't you take the antidote? Could they have given you a fake one?"

He gently shook his head: "There wasn't enough antidote. To prevent the survivors from fighting over it, everyone ate half, including Lord Nanbao and the others."

I hurriedly reached into my robes for the porcelain bottle, but in my haste, I couldn't get it out. Luckily, I still had Snow-Freezing Pills with me, and thankfully, of the fifteen pills in this bottle, I had already given four to others.

I watched him swallow, watched him catch his breath, but after a while, he still couldn't get up. I panicked a little and supported him, saying, "Is it still not working?"

He said softly, "Wu Bao, I have some wound medicine on me. Could you help me apply some to my back?"

Oh, I was so flustered that I even forgot to apply the medicine to him. I'm so incompetent; have I gone mad?

I unbuttoned his clothes; there were several wounds on his back, long but not deep, though blood was still slowly seeping out. There were also some on his legs and arms, all very minor. After applying the medicine, he let out a soft sigh, leaned against a jade screen, and smiled at me.

His smile was rare, and it was beautiful, but I wasn't in the mood for being infatuated at the moment. I asked anxiously, "How are you feeling now?"

He looked at me and said, "Wu Bao, it's nothing, I'm just a little hungry. I haven't eaten or drunk anything all day."

Speaking of hunger, I suddenly remembered that I had been carrying a bundle on my back the whole time. After arriving at Yitianling, I was in such a hurry to get into the tunnel that I forgot to take off the bundle, and now it really comes in handy.

I quickly untied the bundle, took out the chive and egg pancake, and handed it over.

He opened his eyes wide in surprise: "Misty Child, where did you come from? Did you know we were going to be trapped here?"

I found it both funny and annoying, but he seemed to be in a good mood and was even joking around.