tallest building

Chapter 114 A Clever Escape

Meanwhile, Gong Chang'an was being guarded by Lu the Mute and his son. The two of them were almost never outside the cellar, and they took turns sleeping there, rarely letting their guard down.

Gong Chang'an was initially worried about how to escape, because the two people were both mute and deaf.

If it were an ordinary person, they could try a counter-espionage scheme. The guards on either side are only after money. You just need to tell them that if you release them, they will not be punished, but they will give you more money.

Since ancient times, wealth has been a powerful motivator, and Gong Chang'an felt that he had a 70-80% chance of success based on his eloquence.

Unfortunately, both of them were deaf and mute and could not read, so this method was completely ineffective. Gong Chang'an couldn't help but regret that he hadn't learned how to deal with mute people before.

That must have been why he trusted the father and son to guard him.

However, Gong Chang'an was not discouraged for long, because he immediately realized that since the two people were deaf, it wouldn't matter if he made some noise, as long as they didn't see him.

He usually carried many things with him, but this time when he was arrested, they didn't search him. After all, he was just a child, so they weren't too wary of him.

Gong Chang'an touched his sleeve, where he always carried a wire saw. An old border soldier had told him about this trick; it was small and exquisite, not easy to spot when hidden on his person, but it had many uses.

It can be used to saw wood, cut ropes, and even pick locks.

Therefore, the wooden cage cannot confine him. He just needs to be careful when sawing the wood so that the mute father and son don't find out.

So he told Heming his plan: "We only need to saw a piece of wood to get out of this cage, but we must block it with our bodies while sawing so that they don't notice. Also, we must stagger the saw cuts so that even if the wood is cut through, it will still stand there properly as long as we don't push it."

"Then I'll figure out a way to create some smoke so they can't see us, and we can escape."

He Ming was naturally happy to hear that he could escape, but he was really afraid that if he stayed in another half a day, he would have his fingers chopped off again.

The little devil, Gong Chang'an, first faced inwards, lying by the cage and pretending to cry. In reality, he was secretly sawing the top of a piece of wood with a wire saw.

Then, pretending to be tired from crying, he lay down in the cage and sawed off the bottom as well.

But he sawed very cleverly, cutting inwards from one end and outwards from the other. So, although it was broken, it fit together like a mortise and tenon joint.

You can't see it unless you look closely, and you can only push the wood away with a little force.

After he finished, he took advantage of the two mute men's inattention and threw the wire saw to Heming.

He Ming followed the same pattern and didn't put in much effort.

Gong Chang'an had noticed that there was a lot of dried mugwort in the cellar, which could produce smoke.

Besides always carrying a wire saw, he also always carried a tinderbox and realgar pills.

Both of these are for self-defense, especially in the wild.

Realgar pills can also produce smoke, and if they are placed together with mugwort, the effect is even more pronounced.

Gong Chang'an first prepared a lot of mugwort leaves, but the two mute men didn't take it seriously. They just thought he was a child, locked in a cage with nothing to do, so he used this as a pastime.

“Heming, the smoke will rise soon. You need to take off your shirt, wet it with urine, and cover your mouth and nose,” Gong Chang’an said to Heming. “Lie low and hide in the smoke. Keep the piece of wood you sawed off safe; it can be used for self-defense.”

Gong Chang'an knew that he couldn't go out during the day, so he could only do it at night.

He could tell whether it was day or night by the light filtering through the open cellar opening. He guessed it was late, the little mute was asleep, and only the old mute sat there like a wooden sculpture, staring with his two bloodshot eyes. Gong Chang'an bundled realgar pills and mugwort leaves together, lit them with a tinderbox, and tossed them a short distance from the cage.

Soon, a thick cloud of smoke rose.

The old mute man stood up abruptly and strode over.

Gong Chang'an shouted "Run!" and then lit several more mugwort balls. Soon, the smoke covered the wooden cages where he and Heming were imprisoned.

The two men escaped from the cage, one hand covering their mouths and noses, the other dragging a wooden stick.

The old mute hurriedly came up to stomp on the steaming mugwort balls, making a great commotion, but the little mute couldn't hear a thing and remained fast asleep.

Gong Chang'an told Heming to feel his way out of the wall, saying that as long as he kept touching the wall, he would definitely be able to get out.

Moreover, they had already determined the direction and rushed towards the cellar entrance as quickly as possible.

By the time they reached the cellar entrance and began to climb out, the entire cellar was almost completely filled with smoke.

"Fourth Young Master, what... what kind of place is this?" Once outside, Heming looked around, completely bewildered.

“It’s a vegetable garden,” Gong Chang’an said. “And it’s quite big! There are holes in most of the walls, making it easy to steal vegetables.”

As Gong Chang'an spoke, he pulled Heming towards the wall and soon found an exit resembling a dog hole in a place overgrown with waist-high weeds.

"This is it, hurry up and crawl out!" Gong Chang'an and He Ming were both very thin and small, so they crawled out easily.

"Run towards the fields over there!" Gong Chang'an knew that the father and son would catch up soon, and they would definitely be caught again on the way.

But hiding in the fields is different; that would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, and they wouldn't be easily discovered.

They slipped into a large sorghum field. Because of the wind, the crops were swaying back and forth, so they didn't have to worry too much about being discovered while moving around inside.

The two of them didn't know how long they walked inside, but gradually they could see the light of day.

"Let's stay here for now." They could vaguely see a road at the end of the farmland. Gong Chang'an grabbed Heming's arm. "Let's observe the passersby. If we find someone reliable, then we can go out."

They squatted there for a long time and saw pedestrians begin to appear. Ox-carts and horse-drawn carriages also started to appear on the road.

“It looks like a lot of vegetable farmers are going to the city to sell their produce,” Heming said. “Why don’t we flag down a bus and ask the driver to take us back to the city?”

“That’s what I’m thinking too, but we should try to choose older women, preferably women, so they’re less likely to have bad intentions,” Gong Chang’an said while observing.

Then they saw an elderly couple sitting in the oxcart, so he and Heming stood by the roadside and stopped the cart.

"Please, kind old folks, take us back to the city. We got separated from our families yesterday and have been wandering around this area all night." Gong Chang'an and He Ming were both disheveled, their hands and faces filthy.

But since they were just two children, the elderly couple didn't see them as bad people; instead, they felt sorry for them.

Gong Chang'an and He Ming got into the car, deliberately hiding their bodies in the pile of vegetables, afraid of being discovered by the people who were chasing them.

Fortunately, they were safe until they entered the city gates, at which point they dared to show their faces.