Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 121 Secret Passage
The Medicine King took out the bronze mirror from his robes, gently wiped it clean, and then with a flick of his arm, sent the mirror flying straight out. Rong Wanyin caught it. The Medicine King glanced at Rong Wanyin and slowly said, "Take this bronze mirror back and return it to your master. That's fine, then... I won't owe him anything."

Rong Wanyin's eyes darted around, but she couldn't resist her curiosity and asked, "Senior Medicine King, could this be a token of love between you and my master?"

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Rong Wanyin, even Yan Mingzhang, who was reading a book, looked up at her. They thought to themselves: How could this child be so clueless! It's so obvious! If this really is a token of love, then the love definitely didn't last! How could they ask such a thing so directly!
Unexpectedly, the Medicine King readily admitted without any hesitation: "You're right, this is indeed our token of love, but we are destined to be apart in this life."

The Medicine King's words left Rong Wanyin speechless. She could only put away the bronze mirror and remain silent. Everyone looked at each other, and the atmosphere in the secret room suddenly became awkward.

With a loud bang, the earth shook violently.

"They're using explosives to blow up the stone gate!" Mo Yun drew his long sword and was about to rush out.

"Isn't rushing out now just courting death? Don't be hasty!" Changfeng grabbed Moyun and pulled him back.

Yan Mingzhang didn't even look up; he simply increased the speed at which he turned the pages of the book.

"What is this!" Rong Wanyin exclaimed, pointing to a crack in the stone wall.

Changfeng strode forward, lifted the stone slab covering it, and exclaimed in surprise, "Miss Rong, it's a secret passage!"

Everyone turned to look at the Medicine King.

To everyone's surprise, the Medicine King was also bewildered: "Why are you all looking at me like that? I didn't know there was a secret passage here either. My master died when I was twelve, testing medicine. He died suddenly and never told me about this secret passage. Don't be too happy yet, it might be connected to that cave full of disgusting rats."

Everyone: "..."

This Medicine King really doesn't speak nicely, ah, no, he's really... straightforward... No wonder Rui'er is completely clueless about interpersonal relationships and social etiquette. It's just a good thing the Medicine King didn't teach her personally.

"Mo Yun, come help quickly." Chang Feng moved one of the stone slabs, revealing a secret passage about half a person's width.

"Bang!" Another loud noise rang out, and dirt began to fall from the ceiling. Yan Mingzhang shook the dirt off the books and continued reading.

Mo Yun quickly stepped forward to help move the stone slabs, and soon the secret passage was fully revealed.

"Quick! Get into the secret room!" Rong Wanyin urged.

Yan Mingzhang finally finished reading all the books and threw them on the ground.

"You really can remember that?" The Medicine King was skeptical and hesitated.

Yan Mingzhang nodded firmly to the Medicine King.

The Medicine King hardened his heart and poured a special medicinal liquid onto the books. Instantly, the papers turned yellow, then black, and finally turned into black ash. With several loud bangs, the explosives detonated one after another. The stone door of the secret chamber swayed precariously before finally collapsing, raising a cloud of dust.

Taking advantage of the dust obscuring the view, the stone slabs of the secret passage closed just in time, a moment that the guards who entered the secret chamber missed.

"Where are they?!" Deputy General Zhao roared, his brows furrowed as he stared at the empty secret room. "Search! Search it! I refuse to believe that so many people could just vanish into thin air!"

The secret room was noisy and chaotic, while the secret passage was eerily quiet.

Inside the secret passage, each person was lost in their own thoughts and remained silent, groping their way forward in the dim candlelight, the water droplets dripping from the rock wall making a "ding-dong, ding-dong" sound.

The Medicine King carried the mute woman's corpse on his back and slowly walked forward. A light sweat beaded on his forehead. Although she knew martial arts and was quite strong, the narrow passage forced the Medicine King to walk on his knees. This slowed his progress.

The Sixth Prince turned and glanced at the Medicine King, a fleeting hint of impatience flashing across his face in the candlelight. Just then, the Medicine King looked up to wipe his sweat, and their eyes met. The Sixth Prince guiltily looked away. The Medicine King, however, gazed at him thoughtfully. The Sixth Prince remained silent and quickened his pace.

"Senior, let Changfeng and I do it!" Mo Yun reached out to help, speaking softly.

"Yes, senior." Changfeng nodded as well.

The Medicine King stared at the two of them, scrutinizing them. Seeing that they were indeed sincere, she finally laid down the mute woman's body. She gently stroked the mute woman's face, tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, and said in a hoarse voice, "You're so foolish. I'm someone who doesn't know if I'll live to see tomorrow. Why would I be worth you doing this?"

Mo Yun carried the mute woman on his back, and Chang Feng helped to support her.

The group walked for an unknown amount of time until they finally saw a glimmer of light at the end of the secret passage!
"It's the exit!" Changfeng exclaimed!
The group quickened their pace, with the Sixth Prince leading the way. The light at the exit was getting closer and closer. Just as the Sixth Prince was about to take a step out, Rong Junye grabbed him and pulled him back: "Sixth Prince, be careful!"

The Sixth Prince was already dissatisfied because his progress had been slowed down. Now that Rong Junye had pulled him back, his dissatisfaction was about to overflow like water. Just as he was about to lash out, Yan Mingzhang pointed to the steps under the Sixth Prince's feet and said, "It's a swarm of rats!"

Upon closer inspection, everyone realized that the exit of the secret passage had indeed been correctly guessed by the Medicine King; it connected to the cave filled with carrion rats!
The Sixth Prince stood on a nearly three-foot-high step, below which swarmed rats running wildly. Because these rats had black fur, at first glance, it appeared to be just a very low step. If Rong Junye hadn't grabbed the Sixth Prince, he would have slipped and fallen into the rat swarm, where he would have been instantly devoured!

The sixth prince felt a lingering fear, his legs went weak, and he collapsed into the secret passage. The frenzied rats were only a foot away from them; if they had spotted them, they could have easily leaped into the passage.

Rong Wanyin had seen it with her own eyes; the rat could easily jump onto Mo Yun's back!
"These carrion rats seem to have gone mad!" Yan Mingzhang moved closer to the exit of the secret passage and observed carefully. He saw that these carrion rats were like headless flies, running wildly in groups throughout the cave until they were exhausted and died!

Mo Yun felt the wound on her back throb with pain again: "If I were bitten by this, it would hurt like hell!"

Changfeng joked, "Don't worry, you'll be bitten to death the moment you fall, and the pain won't last long."

Mo Yun rolled his eyes at Chang Feng, then turned to look at the swarm of rats and said worriedly, "Sir, what should we do? The cave entrance is so close, but we can't fly over there!"

"They're ahead! Chase them!" Suddenly, a commotion arose from afar; it was the Second Prince's men coming after them!