Zhou Tong stared at the stone wall, his eyes growing deeper and more sinister, like two balls of will-o '-the-wisps.
This weak vibration seemed very ordinary, but to this underground world that was protected and stabilized by layers upon layers of arrays, it signified something very frightening. Someone had touched Zhou Prison's array, and it was not like an insect throwing itself into a spider's web. It was like a zither player stretching out his finger, pulling on a string, and lightly plucking it.
Zhou Tong stared at the stone wall. He did not notice that a drop of water had fallen from a crack in the ceiling of the prison cell.
The underground was very humid. Even with the isolation of the array, the surrounding walls still had many places where water was seeping through. Even in this relatively dry prison cell, this scene did not seem too out of place. The problem was that this drop of water had fallen in a very coincidental position, right on the mouth of the wine pot.
The moisture in the earth had been filtered through the layers of rocks and arrays. By the time it seeped out of the stone wall, it was completely devoid of impurities, as clean as a dewdrop.
The dewdrop noiselessly slid down the slender porcelain spout and into the wine pot.
At this moment, Zhou Tong turned around.
Xue He said, "Chen Changsheng should have sensed it. He should have guessed that you were here."
Zhou Tong knew, so he was in a hurry to leave.
He did not know who had touched the array, but he had actually managed to enter Zhou Prison.
That person should still be some distance away, but he had still unhesitatingly decided to leave.
Just as Xue He had said, that person had very likely used this method to inform the people above of his specific location.
He calmly said, "There have always been many people who wanted me dead."
"I'm the same."
Xue He raised the wine pot in front of him and filled his empty cup.
Zhou Tong raised the wine pot and also filled his cup.
Xue He raised his cup and said, "I hope that you die very slowly."
Death was a very frightening matter, but if the process was fast enough, it could be called delightful. If it was very slow, then only pain would be left.
Zhou Tong smiled, lightly clinked his cup with Xue He, and then brought it to his lips and drank.
"No matter how fast Chen Changsheng's sword is, it's impossible for him to get here so quickly."
Zhou Tong's gaze once more turned to the stone wall that had quieted down.
This was the most secretive and safest hiding place he had arranged for himself, yet he chose to abandon it without the slightest hesitation and find another place to hide.
No matter how much Xue He hated this person, he had to admit that this kind of decisiveness was truly powerful to the extreme. At the same time, he was a bit curious and asked, "Although I don't know how heavy the snowstorm is today, I can imagine that there aren't many places in the capital that can guarantee your safety. Where can you go?"
"Even a rabbit will leave three holes for escape, let alone humans like us."
Zhou Tong said, "You'll definitely feel regretful. It's really not easy for an evil person like me to die. At least, I won't die today."
After saying this, he didn't say anything else. He walked out of the prison cell and followed the dim alley, heading towards an even darker place.
The lights on both sides of the alley were similar to the dim light in his eyes. They were both ghostly fires.
His figure gradually disappeared at the end of the alley, as if he was walking towards hell, until he sank into the deepest darkness.
Separated by the iron bars, Xue He silently gazed at Zhou Tong's back for a very long time. Even after Zhou Tong had disappeared, he was still gazing.
It was not because he was sorrowful, nor was it because he truly did have some complex emotions in his heart. He just wanted to confirm that Zhou Tong had truly left.
Water droplets once more fell from the stone ceiling, and then they scraped against the side walls.
Two hard stones were moved aside and a ball of mud was squeezed out.
This was not true mud, but a person that had lived in the mud for several weeks.
On the night of the coup of the Mausoleum of Books, Chen Changsheng had been brought to the Mausoleum of Books by the Divine Empress, Tang Tang had been brought back to Wenshui by the Tang Second Master, and then Zhexiu had vanished.
No one had ever discovered any trace of him again, not the Imperial Court, the Li Palace, or the Orthodox Academy.
It turned out that he had been hiding in the alley of the Northern Military Department the entire time, just deep underground.
If explained in detail, it would be very long and complicated, but it was actually very simple.
The Department for Purging Officials had replanted crabapple trees and dug a hole in the courtyard. He had jumped into this hole and remained underground until now.
No one knew how he had managed to survive these several weeks.
But to Zhexiu, this was a very normal matter.
He was a wolf, possessing unimaginable patience and willpower. In order to catch prey, he could wait for a very long time, could endure hunger and thirst that humans could not. In order to kill the demon cavalry, he would often hide in the depths of the snow, hiding for several weeks at a time. Although snow was much softer than mud, it was also much colder.
Zhou Tong was the strongest in his hunting experience, and he was also the prey that he most wanted to kill. Thus, he had expended even more patience, but of course, he had also paid no small price.
His face was very pale and extremely gaunt. Although his eyes were still cold and focused, they were clearly much weaker than they were on the surface.
Xue He looked at him and asked, "Were you the one who activated the array?"
"No, I don't understand arrays, nor did I know that Chen Changsheng would come."
Zhexiu's voice was very hoarse, because he had drunk very little water in the last several weeks, and also because he had spoken very little.
Xue He thought back to the day when he had just been imprisoned in this deepest prison cell. The voice that came from the stone wall was very low and very hoarse.
At the time, he did not know who was in the stone wall, whether it was a human or a ghost, but after hearing what it had to say, even if it really was a ghost, he would still cooperate with it.
Xue He extended his hand and pulled out the golden thorns from his bloodstained clothes. His brow creased, and he let out a painful grunt.
Ten-some golden thorns had been pulled out, but only a third of their true length. This was something that he and Zhexiu had prepared ahead of time.
In the original plan, he wanted to cooperate with Zhexiu and think of a way to poison Zhou Tong. Then he would do his best to delay until Zhou Tong was poisoned, Zhexiu would break through the wall and join forces with him. At the start, reality had gone much more smoothly than imagined. The poisoning had been smoothly completed, but unexpectedly, someone had activated the array and frightened Zhou Tong away.
It was very obvious that the person hiding in the shadows did not know of Zhexiu's existence, and of course, he did not know of Zhexiu's plan, but he still wanted Zhou Tong to die.
Xue He said, "Go notify Chen Changsheng. I'll go chase after Zhou Tong."
Zhexiu did not object, but this did not mean that he tacitly agreed. It only meant that he would not listen to Xue He's words.
He gave a bunch of keys to Xue He, walked out of the prison cell, and headed in the direction that Zhou Tong had disappeared.
At the very beginning, he walked very slowly, because he was weak and also because he had been crawling through the mud for the past several dozen days. It had been a very long time since he had relied on his two feet to walk.
It did not take long for his movements to become coordinated. Although they were still not very fast, they were stable enough.
… …
… …
Zhou Tong walked through the gloomy alleyways. Every once in a while, he would make a turn, and from time to time, a door would fall down and then be covered up by the mud.
The underground alleyways had always been as dense as a spider's web, and with this method, it had become incomparably complicated. He believed that even if someone helped Chen Changsheng break through the Imperial Court's encirclement and Chen Changsheng found the true location of Zhou Prison and killed his way underground, he would still not be able to find him.
This thought made him feel much more at ease, and he rubbed his chest.
His brow creased, because he realized that his heart was beating rather fast. He didn't know if it was because he was walking too quickly, or if it was for some other reason.
Like … fear.
He was not willing to admit that he was afraid. He took a deep breath and began to circulate his true essence, preparing to calm his heartbeat.
The true essence in his meridians flowed smoothly, just like water flowing in a canal suddenly meeting a bank that could not be crossed.
His chest felt a sharp pain.
He began to vomit blood.
This blood was black.
… …
… …
This is the second season of Week of Killing. When I wrote about the first season of Week of Killing, everyone knew from the chapter title that Zhou Tong would not have died at that time. I would have been extremely serious in killing him. Today is Christmas Eve, so I wish everyone a good time. However, I still have to say the most important thing, just like last year: Ladies, please pay attention to safety measures.
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