Yuan Gang walked out of the back hall and came to the backyard, looking around vigilantly. When he got close to the well, he suddenly jumped and plunged into the well. His movements were swift and he disappeared abruptly.
As soon as he entered the well, Yuan Gang split his legs and supported himself on both sides of the well wall. He controlled his strength and slid down at a moderate speed. He opened his arms to maintain his balance and at the same time, he paid attention to the bricks on the walls of the well. When he reached a depth of thirty feet, he pushed himself against the wall of the well and fixed himself on the well. His eyes fell on a slightly damaged brick in front of him.
There were many damaged corners of the bricks, but there was nothing special about this one. Yuan Gang, who had been reminded, noticed the abnormality. There was a symmetrical damage on both the top and bottom of the brick.
Yuan Gang leaned forward and reached out to press on the brick. It was very solid. If he hadn't been reminded, it didn't seem like there was a mechanism. He used a lot of strength to push the brick out and it sank into the wall with a dull sound. After pushing the brick in, Yuan Gang used his strength to push the entire curved wall. A large piece of the wall was like a revolving door. It opened halfway.
Yuan Gang climbed up the slanted wall and entered in a flash. He pulled out a match and found a torch placed on the side. He lit it in his hand and looked around. He found the reason why the door could only be half open. There was a stone trough behind the door, and in the trough was a large rectangular stone. It was obvious that the stone was pushed just now. No wonder it was so heavy.
With a quick look, he understood what was going on. With the stone bar inserted into the wall to fill the gap, it was equivalent to blocking the trapdoor. If he did not find the right spot to push it open, it would be impossible to open such a thick trapdoor easily. This mechanism seemed simple and clumsy, but it was very practical. People who didn't know the trick would find it difficult to find the entrance even if they went down the well.
He turned around and looked up. He picked up a piece of moss from the wall and threw it out of the well.
Niu Youdao tilted his head at Yuan Fang when he saw the moss that had been thrown out. Yuan Fang walked over quickly, looked around, and quickly jumped into the well.
"Your Highness, it's not convenient for you to climb down. Let me bring you down." Niu Youdao turned around and said to Shang Shuqing.
Shang Shuqing nodded her head in acknowledgment.
Shang Chaozong immediately cupped his hands towards Niu Youdao, "Daoye, please protect Qing-er well."
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, I won't let anything happen to the princess." Niu Youdao promised. What he meant was that even if something happened to the princess, he would have to die first.
Lan Ruoting also cupped his fists and said, "Princess, Daoye, take care!"
Niu Youdao and Shang Shuqing nodded their heads and walked towards the backyard.
Observing the surroundings, Niu Youdao walked to the side of the well. Suddenly, he lifted his palm, and the piece of moss that Yuan Gang had tossed out on the ground flew up into the air. He swept it back into the well. Stretching out his arm, he grabbed Shang Shuqing's soft waist and jumped up together with her, landing into the well.
Shang Chaozong, who was standing at the entrance of the back hall, saw this scene and could not help but show his teeth. Although it was a little too pedantic to pay attention to the rules of not touching between men and women, it was a little too much to see his sister being hugged by another man in front of his eyes. Qing-er was still a virgin!
Shang Chaozong could not help but turn around and asked, "Qing-er runs to his place early in the morning. Don't tell me she has fallen for him?"
Lan Ruoting was stunned, "Your Highness is a person with a sense of propriety. Why did the Prince say this? Could it be that you have seen some clues? "
Shang Chaozong realized that he had made a slip of the tongue. This kind of thing should not be said carelessly as it would damage his sister's innocence. He waved his hands awkwardly, "No, I was thinking too much!"
As for Shang Shuqing, he was shocked by Niu Youdao's sudden hug and his body tensed up.
Once they were in the well, Niu Youdao immediately cast a spell and released his Qi. Using the buoyancy of the air, he carried Shang Shuqing and Slowly floated down.
Being so close to a man and being hugged by a man, feeling the man's strong arms and that masculine scent, Shang Shuqing's thoughts were in a mess and her heart beat faster.
Niu Youdao seemed to feel her heart beating faster and comforted her softly, "Don't be afraid. Nothing will happen." This water storage well was not shallow and she thought that she had scared the other party by jumping down directly.
She floated to the entrance and placed her hand on the wall of the door. She sent Shang Shuqing in first and then followed in.
The moment the two of them entered, Yuan Gang reset the trapdoor.
Slowly taking a deep breath, Shang Shuqing calmed herself down and pointed to the stone in the trapdoor, "We have to reset the top of this trapdoor. Otherwise, the entrance will be easily discovered." She wanted to do it herself but she knew that the weight of the stone wasn't something that she could easily move.
Yuan Gang came back and pulled the end of the stone and the stone that weighed more than 100 kilograms was stuck back into the trapdoor. There was a slot at the end so there was no need to worry about overloading.
Yuan Gang saw that Niu Youdao was looking around for something and reminded him, "I've seen it. There's only one torch here."
Niu Youdao stepped aside and gestured for him to lead the way. She then turned back and asked Shang Shuqing, "Why is there only one torch?"
"There are a lot of torches along the way, enough for thousands of people to use," Shang Shuqing replied, then asked curiously, "Daoye, don't you have a 'Xiao Yue' with you?"
Niu Youdao chuckled, "That glowing butterfly only recognizes one master. I haven't had the chance to raise one yet. I'll definitely get one someday."
He didn't have one and neither did Yuan Fang. For the time being, they could only rely on the torch in Yuan Gang's hand to move forward.
The flames flickered in the tunnel. Under their feet was a series of stone steps that meandered downwards. After descending for several hundred meters, the faint sound of flowing water could be heard from the end. Niu Youdao immediately asked, "An underground river?"
Shang Shuqing replied, "Yes, a very long underground river."
When they reached the end of the stairs, they could see the flowing water. The water flowed rapidly in the darkness. Yuan Gang illuminated the area with the torch in his hand. The cool water flowed down from the top to the bottom. Even with the light from the torch, they couldn't see the other side.
"Torches!" Yuan Fang shouted as he pointed to the side.
They turned around and saw a cave at the side, filled with neatly arranged torches.
The few of them took one each and lit it in their hands. Their visibility immediately increased a lot.
"Which way should we go?" Yuan Gang asked.
Shang Shuqing replied, "Upstream."
The few of them then walked upstream along the river. After going down the winding stone steps for so many rounds, even Niu Youdao was confused, right now he did not know which direction they were heading to. The path here was obviously formed naturally. It was rugged and not as easy to walk as the man-made path.
"Princess, give me the things." Niu Youdao pointed at the large pile of things that Shang Shuqing was carrying on her back. The path was already difficult to walk on, and it was inconvenient for this woman to carry such a heavy bag.
Shang Shuqing declined politely, "No need, I can carry it."
Niu Youdao immediately took the bag from her shoulder and handed it to Yuan Fang, who was behind her. "Old Bear, carry it. You're used to the forest, so lead the way. Monkey, cover the rear. "
"Mm!" Yuan Fang nodded, took the bag and put it around his neck, then hung it on his other shoulder. He held the torch and ran to the front obediently.
Shang Shuqing was speechless. He thought that Niu Youdao was going to carry it for her, but he didn't expect it to be for someone else.
Not only that, Niu Youdao took off the bag on her back and handed it to Yuan Gang, who was passing by.
Yuan Gang didn't need to say anything and immediately took the bag and put it on his back.
Niu Youdao followed behind Yuan Fang and placed Shang Shuqing behind him. Yuan Gang was the last to do so. The few of them walked on the uneven path.
After walking for a while, Niu Youdao asked, "Princess, have you been here before?"
Shang Shuqing replied, "No, it's my first time here."
Niu Youdao stopped and turned around, frowning. "You've never been here before, so why are you leading the way for us?"
Shang Shuqing explained, "There are many forks along the way. I know how to identify them so that we won't take the wrong path."
"Many forks?" Niu Youdao was suspicious. "Will we have to walk for a long time?"
Shang Shuqing replied, "Under normal circumstances, we'll have to walk for a few days. This underground river is really long."
A few days? A few days underground? The few of them looked at her in disbelief. They finally understood why they had to bring so many rations. It was really useful.
Niu Youdao estimated that the arcane realm was most likely not in Canglu County. It was just the entrance. He couldn't help but chuckle. "King Ning is really good at finding. He can even connect the dots from such a long distance."
Shang Shuqing: "We didn't find it on purpose. Father was fighting in this area in his early years, and the soldiers who were separated from each other accidentally found this underground river. When they walked out, they found that they were in another place. Father later organized people to come here and confirm the route."
Niu Youdao replied, "Oh. He thought of something. When they were discussing at Nanshan Temple, he suspected that Shang Chaozong had a secret passage to the sea. He couldn't help but look upstream and downstream. He didn't know if the secret passage to the sea had anything to do with this underground passage. The flow of water usually converged into the sea. He took a few more glances downstream and kept it in mind.
They continued to move forward. There were many changes in the road ahead. Most of them were natural rugged landforms. The really dangerous places had signs of being excavated to make it easier to pass. Some places had to be crawled, some places had to be climbed, and some places were impossible to pass and could only be crossed with the help of the iron chains nailed to the wall. Of course, the last two situations were nothing for people like Niu Youdao. Niu Youdao pulled Shang Shuqing as they climbed the slope or crossed the iron chains.
Under normal circumstances, the rugged road didn't affect Shang Shuqing much. After the defeat of King Ning's residence, Shang Shuqing had practiced for a period of time in order to improve himself. His hands and feet could be considered nimble. He was much stronger than an ordinary girl who stayed in her boudoir to embroider.
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