Chapter 650: The Secret of the Underground Passage

Meng, feeling uneasy, walked up to Gu Jiu Ling and half-knelt.

When the master bestows things, the servant must kneel to receive them.

Gu Jiu Ling couldn't stand this the most.

It's fine in front of outsiders, but privately she dislikes being kowtowed by servants, feeling it shortens her lifespan.

"Hurry up and get up! It's not anything valuable, just take it."

Meng nodded, raised both hands to take a handful of sugar Gu Jiu Ling grabbed, and just looking at the wrapper felt quite novel.

He was a child raised in bitter water; if not for the Prince bringing him back and personally teaching him, he might have frozen to death in some cold winter long ago.

This time he carefully tucked the sugar into his pocket, not expecting Gu Jiu Ling to look at him and smile, saying, "Eat a piece, try it! Why are you storing it?"

At this moment the incendiary oil outside was spreading, and in this tense situation the Princess Consort urged him to eat the candy.

Although Meng felt it strange, Gu Jiu Ling was his master.

He had signed a slave contract with Xiao Yin back then, making him the private property of Prince Rui; now the Prince transferred him to the Princess Consort's side.

Let alone eating a piece of candy, even if ordered to die, he wouldn't blink.

Meng took the sugar Gu Jiu Ling gave, peeled the wrapper and put it in his mouth; his brows slightly furrowed, the taste felt odd, yet it was still quite tasty.

Gu Jiu Ling watched Meng's expression and thought, indeed a trained martial artist, far more alert than Li Pangpang.

Fortunately he is her dark guard; even if ordered to die, he must obey her.

"Another piece?" Gu Jiu Ling looked at Meng.

Li Pangpang went down after just one piece, but this kid is holding up remarkably well.

Meng obediently unwrapped another piece, put it in his mouth; after chewing a moment his face slightly changed, and he looked at Gu Jiu Ling in surprise.

"Be good, sleep!" Gu Jiu Ling patted his shoulder and then injected a needle into his vein; sleeping for one to two days is no problem.

Gu Jiu Ling dragged Meng into the space, then took out a firestarter and lit it.

The flame leapt up, shining together with the incendiary oil about to pour in from outside, making the cavern look like hell on earth.

The red firelight reflected in Gu Jiu Ling's eyes; she curled her lip in a sneer and threw the fire striker at a mechanism near the cave entrance.

With a boom, the earth shook and mountains trembled; dust instantly filled the entire tunnel.

The black-robed person sitting not far from the cave entrance was covered in dust, startled by the sound of the cavern collapsing.

"Master, be careful!" Several Duan Family guards hurriedly supported the black-robed person and moved to the side, incredulously staring at the cave spewing thick smoke ahead.

The Duan Family guards whispered among themselves.

"How? How did it collapse?"

"Could it be the incendiary oil burned the entrance shut?"

"Impossible—just now we hammered it and didn't budge the rock wall a bit; now we're burning it with incendiary oil inside, how could it collapse?"

"Maybe the stone inside is brittle; anyway we can't get in, so we don't know what's really happening in there."

"My lord!" Suddenly a hurried footsteps sound came.

Two Duan Family guards knelt before the black-robed person, faces pale with panic, loudly reporting: "My lord! The city… is breached!"

"What did you say?!" The black-robed person lost composure for the first time, voice trembling.

The two guards, voices choked with tears, said: "We still had some fighting strength, but our elites ate the Zhang Family grain merchant's food, now each has gone mad, actually turning swords on their own comrades."

"The west gate of Yingzhou City has already been breached by the Azure Dragon Army; Xiao Yin rides a warhorse charging toward our office here, my lord, quickly think of a plan—if Prince Rui catches us…"

They didn't dare say the rest; Xiao Yin is infamous for cruelty in Shang Jing; this time they burned the Princess Consort alive in the cave—if Xiao Yin catches them, he won't just skin them alive; that wouldn't be Xiao Yin.

The black-robed person's voice urgent: "Where is Xiao Yin now?"

"In reply to my lord, Prince Rui has already brought men toward our office here; our people have withdrawn to this place; please give us orders, my lord."

The black-robed person couldn't help cursing inwardly; he had originally found this secret passage leading out of the city, not wanting too many to know about it. xiumь. com

But these fools actually followed his trail here; those people each have their own schemes—the Eight Great Families have always just scraped by together.

Both sides have their own sense of duty; now facing great calamity, even kin cannot all escape unscathed.

Other families already know his whereabouts this time, but the black-robed person hasn't devised a counterplan yet; the rest of the families' people have already rushed over here.

They even had someone enlarge that dog-hole entrance a bit; the leaders, one after another, went first down into the underground passage.

The black-robed person composed himself and turned slowly; seeing him, the other families' hearts skipped a beat.

From these days it's clear that the black-robed person's status in the Duan Family is very high.

Before the black-robed person could react, other families had already rushed along the passage over.

Several people saw the black-robed person standing outside the cave where Gu Jiu Ling was burned to death, and they all stopped in unison.

Since yesterday they've been unable to contact the Duan Family elder, and too lazy to check; everyone tacitly understands.

Now, where is there any Duan elder left nearby?

Even if this strange black-robed person appears, the Duan Family has already sent word: if the Duan Family elder unfortunately perishes, the black-robed person shall take charge.

The other families' strength is no match for the Duan Family; now everyone panics and has no direction, even if they surround the black-robed person in the middle.

The black-robed person sees that the secret tunnel matter can't be concealed any longer; outside, even the shouts of killing can be faintly heard; he took a deep breath.

He looked at the Eight Great Families rushing forward bravely; this bunch of scum clung to him like plaster.

He demanded the Eight Great Families give their all, coordinate inside and out, to trap Xiao Yin to death outside Hengzhou City; but these people each have their own thoughts, nobody wants to exert full effort, all wishing to preserve their own strength.

As a result, Xiao Yin instead found a loophole; now great disaster looms, and they actually followed his scent here, intending to share this secret passage with him.

The black-robed person still had some doubts about Gu Jiu Ling's death; he originally wanted to draw a few people in to look, but the tomb passage's collapse was severe—none of those people would dare go in even if asked.

"Since you all have come and trust our Duan Family, some things still need to be said clearly in front of you."

The black-robed person's voice was hoarse; the others felt uncomfortable listening, but could endure.

The black-robed person pointed to the rear entrance; at this moment the smoke had thinned a bit, yet the entrance was completely blown shut.

Yet not a single step could be taken inside; the remaining Eight Great Families' people looked at the Duan Family's black-robed oddity, pointed to his rear entrance, and indeed had no idea what he intended to do.

The black-robed person spoke slowly: "Inside is Prince Rui's beloved Princess Consort, Gu Jiu Ling."

At squatting time a clamor: "Gu Jiu Ling? Quickly seize her; this is perfect to find Xiao Yin to negotiate — we might even save our lives, not just save our lives, I estimate people will even live longer."

The black-robed person didn't stop these people, then lightly laughed and said: "However, the people have already been burned to death inside."

As soon as the black-robed person's words fell, everyone was frightened and shuddered, actually at a loss what to do.