Chapter 182: Escaping the City and Being Followed

"It's over, Siqiang, we can't get out!" Xu Damao collapsed on the ground and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Facing such a desperate situation, Hu Yunbin also lost his composure as a Siqiang; his legs went weak, he slumped to the ground, and muttered, "What the Siqiang said back then has come true after all... This time, I was the one who broke the ancestor's rules first. Retribution, this is retribution! It's all retribution..."

The four of them were in similar states, all with pale faces and dazed expressions.

The ground beneath their feet was constantly cracking, and it was clear it would reach them soon. The scorching magma made it difficult for everyone to breathe.

Xu Damao stared blankly at the pitch-black rock wall above his head, and suddenly, he rubbed his eyes vigorously—there seemed to be an opening at the top, about a foot square!

"Siqiang! Look there!" His voice trembled, and his finger pointed rigidly at the opening, "There's a hole there! It might be a way to survive!"

A glimmer of light suddenly burst into Hu Yunbin's deathly gray eyes.

He quickly pulled a bundle of Rope from his sheepskin bag, "It must be over ten meters high... Damao, can you get up there?"

"I'll try! I never lost to anyone at climbing trees when I was a kid!" Xu Damao sounded tough, but his heart was pounding.

The originally slippery rock wall had been scorched hot by the rising temperature inside the cave; this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but the stone wall only had a few scattered rock bumps to use for leverage. Without further thought, Xu Damao gritted his teeth and decided to give it a try.

He quickly took a piece of clothing from his sheepskin bag, tore it into strips, and wrapped his palms tightly.

Hu Yunbin was not idle either; while Xu Damao was wrapping his hands, he tied the Rope around his waist.

Xu Damao took a deep breath and stuck to the rock wall like a gecko.

The stone surface was somewhat hot, and every step he climbed upward required him to dig his fingers hard into those protrusions.

After just a few moves, his fingernails flipped back, and blood mixed with sweat flowed down his arms.

He didn't even let out a groan—to give up now meant death if he fell.

Three pairs of eyes below stared fixedly at him, as if he were their last straw.

The ground was collapsing at an accelerating rate. Ma Chun also tried to climb up, but he was too heavy; he had barely climbed three meters when he fell down with a "bang," leaving him bloodied and bruised.

Wang Donglai tried twice in succession but didn't even make it to two meters.

Hu Yunbin looked up at the bare rock wall, sighed heavily, and didn't even try—he knew clearly that at his age, it was absolutely impossible for him to climb up.

"Boom—!"

The ground shook violently, and the fissure darted toward their feet like a black snake.

At the critical moment, Xu Damao finally scrambled into the opening.

He lay on the ground panting heavily, his fingers already a bloody mess, but he didn't dare rest for a moment; he hurriedly untied the Rope from his waist, wrapped it tightly around a stalagmite several times, and threw the other end down with all his might.

"Quick! Siqiang! You go first!" he shouted downward.

Hu Yunbin quickly tied the Rope around his waist and gritted his teeth as he climbed up along the rope.

The rough Rope dug into his skin and flesh, and beads of sweat pelted down.

Xu Damao pulled with all his might from above, his face turning bright red, and his veins bulging out.

"Uncle Wang—!"

Xu Damao suddenly let out a roar.

Wang Donglai's footing gave way, and he plummeted into the abyss along with the collapsing ground, his body swallowed by the surging magma.

As soon as Hu Yunbin was pulled into the opening, Xu Damao immediately threw the Rope toward Ma Chun.

But it was one step too late.

"Boom!"

The scorching magma sprayed exactly onto Ma Chun, who was still persistently climbing on the rock wall.

He didn't even have time to scream before he turned into a fossil, fused tightly with the rock wall.

"Uncle Wang! Uncle Ma—!" Xu Damao's voice was completely hoarse, and he pounded his fists hard against the stone.

Hu Yunbin's eyes were bloodshot, and he punched the cave wall, "Lao Wang, Lao Ma, it's my fault for not stopping you; the tomb owner had already told us we couldn't touch his things..."

"Siqiang! Stop talking, let's run!" Xu Damao pulled him up, and they stumbled toward the outside.

Behind them was the roaring sound of constant collapse, and rubble was falling in the passage as well.

Both Xu Damao and Hu Yunbin had their heads battered and bleeding.

They didn't know how long they had been running when the space suddenly opened up, but the path had also come to an end.

On the ground in front of them was only a bottomless water pit, blocking their way like a well.

"Siqiang, there's no way out!" Xu Damao's voice was panicked.

Hu Yunbin forced himself to stay calm, took out his Compass to measure, and said, "If I haven't calculated wrong, this water should lead to the pool outside."

"But this water... is hot!"

"How do you know if you haven't tried?" As Hu Yunbin said this, he tied the Rope around Xu Damao's waist and slowly lowered him down.

Xu Damao reached out to test it and immediately shouted, "Siqiang! The water is very hot, but it won't kill anyone; it's bearable!"

The two of them jumped into the water one after the other, held their breath, and swam downward with all their might, after which they saw light.

When the two of them, one big and one small, climbed onto the shore naked, they were covered in wounds and in a sorry state.

The deep pool outside had long since changed; the originally thick layer of ice had melted away completely, leaving only a pool of steaming white vapor, which had actually turned into a hot spring.

Over at the Genjudi, He Yuzhu had been having a leisurely time these past few days.

He spent all day taking his younger sister He Yushui to play with knucklebones, marbles, and spinning tops.

Because He Yuzhu gave away many marbles, this thing actually became popular in the village, and even many soldiers became addicted to playing with them.

He Yushui had now become the leader of the children, always followed by a group of kids who all wanted to win those colorful marbles from her.

He Yushui was young and almost always lost, but she enjoyed it nonetheless, laughing happily every day.

At noon that day, He Yuzhu and He Yushui had spent the whole morning playing marbles with her little friends, so at noon, he kept her two little friends at home for a meal.

For this, He Yuzhu made a large basin of pickled cabbage with pork and a basin of Twice Cooked Pork.

Several people sat around the kang table, eating until their mouths were oily.

Wang Xiaomi and Li Dahua were eating such delicious food for the first time; each of them buried their heads and finished three bowls of rice and wanted more, but were firmly stopped by Shen Guizhi: "Little ancestors, you can't eat any more, you'll burst if you keep eating!" Saying this, she packed up the leftovers for the two girls to take home.

Just as he finished cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks, the door was knocked on with a "thump-thump."

He Yuzhu opened the door to see Ershuan standing outside, drenched in sweat, handing over a slip of paper.

He Yuzhu unfolded it and saw only one line of text: The young lady has something to attend to, return quickly. Tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock, meet at the old place.

His heart skipped a beat. Today is January 5th, five days away from the original departure date for Su Qing; Liu Rusi looking for him so urgently must mean something major has happened.

He dared not delay, leaving several dozen catties of rice at home and stuffing three catties of candy into He Yushui's hands, then he drove the truck and hurried toward Si Jiu Cheng.

As soon as he reached the city gate, he felt the atmosphere was off—the inspections were exceptionally strict.

He took out the identification document Liu Rusi had made for him, and the soldier guarding the gate flipped it over and over to check it several times before waving him through.

The truck had just driven past two streets when He Yuzhu caught sight of a military truck following him in the rearview mirror.

He understood perfectly—it must be that the matter of him saving Mayor Tian on the train had been exposed. Once Shen Shichang learned that Mayor Tian was not dead, he was surely trying to find him to cut the weeds and eliminate the roots.

Liu Rusi calling him back was most likely for this very reason.