Chapter 443: Tunnel Collapse, Setting Foot in Chongguang

In the tunnel, the sound of explosions from afar lingered for a long time.

The earthen walls above and below trembled violently, with clods of dirt constantly peeling off and shattering into dust.

After an unknown amount of time, sounds of chain-reaction collapses, cracking, and impacts echoed through.

Once the dust settled, this section of the Zhenxiong Yu had been buried underground, covered by tens of thousands of tons of soil.

In the short term, the City Gate Guard would be unable to dig a passage to track them down.

*Patta, patta! * Du Wuyao looked back gloomily, shedding tears of emotion, "Little Fatty, you sacrificed yourself for your big brother. Go in peace."

Zhou You felt a toothache from the sheer acidity of his pretentious display.

He had just witnessed the destructive power of the Poison Thunder Strike; using the flesh and blood of Pang Dahai as a primer, it exploded upon contact, and the massive amount of highly concentrated poison inside formed a shockwave that was released in the narrow, cramped underground space, resulting in a veritable disaster.

If the power of an ordinary martial artist self-detonating their Qi and blood is 10, then the power of a Poison Thunder Strike triggered by Pang Dahai is in the range of 100 to 1000.

"Brother Lu, you and I hit it off immediately; we met once before, and now you have risked danger to save me from prison. Such deep affection and righteousness must be repaid like a gushing spring," Du Wuyao said, grabbing Zhou You's hands with emotion.

"Think nothing of it, think nothing of it. Although Brother Du has regained your freedom, the City Gate Guard has suffered a great loss and will certainly not let this rest."

Zhou You analyzed earnestly, "It would be better to return to the Ten Thousand Poisons Secret Workshop to hide and lay low for a while."

"That makes sense, and I have the same intention."

Du Wuyao and Zhou You walked through the deep tunnel while talking, "Chongguang Cheng is close to Fucheng and is not a place to stay for long. After we exit the tunnel and rest a little, we will leave the city for the Ten Thousand Poisons Secret Workshop."

Zhou You subconsciously touched his waist; a previously empty Poison Nest now had a new occupant: the large earthworm.

After killing Tu Longke earlier, he had originally intended to slaughter this long worm, but he suddenly thought that such a creature was rare and he might need to excavate underground secret passages or chambers in the future, so he had it put into the Poison Nest to hibernate.

The two crawled out of the tunnel entrance and left after hurriedly covering their tracks.

At this time, Chongguang Cheng was still under heavy guard, with the Xi family's men searching everywhere for suspicious individuals.

The changes in Fucheng had not yet reached the underground city, so they did not yet know that Du Wuyao had escaped from prison and collapsed the underground entrance in the process.

"Let me find a place to take a hot bath, have a hearty meal, and get a good night's sleep."

Du Wuyao had been stifled in the Zhenxiong Yu for too long; after eating and drinking his fill, he spent that night with ten women, living a life of debauchery day and night.

Although he was ugly in appearance, he was willing to spend money, and the women catered to him diligently, allowing him to enjoy all the tenderness.

Three days later, the two, having reorganized, left Chongguang Cheng; despite several twists and turns, they still successfully exited the city.

Lu Zhigang was gone, but Moyunzi was still in Chongguang Cheng and had not left.

He settled down in Chongguang Cheng and found a profession convenient for "fishing": ghostwriting documents.

Hmm, back in Gongliang City, Kunpengzi had also used this profession to disguise his identity before being exposed by Zhou You.

In troubled times, it is not easy for scholars to make a living; it is nothing more than selling calligraphy and paintings, ghostwriting, and the like, and this line of work is also highly competitive.

Zhou You had a solid foundation in Seal Script and wrote a fine hand, and his skills in metal and stone carving were also quite deep, so he would occasionally take on a job or two of seal carving.

Gradually, he built a reputation, made friends with several repeat customers, and earned enough to live without worry.

During his period of being Dormant, it was the Lu Zhigang persona that entered the auction house, wreaked havoc in Chongguang Cheng, and later dug tunnels and raided the Zhenxiong Yu—a series of events that were quite spectacular.

During this time, Chongguang Cheng was also not peaceful, as the Xi family searched the entire city, attempting to dig up clues about the Buguo Wu Auction House.

Alas, this organization was tightly structured, its movements were a mystery, and its internal members were few but elite, all at the Strong Martial Level.

After much fuss for many days, they caught many small fry, but not a single official member of the auction house was captured. Besides this, there were undercurrents surging within the city, and it was never peaceful for a moment.

Someone was screening the old men in the city, not letting a single one with white hair and a white beard go, going door-to-door to question them one by one.

Zhou You had been questioned several times; the content was nothing more than when he came to Chongguang Cheng, who he had met, and whether he had any strange pouches at home.

Regardless of whether it was burlap, leather, or something else, everything was turned inside out and checked thoroughly.

He pretended to be ignorant, but in his heart, he understood that someone was tracking the Hunger Pouch.

Because Zhou You had previously confirmed that such a treasure had never appeared in this world—a vessel that could compress space and store items exceeding its own volume—the Hunger Pouch was one of a kind.

Chongguang Cheng was the first place Zhou You had publicly displayed the peculiar nature of this item.

Now, someone was conducting a massive screening of the old men in the city based on the characteristics he had shown that day, looking for his whereabouts.

Behind this, there was certainly no lack of attention from the Golden Immortal Dao.

Zhou You waited quietly; if the Golden Immortal Dao did not show their faces, he would not show his either—everyone could just wait it out! Ever since he saw Liu Tianxian in Fucheng, he had not doubted the power of the Golden Immortal Dao for a second; these people had a deep connection with the noble families back then!

Zhou You leaned over the table, a long, golden, jelly-like seal in his hand, as a sharp Diamond Knife brought up wisps of stone dust from the surface.

His movements appeared slow, but they were actually as smooth as flowing clouds and water, with not a hint of hesitation at the corners and turns.

This seal was a big order he had received, with a labor fee of 10 taels.

It was a regular day. The customer was an old patron who liked his vigorous and powerful brushwork and had ordered 7 or 8 seals before.

"Huhu!"

With every stroke of the knife, Zhou You exhaled to blow away the stone dust, his eyes fixed on the intaglio characters carved by the knife.

He was completely immersed in the metal and stone Seal Script, oblivious to the passage of time outside.

It was not until the sound of the night watchman knocking sounded outside the door and the lamplight spilled onto the street that he realized it was already midnight.

Taking a deep breath, there was still some finishing work left that could be completed tomorrow.

He put away his tools and the seal, stood up to stretch, and walked behind the door to look out.

Through the crack in the door, he saw the lamplight slowly moving away down the street, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of the night watchman's clapper.

Chongguang Cheng was located underground and never saw the sun or moon, so unlike surface cities, the night watchmen patrolled continuously for the twelve double-hours of the day; in addition, they had to carry lamps to patrol the streets and alleys and report the time regularly.

Zhou You looked at the back of the lamplighting watchman and calculated, "They have been coming quite frequently lately."

The shop he rented was 2 meters wide and 3 meters deep, a partitioned Dutou Pu; this was very common in Chongguang Cheng, as small merchants who could not afford large shops liked such single rooms because the rental cost was low.

During the day, they would set up a table to solicit business, and at night, when they wanted to sleep, they would put the table away and sleep on the floor.

Because the space was so small, customers could only talk at the door and could not even enter the shop, which could be said to be very arduous.

Neighborhoods filled with Dutou Pu were often the fringes of the fringes, barely maintaining the daily order of the city.

The lamplighting watchman would not come more than a few times a month, usually patrolling and reporting the time in the wealthy and prosperous districts.

However, Zhou You had recently noticed that the night watchman passed by with an abnormally high frequency, both day and night.

This meant someone was watching him!

(End of chapter)