Chapter 485: Tsukahara

Huangfu Hui ran with all his might, using his light-foot technique, blood spilling from the wounds he had torn open on his body, but he didn't care at all.

Shortly after, he arrived at a courtyard in the deepest part of the Huang Mansion.

Two men in sturdy clothes were guarding the entrance. Seeing a blood-soaked person rushing over, they were startled and hurriedly raised their blades to shout questions.

"Who!"

"It's me!"

Huangfu Hui shouted.

"Master! It's the Master!"

The two men recognized his voice and, thinking he had been injured in a fight with someone, hurriedly stepped forward to help him.

"You—Gk!"

As they approached, Huangfu Hui took advantage of their lack of preparation and struck two punches at their throats.

The two fell to the ground, clutching their throats, rolling a few times before falling silent.

Huangfu Hui stepped over the corpses and walked quickly into the courtyard.

This was an extremely spacious courtyard, laid out with blue stone slabs, with a small pond dug in the center, surrounded by flowers and plants swaying in the wind.

But if one shifted their perspective to the surrounding houses, they would feel a chill run down their spine.

The houses on all four sides of this small courtyard had no doors or windows.

All the walls were built of blue stone, neither letting in wind nor light, with dew condensing on them, sliding slowly down the stone walls.

And at the bottom of these walls, near the ground, there was a hole one foot wide and one inch high every three feet or so, with a dirty empty plate placed outside each hole, some dried food remaining on them.

As Huangfu Hui's footsteps echoed in the courtyard, rustling sounds began to emerge from the sealed houses on all four sides.

From the hole closest to the entrance, a hand suddenly reached out slowly, groping toward the empty plate tremblingly.

It was a petite hand, a woman's hand.

Yet it had lost all the delicacy of a woman; the flesh was withered, the skin covered in a thick layer of dust, the nails were all gone, leaving only ten bare fingers, with thick scabs on the wounds.

Then came the second, the third, the fourth...

More and more hands reached out from the holes at the bottom of the houses.

All were equally thin and pale, all lacked nails, and all trembled involuntarily as they groped toward the empty plates on the ground.

Upon realizing there was no food on the plates, these hands retracted violently.

From these holes, low sobbing sounds of women emerged.

And as the women's sobbing sounds emerged, another kind of crying sound gradually rose.

"Wah—wah—"

The crying of infants.

Huangfu Hui ignored them and walked quickly to a corner of the courtyard, crouched down, and pressed a button on an inconspicuous stone in the corner.

Click-clack-clack—

The sound of gears turning rang out, revealing an entrance one foot square.

Huangfu Hui jumped down.

After descending one zhang, he reached the ground.

He moved forward along the secret passage and reached a door after a few breaths.

A window on the door opened, revealing a pair of eyes.

"Who?"

"Yamashita-kun, it's me."

Huangfu Hui said in a deep voice.

"Huangfu-kun?"

Those eyes narrowed, the window closed, and the main door opened.

A man wearing a kimono reached out and supported Huangfu Hui's arm, leading him inside.

"Who injured you like this! Where is Sato-kun?"

Huangfu Hui waved his hand.

"The situation is critical, no time to explain. Sato-kun is holding off the enemy, but he can't hold for long... We cannot let Sato-kun's sacrifice go to waste; we must destroy everything before the enemy finds us, it must not fall into the enemy's hands!"

The man in the kimono frowned.

"This serious... Very well, I trust Huangfu-kun's judgment, follow me."

Having said that, he led Huangfu Hui into a hidden door.

As soon as he entered, Huangfu Hui couldn't help but frown, raising his hand to cover his mouth and nose. ===== CHAPTER 486 =====