Chapter 219 – Very dangerous little wooden prison
When the iron door was closed, the path in front of her eyes immediately became dark. She could feel the two gazes behind her like poisonous snakes landing on her body, full of coldness. But she had no way to retreat so she pretended to be afraid as she said. "So dark ah!"
"No need to be worried, there will be light soon." In the darkness, one only saw that Daoist priest wave his hand and suddenly with a whoosh sound, a flame appeared in the stone by the side of his body. And that flame seemed to be alive, slowly following the groove in the stone and rushing along it. Very quickly, it lit up one lantern after another.
Chu Qing-Yan smelled the kerosene in the air, now she understood. It turned out that all of the grooves in the stone were filled with kerosene, it only required a tiny flame to light up the entire tunnel. And at the highest place there was a place that cut off the bucket of kerosene. If that little board wasn"t opened then after the kerosene was all burned up, the light would automatically go out. She couldn"t help but admire the intellect of the people in ancient times.
Now wasn"t the time to admire these things, because the Daoist priest behind her had already shoved her, trying to make her go down quicker.
Step by step she slowly went down the stone steps, using the light from the flame her eyes squinted as she looked down. How deep did they dig this ah, to have so many stone steps! After walking for about 15 minutes, she began to walk on level ground again.
Then there were three stone doors in front of her. Chu Qing-Yan couldn"t help but frown, what were so many doors used for? Is it possible the crafty rabbit had three burrows?
She only saw that Daoist priest advance forward and place his hand on the lion lock of the door to the right. He turned it to the left for three turns then turned it to the right for seven turns. Afterwards he retreated several steps back, that heavy stone door slowly rose up.
This was the first time Chu Qing-Yan saw this kind of scene, she gaped in awe.
Seeing Chu Qing-Yan"s astonished expression, that Daoist priest was even more certain that this fellow"s mind was very simple, easily fooled. So he let go of his worries.
"Daoist priest, we can"t walk through the other two doors?" Chu Qing-Yan put away her astonished expression and innocently asked.
One only saw that Daoist priest laugh in a low tone. His voice echoed in the tunnel. "In here is the road to the sun. Over there is the door to h.e.l.l."
Chu Qing-Yan felt cold from head to toe. Her heart already had a not so good guess.
"Teacher!" They arrived at another stone door and saw a similarly dressed in gray apprentice standing at attention by the door. He was in the midst of bowing down in greeting to the Daoist priest. And when they saw Chu Qing-Yan, they weren"t surprised at all, because inside they had several tens of young boys and girls around her age.
Chu Qing-Yan didn"t reveal any panic, on the contrary she smilingly said to that Daoist priest. "Is this your territory? Really big ah!"
Hearing this, that Daoist priest laughed profoundly. "Little young master, want to go in and tour it? It"s even better inside!"
Chu Qing-Yan cheerfully accepted.
The Daoist priest smiled thickly and brought her inside the stone door.
Entering the door, Chu Qing-Yan"s view instantly widened. Up ahead was an area as big as a horse riding arena. Only inside was full of several tens of large and small wooden prisons. Chu Qing-Yan stared hard and saw that locked inside were children about her age.
Were these the children that were stolen from the city?
She only saw that those children that were locked in the prison all had expressions of fear when looking at them or a shy appearance. All of them were dirty from head to toe. It was sufficient to see that they had been in here for a long time.
At this moment that Daoist priest pushed Chu Qing-Yan forward, finally revealing his evil nature. "Boy, today you should just stay together with them!"
Chu Qing-Yan stumbled a bit, very quickly several apprentices approached from the side and detained her. One person asked. "Teacher, should we lock him in the wooden prison? There are enough children to make up 49, is having an extra not useful?"
That Daoist priest used a disappointed gaze to look at his disciple. "You guys think that while performing the sorcery there won"t be a slip-up? This child is reserved as backup. Just in case one of them dies halfway, this child can be used as a subst.i.tute!"
Once this was said, Chu Qing-Yan could hear the uproar among those children in the wooden prison. A lot of them had started to cry out loud, and some of the apprentices that were guarding the prison moved forward and fiercely whipped toward the wooden prison. "Cry again, cry again and I won"t be holding back anymore. This whip won"t be hitting here, rather it would hit you guys" bodies!"
Ruthless, brutal, reeking of blood and inhumane!
Chu Qing-Yan bit her teeth, hands tightly clenched into fists. With great difficulty, she resisted the anger in her chest and let those people push her into another wooden prison.
"After another hour, we"ll begin the refining!" That Daoist priest stroked his white beard and looked at the tens of wooden prisons full of satisfaction. Everything was ready, he only needed to start. He was only a step away from success!
"Hahaha——"
A devilish sound echoed. Chu Qing-Yan slanted a glance at that Daoist priest who was immersed in the joy of being just on the verge of success. She sized up the situation all around, estimating the chances of being able to escape.
There were a total of 12 people guarding the prison, all of them had weapons in hand. On the side there were three stone doors. One was the exit, one seemed to have traps placed in it. The other ought to be the door to the place where the Daoist priest and apprentices rested.
And she only had one hour.
Time is pressing, how to save the people ah?
Front courtyard of Liu manor.
Once Earth Spirit said that, Xiao Xu"s complexion changed slightly. He said to the Retired Emperor. "Grandpa emperor, I"m handing over the matters after this to you." Finished speaking without waiting for the Retired Emperor"s reaction, he immediately tossed all the people behind and left toward the back courtyard.
Fire Spirit and Earth Spirit seeing this immediately followed, leaving the Retired Emperor by himself to deal with the people in the front courtyard. His eyes were opened wide, glaring as he hopped about reproaching. "You little brat!"
Once he arrived at the back courtyard Xiao Xu pushed open the room Chu Qing-Yan once stayed in. Inside was empty, he frowned and turned around wanting to leave, but inadvertently saw a drop of blood left behind by Liu Fu"s servant. He leaned down to examine it and his expression immediately darkened.
At this moment, Earth Spirit also found it and immediately said. "Just now, this subordinate was in a hurry so didn"t notice this drop of blood."
Fire Spirit had already brought over the several burly men under restraints that sent the little consort here. He tossed them to the ground, those burly guys with a physique like a tiger"s were now trembling like little sheeps.
"Quickly say, what did you guys do to our little young master?" Fire Spirit flashed his weapon and placed it on the neck of one of the guys among them, asking in a reproachful tone.
"Several heroes spare my life ah. We don"t know where that little young master went. We carried that wooden box into this room. Seeing that little young master was sleeping and didn"t wake up, we didn"t pay him much mind and just closed the door. Us brothers then went over to a corner and started to play mahjong. We also don"t know why in the end that little young master disappeared!" One person among them raised both hands and said this while wanting to cry but lacking the tears.
Who knew how the clearly drugged person that was sleeping would just disappear!
Fire Spirit lifted his head saying to the thick ice like master in front of him. "This subordinate feels that what these people said ought to be the truth. Just now when this subordinate found them, they were playing mahjong. They simply didn"t know what happened in the front courtyard."
Xiao Xu glanced at the blood drops on the ground, his tone was frigid. "Not a fly can fly out of Liu manor. The people should still be inside the manor. Search for this king by digging a meter into the ground!"