Cave Exit

Feng Yang's hands grasped at the air aimlessly. "Wu Yang! Speak up!"

Lin Chaoying grasped his hand, which was suspended in mid-air, and said, "Feng Yang, I am the superhuman sent by the 12th Street of Jiazhou to rescue you."

Feng Yang froze, his voice trembling with disbelief, "You're here... Have you seen my sister, Cen Ting?"

Lin Chaoying lowered her head, sighed heavily, and then took his hand, guiding it to touch the girl on his back. The moment his hands touched Cen Ting's face, Feng Yang knelt up in surprise and softly called out, "Cen Ting! Cen Ting! How are you?"

He frowned, looking bewildered, and asked, "Why is she ignoring me? Did she faint from her injuries?"

Lin Chaoying didn't know how to answer, so she looked away, not daring to look at him.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Feng Yang anxiously stroked Cen Ting, his fingers touching her nose. She wasn't breathing. Shocked, he released her, repeatedly saying, "Impossible, impossible! Cen Ting! Did you hear your brother? Answer me!"

As Feng Yang spoke, he covered his face with his hands, knelt on the ground, and began to sob.

Lin Chaoying: "I'm sorry, we're too late..."

Feng Yang cried like a child, sobbing uncontrollably. After wiping away his tears, he shook his head and said, "It's my fault, it's my fault for not protecting her, it's my fault for insisting on taking her to the mobile unit, it's all my fault! It's my fault for having too low mental strength, Wu Yang didn't even notice me. If my mental strength were higher, he wouldn't have only been focused on Cen Ting. It's all my fault..."

Lin Chaoying: "Feng Yang! Feng Yang!"

She grabbed his arm and said earnestly, "You're right. We should blame Wu Yang, that pervert, and blame the Ghost Gate for using a series of traps to ensnare all the superhumans in Twelfth Street. Let's get out of here first, bury Cen Ting, and find Chi Jiang, okay?"

Feng Yang nodded.

Lin Chao-ying: "Do you know how many entrances and exits there are underground?"

Feng Yang: "I can't see it anymore, but there should still be an exit. There's one from the direction you came from, and I remember there's another one from the other direction. Wu Liang and Wu Yang came to this prison from different locations."

Lin Chaoying looked ahead, "That means there's an exit if you keep going forward." She was about to stand up, but due to the long period of exertion, she was too weak and fell to the ground. Cen Ting also fell to the ground.

Hearing the noise, Feng Yang asked, "What's wrong?"

Lin Chaoying adjusted her breathing, her hands trembling as she covered her stomach, which was cramping from not eating for so long, and her throat was so dry that she could barely saliva. "I'm fine."

Feng Yang: "Where are your other partners?"

Lin Chaoying said bitterly, "Since we were scattered, I came to rescue you first. I'll come down after I've settled you all in."

She looked back, but in the darkness, only dust floated in the air; there was no sign of her friends, no sound of their voices.

Feng Yang: "I'm sorry, I'm out of strength. I just used up my last bit of mental energy, I..."

Lin Chaoying pretended to be relaxed, "It's okay, I have plenty of strength." She blinked hard, then carried Cen Ting on her back again, and instructed, "Feng Yang, hold onto this strap. I'll walk slowly, so be careful when you walk."

Feng Yang: "Don't worry about me, I'll stay close to you."

This road is much more winding than the one we came by. Lin Chaoying wondered if the underground of Wu Family Manor had been dug out almost completely.

She asked, "How did you find the entrance to the cave below? Were you also lured down by Wu Feng and the others?"

Feng Yang: "Sort of, but we were brought here by Zhang Lu and Zhang Shang."

Lin Chaoying: "Zhang Lu and Zhang Shang?"

Feng Yang explained, "Zhang Lu is the nanny at Wu Family Manor, and Zhang Shang is the driver."

Lin Chaoying suddenly realized, "You mean, everyone in Wu Family Manor is a superhuman?"

“That’s right.” Feng Yang continued, “After we entered the manor, we found that our mental strength was getting weaker and weaker. Everyone was careful and dared not separate. The people of the manor used the secret of the mountain god to have the maid, housekeeper, nanny and driver pretend to leave messages, forcing us to separate. Finally, they led us into the cave. Our already weak mental strength had to face various plant attacks along the way, and we finally fell into Wu Yang’s trap.”

Lin Chaoying gritted her teeth and cursed, "How vicious!" At the same time, she was surprised by Wu Liang's bottom line as a father, "Wu Liang would do anything for his son?"

Feng Yang: "No, the two of them have a deep conflict."

"What?" Lin Chaoying stopped, turned to look at him, and asked in confusion, "He was willing to set up a trap to lure the superhumans of Twelve Streets to train his son, so how could there be a conflict?"

Feng Yang said definitively, "There is definitely a conflict. Several times when Wu Yang was furious, he would hit us while cursing Wu Liang. Wu Liang brought his youngest daughter down to watch Wu Yang fight with us."

Lin Chaoying felt uncomfortable because of this family's perverted behavior.

Feng Yang sighed, "It seems that Twelfth Street will only send more superhumans into the manor. I wonder if Commander Lin has realized the seriousness of the problem!"

Lin Chaoying: "They will definitely realize it, but we can't wait for their rescue. I don't know the situation up there. I'll try to hide you first, and then I'll find a chance to contact people outside."

Lin Chaoying felt as if she had walked a whole life without ever finding the door ahead. Feng Yang followed silently behind her, answering her questions one by one.

Perhaps because it was too quiet, Feng Yang took the initiative to say, "I don't know your name yet."

She replied, "Lin Chaoying."

Feng Yang: "You must not be in the same year as us, right? I've never heard of you before."

Lin Chaoying: "No, I was an unofficial staff member that Qin Ming recruited in Jiaozhou."

"Unofficial staff?" Feng Yang grabbed the rope around his waist, stopped in his tracks, and said, "You're not a descendant of Twelfth Street? You're not a staff member of Twelfth Street either?"

His strong reaction left Lin Chaoying completely bewildered. "Yeah, what's wrong?"

Feng Yang: "Qin Ming is really crazy. You haven't been trained, how can you fight against the Ghost Gate? What does the matter between Twelve Streets and the Ghost Gate have to do with you? Go up there later and say that you are not from Twelve Streets and that you are willing to join the Ghost Gate. That will save your life."

He turned his back and said, "You should go now, don't worry about me."

Lin Chaoying never expected him to say these things. "Qin Ming, Qian Fei, and Kong Yue are very good friends of mine. They have also saved me. I don't think there's anything wrong with saving a friend's friend."

"You don't understand!" Feng Yang said anxiously and angrily, "If Qin Ming really considered you a friend, he shouldn't have dragged you into this. The conflict between the Ghost Gate and the Twelfth Street has lasted for thousands of years. They fight to the death whenever they meet. But if you don't take sides, don't cause trouble, and live a normal life, the Ghost Gate won't kill you. The Twelfth Street is basically a public servant. They are born to work to protect ordinary people and people with superpowers like you. It's their duty. You should leave quickly. Once you leave, just say that you were tricked into joining us because you admire the Ghost Gate's abilities. They will give you a test. The first test will be able to verify if you are from the Twelfth Street. You haven't participated in our training, so you will definitely pass! Maybe they will see that you are exceptionally talented and keep you here so you can find a chance to escape."

"Whose life isn't a life?" Lin Chaoying was too lazy to listen to his reasoning and continued to pull him forward. "My life is no more precious than yours. There's no such thing as what I should or shouldn't do."

Feng Yang: "Why can't you understand what I'm saying!"

He made a move to remove the rope, but Lin Chaoying turned around and grabbed his hand, completely losing her patience. "Feng Yang! I don't have time to argue with you! Are you blind, not brain-damaged? Think about it carefully. The only reason we've been able to walk safely for so long is that Wu Yang was held back by Qin Ming and the others. You know that when I left, Kong Yue was hanging from the stone wall, and Jiang Chuangu was covered in blood. They wouldn't last long. I saved you, and my friends are still waiting for me. So there's no obligation or duty involved. My time is precious. Just listen to my instructions and behave yourself."

Feng Yang remained silent.

Lin Chaoying concluded by reminding him, "When I was in Peach Blossom Village, I helped Twelve Street capture Chu Tang. Do you think the Ghost Gate people would believe that I sincerely wanted to join?"

The cave returned to silence. Feng Yang didn't speak, but as he walked behind, he would quietly lift Cen Ting's legs, helping her relieve the pressure.

Lin Chaoying's lips were cracked and dry, and she was so tired that she couldn't even sweat. She relied on her willpower to support herself against the wall and finally found a structure different from stone at a corner. After tapping it a few times, she confirmed that it was wood, and it felt similar to the material they had entered through the entrance.

She put Cen Ting down and said, "I need to leave my body to check the location of the exit, so my body will lose consciousness. I'll sit here, and you can hold my hand with your right hand in case of any sudden changes."

Feng Yang squatted on the ground, his left arm around Cen Ting's cold body, and his right hand tightly holding onto Lin Chaoying.

Lin Chaoying took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes. She had always heard of "spiritual power" before and thought it was an ethereal description. This time, she truly felt how difficult it was to use her superpowers when this power was weak.

At that moment, she exerted all her strength, drawing upon the deepest power in her body and mind, and her soul painstakingly separated from her body.

She floated out of the cave entrance; the sky outside was a dark blue-green, and it looked like dawn was approaching.

Lin Chaoying spiraled upwards and found that the location was Qingfeng Courtyard, the most remote place in the southwest corner, which was the closest to the back mountain to the west. This cave entrance was the warehouse of the outer courtyard of Qingfeng Courtyard facing north.

Qingfeng Courtyard and the main courtyard Cuihua Courtyard are separated by a garden.

This garden, extending from southeast to northwest, is composed of pavilions, pathways, and artificial hills; it's almost larger than the Forbidden City's rear garden...

Unable to find a back door leading out of Qingfeng Courtyard and the adjacent garden, Lin Chaoying had no choice but to find a place where the two of them could hide safely and not be discovered in a short time.

If it's hidden in the yard, it'll be troublesome if someone needs to clean the room.

Her gaze was focused on the area behind the garden pavilion, where there was an open space under a connecting artificial hill. Crucially, it was also close to the entrance of Qingfeng Courtyard's warehouse, which would prevent the group from being exposed too much on the ground.

Lin Chaoying was thankful that there were no surveillance cameras in the villa, otherwise they would all be doomed.

She returned to the cave and explained the situation to Feng Yang, then instructed him, "No one is moving around in the villa now. It's almost dawn, and I'm worried that there will be more people in the courtyard. Trust me, the rockery is the most secluded spot nearby."

Feng Yang naturally trusted her and nodded.

Lin Chaoying took out the knife Cen Ting had given her from her waist, aimed it at the gap, and swiftly and ruthlessly chopped down from top to bottom. With the sound of metal objects colliding, the wooden door opened.

She carried Cen Ting on her back again, tied straps around her arms so she could hold onto Feng Yang, and climbed towards the light.

Lin Chaoying lay on the warehouse floor, breathing heavily. The air below was so thin that she felt like she was going to run out of oxygen.

Not daring to linger too long, she led Cen Ting and Feng Yang onward. Feng Yang, worried about getting in the way or making noise, walked extremely carefully. Finally, as the scent of fresh grass reached their noses, they heard a familiar voice.

Lin Chaoying: "Feng Yang, three people can't get under the artificial hill. I'll help you determine the direction. You crawl in, and I'll push Cen Ting from behind. When you reach the end, turn over and pull Cen Ting up with you."

Following her instructions, Feng Yang successfully entered the artificial mountain and finally positioned Cen Ting next to him.

Lin Chaoying noticed that the small artificial hill next to her was exactly the size of an empty artificial hill. If it were pushed in, not only would it not be noticeable from the outside, but because the stones were embedded so completely, there was no way to pull it from the outside.

She crouched down, crawled into the artificial hill, and said, "Feng Yang, I will use the artificial hill next to me to block the entrance. People outside won't be able to see it or pull it open. Only people inside can push it out. So you not only need to remember my voice, I'll give you a secret signal."

Feng Yang: "Okay."

Lin Chaoying tapped the stone with her knife, "First three taps, then two more, then four more, then one more, then two more. Can you remember that?"

Feng Yang: "I can remember it."

Lin Chaoying: "I don't know if there are any people here with the ability to change their voice, so you can't open the app if you hear anyone else's voice. You can only open it with this code."

Feng Yang reached out his hand, and thinking he was injured somewhere, she asked, "What happened?"

He said, "Don't worry, I will stay here and protect Cen Ting and myself."

Lin Chaoying grasped his hand and said firmly, "I won't abandon you. Wait for me to come back!"