Worried that the bandits would reveal the location of the cave to others, Chen Xiang led everyone back to the resting area.
Old Mrs. Zhu, along with her daughter-in-law and grandson, hid behind a rock. When they saw Chen Xiang return, they hurriedly went out.
"Lord Chen, what's the situation?"
"Thanks to the Crown Prince, the bandits have been scared away for the time being."
Chen Xiang, worried about Old Lady Zhu, hurriedly stepped forward to report the current situation, thinking of the potential dangers posed by the bandits' escape.
“Grandma Zhu, although the bandits have left, their location has been exposed. We need to find a way to escape.”
Grandma Zhu also felt that now was not the time to relax, and she looked around at her surroundings with a stern face.
"Lord Chen is absolutely right. Then let's travel together."
While she was hiding from the bandits, she noticed that there were four or five passages behind her.
The passage was pitch black, and it was impossible to see what was inside.
If you go alone, and encounter danger inside, others won't be able to get there in time to help.
“Alright, the situation inside Old Madam Zhu is unclear. The women should wait outside. They should split up into groups of two and act separately.”
As Chen Xiang turned to look at Zhu Chenfeng and Zhu Haotian, he pointed to Zhu Wen and An Qing, saying, "Zhu Wen is in a group with Brother Haowen."
"Anqing and Chenfeng are in one group, Xiao Chen is with me, and Xiao Zhao is protecting Grandma Zhu."
Pei Sining felt that this arrangement was still somewhat inappropriate, so she took out the hemp rope from the Qingsui cart.
"Lord Chen, why don't you enter in batches? We don't yet know what terrifying creatures might be inside the passage."
[That's right, that's right. Better safe than sorry. Even Xixi can't see what's going on inside.]
Based on the sounds coming from the passageway, there are creatures hiding inside. Everyone should remain cautious.
Chen Xiang initially thought this would take a while, but after hearing Xi Xi mention strange noises in the cave, he decided to take action.
He decisively took the rope and tied it around himself and Xiao Chen.
Seeing this, Zhu Haotian and Zhu Wen also took the rope and tied it around themselves.
Zhu Chenfeng, An Qing, and Xiao Zhao each carried a rope for one of the two teams, and then slowly loosened the ropes after the group entered the passage.
The others watched nervously as the group slowly entered the passage. As time passed, Chen Xiang and Zhu Chenfeng emerged from the passage one after the other.
“It’s a dead end inside, Brother Chenfeng, what about your side?” Chen Xiang asked Zhu Chenfeng with a frown as he untied the rope after coming out of the passage.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Chenfeng turned to look at Chen Xiang, sighed with his head down, and said, "The passage behind me is also a fatal flaw."
"There are still two passages left, we need to go in and check them out." Pei Sining looked at Chen Xiang and Zhu Chenfeng anxiously and said hastily.
After hearing Zhu Chenfeng's words, Chen Xiang nodded heavily, "It seems that these are the only two routes left. If these two are also fatal weaknesses, then we can only leave this place facing the storm."
"Otherwise, if the bandits track us down and come here, we might not even have a chance to escape."
Zhu Chenfeng agreed to Chen Xiang's suggestion, picked up the rope and tied it around his waist, saying, "I'll take this route."
"Then I'll take this route." Seeing that his younger brother had already set off, Zhu Haotian hurriedly tied the rope around himself and headed towards the remaining cave.
Chen Xiang took out a brush from his bundle and walked to the two passages he had explored to mark them.
Xi Xi was also worried that her two uncles might encounter monsters in the passage, so she hurriedly made babbling sounds to her mother.
As her mother gently lulled her to sleep, she gradually drifted off to sleep.
After falling asleep, Xixi quickly entered the space and found that it had been upgraded again, becoming even more luxurious.
The surroundings were filled with twinkling lights, but she didn't bother to appreciate the new scene in the space. Her chubby little hands were busy turning the projector screen.
She quickly found the image of her uncle among the many images, and nervously extracted and enlarged the information about him.
Judging from the current footage, Uncle Three is safe, but Uncle Two looks a bit strange; the image flashes with green light from time to time.
Xixi wanted to see the green light on the screen, but the screen was completely black and she couldn't see anything.
Left with no other choice, she frowned and rushed into the scene, flying to her second uncle's side and looking around in the dark passage.
Just as she was curiously observing her surroundings, a swarm of bats suddenly rushed out from the depths of the passage.
The sudden appearance of bats startled Zhu Haotian and Xixi.
Xi Xi hid behind Zhu Haotian in fear, closing her eyes and not daring to look.
After all the bats flew away, Zhu Haotian breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking inside with his torch.
Xixi was also frightened and her face turned pale. She looked ahead curiously.
Just then, the sound of camels hurrying along came from outside the cave, along with the cursing of a rough male voice.
Seeing this, Xixi hurriedly flew out following the sound, only to find that Qiu Laoda had already surrounded the cave with his bandits.
"Boss, there are black bears inside. It's best not to go in."
Upon hearing this, Boss Qiu took a few steps back warily, buried his head in his veil, and looked around.
As the sandstorm gradually subsided, the surrounding scenery slowly came into view.
Upon seeing the palm tree, Qiu Laoda had an evil thought rise in his mind, and he beckoned to his men around him.
"Go and cut down palm tree branches and surround the cave entrance to force people out. Then we'll use arrows to surround and kill them."
Upon hearing Qiu Laoda's suggestion, the others revealed sinister expressions and turned to run towards the palm tree.
Several men, armed with large knives, arrived at the palm tree and chopped it down in no time. Then, together they dragged the tree to the cave entrance.
Led by Boss Qiu, the bandits quickly broke the tung tree into several small pieces and piled them outside the cave entrance.
Xi watched anxiously as Boss Qiu approached with fire, then quickly turned back into the cave to check on her second uncle's condition.
At this moment, Zhu Haotian, holding a torch, successfully crossed the passage and walked out, excitedly shouting into the cave.
"Here, the exit is here."
[Silly Uncle, it's too far away, Grandma and the others can't hear you.]
What should we do? How can we notify them? The bandits have already set fire to the cave.
Zhu Haotian, who was initially excited, froze with a smile after hearing Xixi's muttering voice, and quickly turned around and ran into the cave.
To let everyone know about the passage, he ran and shouted, "You can get out of here..."
Old Mrs. Zhu, who was still waiting for Zhu Haotian to come out, also heard Xixi's reminder and turned around to look at the cave behind her with a solemn expression.
Chen Xiang noticed that Grandma Zhu's complexion was not good, and hurriedly asked, "Grandma Zhu, what's wrong?"
"I think I smell something burning, but I don't know where it's coming from," said Old Mrs. Zhu, turning back towards the cave with a worried expression and an uneasy tone.
Chen Xiang looked in the direction of Old Lady Zhu with suspicion, and the more he looked, the more he felt that there was something wrong with the entrance to the cave. "Zhu An, An Qing, you two go out and take a look."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Wen and An Qing immediately grabbed torches and ran towards the cave. However, before they even reached the exit, they were choked by a thick cloud of smoke.
The two covered their mouths and noses, stared at each other in disbelief for a moment, then turned and ran into the cave.
"This is terrible! The exit is full of bandits, and they're even setting fire to the cave."
"What? The bandits arrived so quickly?"
Chen Xiang hadn't expected the bandits to be so fast; Zhu Chenfeng and Zhu Haotian were still not out of the passage.
We don't even know which of these two passages leads to the exit. If we wander into any of them at this point, we'll likely end up dead.
Just as everyone was anxiously watching the passage, Zhu Haotian's voice came from inside.
"This is the exit, this is the exit..."
Grandma Zhu was the first to hear Zhu Haotian's voice, and she hurriedly reminded Chen Xiang.
"Lord Chen, this passage is a way out."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com