After receiving Chen Yu's promise, Chen Lan felt somewhat relieved, but remained vigilant.
She carefully examined Chen Yu's eyes, and only after confirming that he was not teasing her did she slowly speak: "The secret passage does exist, but it is extremely well hidden. I only discovered it by accident. It is located in the deepest part of the chief's mansion, in a seemingly ordinary study, but it actually hides a secret."
With that, Chen Lan led the way, taking Chen Yu and his men to the seemingly ordinary study.
Inside the study, rows of neat bookshelves came into view, each book seemingly carrying some thought or memory of Li Yi.
However, hidden within these bookshelves is a secret passage leading to the outside world.
“I know the secret passage is in this room, but I don’t know where the entrance is or how to open it. Li Yi is extremely cautious about this, and I don’t want to cause trouble for myself. So after learning about the existence of the secret passage, I have never approached this study again.” Chen Lan’s tone was a little nervous, afraid of displeasing Chen Yu.
However, Chen Yu didn't care at all; he just waved his hand.
The militiamen under his command understood and began scanning the room with various instruments.
A moment later, a soldier exclaimed excitedly, "Mr. Chen, we've found it! The entrance to the secret passage is in the wall behind this landscape painting."
Upon hearing this, Chen Lan looked at the landscape painting in surprise. She had never imagined that the entrance to the secret passage would be hidden so cleverly.
Chen Yu remained calm, seemingly unsurprised by the discovery.
The soldiers acted quickly, working together to move the landscape painting aside, revealing a stone slab behind it.
The stone slab is carved with intricate patterns, and there is a circular groove in the center, which looks like it requires some kind of special item to open.
"Mr. Chen, it seems we have no choice but to use explosives," a soldier reported to Chen Yu.
"Mm." Chen Yu nodded slightly.
Then, he led everyone out of the room.
A professional blasting team was left behind to install blasting equipment.
"Go, get Commander Lin and the others to come and assemble," Chen Yu instructed a militiaman beside him.
Lin Lele's team was still searching for the entrance to the passage on the other side of the mansion. Now that the entrance had been found, there was no need to continue searching there.
Now is the time to pool our resources and prepare for the next move.
Although Li Yi was still at his wit's end, he always adhered to the principle of "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut" and never let his guard down.
The soldier immediately obeyed and left.
Soon after, the demolition team completed the task quickly and professionally. They carefully installed the explosives on the stone slab and set the detonation device.
After everything was ready, they left the room and joined Chen Yu, Chen Lan, and the militiamen.
Chen Yu looked around to make sure everyone was ready, took a deep breath, and then gave the order to detonate.
"Detonate!" With Chen Yu's command, the members of the demolition team pressed the button on the detonation device.
A muffled thud came from the study, followed by a cloud of dust.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey~" Lin Lele, who had rushed over with her team, was suddenly covered in dust and gravel as soon as she stepped into the courtyard where the study was located. She had to spit out several times to get rid of the dusty taste in her mouth.
"What are you guys doing? You didn't even tell me beforehand," Lin Lele complained as she put her mask back on.
Since Li Yi's residence had heating 24 hours a day, and she felt a bit stuffy while searching for the entrance to the secret passage, she took off her mask. Little did she expect that as soon as she took off her mask, she would eat a mouthful of "ash".
"Commander, I'm sorry, please punish me." The militia captain in charge of the demolition quickly stepped forward, bowing his head apologetically.
"Alright, stop dawdling and get ready to enter the secret passage!" Chen Yu said to Lin Lele.
"Oh." Lin Lele had just responded when she was interrupted by the demolition team leader's urgent voice, "Mr. Chen, Commander, please wait a moment! Although the stone slab at the entrance of the secret passage has been blown open, we still need to ensure the stability of the internal structure to prevent it from collapsing."
Once the dust had settled, the group cautiously approached the entrance.
Upon hearing this, Chen Yu nodded, signaling everyone not to rush into action.
He knew that in such a situation, being impatient would only bring unnecessary risks.
The demolition team leader quickly organized his men to begin using specialized equipment to further explore and reinforce the area around the blasted stone slab.
Chen Yu, Lin Lele, Chen Lan, and the militiamen waited patiently on the sidelines, remaining vigilant in case anything happened.
Time passed second by second, each second seemingly filled with tension and anticipation.
Finally, the demolition team leader nodded to Chen Yu, indicating that the internal structure of the secret passage had been confirmed to be stable and that entry was permitted.
Chen Yu immediately ordered his men to enter the secret passage and pursue Li Yi.
Before leaving, he left behind a small squad of soldiers to keep an eye on Li Yi's women.
Although he didn't intend to make things difficult for these people, he still had to be careful to prevent them from causing trouble.
Of course, he brought Chen Lan along as well. After all, as Li Yi's wife, she had been with him for several years and could provide valuable information about his habits, hiding places, and even possible escape routes.
This secret passage is not very wide; it can only accommodate three people standing upright and walking side by side at most.
Chen Lan followed behind Chen Yu and Lin Lele, her heart filled with mixed feelings.
Her eyes were fixed on the dashing Lin Lele in front of her, and it was unclear what she was thinking.
The group walked about 100 meters through the secret passage and came to a three-way intersection.
Like a cunning rabbit with three burrows, Li Yi is indeed a shrewd old fox, having even prepared three secret escape routes.
Chen Yu was speechless.
Fortunately, he brought enough men this time, so there was no need to guess; he could simply divide his forces into three groups.
"Xiao Wu, your company goes down the left path; Xiao Zhao, your company goes down the right path; the rest of you, follow me!"
Chen Yu quickly made arrangements, his voice echoing in the narrow secret passage with an unquestionable authority.
Wu Shenlin and Zhao Rui immediately responded, each leading their militiamen to advance in the left and right directions respectively, following Chen Yu's instructions.
Chen Yu then led the rest of the group, including Lin Lele and Chen Lan, along the central road.
The air inside the secret passage seemed even more oppressive. Chen Yu's team maintained a cautious pace as they moved through the passage, the beams of their powerful flashlights tracing streaks in the darkness.
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