Chapter 41 Who dug up my house?
In a corner where no one paid attention, a child fell off the carriage and tumbled into the waist-high grass.
Xie Mianmian lay on the soft grass, opened her eyes groggily, looked around, and saw the direction where Third Brother's men had left, leaving only billowing dust.
Xie Mianmian: ?! I've lost it again?
The child quickly patted his bottom, stood up, and ran in the direction they had left.
Before Xie Mianmian could take a few steps, her foot slipped and she fell into a hole in the ground with a thud.
"Ouch!" Xie Mianmian's forehead hit the soft soil. It didn't hurt, but the child subconsciously rubbed the spot where she bumped her head, making herself look like a big mess.
The hole wasn't deep; if a child stood up, her eyes could barely be level with the ground, allowing her to see the bright, lush grass and birdsong outside.
Once inside the cave, it was pitch black on both sides, with no end in sight. It seemed that this was not a cave, but an underground passage.
Who dug this? Could it have been done by thieves? I can't keep up with Third Brother's journey anymore, maybe we can go this way, Xie Mianmian thought.
The child took out a pearl from the small pouch at her waist; it was the luminous pearl that the emperor had bestowed upon her.
Xie Mianmian really loved this bead. Last night, she covered her head with the blanket, stuck her bottom out, rested her chin on her folded hands, and stared intently at the glowing bead for a long time.
As soon as the bead was taken out, a soft white light emanated from the passage. The bead was neither too big nor too small, and it fit perfectly in the child's hand.
Xie Mianmian held the beads, bent slightly, and walked towards one side of the passage.
Once removed from the sunlight streaming down from the ground, the beads emitted an even brighter light.
It was a pale, cold light, dazzling in the small, dark passage, like a small moon left behind underground.
Xie Mianmian walked slowly, relying on the light, not knowing where it would lead.
Just then, the sound of soil being dug could be heard from ahead.
The child curiously shone the bead on it, but found no trace of anyone.
"I'm down there!" a voice suddenly came from underground.
Xie Mianmian looked down and saw a small black head peeking out, its red nose twitching.
"Huh?" The child squatted down, carefully observing the small animal in front of her. "What are you? Mianmian has never seen an animal like you before."
"You ignorant child, squeak squeak squeak!" It jumped out from underground. "I'm a mole!"
"Hey mole, what are you doing here?"
"I'm digging a tunnel! I'm really good at digging tunnels!" The little mole got angry when the topic of digging came up. It said to the child, "Did you dig this tunnel?"
Xie Mianmian hurriedly shook her head, "I didn't do it, it was probably a group of thieves who dug it up, what's wrong, little mole?"
"Oh my god, they dug up my house while digging a tunnel! This is outrageous! Can't someone do something about this? My little home is gone just like that! Squeak squeak squeak!" The little mole's red nose trembled violently with anger.
"Don't be angry, I'll have Third Brother beat them up."
Xie Mianmian's eyes suddenly lit up, "Little mole, you're really good at digging holes, aren't you?"
Speaking of his special skill, the little mole proudly raised his head, "Easy, definitely a thousand times better than that thief!"
That's great! Third Brother is saved! The child clapped his hands excitedly.
Then Xie Mianmian put her hands together and said earnestly, "Little mole, you're busy digging holes, please help Mianmian move the explosives~ Please move all the explosives buried in East Valley here."
The little mole sprang to its feet and began digging into the ground with its tiny paws. "Wait for my good news, Mianmian! Mission accomplished!" Then, it disappeared into its hole.
Xie Mianmian breathed a sigh of relief and was planning to wait here for the little mole to return.
Just then, a muffled clanging sound of chiseling came from the mud wall to the left front, along with voices, as the mud wall was gradually broken open.
The child was so frightened that he quickly crawled into the hole that the little mole had dug earlier. Xie Mianmian had a small frame, and the little girl disappeared from the spot.
The mud wall was broken open in the next instant. "Strange, how did I come back? I dug the wrong place again."
The man slapped his head, half-squatted and moved around. Seeing another small hole in the ground, he cursed, "That stinky mole is causing trouble again. I'll beat it to death!"
As he spoke, he used a shovel to poke the small hole several times.
Hiding below, Xie Mianmian listened to the sounds coming from above, tightly covering her mouth, not daring to make a sound, and also tucked the bead deep into her bosom, afraid that even a sliver of light might peek out.
"Let me think about it. The entrance to the tomb passage should be dug this way."
Then the sound of shoveling dirt could be heard again, and as the child held his breath, the sound slowly faded away.
"Phew~" Xie Mianmian took a deep breath. This passage really was dug by that thief.
The child cautiously peeked out, slowly climbed up, clutching a soft light in his hand, watching warily as he waited for the little mole to return.
The passage was silent. After an unknown amount of time, the little mole's voice came from below, "I'm back! The explosives are all down there."
The little mole pushed itself up with its tiny paws and climbed up. When it saw that another hole had opened up next to it, it was so angry that its nose twisted into a crook. "Squeak squeak squeak! Does it think my house is its backyard? It can come and go as it pleases!"
Xie Mianmian peered through the small hole and, sure enough, saw a pile of explosive charges.
She patted the little mole's black head and comforted it, "Thank you, little mole. Don't be angry. Mianmian will help you catch the bad guys."
"I'll go with you." The little mole put its hands on its hips. It wanted to take revenge itself. Besides, this cub in front of it was so weak that its little father had to take action personally.
Red Nose sniffed the air and walked in one direction. "Follow me, we're going to find his lair!"
So the man and the mole wandered around the complex underground maze. Where there was a path, they would walk; where there wasn't, the little mole would dig with its sharp little claws and carve out a shortcut.
Meanwhile, Xie Huaijin's group successfully reached Dongshan Valley.
Sensing something was wrong, Xie Huaijin waved to stop the group. "The terrain ahead is easy to ambush." He nimbly dismounted, took a few steps forward, and carefully observed the muddy road.
Although the grass covered the soil above, and slender fingers picked up a clump of earth, the soil below was freshly turned up and damp.
"There's an ambush! Retreat!" The young man mounted his horse and was about to leave.
The person hiding in the shadows realized something was wrong and quickly lit the fuse, prioritizing killing Xie Huaijin, who was at the front.
"Sizzle." A spark quickly ignited along the fuse.
Several breaths passed, and even Xie Huaijin's men had gone far away, but nothing happened.
The man was shocked and quickly ran over to dig through the soil to check. The most unbelievable thing happened, even more bizarre than the previous incident where the explosives under the bridge were soaked by fish.
That is, the explosives he planted himself had vanished without a trace!
Oh no, I don't know if Minister Lin can believe it, but even I can't believe it! The man clutched his hair in despair.
The little mole led Xie Mianmian to dig and dig, and finally they found a spot. Their tiny paws began to dig upwards, and finally, light shone down from above.
Xie Mianmian poked her head out and, seeing the scene outside, gasped in amazement.
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