Chapter 80 Pang Huai gasped for breath, trying his best to control himself, and said in the most gentle voice in his life, "It's none of your business... I was going to die anyway."
The fight for the position became intense, and soon blood was shed again.
The sound of footsteps was quick and urgent in the narrow and winding passage. Cast iron gates and fence gates kept falling down in the narrowest and turning places in front. Zhao Xi and his group were the least affected by the collapse and chased the fastest. They rushed over and passed through before the iron gates fell.
Li Wang, Pang Huai, Xie Ci and others who followed closely behind were narrowly stopped by the fence gate that was about to close. A very small secret servant on the emperor's side rolled over and had a large piece of skin scraped off by the fence gate. He jumped up and rushed to the small iron drawer on the stone wall about ten feet away - this was a manual switch. Zhai Neng and Liu Xiuji had just opened it and pressed the closing mechanism without even bothering to slam the drawer door.
The short secret guard rushed forward and pushed the lever up again. As the fence gate rose a little, he leaned over and rolled over, continuing to chase forward!
The box and the deerskin bag must not fall into the hands of the old emperor and Lin Guojiu, otherwise not only will Lin Guojiu be unharmed, but the old emperor will at most lose a Tang King.
How can this be possible?!
Xie Ci hated Lin Guozhang and his son equally. Lin Guozhang and his son had a part in the deliberate plan to eliminate the political enemy Xie family, but Xie Ci had no time to take care of them because there were too many people and too complicated matters.
There is no need to talk about the old emperor!
After they grabbed a door, the situation became much easier. Zhai Neng and Liu Xiu Ji ran forward desperately, constantly opening the small iron drawers to lower the fence door and fire door. The alarm was sounded by the two of them. People kept rushing up, opening the small iron drawers and pulling the levers down, lowering the fire doors one by one to block the pursuers.
However, Xie Ci, Zhao Xi, Pang Huai and other three groups of people have already discovered that these passages are interconnected from east to west. Once blocked, they will immediately turn around and go to the other side, go up the stairs or turn to pass through another passage. They are much faster than Zhai Neng and Liu Xiuzhi's people. They will rush past them first or collide head-on, and directly draw their blades with a "swish", knocking people down on the spot, and blood splattering all over the ground.
They soon caught up with Zhai Neng and Liu Xiuji. They went up and down the road until they were stopped in a forging hall. The craftsmen and servants had all fled. The charcoal in the forge burned red hot. Freshly hammered parts lay scattered around the edge of the quenching pool. Hammers, discs, and baskets had been hastily thrown to the floor.
Zhai Neng and Liu Xiu Ji jumped directly from the second-floor fence, but the pursuers behind them were faster than them. In a flash, seven or eight people rushed down from one direction and landed silently.
Zhao Xi blocked the two men directly and reached out to grab them with lightning speed, but Yin Luo rushed from behind and kicked the two men in the back in time. Zhai Neng and Liu Xiu Ji rushed out, and Zhao Xi's hand missed.
Pang Huai, Li Wang, Yan Xiangsheng said goodbye and followed closely.
Zhai Neng and Liu Xiuji can fight, but they are far inferior to these people. They rushed up the stairs with the force of Yin Luo's kick. They looked back and were shocked - they didn't know Xie Ci, Gu Wan, Qin Ying, nor did they know Zhao Xi and Yin Luo, but judging from their skills, momentum and clothes, they were definitely not simple characters. Xie Yun looked vaguely familiar, and they all knew Pang Huai, Li Wang, Yan Xiangsheng!
Zhai Neng and Liu Xiuji were terrified: "How could there be so many people?!"
There were people from both sides, except for King Tang's people. The two of them almost immediately realized that the situation might be much more serious than they had imagined.
These two were decisive people, and they almost immediately thought of destroying it!
They rushed up the stone steps to the left of the quenching table. The moment he realized this, Zhai Neng snatched the deerskin bag from Liu Xiuji's arms. Liu Xiuji handed the bag back to him and turned back to rush to the upper mechanism on the stairs. Zhai Neng was also a ruthless person. The moment he grabbed the box and the deerskin bag, he kicked off the wooden handrail and jumped into the quenching pool!
——Zhai Neng wanted to destroy the wooden box and the things wrapped in deerskin.
With a "bang", the moment he plunged into the water, Zhao Xi and Yin Luo arrived instantly, grabbed him by the back of the collar and pulled him out of the water! The wooden box and deerskin bag were immediately pulled out of the water as soon as they entered the water. Yin Luo was in a better position. He kicked with his foot, and the two objects flew out of his hands and flew directly towards Xie Ci, Pang Huai, Yan Xiangsheng, who had just rushed in - Xie Ci.
Xie Ci jumped up and took the thing in his hand like lightning. He opened the box and saw that it was not wet. He closed the lid with a "click" and Pang Huai had already rushed in front of him.
A huge melee soon broke out in the huge foundry hall.
Yin Luo and Zhao Xi, Pang Huai and Xie Ci, and Yan Xiangsheng were soon injured and knocked to the side.
A cold wind came in from an unknown gap, passing silently, causing the hems of the tight armor to flutter. Pang Huai's tall and thin body was stretched to the extreme. The two men stared at each other without blinking, confronting each other, and immediately entered a combat state.
Pang Huai held a long sword in his hand, the cold blade pointing diagonally towards the ground.
Xie Ci sneered.
“Zheng——”
The two men fought fiercely in an instant, with blades and sword lights crisscrossing, and both of them used all their strength.
With a "ripping" sound and flying sparks, the flat box and deerskin bag were snatched away by Pang Huai. Before he could turn around, they were taken back by Xie Ci. In the fierce fighting, Zhao Xi and Yin Luo also joined the melee, and blood soon began to be seen.
Xie Ci's blade left bloody marks on Pang Huai's body, and Pang Huai also cut Xie Ci's arm, with blood splattering. They had exchanged countless times in the past, and Pang Huai, as Xie Ci's senior brother, had taught him a lot. No one had expected that they would end up facing each other with swords.
Pang Huai really tried his best and risked everything for this flat box and deerskin bag!
More and more people rushed to the hall, and Xie Ci was besieged by everyone while holding the box and the deerskin bag. Finally, he whistled and threw the things to the northeast corner.
Gu Guan was standing on the second-floor porch in the northeast corner. No one paid any attention to Liu Xiuji, so he rushed forward and pulled open a three-foot-wide iron drawer, pulling down all the mechanisms inside. Gu Guan and Qin Ying's hearts jumped as they followed him up the stairs. They could hear the rustling sound of cast iron doors lowering, and all the fire doors in the cast iron hall were lowered.
The three of them immediately started fighting, Qin Ying and Liu Xiu Ji fought back and forth, Gu Wan quickly rushed to the iron drawer and hurriedly pushed the iron rod back up.
She pushed more than a dozen doors in a row, but the last three could not be moved. The cast iron doors in the west, south, and north directions, which had been half-lowered, slowly rose again. The three doors on the east side under her feet were automatically stuck when they were pulled down, and could not be pushed up and continued to fall.
At this moment, Xie Ci let out a clear whistle, and the wooden box and deerskin bag flew over! Gu Guan's eyes and hands were quick, and she swung the long rope like a whip, hooking it out of the railing of the corridor on the top five floors of the hall. She jumped out of the air and grabbed the wooden box and deerskin bag with one hand, but she didn't dare to keep them. She suddenly lowered her head and glanced at Yin Luo, who retreated like lightning.
Everyone rushed towards Gu Wan. She grabbed something and quickly threw it towards Yin Luo who had retreated to the iron gate of Dong Yisheng.
Xie Ci and Gu Wan cooperated very well and successfully handed the thing to Yin Luo. Yin Luo flew up to catch it, bent down when he landed, and leaned over to pass under the cast iron door that had already fallen most of the way, and flew out of the hall.
Almost immediately, Zhao Xi caught up with him, as did Yan Xiangsheng, Dai Qin, Li Wang and others who were closest to the east gate. Pang Huai was the farthest away. He was on Xie Ci's side, so he suddenly turned around and rushed up.
The tall and thin figure in black armor paused at the door. He did not look back, but suddenly bent down and passed by the cast iron door at the last moment before it was lowered, and chased after it without hesitation.
His younger brother Pang Li did the same, following his brother through the cast iron door next door.
Pang Li is only two years older than Xie Ci, and they are of the same age. Although not as old as Zhang Ningyuan and others, they have known each other since childhood.
There was a rock wall opposite Gu Guan. The long rope swung to the end with a whoosh. Seeing it hit the rock wall, Xie Ci jumped up immediately. Gu Guan's long rope loosened the railing on the fifth floor, and she fell down. He caught her and let her fall back to the ground.
Xie Ci held the slender goose-feather knife in one hand and held her in the other. He seemed so light that not a speck of dust was raised.
The three iron gates leading to the east were all closed. Those who could get through rushed out, while the rest stamped their feet anxiously and rushed upstairs to try to find the door to get through, but soon disappeared into the cast iron hall.
They were the only ones left in the huge cast iron hall. Xie Yun and the others were panting, wounded from the fierce battle, and quickly gathered around Xie Ci.
Xie Ci glanced at the people who were anxiously stamping their feet and rushing up the stairs, then calmly withdrew his gaze and asked Gu Wan in a low voice, then said, "Where is my second sister-in-law?"
He did not chase after them. There were only a few people who followed Yin Luo through the iron gate, but they were all top masters of the time. The situation was critical and bloody. Once the iron gate was blocked, the subsequent robbery had basically nothing to do with him.
Xie Ci delivered the things to Yin Luo, and thought he had done enough, so he gave up the desire to catch up.
Gu Wan quickly looked towards the second floor where she had jumped out. The iron gate on the second floor had also been lowered. The place where Qin Ying and Liu Xiuji were fighting was behind the iron gate. "Second sister-in-law and that Liu Xiuji or Zhai Neng were fighting. I guess they were fighting fiercely and were stopped behind the iron gate."
Xie Ci estimated that Liu Xiuji's fighting power was probably comparable to Qin Ying's, and Qin Ying should not suffer a big loss, so he was not too worried.
"Then let's find a place to go."
Gu Guan nodded. He had done his best and the rest was up to Yin Luo.
She shrugged and replied, "Yeah."
There were six of them. After bandaging each other's wounds, they saw Gu Guan opening the locker and saw replacement clothes brought by craftsmen and laborers. Although they were rough, they were all dry. They changed their wet clothes as well.
It sounded like a lot of work, but the process was not slow at all and it was done quickly. Then I climbed the stone steps and headed upstairs.
Xie Ci stood beside Gu Wan. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of the cast iron gate through which the Yin Luo, Pang Huai, Pang Li brothers and others had rushed in. Thinking of the two brothers' determination, he couldn't help but sneer.
"What a good dog."
He was cold, and it was unclear whether he was mocking the Pang Huai brothers or his former self.
Gu Guan squeezed his hand. Xie Ci breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his head and smiled at her, giving her a look that said, "I'm fine."
The two held hands, their shoulders and arms pressed together. After the accident at the Black Water Pond, the two were still frightened and always stayed close to each other as long as the situation allowed, so that they felt at ease.
I guess it may take a while to get better.
Xie Ci didn't look at the cast iron hall again, and withdrew his gaze lightly. The group went up to the second-floor corridor, looked around, and finally chose a doorway on the south side of the third floor to enter.
…
However, in fact, what Brother Pang Huai and Xie Ci are thinking at this moment are somewhat different.
Pang Huai was indeed trying his best to snatch the wooden box and deerskin bag for the old emperor. He knew very well what he was doing and was even willing to pay the price of his life for it.
He knew this clearly before he came.
The only thing that made him sad was meeting Qin Ying and Xie Ci.
The bloody robbery behind the cast iron gate was exactly as Xie Ci had expected.
Yin Luo rushed out quickly. A bright light in the distance was getting closer and closer. He could vaguely see the reflection of snow and ice, but at the last moment, he was finally caught up.
No matter whether it was Zhao Xi, Pang Huai, or the old emperor's secret guard Dai Xun, they were all top-notch masters of the time. They intercepted them in an instant. With a "clang" sound, the snow-white light of the blade suddenly appeared, and the robes moved without wind. In just a few breaths, they were engaged in close combat.
Everyone tried their best, including Yan Xiangsheng, Li Wang, Pang Li and others who arrived later, but the latter could not even get close to the four people in the fierce battle.
This wooden box and deerskin bag were finally obtained by Pang Huai.
Yin Luo was unable to withstand the combined attack of the three men and was forced to release the wooden box and deerskin bag one after another. Pang Huai was covered in blood. In just a quarter of an hour, the fierce battle broke out and then gathered again. He hit Zhao Xi's chest and abdomen with a sword, leaving a deep gash from the opponent's left shoulder to the right abdomen, with the skin torn and blood spurting. The opponent hit him in the shoulder blade with a knife, and blood splattered on the spot. He could not lift his left arm.
Zhao Xi was kicked to the ground by the joint attack. Finally, Yan Xiangsheng blocked a knife for him. The latter held him down tightly and took off his shirt to cover his body to stop the bleeding.
Zhao Xi finally couldn't move.
Dai Xun was ambushed and fell to the ground.
The last ones were Yin Luo and Pang Huai. They fought fiercely with blood dripping from their throats. Everyone was either dead or seriously injured and fell down. The remaining two struggled to get up. Finally, Yin Luo threw the wooden box and the deerskin bag tied to it. "Ding Ding Dang Dang" sounded like a torrential rain for more than ten times. Pang Huai's heavy knife pierced Yin Luo's abdomen. The latter hit the back of his head heavily on the stone wall and fell down the wall, unconscious.
Pang Huai leaned his long sword against the ground, barely stood still for a moment, and slowly fell down. A little below his left chest was hit by the short dagger that Yin Luo held in his palm and threw out. The dagger penetrated the entire area and pierced deeply into his chest.
At the end of the battle, Pang Huai was the most seriously injured. He fell to the ground and slowly crawled sideways towards the wooden box and deerskin bag.
Little by little, he finally touched the wooden box and the deerskin bag and held them tightly in his hands.
Then he slowly crawled back, leaving a deep bloodstain on the ground. Under his deliberate protection, Pang Li was only slightly injured and was woken up by him.
As soon as Pang Li opened his eyes, tears started to flow down his cheeks. "Brother! Big Brother——"
Pang Huai shook his head weakly and handed the wooden box and deerskin bag to Pang Li. He could no longer stand up. "...Go, leave quickly."
There is more than one person here. Yan Xiangsheng dragged Zhao Xi and no one knew where he had gone while they were fighting. He might come back to take advantage of the situation at any time.
There is also a man named Cai Jin on Yin Luo's side.
Pang Li's tears streamed down his face. He knew this might be the last time they would see each other. He felt so sad. Pang Huai fumbled around and stuffed the wooden box and deerskin bag into his hands. He hugged them tightly, "Brother, brother! I won't abandon the box!"
He saw Xie Ci and the others' cold and hateful looks, but he knew why his brother did that. Tears streamed down his face, and he promised hoarsely, "Even if I die, I won't lose this box!"
Unexpectedly, Pang Huai touched his hand and said, "No, you'd better leave it. You are the only one left for our mother."
Pang Li is eleven years younger than him. His father died eight years ago, and he was raised by Pang Huai. He has little experience, and his fair face still has the youthfulness between adolescence and youth.
The two brothers also have a widowed mother.
"It's better to give it to Dai Qing's people, don't keep it yourself..." If you get caught, just throw it away.
Pang Huai did his best and had a clear conscience. It was enough for him to fill his own gap, and he couldn't let his brother lose his life as well.
His ambition ends with him.
Pang Huai said intermittently, "Hurry, hurry up..."
Pang Li wiped away his tears, gritted his teeth, stood up, and rushed towards the light.
The dark cave entrance hall suddenly became quiet. Pang Huai was drowsy and seemed to hear someone rushing past him, but it seemed as if no one was there.
But all this has little to do with him.
Until he heard a "sizzling" sound.
The smell of methane mixed with medicine suddenly woke up everyone who was still alive in the hallway.
——Liu Xiuji shook off Qin Ying, ran to a hidden place near the spare door, and opened the last mechanism.
Toxic smoke.
This was the last line of defense for him and Zhai Neng, set up after discussing with King Tang. It was used to kill all invading enemies and destroy the arsenal and the charcoal factory outside to destroy evidence.
The three cast iron doors on the east side that Gu Guan had previously pulled and could not be pushed back up were not accidental. There were even several layers of such access control in front of them. They had been set up to automatically get stuck once they were pulled down, in order to stop people inside and eventually get the poisonous methane smoke.
For safety during storage, the pipeline is designed to be small, and it takes some time for the methane gas to fill up. However, as long as there is still a breath of life present, they all have an extremely keen sense of touch, and they can almost immediately notice the methane gas as soon as it appears.
Yin Luo, Li Wang, Tao An, and Pang Huai were frightened, but those who were still able to move immediately struggled to get up, holding onto the wall and the ground.
Everyone stumbled out except Pang Huai, who instantly remembered Xie Ci, Qin Ying and the others who were still inside.
He barely held onto the wall and staggered inside.
Just as she staggered down an alley, she heard hurried footsteps. Qin Ying's sword was stained with blood. She caught up with Liu Xiuzhi and killed him with one sword. However, after the mechanism was activated, it sank automatically. It was a disposable thing and could not be closed at all.
She was extremely anxious.
Rushing out, she saw Pang Huai staggering against the wall, covered in blood. She was stunned. No matter how many complicated emotions she had, she had never imagined that he was bleeding to death. Tears fell from her eyes, "You, you!..."
Pang Huai forced a smile at her and whispered, "Hurry up, or they'll run inside..."
Qin Ying hurried forward and held his arm to support him.
When Pang Huai was young, he was very interested in mechanical warfare. Xie Yan was keen on studying foreign war tactics. Because he would be stationed in the Northern Army in the future, while Pang Huai had to stay in the capital, he studied things like city defense and inland warfare, and mechanical warfare was his interest.
He was quite proficient in the mechanism, and as long as he was on the message drawer side, he was confident that he could open the iron gate.
Qin Ying was extremely anxious, worried about Xie Ci, Gu Wan and the others, but her throat was choked, "...Why did you come back?"
With his injuries, how could he withstand the shock wave of the explosion? Even if he left in time, he would definitely not be able to withstand the shock.
Qin Ying was extremely confused. He had clearly ignored the deaths of his father and Xie Yan for the old emperor, but why did he want to come back without caring about his own life?
Pang Huai whispered something, but she couldn't hear it clearly because of the "sizzling" sound.
The two of them quickly came to the first closed cast iron door. Without caring about anything else, Qin Ying quickly supported Pang Huai and pulled open the small iron drawer.
After about fifty or sixty breaths, with the sound of pig iron rubbing against each other, the thick iron door was finally forced up.
…
Xie Ci, along with Gu Wan and Xie Yun and others behind him, were rushing back towards the Black Water Pond at full speed.
He noticed the poisonous methane smoke almost immediately after it came out.
Everyone covered their mouths and noses with wet cloths and ran with bated breath. Gu Guan was so nervous that his heart almost jumped out. Oh my god, this rubbish King Tang is so vicious!
Xie Ci did have a way out, but it was a bit dangerous. He had to crawl down through the crack at the bottom of the black water pool, and it was a long way. He also had to run a similar distance again through the underground river.
If the top explodes, the bottom will probably collapse!
Everyone was extremely nervous. Xie Ci and Gu Wan were still worried about Qin Ying, but Qin Ying was on the other side and would probably be able to get out, so they had to suppress their worries and take care of themselves first!
At the critical moment, the body shot out, and the cast iron door in the distance suddenly opened. Qin Ying shouted: "Aci! Xiaosi! Yuanniang! Where are you——"
"Come here quickly! Quickly—"
Xie Ci turned around abruptly. Without thinking, he immediately abandoned the original route, carried Gu Wan on his back, and ran as fast as he could, turning back.
"Second sister-in-law! Second sister-in-law, we are here——"
Rushing over, the two sides met face to face. Xie Ci couldn't help but be stunned. Pang Huai's face was pale and gray, and he was at the end of his strength. Qin Ying supported him. Seeing that they finally showed joy, there were tears in their eyes.
"Hurry, hurry up..."
Pang Huai's voice was almost whispered. When he saw them, he forced himself to speak.
It would be fine for an ordinary person, but he came in with such injuries, he was simply seeking death, but he still managed to come in with his last breath. Needless to say, it was Pang Huai who opened the door.
Xie Ci was different from Qin Ying. He saw Pang Huai's fatal injury almost at a glance. He paused and tapped quickly on more than a dozen acupoints that sealed Pang Huai's heart meridians.
Pang Huai's standing posture was barely better now, not so tilted.
Xie Yun stopped, glanced at his master, and then carried Pang Huai on his back.
The group didn't have time to say anything more. Xie Zi carried Qin Ying on his back and rushed out quickly.
Along the way they also encountered some arrows, and if the door was forced up, the crossbow holes would rise automatically.
But they were all beaten down fiercely by Xie Ci and others.
They rushed along the corridor all the way to the hall where Pang Huai was fighting fiercely, and rushed out of the narrow spare door along the long corridor. Suddenly, the view was clear and there was ice and snow everywhere. The cold wind in the mountains and canyons suddenly whistled, making their clothes flutter.
Everyone didn't dare to stop and rushed forward without stopping. Finally, they rushed out about three kilometers away, and behind them, "boom——"
A loud bang!
Crimson flames shot up into the sky, and this naturally reconstructed cave, along with the charcoal factory half-surrounded by it, was razed to the ground in an instant!
There was a sudden shock wave, but fortunately they were far enough away that everyone's eardrums just vibrated, and they immediately fell to the ground on the snow.
There is only one Pang Huai.
The air suddenly vibrated and he spurted out a mouthful of blood. Snow foam and debris flew all over the place. The blood in his chest was bright red, and the white snow was instantly dyed red, which was shocking.
Pang Huai spat out several mouthfuls of blood and died on the spot.
Xie Yun put him down on the ground helplessly, and Qin Ying's tears started to flow.
The man, whose face was covered in blood and whose mouth and nose were still bleeding, said in a hoarse voice: "..."
She reached out her hand, trying to cover his spilled blood.
Pang Huai's entire front was wet with blood, which had flowed out from the wound on his chest. He gasped for breath, trying his best to control himself, and said in the most gentle voice in his life, "Don't, don't do this, no, it's none of your business... I was going to die anyway..."
He tried his best to wipe the tears from Qin Ying's face.
Pang Huai said that everything was true. The dagger that Yin Luo threw into his left chest was handleless and was a hidden weapon. Pang Huai had been covering it up along the way, making Qin Ying think that his injury was not that serious, but Xie Ci saw it at a glance.
He staggered along the way and could clearly feel the cold and sharp touch of his heart.
He was holding on by his last breath, but he could also clearly feel his life slipping away.
Now that they were safe, his anger subsided.
He was barely breathing and was on his deathbed.
He wiped Qin Ying's tears with great effort, and his bloody hands left a blood stain on her face.
Qin Ying's tears flowed even more violently.
"Why? Why?!"
The author has something to say:
I can’t finish writing it, so I’ll leave the conversation for tomorrow. Pang Huai and Xie Xinzhong, father and son, are actually very good people.
Here it comes~ Actually, this is also Pang Huai’s own choice. I hope I don’t receive any razor blades. It’s a fat chapter! See you tomorrow, babies~ (づ￣3￣)づ╭
Finally, I would also like to thank "Mantian" for throwing the mines, pen refills, pen refills!
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And, to all the big babies who watered Wenwen, kiss~
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