The further you walk, the narrower the road becomes, and in the cramped space you can hear two people breathing.
At first, the two people could walk side by side, but now they can only walk one in front of the other. The number of candles has gradually decreased, and the light has become dimmer.
The fourth prince walked in front, with Li Mingke bringing up the rear, the two trying to keep pace with each other.
The fourth prince leaned against the wall with one hand, feeling his way forward, while holding Li Mingke's hand with the other. The wall was covered with a thick layer of dust, but he didn't mind at all.
"Did we make the wrong choice?" Li Mingke asked.
"I don't know," the fourth prince replied.
But now, the two of them can only move forward.
Suddenly, the fourth prince felt an iron ring on the wall.
"Wait!" The fourth prince suddenly stopped.
Li Mingke's foot, which he had just lifted, was still suspended in mid-air.
"W-what's wrong?"
Should she put her feet down? Could there be some kind of trap?
"I touched something." The fourth prince's hand groped around on the iron ring.
"What...what is it?" Li Mingke was truly frightened. "Where is it?"
"On my right."
Li Mingke reached out to his right hand and finally touched his slightly cool skin.
She slipped her hand between his and his, and the friction of their skin, with its temperature difference, sent a slight shiver through her.
She finally touched the cold iron ring.
"Is it a government agency?" she asked.
The fourth prince shook his head.
Neither of them spoke; the large hand covered the small hand, both gripping the iron ring, and they stood there like that.
It was so quiet that the Fourth Prince could hear his own heartbeat and even feel the breath of the person behind him on his shoulder.
His fingers twitched.
“Ayu,” Li Mingke suddenly spoke up.
"Wh...what's wrong?" He shuddered.
“I think we can try pulling it,” she said.
"But... what if something dangerous happens?"
"Ayu, you used to cultivate in the immortal sect, do you have any methods to protect your life?" she asked.
"I do have some, but... what will you do?" As far as he knew, Li Mingke couldn't do anything.
“I have one too. I brought a life-saving magic artifact with me before I came to Jiangtian.”
She squeezed from behind him to in front of him. "So, I can give it a try."
"Mingke!" The Fourth Prince disagreed.
“But now that things have come to this, what other options do we have? Are we really going to turn back the way we came?” She looked up at him.
The fourth prince remained silent.
"Then I'm going to poop." Li Mingke gripped the iron ring.
The fourth prince suddenly hugged her from behind.
"If there's any kind of mechanism, just shoot it directly at me."
Li Mingke patted the fluffy head on his shoulder and smiled, "Okay."
With a final effort, she pulled the iron ring out of the wall.
Ding-dong—
A thin thread connects to an iron ring, which makes a crisp sound when it hits the wall.
Both of them held their breath and assumed a half-crouched defensive posture.
But in just a few moments, only the two of them could be heard breathing, which they were deliberately suppressing.
Nothing happened.
Just as the two finally calmed down and were about to wipe the cold sweat from their foreheads, the ground suddenly shook.
The fourth prince immediately pulled Li Mingke into his arms.
But the imagined scenario did not happen.
Instead, a glimmer of light appeared ahead of them.
Then, the light grew brighter and brighter, expanding from a sliver into a ball, until finally, both of them were so blinded that they had to close their eyes.
When the two opened their eyes again, they found a door-shaped opening in front of them, and the light was coming from inside.
“This is…” Li Mingke lifted his head from the Fourth Prince’s arms and looked at the cave entrance.
"It seems we've inadvertently opened a door." The Fourth Prince released her but took her hand in return. "Come on, let's go take a look!"
The light came from a luminous pearl hanging overhead.
The interior space was large, and the floor was covered with intricate patterns and uneven. Li Mingke squatted down and wiped away the dust on the surface with his hands.
“It looks like some kind of totem.” Li Mingke pulled the Fourth Prince down to squat with him. “You’re a prince, can you tell what it is?”
The fourth prince traced the lines with his fingers for a long time before shaking his head.
"Let's look at other places then."
The two walked along the wall, their footsteps echoing.
Just as the two were observing everything, the ground began to shake again.
The luminous pearl overhead swayed, and dust fell from the air.
The fourth prince shielded Li Mingke behind him, keeping a close eye on the epicenter.
In the opposite direction from where they came from, an entrance appeared that was exactly the same as the one they had just seen.
The fourth prince stared intently at the newcomer.
Who is it?
Second Princess or Fifth Princess?
A tall figure slowly appeared, walking with heavy steps, followed by a petite person.
Demon Lord!
And the Fifth Princess!
The two groups of people stared at each other from a distance.
The Fifth Princess put her hand to her mouth and chuckled, "What a coincidence, Fourth Brother!"
"Yes, what a coincidence, Fifth Sister." The Fourth Prince smiled as well.
Li Mingke's eyes met those of Demon Lord Luan Hua, and feeling his deep gaze, she looked away.
The four remained in a silent standoff as another door slowly opened.
Two almost identical figures emerged from the light and shadow, with the same build and height, the only difference being their clothing.
Li Mingke rubbed his eyes.
How strange, the Second Princess and her maid look so alike!
The second princess was momentarily stunned when she saw the four people, but she quickly composed herself and said, "Fourth brother, fifth sister." The maid behind her also bowed to them.
"It seems that no matter which path we choose, we will all meet here." The Fourth Prince spread his arms. "If only I hadn't been so conflicted, I would have just gone wherever I wanted and saved some time."
Others remained noncommittal.
"So what should we do now?" Li Mingke asked in a low voice behind the Fourth Prince.
"I don't know, let's wait and see."
Of these six, the strongest is undoubtedly the Demon Lord. If he were to make a move here, they would all surely die.
The second princess's masked maid is also suspicious; her specific abilities are currently unknown.
Based on this, it seems likely that the two of them will be the first to be eliminated.
The fourth prince's expression turned serious.
Li Mingke whispered behind him, "Don't worry too much about the Demon Lord. He probably won't make a move, otherwise we would have been finished in the first place. The Fifth Princess must have reached some kind of agreement with him, so she can't order the Demon Lord to do things for her. Instead, we should pay more attention to the person the Second Princess brought."
The Second Princess's maid was so mysterious that Li Mingke had to be on high alert.
"Alright." The fourth prince nodded.
The balance between the three parties has now been broken, and one can vaguely sense that the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Princess are both intentionally or unintentionally wary of the Second Princess.
The second princess sensed their gazes and flinched slightly. Her maid stepped forward.
"..."
The maid subtly tugged at the Second Princess's sleeve, and the Second Princess gently shook her head.
"Um... younger brothers and sisters, this stalemate isn't going to get us anywhere. Why don't we search for the Suihou Pearl together?" the second princess said weakly.
The three doors closed silently after they entered. Now that they were in a confined space, it wouldn't be a good thing to show too much resistance.
“Alright, I’ll listen to you, sister,” the Fifth Princess said in a clear voice.
The Fourth Prince and Li Mingke exchanged a glance and nodded.
“There’s a lot of space here, let’s take a walk around and have a look,” the Second Princess suggested.
So the group began to look around.
Li Mingke still felt that the patterns on the ground were significant, so he simply started walking along the lines.
Just as she had walked for about fifteen minutes and returned to the starting point, the rumbling sound rang out again.
This time, however, the sound came from underground.
The vibrations grew more and more intense, and Li Mingke stumbled, knocking down the person behind him.
"I'm sorry, Yu, I didn't..."
But she soon realized she had mistaken someone for someone else; the one supporting her from behind was not the Fourth Prince, but the Demon Lord!
Just then, she heard the Fourth Prince's voice coming from afar:
"Mingke, get out of there quickly!"
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