Black, bottomless black! The sight was endless, and there was no sound in the ears. It seemed as if the endless darkness, hiding the endless unknown and fear, tightly wrapped people in it.

This is what Xia Mingyuan faced when he woke up. As he regained consciousness, he felt a burning pain in the back of his neck. He reached behind him and slowly recalled everything. After falling from the house into this hole, he seemed to have been attacked from behind the neck, and he has been unconscious ever since.

The wound on his hand seemed to have scabbed over, and Xia Mingyuan was shocked. It would take at least one to two days for the wound to scab over. Could it be that he had been in this cave for two days after being attacked?

Two days was enough for a lot of things to happen. He disappeared from his room without any reason. How would the guards react? Or were they ambushed?

Darkness and hunger can paralyze and confuse people. Xia Mingyuan had many chaotic thoughts in his mind, but he couldn't make any sense for a while. He had been cautious all his life, but he didn't expect to be ambushed at this critical moment. He was too careless and was sure that Xiao Yunjing would not dare to confront him so brazenly in the mansion.

But he still couldn't figure out what Xiao Yunjing's purpose was. If something happened to him in the mansion, Xiao Yunjing would be implicated anyway, so what good would it do him?

Xia Mingyuan thought blankly for a long time, and finally he was convinced of one idea: no matter what, he had to get out of this place first. But all he could see was the thick darkness, and he couldn't tell where he was.

He began to feel around carefully and felt as if he touched some dry grass. The ground was hard and cold without any cracks. He tried to feel farther and was suddenly surprised. He seemed to have touched a fire starter!

He picked up the fire stick in ecstasy and tried to light it, not caring that this might be another trap. If he was allowed to stay in the darkness, it would be no better than death.

With a "crack", the fire gradually ignited, and the surroundings finally became bright. The sudden light made his pupils shrink suddenly. After he adjusted to the firelight in front of him, he looked around: this seemed to be a cellar, with dark stone walls on both sides, and there was no end in sight.

Looking back, he found some dried bloodstains on the dry grass where he had just lain. Xia Mingyuan took a fire and looked at it carefully. Judging from the degree of drying of the bloodstains, he must have been lying there for more than two days.

Suddenly, he shuddered and broke out in a cold sweat. He thought of the elite soldiers ambushing outside the mansion. If they didn't get any news from the mansion for two days, would they rush in regardless of everything? Once his personal soldiers took action first, Xiao Yunjing would have the upper hand. If he could walk out unscathed, he would most likely be blamed by Xiao Yunjing. Could this be their purpose?

The more Xia Mingyuan thought about it, the more anxious he became. He could not just sit there and wait for death. He had to find a way out before someone came. So he took a deep breath, slowly stood up, carefully held up the fire, and began to look for a way out.

There was only one corridor in the cellar, and he could only choose two directions, forward or backward. He thought about it and decided to follow his intuition and go forward.

But after walking for a while, he felt that his steps were getting harder and harder, and his throat was dry and thirsty. Then he remembered that he had not eaten or drunk anything for at least two days. Fear made him forget his hunger, but the feeling of lack of water could not deceive him. The more thirsty he felt, the more unbearable it was. His throat was stinging like a burning fire. Xia Mingyuan walked a few more steps with difficulty, and then he leaned against the wall and gasped for air. He felt that even breathing was becoming difficult.

He then realized something was wrong. The air in the cellar seemed to be decreasing, making it so difficult to breathe. He frowned and looked at the tinder in his hand. Was this the reason? The cellar was too airtight, and the tinder would consume all the air if it burned for too long. He tried to extinguish the torch, and it really made his breathing smoother. But without the tinder, he could hardly move in the dark. What should he do?

Xia Mingyuan held onto the wall, trying to clear his mind. Finally, he decided to use the light of the fire to see if there were any obstacles ahead, and then extinguish the fire and grope forward. So between the flickering of the fire, he was finally able to move forward smoothly. But no matter how he walked, he still saw the same bare wall in front of him. He couldn't tell how long he had walked, and he couldn't even tell whether he was moving forward or just going in circles.

The hopeless road ahead, the torture with no end in sight, every breath felt like a knife cutting his chest. Xia Mingyuan felt that his will was slowly being worn away, but he could not give up. He had been through many ups and downs in his life, and had never backed down in the face of a strong enemy. How could he give up so easily?

Thinking of this, he felt his strength recovering a little. However, the fire in his hand suddenly burned out at this moment. Just as he was swallowed by the darkness again and was about to collapse, he heard a low roar from not far away.

It was the growl of an animal, coming from the depths of darkness, approaching him little by little...

Xia Mingyuan was shocked and tried to squint his eyes to look forward. It seemed that there were countless monsters hiding in the darkness, ready to pounce and devour him at any time. At this moment, the string that had been tied tightly in his mind finally broke. His feet seemed to be filled with lead, and his body trembled uncontrollably. He had only one last thought: he must escape and must not die here!

The will to survive aroused his last potential. He raised his legs and ran backwards desperately, but the low growl seemed to be slowly following him, not far away or close, as if it was not in a hurry to catch him, but just enjoying the fun of playing with its prey.

After running for an unknown amount of time, the sound was finally left far behind, and Xia Mingyuan's physical strength had reached its limit. He fell backwards powerlessly, letting his body fall onto the cold, hard ground, gasping for breath, greedily inhaling the little air left in the cellar. The heart that had never thought of giving up, at this moment, fell into deep despair.

Just as his consciousness was becoming blurred and he was about to pass out, the brick above his head suddenly opened.

The long-lost light broke through the darkness, bringing the last ray of hope to the desperate situation. Xia Mingyuan was both excited and alert, not knowing what he would face.

At this moment, an arm appeared in. With the faint light from above his head, he could barely see the color and embroidery of the cuffs. That was the symbol of the Prime Minister's personal guards!

Xia Mingyuan excitedly propped himself up and tried to grab the hand, but he soon found that the hand was covered in blood, and the man above him was too weak to pull him out.

A thick cloud of smoke poured in, and the sound of fighting could be heard overhead. The man said with a hoarse voice and a cough, "Prime Minister, we have been ambushed. There is fire everywhere outside. I am afraid we can't get out."

Xia Ming was shocked and asked hurriedly, "Where is Han Kun? How is he?"

The man choked up and said in a heavy voice, "He was seriously injured. I don't know if he can wake up."

Xia Mingyuan had been overwhelmed by the series of circumstances he had just encountered, and now he was even more devastated. He was so desperate that he could hardly think. He had never thought that Xiao Yunjing could really do such a thing. In a split second, he suddenly caught the last glimmer of light and asked in a trembling voice, "Where are the elite soldiers that Han Kun brought? Are they still outside the mansion?"

The man was stunned, and his voice immediately showed excitement. He said, "Guard Han didn't have time to explain to us just now. If there really are reinforcements, I will rush out and save you, my lord, at the risk of my life."

Xia Mingyuan finally felt relieved, but his body and mind were almost exhausted, and he didn't know how long he could hold on. At this time, he heard footsteps coming back from above, and the man hesitated and said, "Guard Han can't go out. I am insignificant and my words are not taken seriously. I am afraid that the guards outside the door may be worried about fraud and may not dare to rush in easily. Can you give me a token to prove that you are in danger?"

Xia Mingyuan felt heavy from the smoke and everything in front of him was blurry. He tried to maintain his last bit of consciousness in a daze and trembled as he took out a jade seal from his arms. He twisted it left and right a few times, and the ordinary jade seal handle turned outward, revealing a lifelike unicorn head.

Xia Mingyuan used his last bit of strength to throw the jade seal up and said weakly, "The Qilin Seal, they will only accept orders after seeing this. You should rush out with this, because this is the last chance for us to survive."

The strange thing was that there was suddenly no sound above his head. The sounds of footsteps and fighting slowly dissipated, as if nothing existed. Xia Mingyuan finally fainted in this eerie silence.

When he woke up again, he was startled by a knock on the door. Xia Mingyuan's body shook violently, and he sat up suddenly in shock, only then did he realize that he was lying on the bed where he had slept before. The sky outside the window was turning white, and everything was waking up. The soft and comfortable bed made him feel unreal for a moment. Could it be that it was just a nightmare?

But the burning feeling in his throat, the sweat-soaked clothes, and the feeling of powerlessness as if he was about to die all reminded him that it was not a dream.

At this time, the knocking sound outside the door became louder and louder, and someone shouted worriedly: "Prime Minister, are you okay?" That was Han Kun's voice!

Xia Mingyuan was filled with doubt and stared at the door, not knowing which one was the trap. At this time, the person outside the door finally couldn't hold back any longer, and the door was pushed open. Han Kun, with a pale face, rushed in anxiously with several guards. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him, but then asked curiously, "Prime Minister, are you okay? Why didn't you answer the door after I knocked for so long? Why do you look so bad?"

Xia Mingyuan felt his hands trembling a little, and asked tremblingly: "What time is it now? How long have I slept?"

Han Kun didn't understand and replied, "It's already past noon. You were sleeping in your room last night. We saw you didn't wake up and we were worried that something might have happened, so we rushed in." He suddenly remembered something and said, "It seems that there was a fire in the yard far away last night. We were afraid that it was a scam, so we didn't go to check. We just wanted to stay here and didn't leave at all."

Xia Mingyuan closed his eyes in hatred, and finally realized that he had failed. With the last glimmer of hope, he reached into his arms, but he couldn't find the Qilin Seal. But he couldn't figure out what was going on. He had clearly stayed in the cellar for two days, so why did it only become one night? What about the fire and the guards?

At this moment, a guard who had been guarding outside the door came running in in a panic and said, "Prime Minister, Marquis Xuanyuan... Marquis Xuanyuan wants to see you!"

Xia Mingyuan suddenly raised his head, greatly shocked, and shouted in disbelief: "Xiao Du? Is he awake?"

He hurriedly asked Han Kun to help him walk into the courtyard, where he saw a man standing under a ginkgo tree. He was slender, wearing a black robe and a jade crown. His handsome face looked a little pale in the sun, but his eyes flashed with a cunning light. He bowed slightly and said with a bright smile, "My son-in-law is late. Please don't blame me, father-in-law."