"Then I'll keep going in and see what's hidden inside!" Ling Feng said involuntarily.
So the three of them continued on their way. Having just experienced the attack, they were now extremely cautious as they walked.
The hidden trench inside the cave stretched on and on. The three men followed it without encountering any further attacks. It seemed the attacks at that location were there to deter those who strayed in. An ordinary person facing such an attack would likely die, or simply be too afraid to venture further in.
"Look, what's this?" Ling Feng walked ahead and noticed some shiny rocks appearing on the bottom of the water, emitting a faint glow.
Master Zhou quickly crouched down to look at what was at the bottom of the water, and Fourth Master followed suit. The three of them lay prone beside the ditch, but because they were only using the light from their tinderboxes, they couldn't see the things very clearly.
"What kind of stone is this? It can actually glow!" Fourth Master couldn't help but exclaim.
"Never mind it, let's take some back and study them later!" said Master Zhou.
So the three of them began to retrieve glowing stones from the bottom of the water in this dark cave.
“Master, the water is too cold. You stand on the side, and I will go and retrieve it,” Ling Feng said.
It was the coldest time of the year, and they were already freezing outside. The cave was slightly warmer than the outside, so the water hadn't frozen yet, but it was still extremely cold. Immersing one's hands in it felt like being cut to the bone.
"No need, hurry up and retrieve them." Fourth Master still personally went to the water to retrieve the glowing stones.
After working for a while, the three of them found quite a few stones that could glow.
When they tried to walk a little further, they found they couldn't go any further. The ditch went underground, and their path was blocked by a rock.
"Is this the end?" Fourth Master asked. They thought they would find something unusual, but it turned out to be a hidden trap and these glowing stones submerged in the water.
"It seems we had too high expectations." Master Zhou was also somewhat disappointed; he had thought he would discover some earth-shattering secret.
The three men, holding tinderboxes, searched around again to see if there was any way to go further, but there wasn't. The ditch had actually gone underground.
“I understand. Do we need to dive? If we want to continue, we have to go deep into the water.” Ling Feng asked Fourth Master.
Fourth Master looked at Ling Feng and had to admit that it was quite possible.
Upon hearing this, Master Zhou picked up a stone and threw it into the water. "Impossible! The water is so shallow, how can one dive?"
“Then there’s no way to go any further,” Fourth Master said.
The three of them circled around for a while, then decided to give up and return the way they came.
Meanwhile, Lanqin had been pacing around the house for who knows how many times. Waiting for someone was really unbearable, especially since the area was surrounded by mountains, and Lanqin dared not go out.
"Master, lunch is ready." Si Hua pushed open the door, walked into the simple room, and said to the anxious Lan Qin.
"Was it made by Eunuch Su?" Lanqin knew that Su Peisheng was a good cook and wished she could eat his cooking every meal.
"Yes, Eunuch Su did spend money to buy the chickens that Xiuzhu raised, saying it was to nourish the master," Si Hua said.
"Thank you for your kindness, Su Peisheng," Lanqin said with a smile. She then went to have lunch with the two maids, Sihua and Shuiling, her heart filled with worry for the Fourth Master, but she couldn't say it out loud.
After everyone sat down around the table, including the older woman, Lanqin specially asked Shuiling to call her over to have a meal together.
Su Peisheng cooked a chicken to perfection. He used the chicken's innards in two different dishes, made a soup with the chicken ribs, and prepared a braised chicken with potatoes using the chicken breast and other cuts of meat. Adding a few wild game pieces from the mountains, the table was laden with dishes. Xiuzhu had never imagined food could be prepared this way. She stared in amazement, her mouth watering.
"Master, please go first!" Su Peisheng said.
"Let's all start eating. Su Peisheng's cooking is quite rare," Lanqin said. "Should we save some food for them, in case they come back at noon?"
"Don't worry, Madam. Your servant has already prepared and saved the meal for Master and Daoist Zhou," Su Peisheng said immediately.
Lanqin nodded in relief and then called everyone to start eating.
After a while, everyone was captivated by Su Peisheng's delicious dishes, praising his culinary skills as they ate.
"Eunuch Su, it turns out you've been hiding your true talent! Your skills are so good!" Si Hua said.
“Oh, what can I do? I’m the master’s personal attendant. If I don’t learn to cook, how can I serve him well? The master has to go out all the time, and sometimes he can’t find a place to eat, so he has to make do with what he has. But these kinds of times don’t come often,” Su Peisheng said with a broad smile.
“That’s why the master has always relied on you so much,” Shui Ling said.
As Lanqin listened to their conversation, she was still wondering how Fourth Master was doing in that place, and what if he encountered some danger?
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