Hiding
In the darkness, Jiang Nian couldn't see the changes around him.
In the distance, the place where she had stopped was surrounded by people. The loud and powerful roar like the collision of metal and stone broke through the air, and the sound waves were like blades, piercing the eardrums.
"Hey! My eyes are sharp. There was clearly someone here just now. How could he just disappear out of nowhere?"
“…”
The other party's answer was unclear and was covered by the sound of the wind rushing past his ears, so Jiang Nian couldn't hear it clearly.
In the darkness, people's five senses will be more acute. The surrounding environment is cold and dry, mixed with the smell of gunpowder in the air. If you stay in it for a long time, you will feel dizzy due to lack of oxygen.
Xizhen found a safe place and put her on the ground.
As his feet stepped on solid soil, his soul and spirit that had floated into the air also swam back.
There should be an air vent nearby. After breathing in some outside air, Jiang Nian's dizziness instantly felt much better.
Xizhen stood in front of Jiang Nian, looking at her expression with his eyes downcast.
In the darkness, his eyesight seemed to be particularly good, and he accurately caught a glimpse of Jiang Nian's face, which was pale with fear, in the dark tunnel.
It could also be caused by a lift on the back of her neck.
After paying close attention to the surrounding movements, he spoke slowly, "Fortunately, I arrived late, otherwise the young lady would have become their prey."
Xizhen's voice was soft and feminine, with a teasing smile in it. It had been a long time since they last saw each other, and Jiang Nian actually felt somewhat familiar listening to it.
"Could it be that Chief Xi noticed me just now?"
She curled her eyes and chuckled softly.
"I was so engrossed in their conversation that I didn't even notice they noticed me. I was careless. Thank you, Mr. Xi."
Xizhen tilted his head, his vision familiar with the darkness, and Jiang Nian clearly saw a strand of hair on his forehead fall on his long and beautiful eyelashes.
"No problem, I haven't seen you for a few days, and you seem to be acting strangely."
"But the most pressing matter right now is the tunnel we're in."
Xizhen turned sideways and pointed above his head.
"I have been exploring the tunnels of Zuihua Tower these past two days. After comparison, I discovered that there is a path here that leads directly to the fourth floor."
He pondered for a moment and said with a smile, "This must be a way for the goddess to leave a way out for herself. Shouzan didn't make such an arrangement when he built this pavilion."
"Miss, if you feel any tremors tomorrow afternoon, you might as well find a way down from the top floor to the fourth floor, and then walk back here through this secret passage."
Predicting what Jiang Nian was going to ask, Xizhen paused for a moment, a faint smile on his face. "I guess Miss is wondering why you're running into a tunnel when the explosion happened there?"
He took a few steps forward and knocked on the wall.
"The walls here are like a sleight of hand, just like the outside world. If the earthquake is strong, this layer will definitely be shattered."
"The tunnel we are currently in is not the same tunnel the young lady was in just now."
"Although there are some similarities between them, but..."
Xizhen paused for a moment, raised his eyes and looked into the endless dark road behind Jiang Nian. His gaze was fixed on something, and it was unknown what he was looking at and thinking about.
"Perhaps the goddess anticipated the day she would be haunted. Once the tunnel exploded, this connecting point would be blocked by falling rocks. Some of the poisonous gas would escape, but the rate of its diffusion would be reduced."
He stopped talking and met Jiang Nian's thoughtful eyes: "Miss, why not go and check out the secret passage later."
Although he had just arrived at Zuihualou, Xizhen looked more familiar than Jiang Nian.
"Right now, they have just finished searching the upper level and are looking for you on the lower level."
Xizhen blinked. He didn't know if it was because he was related to the goddess by blood, but he always had an inexplicable accuracy and confidence in the goddess's judgment.
"If they've finished searching the lower floors and want to go up there, Miss, you might as well take shelter in the attic."
…
On the way here being brought here by Xizhen, Jiang Nian was imagining various places where she could hide without being discovered after reaching the upper level, but she had never imagined hiding in the goddess's room.
Let’s not talk about whether people can hide there - Jiang Nian has not yet found out how big the compartment is. After all, when he went upstairs to serve the goddess these days, there were always other personal maids around.
It is rare to find a situation where both the goddess and her personal maid are not there and the door is still open.
The last time I overslept and ran to the top floor to check, I found no one inside. It was pure luck.
Because he hadn't been able to find an opportunity in the past few days, this hiding place was hidden in the back of his mind. Now that Xi Zhen had reminded him, Jiang Nian forgot that the most dangerous place was also the safest place.
Maybe there's a place to hide.
But at night, you definitely cannot go back to your original room to sleep. Your feet may just touch the ground one second, and the next second someone will lift up the back collar of your clothes, and your feet will leave the ground, and your life will be gone in an instant.
Apart from these two, there is another option.
That means hiding on the first to fifth floors of Zuihualou for a night, like playing hide-and-seek, away from their eyes and ears.
This plan is also high-risk. It will keep you nervous and anxious all night long, and it will easily deplete your physical strength.
Jiang Nian stood in front of Xizhen, his eyelashes slightly drooping, and finally chose to go to the top pavilion.
"Thank you for your advice, Mr. Xi. I will consider it... But besides that, I have another request: I want to get rid of Mr. Xi."
"—Could you please help me take the wooden box in my room? I don't think I'll need the things inside."
If we can escape with the information during tomorrow's chaos, then this mission will be over.
If the wooden box had been taken away by Xizhen in advance, there would be no need to go back to the ruins and risk being contaminated by poisonous gas to look for the wooden box, which might have survived the explosion and might have been unsure whether it could be preserved.
Xizhen was not surprised that Jiang Nian chose his opinion. He curled his hair with his fingertips and said with a smile, "Okay."
—
We stayed in the tunnel until almost noon, during which time Xizhen went to the upper level to get some food.
After finishing a lunch in the dark tunnel, which he had no idea what it was, Jiang Nian put the bowl and chopsticks back into the hands that Xizhen had handed to him while talking to him.
Even though she traveled back to ancient times and got a run-down ancestral pharmacy out of thin air, she would never have imagined that one day in the future, she would be eating in this dungeon-like place and hiding from the people who were hunting her.
Too much dramatic development.
When she was conspiring with Xiao Yingzhu, she never thought that in the end she would have to sacrifice her life.
Xizhen took the bowl and chopsticks, assessed the sky from outside, and kindly reminded, "It's almost 3 p.m. They should have finished searching the rest of the tunnels and are heading here. I advise you to return to the upper floors first."
Jiang Nianming ran into the tunnel as soon as he woke up in the morning and stayed there until this afternoon. Although he didn't say anything, he felt a little uncomfortable after staying in the dark, cold and dry environment for half a day.
Hearing Xizhen's suggestion, she nodded immediately.
"Well, should I go straight to the fourth floor from here, or—back the way I came?"
Having never seen this passage before, Jiang Nian didn't know whether it was a one-way street.
Xizhen glanced upwards, then gently shook the dishes in his hands.
"Please wait for me to put it on the upper level first. This passage is still quite high from the ground. Miss, please wait for me."
"good."
—
There was quite a distance from the ground to the passage. Given Jiang Nian's height, she really couldn't reach it by herself, so she was pulled up by Xizhen.
Along the long road, although we knew that the final destination was the fourth floor, there was no vertical feeling of weightlessness in this secret passage.
The path leading to the fourth floor is a spiral upward path, with wooden staircase handrails installed on the side.
Jiang Nian had just stepped onto the stairs when footsteps were heard not far below.
"The adults said the girl might run back here. Let's go check it out!"
A burst of noisy footsteps echoed clearly through the dim passage, hitting Jiang Nian's ears directly.
Her heart skipped a beat, and without saying anything more to Xizhen, she ran straight up the stairs.
—
The group of Lu's men hurried here, but they didn't see the girl. They only saw a long-haired man with black lipstick.
The man stood with one hand on his waist, his long hair loosely tied and hanging in front of him, the end of his hair slightly brushing his waist. The long gun barrel was hidden in the dark. The men who came rushing over took a closer look, but their eyes were half blind and they did not see the long gun behind Xizhen.
"...Which side are you on?"
"Why haven't I seen you before?"
The leading man wanted to get closer, and the smell of sweat immediately hit Xizhen's nose, making her frown. But she smiled and said, "You want to find a girl?"
He turned and pointed ahead: "That's where she went."
Seeing the leader standing still and staring at him suspiciously, Xizhen tilted his head slightly, his cold eyes half blocked by the hair hanging down in front of his forehead, only his beautiful face could be seen.
"My master told me that I cannot participate in this operation, so..." He smiled softly, "I still rely on you brothers."
“…”
They had been searching for the entire morning and hadn't seen any sign of the girl. Now that they had received the latest intelligence, they would definitely not miss her.
A hint of suspicion flashed across the leader's eyes, but he was drawn to the dark road ahead. As if he had been called by fate, he hummed and replied, "Thank you."
As if they had received an order, the brainless Wu Mi members behind him followed the leader's gaze and rushed forward again.
The bustling army started to move again, and the tunnel was shaking for a while. The last one was attracted by the dim light emitted by the gun behind Xi Zhen, and realized that the Wu Mi people were not equipped with such weapons.
He was just about to ask his question when the smiling man in front of him raised his gun and pointed it at his neck. The diamond-shaped tip was gleaming, but it was hidden in the infinitely thick darkness. There was only a breeze caused by the force, even though it was cold enough to penetrate his throat.
—
Jiang Nian ran up the secret passage. He could only see layer upon layer of wooden steps in the enclosed road. The sound of footsteps ascending the stairs and the sound of rapid breathing rang in his ears, and his strong heartbeat was beating against his heart.
I don’t know how many stairs I climbed. My legs and arms were numb from constantly taking steps upwards. When I looked up, I finally saw a ray of light in my eyes.
The fourth floor is coming.
…
When he ran to the exit of the secret passage, Jiang Nian was already out of breath, but worried that there was someone outside, so he only stayed at the corner where he could catch a glimpse of the secret passage, holding on to the wall to calm his heavy breathing.
The road I came from was already engulfed by darkness, and there was no sound of footsteps following behind me. The wooden floor on the fourth floor still seemed to have the warmth of light, and a white gauze curtain fell from high above, which was exactly the same as before.
The palpitations after surviving the disaster were like vines, slowly wrapping around her heart and making it ache.
Escaping all the way up, Jiang Nian saw the fourth floor at this moment, which was like seeing a paradise without disasters and harm, attracting her to go up.
It was not a good idea to hide here all night. The stream pillow could hold out for a while, but not for the whole night. She still had to find a place where she could rest safely for the whole night without being discovered.
Jiang Nian calmed his wildly beating heart and walked up.
The curtains belonging to the fourth layer gradually came into her sight. They fell silently from the upper floors, like an overwhelming network.
In her field of vision, her footsteps stepped onto the ground of the fourth floor.
Behind her, a smiling voice came towards her.
"Miss, didn't I tell you that it would be best if you didn't meet me?"
“…”
Jiang Nian's body stiffened for a moment, then he turned around calmly.
You sat on a wooden stool with his legs crossed, his elbows resting on the table where the perfume was placed, and a silver chain whip in his hand.
"Since I've discovered it, let's just count it as our past collusion. How about..."
He tilted his head with a smile, and casually measured the chain whip in his hand.
The crisp sound of collision and Xiao Wen's words came from afar, extremely clear in the silent fourth floor, and hit Jiang Nian's palpitating heart with a thud.
"How about we play a game of hide and seek?"
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