That day, Bai Houpu came to see Li Lanzhen.
"Mrs. Li,"
Before he could finish speaking, she stopped him, saying, "I've already said I'm just a country woman. Don't call me 'Madam' anymore. Just call me Lanzhen, like everyone else in Peach Blossom Spring."
Bai Houpu smiled gently, "Lanzhen, the New Year is almost here..."
I want to take advantage of the fact that Scrophularia isn't here.
Please take me with you to find my brother-in-law's coffin and bring it back before the New Year to bury him on this eastern mountain. You see…”
“Okay. We’ll go tomorrow and come back as soon as possible,” Li Lanzhen readily agreed.
Li Lanzhen invited Xue Laohu to go with them.
The three men, accompanied by five guards, arrived at the exit of the underground river.
When Li Lanzhen and the others hurriedly escaped from the underground river, they landed on a relatively high hillside.
The next morning, the area had turned into a vast ocean.
Now this place is covered with dense thatch.
Although it is dry and the scenery is desolate, one can imagine that this place was once lush and green.
They searched for a long time but could not find the underground river exit from which they had escaped.
Li Lanzhen suddenly remembered that when she fell into that cave that day, there was an open section at the top of the underground river.
She remembers clearly that the golden sunlight shone on the surface of the underground river, and then the light and shadow of the river projected a triangular light onto the wall.
She touched it and it fell down.
"Let's keep going. There's an opening in the underground river; we can go down from there."
Everything went smoothly, and they successfully stood on the riverbed of the underground river.
At this time, there was no sunlight shining on the river surface, and no triangular shadow was projected onto the wall.
Li Lanzhen still managed to pinpoint the exact location.
With a slight exertion of his palm, the eight of them were thrown upside down as if they had been flipped over by a floorboard.
It fell into the same cave where Li Lanzhen had fallen.
Li Lanzhen took two torches out of the basket.
After lighting the torch, Xue Laohu and she each held one and continued walking forward.
When Bai Houpu stepped into the cave, he immediately saw the lone coffin lying inside.
He staggered but quickly approached the coffin, gently stroking it with both hands.
The two guards tried to stop him from rushing in, but they couldn't stop him.
Li Lanzhen also came to the coffin.
She looked around and saw that nothing had changed, just as if Li Lanzhen and the others had just left.
The two guards gently opened the coffin lid.
A neatly arranged skeleton appeared before everyone's eyes.
With tears in his eyes, Bai Houpu stared intently, then, as if he had thought of something, he quickly walked to Bai Gu's left foot and gently stroked the shinbone with his hand.
Then, he spoke softly to everyone.
"It's him! He's my brother-in-law, Physician Hua, the father of Xuan Shen and Bai Zhi!"
He had injured his leg before, and I personally treated him.
Waaaaaah…”
Bai Houpu cried out in suppressed pain.
Several guards bent down and looked at the skeleton, and tears streamed down their faces.
"Master, we and the steward have been looking for you so hard!"
I never imagined that you would leave here all alone!
master!"
...
After they calmed down.
Li Lanzhen described in detail to them what she had seen and what she had discovered there.
"I've already given that box to Xuan Shen. As for the food..."
Bai Houpu waved his hand, interrupting Li Lanzhen.
"Lanzhen, let's not talk about food!"
We will forever remember your great kindness!
Seeing his agitated expression, Li Lanzhen remained silent.
At this point, words are simply inadequate!
There's plenty of time ahead, let's wait and see.
Next, Bai Houpu discussed with everyone how to transport the coffin back to Hulu Valley.
Li Lanzhen held a torch and carefully searched the four walls of the cave.
She felt that since Xuan Shen's father and the others had lived in Calabash Valley and left behind that secret passage, there must be a door leading here.
One of the guards, knowing Li Lanzhen's thoughts, followed her in the search.
The two searched carefully twice, but found nothing on the four walls of the cave.
Li Lanzhen patted the dust off her hands and invited everyone to have something to eat.
"Let's eat something first, then we'll think of a solution."
As he spoke, he took out water bags from his basket and asked everyone to wash their hands.
He took out wild vegetable cakes, boiled eggs, and a water bag filled with spiritual spring water from his basket and handed them to everyone.
All you can eat here is cold food.
Li Lanzhen dared not take out the warm food from the space for everyone to eat.
The group took some wild vegetable pancakes and boiled eggs, and found a place to sit down and eat.
No one knows what Bai Houpu was thinking, but he walked over and plopped down in the spot where Li Lanzhen had mentioned that Imperial Physician Hua had once sat.
Unexpectedly, when he sat down...
The wall behind them emitted a dull, muffled sound and slowly opened an opening.
If it weren't for the guards' quick reflexes in grabbing Bai Houpu...
He would fall backwards and crash inside.
When the stone door is fully open and stops moving,
One of the guards quickly jumped inside.
Immediately afterwards, he shouted loudly.
"Grandpa, look!"
The three of them followed inside and witnessed such a magnificent scene.
A pile of bones!
Li Lanzhen discovered that at least 100 skeletons were scattered and piled up throughout the secret passage.
Some skeletons were stacked together in groups of three or five, while others were clearly fragmented before death.
At this moment, one of Hua Zixi's guards said.
"Uncle, the ten guards who are with the master are all here!"
Master, master, what exactly happened to him?!
After saying that, he called a guard to go in with him to check where the exit of the secret passage was.
Bai Houpu quickly instructed them, "Be careful and stay safe."
Li Lanzhen also sensed that this secret passage shouldn't have come from Calabash Valley.
Because they found no trace of chasing, fighting, or destruction in Calabash Valley.
Bai Houpu carefully examined the dozen or so guards and the other skeletons.
He frowned and said, "These guards have all been poisoned, but the others are all highly skilled in martial arts."
They're either assassins or...
Li Lanzhen also noticed this.
Just look at the weapons around these people; they are not the kind of weapons you see every day.
Li Lanzhen also realized something from Bai Houpu's unfinished words.
She didn't think about it any further; those things were no longer important.
All you need to know is that Xuan Shen's father was killed by the enemy.
As for who the enemy is? Let them find out for themselves.
The three retreated back into the cave through the secret passage, and Bai Houpu took another careful look at the spot where he had just been sitting.
Li Lanzhen looked at him and asked.
"Mr. Bai, do you think there should be any hidden mechanisms here?"
“I think so, my brother-in-law passed away sitting here.”
He must be trying to hide something.
This time, he didn't just plop down on the ground rashly, but instead slowly explored the area.
Later, he actually found a protruding stone about the size of a thumb.
He pressed down hard, but the stone didn't budge, and the cave and other places remained unchanged.
He gripped the stone with both hands and twisted it forcefully from side to side.
Nothing happened.
Xue Laohu reminded him, "Mr. Bai, why don't you try lifting it up a bit?"
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