The Rat King seemed to sense the danger, its eyes glaring at Chu Jiuqing as it let out an angry roar, its two front paws digging incessantly at the ground.
As if receiving a command, the swarm of rats behind him rushed towards Chu Jiuqing like madmen.
"Little fish, be careful!" Chen Qingqing shouted anxiously and moved closer to him.
Chasing the Wind and Moon also wielded their swords and stepped forward, slaying the rats that pounced on them.
In a short while, the group arrived in front of the Rat King.
The Rat King glared with blood-red eyes and opened its mouth to bite Chu Jiuqing's arm.
Chu Jiuqing dodged to the side, avoiding the Rat King's attack.
Chen Qingqing seized the opportunity and fired a crossbow bolt at the Rat King's eye.
The rat king reacted extremely quickly, tilting its head to the side, and the crossbow bolt struck its forelimb.
The Rat King, in pain, turned to run, but Chu Jiuqing leaped forward and stabbed it in the shoulder with his sword.
The Rat King twisted its body frantically, trying to break free.
"Kill them! Kill this rat king, and there will be thousands upon thousands of rat kings. You can't kill them all, hahaha..." A ghostly voice, like a purple ghost, came from the end of the dark passage.
Chen Qingqing knew that Zi You's words were true. Killing this one would only take a few minutes for a new rat king to be born, and they still wouldn't be able to escape the secret passage.
Two tigers cannot share one mountain. If this rat king is allowed to live and cannot issue commands, they can easily leave this place.
Chen Qingqing sneered. If we don't let it die, that's easy.
With a thought, I opened the trading system, purchased a giant sticky mouse trap, and then quickly threw it away.
It landed squarely in front of the retreating Rat King, who was immediately stuck to the glue and let out a miserable cry.
Seeing this, many carnivorous rats gathered around, trying to rescue the rat king...
Chu Jiuqing gripped the sword hilt tightly, about to step forward and kill the Rat King, but Chen Qingqing quickly stopped him, "Xiaoyu, let's go quickly, we can't kill it, otherwise Ziyou will soon choose a new Rat King."
Zi You witnessed all of this. No matter how she played her flute, the carnivorous rats remained unmoved, which enraged her so much that her face contorted with rage, and she spoke out viciously.
"You little brat, you're smart enough to know how to control the Rat King, but I don't believe you'll be so lucky next time."
A cold glint flashed in Chu Jiuqing's eyes. "Zi You, you despicable villain, if I catch you, I will make sure you are reduced to ashes!"
"Oh dear, Your Highness is so cruel! I'm so scared!" Zi You said, and a burst of laughter echoed in the secret passage, but she disappeared without a trace.
Without delay, the group quickly made their way deeper into the secret passage.
The further you go in, the narrower the passage becomes.
The group walked and looked around, constantly searching for hidden mechanisms and traps, hoping to find an exit.
Disappointingly, no traps were found along the way, and even Zi You was silent.
After walking for a long time, the dark passage suddenly opened up, revealing eight cave entrances in front of them.
The openings are all the same height, similar in shape, and even have identical patterns.
Inside, there were piles of bones lying haphazardly, a truly gruesome sight.
Zhui Feng subconsciously scratched his head. "Your Highness, with so many entrances, which one should we go through?"
Chu Jiuqing frowned. He didn't like making choices, but the situation before him forced him to make one.
He inspected each one, then pointed to the rightmost opening and said, "Take this path."
“No, the right side is a dead end, we can’t go there.” Chen Qingqing said with a solemn expression.
Zhui Feng was puzzled. "Miss Chen, how did you figure that out? These are exactly the same cave entrances. How did you know that going to the right would lead to a dead end?"
"I'm not sure yet, but the presence of so many skeletons in the passageway is enough to show that these people got lost inside and didn't make it out alive."
"What do we do now? Are we going to be trapped here and die?" Zhui Feng frowned.
Chen Qingqing said calmly, "Don't rush. There are so many paths, there must be one that is safe. As long as we find the exit, we will definitely be able to get out alive, otherwise we will all die."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Zi You's sinister laughter rang in her ears, "You little brat, you're smart, you're right. Of these eight entrances, only one is a way out, the other seven are dead ends. If you choose the wrong one, you'll be playing in circles inside!"
Upon hearing this, Chu Jiuqing shouted angrily, "Zi You, you despicable and vile thing, one day I will tear you to pieces."
"Is that so? Then let's see if His Highness Prince Ning can walk out alive." After Zi You finished speaking, she fell silent.
Zhui Feng raised his hand and pointed to the cave entrance on the right, "Zi You's voice seems to be coming from here."
“No, Ziyou seems to be the third cave entrance from the left.” Zhu Yue shook her head repeatedly in denial.
Chu Jiuqing tried to discern the sound, but it seemed to be coming from all directions at once, making it impossible to determine the exact direction.
He shook his head repeatedly, "These eight cave entrances all look the same, each has a rotten and damp smell, and each secret passage has an echo, so it's impossible to tell which secret passage Ziyou's voice came from."
Zhui Feng hurriedly said, "Your Highness, in my opinion, we should split into three groups. Zhu Yue and I will each go through one cave entrance, and you and Miss Chen will go through another. We will check each one one by one. There are only a few cave entrances in total, so we should be able to find the way out soon."
Zhu Yue nodded in agreement. "I agree with Zhui Feng's idea."
"Your Highness, please make a decision quickly. If the Skeleton Rat King is rescued and the swarm of rats catches up, it will be a huge problem," Zhui Feng urged.
Before Chu Jiuqing could speak, Chen Qingqing hurriedly said, "This idea won't work. Ziyou is cunning and full of poisons. The secret passage is definitely fraught with danger. If we choose the wrong path, it won't be so easy to get out."
Chu Jiuqing knew that Chen Qingqing was right. It was easy to go in but difficult to come out. If he were poisoned by Ziyou, without Chen Qingqing by his side, Zhuifeng Zhuyue would surely die.
His father, the Emperor, is waiting for him in Kyoto; if he is delayed any longer...
He dared not think any further and looked at Chen Qingqing anxiously, "Qing'er, do you have a good idea?"
Thinking you can stump her with a few identical secret passages? That's wishful thinking.
Chen Qingqing smiled confidently. She examined each of the cave entrances and found that the caves all had a strong smell of decay and dampness.
She then took out a candle from her spatial storage, lit it, and went to one of the cave entrances.
Chu Jiuqing immediately understood Chen Qingqing's intention and signaled Zhuifeng and Zhuyue to step back. The three of them held their breath and stared intently at Chen Qingqing.
Suddenly, the candle moved towards Chen Qingqing's arms from the leftmost hole.
The group was overjoyed; the wind blowing in meant that the cave must be the exit.
Zhui Feng exclaimed excitedly, "Miss Chen, you are so clever! You actually knew to use this method to find the exit."
Chen Qingqing smiled faintly. This is the most basic common sense about airflow changes, something that modern people understand!
Having identified the exit, the group began walking inside...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
