I heard the shouts from outside the cave and responded without hesitation, "No problem, I'll go out right now. Tell your friends to hold their weapons steady and be careful not to hurt anyone!"
"Don't try anything funny with me, or you'll suffer a terrible death!"
The person outside shone their flashlight into the passageway: "Take off all your clothes so I can make sure you don't have any weapons, then slowly move out!"
I knew that this trip would likely end badly, but since I was mentally prepared to negotiate with He Hai, I didn't hesitate and took off my backpack.
Just as I was taking off my clothes, Song Laosan suddenly appeared beside me, holding a crossbow and pulling the trigger.
I don't know if he hit anyone, but the light coming in from outside suddenly went out, followed by the man's roar: "Damn it, you guys are playing dirty tricks on me, aren't you? Get some explosives and blow this hole up, trap them here!"
I heard the shouting outside, glared at Song Laosan, and yelled, "Are you fucking crazy? The people outside have all agreed to negotiate, why did you attack?"
“I just don’t want you to blindly throw your life away! Since they’re here to kill you, why do you think they’ll let us go once they’ve captured you? If you really do as they say and walk out naked, the most likely outcome is that you’ll be tortured to death, and we’ll be buried inside waiting to die!”
Song Laosan said in a deep voice, "If we stay here, we still have a fighting chance, at least we won't be left to die!"
I glared angrily at Song Laosan: "If I go out, at least there's still a chance for negotiation, but you've completely ruined the situation! You've cut off everyone's last chance to survive, do you understand?"
Old Song took a deep breath: "These people outside are on execution boats. Do you think a bunch of lunatics who don't even know when they'll lose their lives will reason with you? This tunnel is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It won't be easy for them to break in, and as for blowing it up, it definitely won't be something that can be done with a small amount of explosives! Most importantly, the men in black robes are also looking for Golden Bull Cave. If the He family can't break in in a short time, the commotion they cause will definitely attract their attention!"
If the men in black robes believe the dispute stems from a fight over the Golden Bull Cave, they'll prioritize dealing with the trouble outside the cave! If the He family can be held back by the men in black robes, we still have a chance to escape!
"Young Master Duan, I agree with Old Man Song's proposal!"
The monkey surprisingly agreed with Song Laosan's plan: "I can't let you go out and risk your life alone. Either we all rush out together, or we all hold this place to the death! He Hai's third uncle died in Li Fan's tomb because he went back on his word. I don't think He Hai is a man of his word!"
Manjing said in a muffled voice, "Big brother, I'll follow you wherever you go!"
Seeing their resolute attitude, I knew that my attempt to negotiate was definitely futile, so I could only agree: "Since we've decided to defend, everyone get moving. Song Laosan, place the explosives at the entrance for defense. Monkey and Manjing, load your crossbows. The three of us will take turns guarding the entrance! The passage ahead is full of spikes, so they can't swarm in all at once. The pressure on our defense won't be too great!"
After I finished speaking, everyone got busy.
"boom!"
About thirty seconds later, a loud bang came from the passage. The sound of the explosion made my eardrums hurt, and a pungent smoke was blown in by the airflow, making us cough repeatedly.
A few seconds later, a deep male voice came out: "This cave was carved out of the mountain. It's so damn sturdy. It'll be hard to blow this hellhole up with our explosives!"
Another person spoke up: "The people inside chose to negotiate with us because they must have no other way out. This tomb must be a dead end! Set it on fire and use the smoke to drive them out!"
"This is a cliff more than 20 meters high, how could you start a fire?"
"Damn it, you're not eating because there are no chopsticks? Use a rope to lower firewood up from below! We have plenty of time to play with them!"
"..."
Hearing the noise outside, Song Laosan whispered to us, "The people outside are going to use smoke to force us out. Everyone take off your outer clothes, soak them in water, and make simple gas masks! Remember to prepare plenty; we have to get through this!"
After saying that, Song Laosan took off his coat and started urinating on it. Seeing that the three of us hadn't moved an inch, he covered his face with the urine-soaked clothes and urged, "Why aren't you getting ready? What are you waiting for?"
The three of us stared at Song Laosan as if he were an idiot, and then simultaneously took out gas masks from our travel bags.
Seeing this, Song Laosan was taken aback: "Are you all so well prepared this time?"
Shortly after we finished our preparations, the light from flashlights shone through the passageway.
Wearing night vision goggles, I could clearly see the figure at the cave entrance in the darkness, and I raised the crossbow and pulled the trigger.
Ouch!
The person at the cave entrance was pierced by a crossbow bolt, let out a scream, and quickly retreated.
Having learned from past mistakes, the people outside became wiser and began throwing firewood into the cave, avoiding the entrance, and soon the fire was lit.
Thick smoke billowed into the cave through the tunnel, quickly obscuring our view.
Even with a gas mask on, the smell of the smoke was still very pungent to me, so I hid on one side of the tunnel, picked up my crossbow, and aimed it at them.
"Cough cough!"
About three minutes later, Song Laosan's voice came through the thick smoke: "This won't do, this cloth of mine can't keep out this thick smoke, is anyone there to help me!"
I couldn't see anything through the glass of my gas mask, and my flashlight could only illuminate the smoke in front of me. I shouted, "Where are you? Turn on your flashlight so I can see you!"
As soon as I finished speaking, a light suddenly appeared in the smoke ahead.
I saw the signal that Song Laosan sent and groped my way in that direction, but the further I walked, the more I felt something was wrong.
Although the thick smoke had disoriented me, I remembered that before the smoke rushed in, I wasn't this far from Song Laosan, and the source of the flashlight beam seemed to be near the entrance.
Thinking of this, I subconsciously raised the composite crossbow in my hand, and then I saw a figure rushing towards me from the smoke.
"call out!"
Seeing the people rushing towards me, I decisively pulled the trigger and shouted at the same time, "Everyone be careful! The people outside have sneaked in during the chaos! Everyone come and guard the entrance, don't let them in!"
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