Chapter 107: Walking in the Dark Passage, Following the Vine and Touching the Melon
Shi Jin said to Chen Da, "Brother, take good care of your injuries and watch me uproot that wicked Huang family!" After saying this, he patted Li Bai Cao's shoulder and said, "Bai Cao, call a few brothers to come with me!"
Shi Jin spoke as he manipulated the mechanism at the lantern stand and went out the door, taking three steps in two strides to the wall outside the secret room.
Shi Jin raised his right hand and slapped the ground around him, carefully distinguishing the sound of each punch as it reached his ears, slowly following a unique sound, tracing it down, and drawing crosses on the ground where he found it.
At this time, Li Baicao also brought over a hundred brothers from Shao Huashan. As they walked towards Shi Jing, Shi Jing suddenly stood up straight and shouted loudly: "Stop stop stop! Hush——! Everyone stand there and don't come any closer." After speaking, he lay back down on the ground and started pounding his fists even harder.
Everyone looked at me, I looked at you, with a face full of confusion, not knowing what Shi Jin was doing. Li Bai Cao also looked on in incomprehension, and then imitated Shi Jin's posture, kneeling down on one knee, pressing his ear to the ground, and pounding the surrounding area with force. However, after Li Bai Cao pounded for a while, apart from the sound of his own fists thumping against the ground, there was only the sound of Shi Jin's fists hitting the ground, nothing else.
Just as Lai Ba Cao was at a loss, he heard Shi Jin's voice stop, and he couldn't help but look up towards Shi Jin, only to see Shi Jin also looking over in his direction.
Shi Jin looked at Li Bai Cao's stunned expression and couldn't bear to say anything else, but now there really wasn't enough time to explain in detail. So Shi Jin raised his index finger to his lips, nodded slightly, and then continued to focus on the ground. With no other distracting sounds, the different sounds produced by punching different places could be roughly distinguished, which parts of the underground were solid and which were empty. These subtle differences brought distinct feelings to Shi Jin's ears.
Shi Jin drew cross after cross on the ground, like a big snake, winding its way towards the study. Shi Jin saw where it was going and let out a big sigh of relief, nodding in satisfaction: "As expected!" He patted the dust off his sleeves and stood up.
Li Bai Cao looked at Shi Jin's hands and it seemed that the matter had come to an end, so it was time to resolve his own doubts. He followed Shi Jin's words and asked: "Master, what is indeed not bad?"
Shi Jin tightened his belt, turned around and looked at Li Bai Cao seriously: "What Chen Da encountered was not 'ghost knocking on the door', but someone digging a tunnel under here."
"What Daxia meant was that Chen Da heard exactly those sounds of digging tunnels?"
Shi Jin nodded and said, "That's right. Those thieves thought they could deceive heaven and earth, steal the Shun Tian Book without anyone knowing, but unexpectedly were heard by Chen Da who was leaning against the bed. Now, no matter who is behind these thieves, we will follow this tunnel to find the answer we want." After that, Shi Jin waved his hand at the brothers of Shaohua Mountain and said, "Get your tools ready and dig here!"
The brothers of Mount Liang immediately found a few iron shovels and began to dig at the place indicated by Shi Jing. These seven or eight big men dug here, and soon they dug out a large pit, and after digging a few more shovels, a large cave was revealed.
"Everyone be careful not to collapse the tunnel." Shi Jin walked to the edge of the big pit, under the sunlight after noon, looking down at the underground tunnel connected to it, a dark and narrow entrance, although not wide, but can accommodate one person coming and going easily.
Shaohua Mountain's brothers dug out the underground tunnel and then stopped, standing quietly to one side, waiting for Shi Jin's next instructions. But with this tunnel appearing under the big pit, it made them marvel, and even more excited. Shaohua Mountain's brothers were amazed that their master Shi Jin could accurately find the location of the cave, which was considered divine in their hearts. Moreover, they were excited because they knew that following Shi Jin would be a great show.
Just as everyone was eagerly waiting, Shi Jin did not disappoint them. He immediately ordered the fire to be brought in and seven or eight brothers were sent down into the tunnel to explore the road ahead. If it was passable all the way through, they would report back right away.
Just as the seven or eight advance teams were about to leave, Shi Jin suddenly remembered something and hastily called out to them, urgently instructing: "When you reach the end, be sure to extinguish the torches and tread lightly, lest you startle the snake in the grass."
"Right!" The brothers responded in unison and quickly disappeared at the entrance of the tunnel.
As soon as the brothers left, Shi Jin immediately turned around and ordered: "Leave ten people here to guard. If anything unusual is found, behead first and report later!" After saying that, Shi Jin patted Li Bai Cao's shoulder and said: "Let's go, we'll go to your study again and see how these rats got in."
A lone horseman emerged from the distance, approaching the imperial army's camp at an unusually urgent pace.
The officers and soldiers standing on the gate tower saw from a distance, immediately raised their vigilance, one hand holding up long guns, and the other hand shading their eyes, just wanting to block out the sunlight of the afternoon sun to see more clearly. The person and horse had already rushed to a place 200 steps outside the camp. The soldier in charge of sending out sentries saw that the comer's pace was extremely fast, not ordinary, and the comer was definitely evil. He immediately ordered the officers and soldiers to draw their bows and shoot arrows, and when the man rushed to within 100-odd paces, they shot down towards his path with a whizzing sound.
When the man was shot by a rain of arrows and stopped his horse, the soldiers in the camp finally got a clear look at him. But it's strange to say that this person rode a large red horse, as if he had just emerged from a blood bath, but on the horse sat a very small person, all dressed in white, with a white cloak wrapped tightly around his body, and even in the scorching sun, he still wore the hood of the cloak up, looking down from above, a shadow blocked his face, mysterious and invisible.
"The soldiers on the stockade shouted down: 'Who comes here? Quickly report your name!'"
The person sitting steadily on the horse, however, did not respond, but instead inserted his hand into his bosom and slowly felt around for something.
The soldiers on the stockade thought they were sharp-eyed and saw something very subtle. At the same time, they also remembered the rumor of Wu San's sneak attack that had been circulating secretly in the military camp, so they couldn't help but be vigilant, looking at the approaching person as if he had already taken something and was slowly taking it out.
The soldier thought that if this man was the second Wu Sanlang, then when his wrist came out, he would quickly shoot a flying knife. The more he thought about it, the tighter his heart became, and his eyes stared fixedly at the newcomer's hand. Just as the man's forearm reached its limit, the soldier's heart suddenly felt a chill, and he loudly ordered the archers on both sides: "Prepare!"
With a series of creaking sounds, the man also completely pulled out his hand, and a golden plaque was dangling under it, swaying back and forth...
