The smell shocked everyone. How many people must have died and how much blood must have been shed for them to be able to smell such a strong stench of blood in this underground chamber?
Li Chengfeng grabbed the old steward and gritted his teeth. "Do you want to die?"
The old steward said in a cold voice: "This old servant has served the Huangfu Clan for forty-three years and Young Master for thirty-eight years. To be able to die for the Huangfu Clan and Young Master is this old servant's honor!"
"You!"
Li Chengfeng was furious. Just as he was about to torture the old steward, Qin Mieqin placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Junior Brother Chengfeng, the most important thing now is to find out what happened!"
Li Chengfeng nodded. "I'll go investigate."
Sun Yongcai and Zuo Fei looked at each other, gritting their teeth as they sheathed their swords. Zuo Fei waved his hand in front of Su You and Tianjun, releasing them from their restraints. He then stood at the side, but still stood opposite Qin Mieqin and Ouyang Nan.
Su You had just released his restraints when he pulled out the cloth in his mouth and spat angrily. He wanted to pounce on Zuo Fei but Tianjun pulled him back. Tianjun whispered, "Focus on the bigger picture!"
Zuo Fei glanced at them, snorted coldly, and turned his head away.
Sun Yongcai said in a low voice, "Chengfeng … Junior Brother, please check on my juniors and see how they're doing!"
Ouyang Nan smirked. "Now you're thinking about your juniors?
You're such a hypocrite! "
Sun Yongcai raged. "I brought them out, of course I'll bring them back!
Ouyang Nan, if you're not happy, let's set a time to fight! "
Ouyang Nan snickered. "Sure, you think I'm afraid of you?!"
Mieqin roared, "You're fighting amongst yourselves in front of the enemy!
What a disgrace! "
He glared at Ouyang Nan, then at Sun Yongcai. "Sun Yongcai, I don't care if you think of yourself as a member of Hidden Sword Court, we have to work together or … none of us will be able to go back!"
Sun Yongcai nodded slowly and turned away, not saying a word.
Li Chengfeng closed his eyes and controlled the puppet to crawl out of the secret tunnel. After a while, he opened his eyes. Everyone immediately asked anxiously, "How is it?"
Li Chengfeng's expression darkened. After a moment of silence, he whispered, "I … didn't find anything."
Everyone looked at each other with a terrified expression.
Su You could not help but say, "Then let's hurry up and run!"
Sun Yongcai snapped: "No!!
I can't abandon my junior brothers and sisters! "
Ouyang Nan sneered. Just as he was about to ridicule Qin Mieqin, Qin Mieqin glared at him. Ouyang Nan swallowed the words he was about to say.
Li Chengfeng smiled bitterly. "This secret tunnel is so short, and the exit is only about twenty metres behind the manor … I'm afraid there's nowhere to run."
Su You said in despair, "Then what should we do?"
Yuehan said, "I think … we don't have to scare ourselves first.
After all, we haven't seen anything yet. "
Blockhead suddenly said, "Who knows, we might just be able to avoid a calamity down there!"
His words struck a chord in everyone's hearts. They were all hoping that they might be lucky enough to be able to reach this secret chamber. What if the other party just missed them?
Li Chengfeng turned to the old butler and gritted his teeth. "Tell me, what's going on outside?!"
The old butler cackled. Suddenly, he exerted some force in his mouth. Everyone heard a slight cracking sound. Then, the old butler groaned and couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
Tian Jun was shocked. He immediately rushed over and pinched the old butler's cheeks to pry open his mouth. He exclaimed in shock, "He's talking!"
"Damn it!"
Qin Mieqin's face was ashen. He pinched the old butler's mouth and peeked inside. All he saw was a bloody mess.
The old butler was in so much pain that his entire body was trembling, but a crazed smile appeared on his face. He chuckled, but his voice was stuck in his throat. His throat was bubbling with blood and flesh, making a terrifying sound. Everyone could only tremble with fear when they heard it.
Tian Jun looked at Li Chengfeng. "What do we do?"
Li Chengfeng thought for a moment. "Bring him along. We want to heal him and use him as a hostage!
If he's the one who found him, he might still be useful! "
Qin Mieqin nodded. He pinched the old butler's mouth with one hand and took out a medicine bottle with the other. He uncorked the bottle with one hand and poured a black pill into the old butler's mouth.
Biting one's tongue was not actually a suicide but the large amount of blood that would flow from the mouth into the trachea would suffocate a person to death.
The old steward felt something being thrown into his mouth. He desperately wanted to spit it out, but Qin Mieqin pinched his cheeks and closed his mouth with his other hand. Then, he poked his throat a few times, causing the old steward to swallow unconsciously. He actually swallowed the pill along with the blood and flesh.
The pill melted the moment it entered his throat and quickly took effect. It stopped the blood in his mouth and saved him from choking to death.
Qin Mieqin handed the old butler to Tian Jun. "Watch him, we're going out!"
Tian Jun asked, "Aren't we going to leave a few people here?"
Li Chengfeng nodded and glanced at Yuehan, who glared at him. "I'll go with you!"
Li Chengfeng said helplessly, "Then Xiaobao, Tianxing, you two stay!"
Han Tianxing said, "Senior Brother Chengfeng … even if we stay, if something happens, where can we run to?
Even if we escape, what's the use? "
Li Chengfeng was silent for a moment, then smiled bitterly. "Fine, we'll all go out together!"
After some discussion, Li Chengfeng took the lead, Qin Mieqin at the back, Sun Yongcai and the rest in the middle.
The group nervously filed out of the secret passage. The moment they stepped out of the secret room, a thick stench of blood assaulted their noses, making them nauseous.
Su You pinched his nose and whispered, "What happened?
Why is it so pungent? "
Tian Jun whispered to Li Chengfeng, "Can you sense it?"
Li Chengfeng shook his head. "No, there's not a single person in the entire manor. Even the servants who were asleep and the other senior brothers from Hidden Sword Court … they're all gone!
The strangest thing is … there's not a single drop of blood around! "
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines. What could have happened to make all these people disappear so suddenly?
Also, there was no blood around, so why was there such a bloody stench?
At this moment, the old housekeeper suddenly started howling crazily. Li Chengfeng and the rest were afraid that he would shout, so they stuffed a ball of cloth into his mouth. However, in this deathly silent manor that was as bloody as a graveyard, his low, muffled cries were piercing to the ears!
"Damn it!" Enraged, Tian Jun lunged forward and knocked the old butler out with a palm.
Everyone's hearts jumped. They opened their eyes wide and were on high alert. After waiting for a while, there was no movement. Just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, they suddenly heard a faint bell ringing in the boundless night.
The ringing was crisp and distant, like a small bell a child wore on their wrist.
When Qin Mieqin heard the sound, he suddenly remembered something. His expression changed and his body trembled. "Oh my god … it's him!"
Li Chengfeng looked at Qin Mieqin. "Who is it?!"