After they reached the vicinity of the Ma family ancestral grave, Zhang Bei placed the coffin on the ground.
Whether they could find it or not was no longer their concern.
Since they had promised, they had to deliver.
And the young man led Zhang Bei to the entrance of the tunnel they had dug before.
"Why are we going down here again?" Zhang Bei asked.
The young man said, "This is the only way. We need to hurry."
The young man was in a hurry, though Zhang Bei would have preferred to take it slow, he still followed the young man's footsteps.
After passing through the tunnel, they returned to the secret passage.
"This place doesn't seem to have been affected by the previous tremors?" Zhang Bei asked.
The young man said, "This place and the previous area are not one whole."
Zhang Bei understood what the young man meant.
This time, things were much simpler, and they soon returned to the mud pit.
"They don't seem to have worn their water-resistant clothing."
Looking at the bodies by the mud pit, the young man's brows furrowed.
Zhang Bei also noticed this. The young man had previously reminded them.
If they wanted to go down, they had to wear water-resistant clothing.
But the bodies by the mud pit were still wearing water-resistant clothing, which meant the four men hadn't worn them.
And the young man had said there was poison in the mud pit, so the four men had been poisoned.
To draw their attention, they had used explosives to destroy the stone wall below, causing the previous tremors.
Thinking about this, Zhang Bei shook his head in dismay. Those men were far inferior to the young man.
The Zhang family had an ancestral rule, that they should not kill indiscriminately without cause.
But the four men had completely disregarded the Ma An Village above, a path to their own demise.
Moreover, the Zhang family had another rule, that they would not save those who were destined to die.
In Zhang Bei's opinion, they were destined to die.
But seeing the young man unbothered by this, even seemingly anxious, Zhang Bei didn't say anything.
Soon, the two plunged back into the mud pit. Now they knew they were poisoned.
They had to find them as soon as possible, otherwise, once the poison took effect, even a deity couldn't save them.
As the two emerged from the mud pit again, they noticed chaotic footprints on the floor.
There was no need to ask, it was Zhang Hai Ke and his three companions.
Following the footprints, they arrived at the small hole from before.
However, the small hole had now collapsed. Even if they wanted to go in, it was impossible.
"Our way seems to be blocked?" Zhang Bei said.
The young man said, "Then let's take another way."
With that, the young man walked towards the passage on the side.
There were also the four men's footprints in this passage, but due to the previous tremors, there were also many fallen rocks here.
This slowed their pace, but it did not stop them.
After passing through the passage, they arrived in a stone chamber.
The stone chamber was extremely messy, with numerous fallen rocks, damaged boxes and pottery jars, as well as some rusted weapons.
"This is a derelict warehouse." The young man told Zhang Bei.
Zhang Bei looked around, finding that there were also many books in these boxes.
He picked up a book at random, it recorded some ancient anecdotes and revealed nothing.
"Save, save me!"
However, at this time, a weak voice came from the pile of rocks.
The two hurried over, finding that Zhang Hai Xing was sitting collapsed in the corner.
Her complexion was pale, and there were black threads spreading on her arms, neck, and face.
Her eyes had huge dark circles, looking like a female zombie.
Perhaps because of the poison, Zhang Hai Xing's voice was very weak.
"Where are the others?" The young man asked.
Zhang Hai Xing opened her mouth, but couldn't speak a word.
Seeing this, the young man took out a water jug.
After opening the spout of the water jug, he cut his finger and dripped his blood into the water.
As the water turned completely red, the young man poured it into Zhang Hai Xing's mouth.
"Gulp, gulp!"
Zhang Hai Xing's chapped lips drank the bloody water in large gulps.
"Ugh!"
She had only taken a few sips when she immediately lay on the ground and vomited.
Then they saw the black lines on Zhang Hai Xing's body quickly receding.
Her originally pale face had now regained its color.
At the same time, there was something wriggling in the things she vomited.
A closer look revealed that they were worms, like leeches, but very small.
It was these worms that had made her weak and poisoned her.
"It's so effective?"
After vomiting for nearly a minute, feeling like she had vomited out her entire lungs and stomach.
Suddenly, Zhang Hai Xing felt her strength return, making her shocked.
"Is this the special blood of our family?"
Zhang Hai Xing was horrified.
Zhang Bei asked, "Where are the others?"
"They went deeper. Hurry and save my brother. Zhang Jiu Ri and Zhang Nian are doomed."
Zhang Hai Xing grabbed the young man's leg and begged.
Zhang Bei looked disdainful, in the face of life and death, these people's true colors were fully exposed.
However, Zhang Bei didn't say anything.
Under Zhang Hai Xing's guidance, they walked into a drainage channel.
It was intricate and seemed to be the source of the tremors.
The collapse of stones was the most severe here, but it was not difficult for the three of them.
After passing through several channels, they arrived at another stone chamber.
This stone chamber was almost entirely filled with fallen rocks.
The three stepped on the fallen rocks and tried to go inside.
But they found a person pinned down by a stone.
"Zhang Jiu Ri?" Zhang Hai Xing cried out.
Zhang Jiu Ri was unable to answer, even lifting his hand was impossible.
The young man and Zhang Hai Xing quickly moved the stones that were pressing on him.
Fortunately, the stones were not very big, and there were too many fallen stones, forming a corner with each other.
Otherwise, Zhang Jiu Ri would have already gone to meet the king of hell. He was lucky to have only been poisoned.
The young man still poured water into Zhang Jiu Ri's mouth.
After Zhang Jiu Ri vomited violently, he finally regained his color and strength.
"Where are the other two?" The young man asked.
Zhang Jiu Ri said, "They didn't believe you would come to save us, so they went deeper."
The young man's brows furrowed, and he went directly towards the depths.
Seeing this, Zhang Bei reluctantly followed, but Zhang Hai Xing and Zhang Jiu Ri did not.
After they passed through the drainage channel, they found that the road inside was intricate, and they had no idea where the two were.
With no other choice, the young man could only blow his bat whistle.
The bat whistle was very distant and could travel far.
"Shh!"
Soon, a weak whistle came back.
The young man hurried towards the source of the sound.
But as the young man was about to exit the waterway, he suddenly stopped.
Zhang Bei came over and found that it was actually a straight well.
There was no way of knowing how deep it was, a fall would mean certain death.
And Zhang Hai Ke was hanging from the wall of the well, his bamboo basket had saved him.
He was just hanging on a rock, so he didn't fall completely.
But he was too weak to save himself.
The young man took out a rope and quickly jumped down to tie Zhang Hai Ke.
"Haha! Good, the Zhang family doesn't save those destined to die. I knew you wouldn't save me!"
Another voice came from the other side of the well.
It was actually Zhang Nian. He was almost completely suspended in the well.
Above his head was a stone slab, which was just resting on the edge of the well, forming a triangle.
Zhang Nian was pressed against the bamboo basket by the stone slab, preventing him from falling directly.
But it was only a matter of time, because the stone slab was very unstable and could fall at any moment.
...