You still have the nerve to show your face?

Gongyang Han's forehead veins bulged, wishing he could tear Song Jie apart on the spot.

If it weren't for this bastard's incompetence, false intelligence,

and even acting as an informant to tell the Martial Virtue Guards that the White Lotus Sect's young master was here,

how would they have been trapped in the city, how would they have almost died under a hail of arrows?

"You..."

Gongyang Han was just about to speak when he heard an extremely dense rain of arrows coming from behind him, interspersed with some almost imperceptible sounds of sharp objects cutting through the air.

Several plain, unadorned longswords shot out from behind the Martial Virtue Guard soldiers,

skimming low across the bluestone pavement and stabbing towards the people in the house.

Flying swords!

Two White Lotus Sect members standing on the outer edge didn't have time to dodge and were directly pierced through the heart by the blades. They didn't even utter a sound before kneeling on the ground, dead.

The old man next to Gongyang Han's eyes lost focus, and he rapidly chanted an incantation to freeze the flying swords hovering in the air.

A large, stout monk with a shaved head nimbly leaped up, wielding a heavy Zen staff to sweep two flying swords to the ground.

The other White Lotus Sect members finally reacted, taking out their weapons to strike at the remaining flying swords.

However, the Martial Virtue Guard's Embroidered Uniform Guards had already begun their charge towards the building.

"Brothers, watch me protect the young master!"

Song Jie shouted loudly, his hands moving like lightning to sweep up the tables, chairs, and benches on both sides, throwing them all at the door to block it, barely stopping the rain of arrows.

Only two arrows pierced through, conveniently lodging themselves in his shoulders, one on the left and one on the right.

(\`?w?′)

Blood poured from his shoulders, but Song Jie didn't seem to feel any pain. He turned around and looked at Gongyang Han anxiously, saying, "Young master, it's dangerous here, come with me!"

Without waiting for Gongyang Han to resist, he grabbed the latter's wrist and dragged him towards the backyard.

This building was a restaurant, and the courtyard had a water mill, a reflecting pool, and stables.

In addition, there was a huge pit in the center of the courtyard.

The pit was about three meters in diameter, with a smooth, regular circular entrance.

In the moonlight, one could vaguely see that the pit was straight and unfathomably deep, as if leading to the depths of the earth.

The White Lotus Sect members who had followed him subconsciously asked, "What is this..."

"No time to explain, jump!"

Song Jie's face was anxious. He threw Gongyang Han into the pit, and he himself jumped in with several black-robed companions, disappearing into the restaurant courtyard.

At this time, the charging Martial Virtue Guard Embroidered Uniform Guards easily broke through the pile of wooden tables and chairs blocking the door.

The leading middle-aged man with a beard, even riding his horse and wielding a heavy horse lance, directly smashed open the courtyard wall, killing his way in with a cloud of dust.

"Jump!"

The white-browed old man who had been by Gongyang Han's side didn't hesitate any longer and jumped into the pit. The other White Lotus Sect members also gritted their teeth and jumped down.

————

The pit was even deeper than anyone had imagined.

The White Lotus Sect members fell all the way down along the smooth tunnel. The dark, lightless environment and the whistling wind rushing past their ears caused them great fear.

They screamed in terror and instinctively reached out to grab the cave walls, but they couldn't stop their momentum. They could only watch as the skin and flesh were rubbed off their fingers, exposing the jagged white bones.

Fortunately, the straight tunnel finally began to curve at some extremely deep point, like a huge slide, allowing everyone to slow down gradually.

Finally, the White Lotus Sect members were ejected from the tunnel at a tolerable speed, landing on the ground in a dizzy heap.

"Cough, cough."

Dizzy and lightheaded, Gongyang Han coughed desperately, enduring the intense nausea in his stomach as he leaned against the wall and stood up, shaking his head.

Clang—

In the darkness, someone pulled the stopper off a fire starter, lit a torch, and released light, dispelling the darkness.

The person holding the torch was Song Jie.

The White Lotus Sect members who had fallen on the ground stood up with low groans, using the torchlight to look around.

They were in an oval-shaped earthen platform.

The platform wasn't very large. At the top was the slide tunnel from which they had slid down.

Around the platform were seven tunnel entrances parallel to the platform, which seemed to lead in different directions.

One of the White Lotus Sect members murmured, "Where is this..."

"This is the secret passage under Luzhou."

Song Jie took a few torches from the cave wall and distributed them to his companions, explaining, "As you all know, our Luzhou branch, like other White Lotus Sect members,

has been digging secret tunnels under the city,

to transport personnel and supplies, and to transmit intelligence.

This plan to hijack the Annan auspicious creature was also based on these underground tunnels.

However, just a few hours ago, Song's subordinates accidentally discovered an extremely large, never-before-entered underground network system under Luzhou while dredging the secret passage."

The White Lotus Sect elder frowned and said, "Network?"

"That's right."

Song Jie nodded and said, "These tunnels seem to be artificially excavated, yet they also seem to be naturally formed.

According to Song, it should be some ancient king who used demons skilled at digging to build them, used to secretly build his own mausoleum to prevent grave robbers from invading.

Hundreds of years ago, Luzhou was just a wilderness. The construction of the city was something that happened before the previous dynasty.

Moreover, the tunnels are buried deep underground, which is why they have never been discovered.

Song originally wanted to inform the young master and everyone, but the plan to hijack the auspicious creature went wrong, which is why it was delayed..."

"Went wrong?"

Gongyang Han became angry as soon as he heard this, staring at Song Jie and angrily said, "Explain to me clearly, why didn't you bring the auspicious creature, and why did the Martial Virtue Guards suddenly launch an attack?"