Chapter 36 Heavy Fog

Midnight is the time when everyone is quiet in the dead of night and everything is still. Most of the people in Yongle Town, except for a few singing and dancing places, fell asleep.

At this time, six figures came out of the town and rushed towards a mountain peak in the southeast.

These six people have excellent lightness skills. They can walk on the steep hillside as if they were walking on flat ground and jump as if they were flying. By the time they reached the heart of the mountain, it only took them less than half an hour.

The man at the head, dressed in green and wearing a long sword, has a handsome appearance. He is none other than Chen Zhuoan.

At this time, he suddenly stopped and made a gesture with his right hand. Everyone behind him also stopped immediately after seeing it. Chen Zhuoan said solemnly: "Here we are, according to the map, the entrance to the stronghold is right here."

Everyone looked around and saw that this was an empty space in the middle of the mountain. It was completely empty and did not look like a stronghold.

Xu Fangke coughed and said, "It's not that I'm disrespectful to Shiniang, it's just that this place is empty and you can see it at a glance. There is no entrance to the stronghold. Is this map wrong?"

Chen Zhuoan did not answer, but frowned and looked around nearby. Suddenly, Liang Yan said with a smile: "As I expected, the entrance to the stronghold is right there." As he spoke, he pointed to a place with his right hand.

After everyone heard him say that they had found a stronghold, they looked in the direction of his finger, but they were all stunned for the next moment. Just because that place turned out to be a grave.

Chen Zhuoan and the other four all looked in disbelief. I only heard Chu Laosan say: "How come the entrance to the stronghold is under someone else's grave? Little brother is not mistaken."

Liang Yan smiled confidently, nodded and said, "It can't be wrong."

Chen Zhuoan knew that this person did not speak lightly, and every word and action must be justified. The entrance to this stronghold is under the tomb. Although it seems a bit fanciful, it doesn't make any sense if you think about it carefully. So he took a deep breath and said, "Whether it is true or not, you will know once you try it. Which one of you will go up and dig it up?"

When everyone heard what he said, they looked at each other for a moment. Although the people present were all men who had been in the world for many years, this matter of digging graves was really offensive to one's moral character and had never been done before.

Seeing this, Chen Zhuoan couldn't help but said in embarrassment: "The righteousness comes first, so we don't care about these small details. Let's work together and speed up."

When Chu Laosan and Xu Fangke heard what he said, they had no choice but to step forward. The six of them started working together and dug up the grave in an instant. As Liang Yan expected, it turned out to be an empty tomb inside.

Everyone was refreshed, and after digging for a while, a hole was exposed under the ground. There was a stone step under the hole, extending all the way down into the darkness.

"Haha, Brother Liang is not going to bully me!" Chen Zhuo'an chuckled, walking in front first and jumping into the pothole, followed closely by Min Rou without hesitation. The remaining people looked at each other and entered one after another.

Chu Laosan lit a fire stick, and everyone could see the surroundings clearly. There was a narrow passage under the hole, only one person could pass through. Six people lined up and walked down one by one.

After walking for about a stick of incense, the front suddenly became clear, and everyone entered a wide hall. The hall is square in shape, about five feet long and wide. There are many seats inside, and there are swords and crossbows hanging on the walls.

"It seems that this is a temporary meeting hall." Chen Zhuoan said and lit a fire. The light in the hall was slightly stronger, and everyone gradually saw clearly that there was a stone door on the opposite wall.

"Let's go and have a look." Chen Zhuoan walked towards the stone gate without hesitation, and the others followed him.

"Creak!" With a sound, the stone door opened. Inside was a small stone room, which looked like a study at first glance.

There are many wooden partitions on the walls, and there are many volumes of books, but they all seem to be rotten. There is a desk in the middle. There are inkstones, pens, ink and some antiques on the table, which are very valuable at first glance. But these didn't attract everyone's attention at all, because there was a yellow scroll lying quietly on the right hand side of the desk.

"Fake edict!"

Chen Zhuoan exclaimed, his breathing became a little heavy. He had been planning for nearly two years. During this period, he lost many soldiers and generals, and sacrificed the lives of many brothers, all because of this yellow paper!

Now that the false imperial edict is at hand, the overthrow of Li Hong is just around the corner, and the Zhao Kingdom is also expected to be revived, it all seems to be worth it.

Chen Zhuoan took a deep breath and went in to get the fake edict. Suddenly his eyes flashed, and a figure flashed in front of him, stretched out his hand to stop him, and said:

"Wait!"

Chen Zhuoan's expression changed slightly, his brows furrowed and he said, "Brother Liang, what do you mean?"

Liang Yan didn't answer. He bent down and picked up a stone at random, then hit the fake imperial edict on the table.

With a sound of "Bang!", the fake imperial edict was moved out of position by him, and a thin transparent line was vaguely visible below.

Just hearing the rumbling sound, a cold bow and arrow suddenly appeared on the wall of the stone chamber, and then shot out, and a rain of arrows fell instantly throughout the stone chamber.

Everyone was dumbfounded and subconsciously took a step back. The arrows in the stone room kept raining, and it took them several more breaths before they gradually calmed down. Chen Zhuoan and Min Rou looked at each other and saw a hint of fear in each other's eyes.

"Fortunately, Brother Liang was alert, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to survive even if we had a few lives." Chen Zhuoan thanked Liang Yan sincerely.

Liang Yan smiled lightly and said noncommittally: "Brother Chen is too obsessed with things and can easily affect his mind. Let's solve the current problem first."

"The current problem?"

Chen Zhuoan was puzzled and asked tentatively: "Brother Liang, do you mean there is a mechanism in this?"

This time, before Liang Yan could answer, he heard a burst of laughter from across the hall:

"Hahaha, Chen Zhuo'an! Thank you very much for leading the way for us. Don't worry, with so many people accompanying you, you won't be alone on the road to hell!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of black-clad killers poured in from the passage. They were all well-trained. They quickly dispersed as soon as they entered the hall and each took advantage of the position.

Then two more people walked in, one of them was a one-eyed blind man, holding a long knife in his hand, silent, but he was the one Liang Yan had seen in the inn that day. The other person is a man in white, with a Chinese character face, stern eyes, and an air of authority.

"Xiang Anran!" Chen Zhuoan's pupils shrank.

The man in white, Xiang Anran, smiled and said, "I didn't expect that Tang Tiannan was a fortune teller. He had predicted in advance that you would be buried here tonight, so he built the stronghold under this tomb to prevent your corpses from being exposed in the wilderness."

Chen Zhuo'an snorted coldly and said: "These are the few scoundrels you brought to Yongle Town. It's still unclear who will win. Mr. Xiang, are you too trusting?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a muffled groan, but Xu Fangke, who had been following Chu Laosan, suddenly took action and hit Chu Laosan in the back of the heart.

Chu Laosan was caught off guard and spat out a mouthful of blood with a loud sound, his breath quickly weakening.

Xu Fangke struck out with a palm, and quickly retreated. He reached the stone chamber with a few leaps, reached out to pick up the fake imperial edict, and stuffed it into his arms.

"Xu Fangke!"

Chen Zhuo'an said angrily: "I didn't expect you to be Li Hong's douchebag!"

"Li Hong?" Xu Fangke shook his head and said with a smile: "He is just a powerful minister and is not qualified to serve me."

"Then what do you mean?"

Xu Fangke said noncommittally: "Chen Zhuo'an, I did respect you before. But in the end, you are just a mortal with short eyesight. What's the use of telling you more?"

Chen Zhuoan sneered: "Humph! You have obtained the imperial edict, can you walk out today? And"

Just when he was about to say something more, a strange wind suddenly blew up in the hall.

The wind came strangely, and before everyone had time to think about it, they suddenly saw a white mist emerging from the hall. The fog became thicker and thicker. In the blink of an eye, the entire hall was filled with white fog. The only place that could be seen clearly was about a foot in front of the eyes.

Chen Zhuoan had never seen anything so weird before and was shocked. Suddenly, Min Rou's call came from the mist: "Zhuo An, I'm here."

Although the voice was calm, Chen Zhuoan still heard a hint of panic in it. He calmed down and said in as calm a voice as possible: "Min Rou, just stay where you are and don't move."

"Okay, Zhuo An, I listen to you."

Chen Zhuoan knew that he could not be confused at this time. He took a deep breath, stabilized his mind, and at the same time slowly groped towards the direction where Min Rou's voice came from. The two of them were not far apart, so it didn't take them long to find her.

Chen Zhuoan saw that although Min Rou was calm on the surface, she was already sweating on her forehead, and knew that Min Rou was panicking in her heart. After all, this was the first time she had seen this kind of fogging underground, let alone a powerful enemy.

Chen Zhuoan felt distressed for a moment and couldn't help but hold her catkins in his hands.

Min Rou was originally a minister's daughter, but she gave up her prominent family background and entered the world just to help him. How could he not know this infatuation? It was just the death of his beloved that made him unable to accept a new relationship, and he kept avoiding it, feeling deeply guilty inside.

At this moment, the two of them were holding each other's hands, feeling the coldness in her palms. Chen Zhuo'an couldn't help but secretly blame himself for his uselessness.

But now that a powerful enemy is facing him, as the leader, he cannot tolerate his children's affair. So he braced himself and comforted softly: "Don't be afraid. I think Xiang Anran doesn't know about this matter. It doesn't look like they are responsible. Let's gather the others first and then make a plan."

Min Rou was held by him and felt much calmer. He nodded and said: "Let's see how Chu Laosan's injury is."

The two groped in the mist for a while, and soon found Chu Laosan. He had been slapped by Xu Fangke. Fortunately, he was very good at horizontal kung fu, and the injury was not too serious. He was now sitting cross-legged on the ground doing kung fu to heal his injuries.

"It's a pity that Miss Tang and Brother Liang were not found," Chen Zhuo'an said to himself: "But Miss Tang is very powerful in martial arts, far better than me; Brother Liang is also resourceful, so I think he will be fine. The current plan is to stabilize his own position first. "

Thinking like this, Chen Zhuo'an said: "Under this heavy fog, I'm afraid it's hard for anyone to do anything. Although Xiang Anran has a large number of people, he is more afraid of causing chaos. Let's protect Chu Laosan first, and wait for him to recover from his injuries. Find an opportunity to fight out together."

Chu Laosan and Min Rou naturally had no objection. The three of them sat back to back, waiting quietly for Chu Laosan to heal his injuries.

I don’t know how long it took, but the fog finally began to dissipate. The fog came suddenly and went away quickly. In the blink of an eye, it had dissipated.

The three of them immediately stood up and looked across the street with vigilance. They saw Xiang Anran and others divided into two rows, guarding the exit of the hall, and looking towards them with wary expressions.

"Eh? Why don't you see the traitor Xu Fangke?" Chu Laosan suddenly said in shock.

Chen Zhuoan glanced around after hearing this, and after a moment his face darkened. Not only was Xu Fangke missing in the hall, but Tang Diexian and Liang Yan were also missing.