Chapter 170: Secret Passage

Captain Zhang knew that the Qingluan Guards were not a monolithic entity, and that the news was bound to leak out, so he tried to be "fast" and take action before his opponent could react.

But when they arrived at the salt merchant manor outside the city, they were still a step too late. The place was deserted, leaving only an empty manor.

Although Captain Zhang could not hide his disappointment, he was not angry or impatient. After he got the news, he had already sent his confidants to keep an eye on the place before he went to see Xu Kou and Qi Xuansu. He did not see a large group of people leaving the manor, which meant that there was another passage, most likely a tunnel.

As for the formation transmission, it was not impossible, but the key was that the temporary formation cost too much, just like the mother-child talisman, which would not be used easily unless it was extremely urgent. This kind of county-level stronghold would not build a permanent formation that needed to be constantly maintained, because maintaining the formation not only cost money, but also consumed manpower. In order to maintain the formation that was like spring all year round, Yujing had to spend more than one million Taiping coins every year, of which at least 300,000 Taiping coins were manpower expenses. This is still a Taoist sect, with no shortage of alchemists and qi-refining masters. If it were another organization, the cost would only be greater.

Captain Zhang ordered his subordinates to search everywhere in the manor.

Confiscating property is one of the specialties of the Qingluan Guard, and the key is to find hidden property, so for the Qingluan Guard, finding secret rooms, mechanisms, secret compartments, cellars, and tunnels is also a specialty.

Soon, the Qingluan Guard's search yielded results. There is indeed a tunnel here, but the entrance cannot be found. Now that time is tight and there is a lack of equipment and gunpowder, there is no way to dig directly.

Xu Kou is also from the Qingluan Guard, and he did not stand idly by, and also searched for the entrance to the secret passage.

Qi Xuansu and Liu Hu followed Xu Kou, watching him check around, knocking and listening.

After a while, Xu Kou locked onto a place, which was a well in the backyard. It was not a dry well, and there was still well water in it, which was slightly turbid, and it was unknown how deep it was.

Captain Zhang also brought people here.

Liu Hu lay on the edge of the well and looked down, curiously asking, "How could there be a tunnel here? Aren't they afraid of backflow of well water?"

Xu Kou explained, "The entrance may not be at the bottom of the well, but may be on the well wall. The well water is parallel to the entrance instead of up and down, so there will be no risk of backflow."

Zhang Baihu nodded and said, "What Master Xu said makes sense."

Xu Kou said, "I'll go down and take a look first."

After that, Xu Kou jumped directly into the well, causing a splash of water, and disappeared immediately.

But he was a true warrior, so the others were not worried.

After a while, Xu Kou's upper body emerged from the water and said, "There is indeed a door in here."

Qi Xuansu said, "I'll come down right away."

Xu Kou dived into the water again. Qi Xuansu hesitated for a moment, but still took Liu Hu, who was a little eager to try, and entered the well together.

The two slowly descended along the well rope. After diving about three feet, they saw a half-open flip door on the well wall. Qi Xuansu entered first, followed by Liu Hu.

There were stairs leading up behind the door, and the water level gradually became shallower. After walking up a dozen steps, they were out of the water. After getting out of the water, the surroundings were quiet and dark. Suddenly, a fire lighted up, and it was Xu Kou standing not far away.

Xu Kou had already steamed the clothes with his hot blood, and lit the fire starter he carried with him, saying, "Be careful, there may be some traps here."

Qi Xuansu and Liu Hu also followed suit, steaming the clothes with their true qi. As for the fire guns and bullets, they were all waterproof, so there was no need to worry. Qi Xuansu casually handed the "Shenlong Hand Gun" to Liu Hu, asking her to use it for self-defense. He then pulled out the only remaining single sword, injected true qi, and ignited flames on the blade, which could replace torches.

This secret passage was quite wide, enough for two people to walk side by side without being crowded, so Qi Xuansu and Xu Kou walked side by side in front, and Liu Hu followed behind them.

After walking for a while, they had already left the manor.

This corridor was extremely long, and it still had no end. The three of them had no choice but to continue moving forward. After walking for several miles, they suddenly saw two tightly closed stone gates.

You should know that this tunnel goes straight forward without taking a detour. If placed on the ground, it is not short. The location of these two stone gates is very close to the county town.

Xu Kou said, "Brother Wei, do you remember that we passed by a city god temple when we left the city?"

"I remember." Qi Xuansu nodded, "Based on the distance and direction, we should be near the city god temple now."

Xu Kou walked forward and stretched out his hand to push the stone gate, but it didn't move.

Xu Kou's face changed slightly, and he exerted force again. He was a warrior in the return to the true stage. In addition to his vigorous blood and qi, his strength was also amazing. I saw that the veins on the back of Xu Kou's hand had already bulged, but the stone gate only trembled slightly and made a rumbling sound, but did not open the door.

Qi Xuansu saw this and also helped.

With the combined strength of the two return to the true warriors, the stone gate finally opened with a bang.

In fact, this stone door must have a mechanism to open, but Qi Xuansu and Xu Kou didn't have time to look for the mechanism, so they just used force to break it.

Behind the stone door is a staircase that goes up. Following the staircase all the way up, they finally come to a dead end. It's called a dead end, not a dead end in the ordinary sense, but going all the way up, and the stairs extend all the way to the dome above, and finally standing on the stairs, you can't stand up straight.

Obviously, there should be a door that can be opened here, because they are in the tunnel at this time, so this door should be above the ground.

Xu Kou began to explore around with the help of the firelight. All the mechanisms in the world are similar. After a while, Xu Kou said, "Got it."

Then there was a sound of the mechanism, and the dome above slowly opened and turned into an exit.

Xu Kou walked out first, followed by Qi Xuansu and Liu Hu. The three of them came to a side hall, but the door was closed and it was a little dark.

Qi Xuansu looked around: "This should be the City God Temple."

Just then, footsteps were heard outside the door. It seemed that the sound of the mechanism opening alarmed the guards here.

Then, the door was kicked open from the outside, and a sword shadow was like a long lightning splitting the sky, slashing straight down.

Qi Xuansu met it with a knife.

Then the two figures disappeared in an encounter.

Then Qi Xuansu landed gracefully, without any injury. The other person held a long sword, his eyes were straight, and a "Seven Phoenix Feather" was nailed in his throat. There was a crackling sound in his throat, and a stream of blood passed through his clothes and dripped in front of his feet. It was a fatal move.

Qi Xuansu did not stop, but continued to kill. The fire in his single sword flickered, strange and unpredictable. Wherever he passed, someone would fall to the ground and die.

Seeing that no one was a match for Qi Xuansu, suddenly the wind blew in front of him, and a long spear stabbed at him. Qi Xuansu felt something was wrong, and swung his sword to chop it out, but who knew that the spear was so powerful that it could not be stopped. Qi Xuansu failed to chop the long spear with his sword, so he had to dodge it. He looked carefully and saw that the man was tall and had a fierce face. The tip of the long spear in his hand was like a cone.

Qi Xuansu did not fight with this man, but used the "Dayan Spiritual Sword" and chopped down seven people with seven consecutive swords. The others were terrified, and suddenly shouted, retreated together, and formed a circle to surround Qi Xuansu, but did not dare to rush forward.

At this time, Xu Kou also rushed out. He did not use weapons, but only used fists and feet to hurt people. This is also the usual means of fighting against the enemy for martial artists. Fists are the best weapons. But Xu Kou used the unique martial arts of Qingluan Guard, "Big Blue Dragon Hand". His five fingers were like hooks, and blood and energy were generated on his fingers and palms, whistling like wind, which was not inferior to the sharp sword energy.

Xu Kou pointed and grabbed, took and tapped, and changed more than ten moves in a moment. While using the "Big Blue Dragon Hand", he also used the "Big White Tiger Hand", "Big Vermillion Bird Hand" and "Big Black Tortoise Hand" in succession. The combination of the four hands is the complete "Big Four Elephant Hands" of Qingluan Guard.

Naturally, none of these people is Xu Kou's opponent.

At this moment, a Taoist priest came upon hearing the noise, stood on the top of the wall, took out a small cloth bag from his waist, untied the bag and shook it gently, and several little people carved from willow wood fell to the ground. Willow wood is yin, so these little people are surrounded by a faint yin aura, and each little person is engraved with fine talismans. After landing, they instantly became the size of ordinary people, and then formed a formation like an army and rushed towards Xu Kou.

These wooden people look like puppets, but in fact they can also be regarded as a talisman. It is exactly "a little spiritual light is a talisman, and the world's red and ink are in vain". It is extremely tough and difficult to break.

If ordinary people encounter such a formation, even if these wooden people are not flexible enough, they will be in a mess. However, Xu Kou is a warrior, but he is naturally restrained by the talismans and spells of Taoist priests, so Xu Kou is not afraid at all, and he goes straight to meet him, and his blood and energy roll out.

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