Song Yan looked at the dagger that had been tossed in front of him. It was glinting faintly with silver light.
“What are you standing there for? You don't really plan to wait to be burned to death, do you?” Shen Huaian saw that Song Yan was just staring blankly at the dagger and didn't seem to be making any further moves.
Seeing the smoke outside getting thicker and thicker, he got impatient first. He shuffled forward, picked up the dagger on the ground, and frowned as he cut the ropes binding him.
“I was just thinking that this whole thing is a bit fishy,” Song Yan said. His brows hadn't relaxed since earlier.
Shen Huaian didn't have the time to think about all these things. The smoke outside was getting denser, and he could feel his breathing becoming more and more difficult.
In this situation, nothing was more important than staying alive.
“Don't think so much. Only by staying alive and getting out can we find a way to investigate all this,” Shen Huaian said as he cut the ropes on his own body. Then he immediately turned around and cut the ropes on Song Yan's hands, muttering softly as he did so.
After cutting all the ropes, Shen Huaian staggered to his feet. Since he had been tied up for so long, he almost couldn't stand up at first.
The two of them walked out of the secret room that had trapped them. But the moment they stepped out, a wave of heat hit them head - on.
“Not good! The fire has reached here!” Shen Huaian was pushed back a few steps by the heat wave. His voice started to tremble when he spoke.
Song Yan looked at the scene in front of him and fell silent.
There were still many mysteries waiting for him to solve. He had promised Ye Zhiqiu that they would find the murderer together. He hadn't fulfilled that promise yet. How could he...
How could he just die here?
“There must still be a way,” Song Yan said calmly. He patted Shen Huaian on the shoulder. Shen Huaian was already panicking, but Song Yan's voice was low as he said this.
But how could there be a way in this situation?
Shen Huaian didn't say anything else. Song Yan had always been very reliable since they were kids. Since he said there was a way, there must be one.
Song Yan carefully surveyed the secret room. The smoke was so choking that he could hardly keep his eyes open, but he still calmed himself down and observed the surrounding environment.
A Liu had started the fire from outside the secret passage and burned inwards. Logically, Jing Hong couldn't have rushed out of the secret passage entrance through the fire. The only explanation was...
There was another hidden room in the secret room, which was specially built for escape.
The problem now was how to find that hidden room.
They had to hurry. Time was running out.
On the other side, in the Qin Tower, Ye Zhiqiu was standing in the wing - room, looking at Jing Hong sitting on the wooden chair. The hem of her bright red dress had traces of being burned by the fire.
A few strands of her neatly arranged hair had fallen down. Although she looked a bit disheveled, she still sat upright. There was a cup of freshly brewed tea beside her. In the hazy smoke, she squinted slightly at the person standing in front of her.
“Where did you hide Director Song?” Ye Zhiqiu looked directly into her eyes without flinching. His face was expressionless as he said this.
Jing Hong covered her lips and laughed when she heard this. She gently wiped the ash off her face with a handkerchief and tidied up her slightly messy hair in front of the mirror.
“I'm a person who pays the most attention to rules. If you want to get information from me, you have to exchange something for it, Young Master Ye,” Jing Hong paused. She turned the bronze mirror in her hand upside - down on the table and met Ye Zhiqiu's gaze. Her expression instantly turned cold, and her tone became even colder.
“What do you have that you can exchange with me?”
...
Ye Zhiqiu was stumped by her words. He hadn't expected that the Intelligence Pavilion he had been searching for was right in front of him.
He had heard the rumors about the Intelligence Pavilion. If you wanted some information, you had to exchange it with something of equal value. The pavilion master didn't need money or jewelry because she was already extremely wealthy.
But when she really asked this question, he didn't know what to exchange for a moment.
Everything he had, the pavilion master had, and what she wanted, he might not be able to provide.
He was immediately caught in a dilemma. Ye Zhiqiu was silent for a while and then slowly said, “What do you want?”
Jing Hong watched as he was silent for a while before saying this. His expression was so serious as if she was going to take his life. She couldn't help but find it a bit funny.
She took a sip of tea. Her cold expression from just now changed instantly. She gently waved her hand and said with a smile, “Young Master Ye, there's no need to be so serious. After all, Director Song is an official of the court. If he really died in the Qin Tower, it wouldn't be good for my business.”
Jing Hong placed the teacup in her hand on the table with a soft sound. She slowly stood up and walked around the wing - room. For a moment, the only sound in the air was the rubbing of the fabric.
“Let me think... They should be here,” Jing Hong stopped at a corner of the wing - room. She gently stomped on the floor with her foot and said with a smile.
Hearing this, Ye Zhiqiu quickly walked to her side and pushed Jing Hong aside. He squatted down and carefully examined the stone bricks on the ground.
This was the first time Jing Hong had been pushed aside by someone. She looked at Ye Zhiqiu's figure but finally said nothing. She returned to the wooden chair, reached out her hand and gently waved. A masked black - clothed man carried a bucket of water and came to Ye Zhiqiu's side.
“It's hot down there. I advise you to use this water,” Jing Hong said calmly as she sipped her tea. She didn't even give him a glance, just giving a kind reminder.
Ye Zhiqiu frowned. His expression as he looked at the stone bricks didn't change. When he touched a certain place, he could feel that it was hotter than the other places. He pressed on that stone brick, and the ground slowly opened to both sides.
After a while, a secret passage appeared in front of him.
The smoke billowed upwards. The abnormal heat made him turn his head. After thinking for a moment, he poured the water that the black - clothed man had just placed beside him on his body.
Jing Hong threw two wet clothes in his direction and said indifferently, “Take a couple more with you.”
Ye Zhiqiu didn't answer. Instead, he picked up the clothes on the ground and walked towards the secret room.
The smoke was so thick that he couldn't see the road in front of him. Ye Zhiqiu covered his nose and mouth and walked towards the secret room in a low - lying position as much as possible.
All he could do now was to inhale as little smoke as possible so that he could stay awake.
When Jing Hong saw Ye Zhiqiu's figure disappear in front of her, she propped her chin up with her hand and closed her eyes slightly to rest for a while.
Too many things had happened today. She hadn't expected A Liu's defection. Everything had happened so suddenly.
Although only A Liu had been exposed so far, there were more than just A Liu with ill intentions in the pavilion.
She was just a bait. If they managed to kill her this time, the pavilion would be in chaos, and those with ill intentions would all rush out.
Then the Intelligence Pavilion would be in great chaos. Presumably, that was what they wanted.
Now she had to think carefully.
Think about what to do next.
“Pavilion Master, this subordinate doesn't understand why we should save them,” the black - clothed man hesitated for a while before saying this.
Jing Hong just reached out her hand and pointed in the air. Her voice was extremely lazy. “A Yi, I think you should be a smart person. There are some things I don't need to say, and you should understand.”
Just these two sentences made the black - clothed man shut his mouth and not say another word.
As Ye Zhiqiu walked downwards, looking at the thick smoke in front of him, he could only feel his way down the stairs along the wall. The wet clothes on his body had already been dried a bit by the fire.
The lower he went, the hotter the temperature underground became. It seemed that the fire had already burned inside.
He had to be faster, even faster.
After walking all the way down, a person suddenly appeared in front of him. Song Yan, who was supporting Shen Huaian and walking up, saw a figure.
Song Yan had observed for a while down there. He had walked in the direction where the smoke was rising, hoping to get lucky, and unexpectedly, he really found the secret passage.
He just didn't expect there to be someone here. The smoke was too thick for him to see clearly who was standing in front of him.
Before he could take a good look, the other person threw two wet clothes at his face. Song Yan was a bit dazed as he took the clothes off.
But then he quickly reacted and put the clothes on himself. The burning feeling of the fire was alleviated a bit by the cold water.
“Thank you...”
“Don't say so much. Hurry up and get out!”
Before Song Yan could finish his words, Ye Zhiqiu had already spoken first. His voice was full of urgency. Song Yan could even imagine the frown on his face.
Although he didn't know why Ye Zhiqiu was here, the most important thing now was to get out of this place as soon as possible.
So Song Yan didn't say anything else. He held back all his doubts and supported Shen Huaian, who had passed out because of inhaling too much smoke, and walked up step by step.
But he didn't know what he stepped on. He stumbled and almost fell. It was Ye Zhiqiu who quickly reached out and grabbed Song Yan's wrist, preventing him from falling back down.
“Song Yan!”
Ye Zhiqiu reached out and grabbed his wrist. The way he had called out his name just now made Song Yan's heart skip a beat. The fire in the secret passage behind them had already started to burn upwards. If he fell back down, the consequences would be unimaginable.
In a moment of desperation, Ye Zhiqiu didn't use the formal address as he usually did. Instead, he called him by his name directly.
“I'm fine,” Song Yan said after he steadied himself to reassure the other person. The wet clothes he had just put on were already dried by the fire. The heat was constantly gathering on his back. He didn't need to look back to know that the fire should have already burned behind him.
He just calmed his mind and walked up step by step firmly.
Finally, when he reached outside the secret room, Song Yan didn't even have time to catch his breath when a basin of cold water was poured over his head.
When he recovered, he saw the hem of Jing Hong's dress. She threw the bucket in her hand to one side. Her voice was low.
“Call a doctor to check for injuries,” she said in the direction of A Yi. A Yi bowed with a fist salute after hearing this and then stepped back.
Jing Hong glanced in Song Yan's direction. Although he was too tired to speak now, she knew that he must have a lot of doubts.
Jing Hong slowly walked to the side of the secret room and stepped on a floor tile with her foot. After a while, the secret passage closed, sealing the great fire inside.
Sealed in the deeper darkness.
This great fire would eventually go out, but the fire outside the tunnel had already started to spread silently.