The Eldest Daughter Returns: Imperial Uncle, I'm Pregnant!

"Master, Xiao Jia and I fled in a panic after entering. There were indeed many traps inside. If it weren't for these traps, I wouldn't have been caught so easily. However, Xiao Jia and I stumbled upon a large space where there were many assassins wearing helmets. But for some reason, they were all standing there without moving."

Xiao Ding thought for a moment and felt a chill. "Moreover, there are many jars inside. I opened one and almost got bitten. Inside were centipedes, venomous snakes, and the like."

Have you found the place where weapons are smelted?

"Reporting to Master, this place is openly a mine, and the mining is being carried out in an open and aboveboard manner. The weapon smelting area is also in a very hidden place, but I haven't found it yet. However, we did find a pit filled with discarded weapons, which all appear to have failed to be smelted. In addition, I also found many pills inside, the purpose of which is unknown."

"Pills?" Xiao Jingchen frowned. Why was Xishan so complicated?

"This looks like a burial ground. Can you find out who is buried here?"

"After searching around, my subordinates discovered that the structure here resembles a tomb. We hadn't specifically inquired about it before, but we've heard some people say that this is the tomb of the Thousand-Faced King, while others say it's the earthly residence of the Fire God. There are many theories, but they all agree that it contains gold, silver, jewels, and the secret to immortality."

"Heh, the Thousand-Faced King? Immortality? If immortality truly exists, then who was this tomb built for?"

“My subordinates have failed in their duties. If we had known the situation here beforehand, we wouldn’t be in such a passive position, putting our master in danger.”

At this moment, Xiao Yi walked over heavily, carrying a shovel. "Master, we really couldn't find any place where the air was flowing, and we dared not work in these places easily, in case there was another landslide..."

They had been there for an unknown amount of time, and they didn't know whether it was day or night outside, nor did they know what they could do next. However, since the prince hadn't spoken, they all remained calm, knowing that where the prince was, there was always a glimmer of hope.

However, what they didn't know was that Xiao Jingchen was also somewhat uncertain at this moment. This situation couldn't be solved simply by having high martial arts skills. If he went to the rocks ahead and used his internal force to strike them, it might really cause a secondary collapse, just as Xiao Yi had said.

The only way out now is this pool of water in front of them. If there is really no other way, they will have to jump in again to find another way out.

However, the risk would be very high. They had been hungry for who knows how long, and they didn't know if they had the strength to get back to the well. Even if they did get to the well, they wouldn't have the strength to climb back up the slippery well wall.

Xiao Jingchen touched the jade pendant that Gu Qingwan had given him, and his thoughts were still on his Wanwan. He had not yet confessed his feelings to Wanwan, nor had he yet married her as his princess with a grand wedding procession. Now, he hoped that his subordinates outside would be able to find him.

"Master..." Xiao Yi walked hesitantly to the King of Chu's side, "Please eat this dry ration. I'll fetch you some water; please make do with it..."

"No need, I'm not hungry yet, let's wait a bit longer."

Time passed by, and the cave was quiet except for the sound of water dripping from the pool. Xiao Jingchen, who was conserving his energy with his eyes closed, suddenly twitched his ears.

He opened his eyes and looked up at the cave ceiling. The rustling sound became clearer and clearer. At first, Xiao Yi and the others didn't hear it, but later they heard it just like the King of Chu.

They glanced at each other, thinking they had misheard. After confirming with each other's eyes, their expressions immediately turned serious. They gripped their weapons tightly, both believing that the enemy had caught up with them.

If the enemy catches up, they might fight to the death to carve out a way out for the prince, which would be much better than being trapped here and dying.

They even slowed their breathing, because the cave was pitch black, and all they could tell was that the sound was coming from above.

After a while, the sound seemed to stop, and they heard no further movement.

Ning Er finally managed to climb in. The opening was really small, just big enough for one person to crawl through. He didn't light a torch because he was worried that if someone was inside, he would be discovered immediately.

As he climbed, his left hand suddenly went empty. If he hadn't steadied himself in time, he probably would have fallen. Ning Er cautiously felt ahead and realized that he had indeed reached the end of the cave entrance. However, all he could see around him was darkness and the sound of dripping water.

Ning Er thought for a moment, then took out a luminous pearl from the pocket at his waist. This was given to him by Siqi by the young lady before he came.

As soon as the luminous pearl was taken out, it instantly illuminated Ning Er's face. Before Ning Er could see clearly what was below, he heard someone calling him.

"Ning Er?"

"what?"

Ning Er then realized why he had agreed so easily. What if the people inside were trying to scam him again? Ning Er quickly shrank his body further into the cave entrance.

Xiao Jingchen smiled, and Xiao Yi was so excited he almost cried. Xiao Yi quickly lit the few remaining dry wood, and the fire illuminated the surroundings. Ning Er also saw the light ahead and cautiously craned his neck to take a look.

"Your Highness! Is that Your Highness?"

"Ning Er! It's us! Has the Princess come to save us?" At this moment, Xiao Yi had already addressed the Miss Gu, whom he often mentioned, as the Princess.

However, this confused Ning Er. "What princess? It's our young lady who's here."

"Yes, yes, yes, it's your young lady, and that's our princess!" Xiao Yi said, laughing and wiping away tears as she excitedly hugged Xiao Bing beside her. "Look, the princess has come to save us! Our master is finally safe."

"Uh..." Xiao Bing and the others stared at Xiao Yi with some disdain for a while. Even Prince Chu couldn't stand it anymore, but he let it go for the time being because Xiao Yi had been referring to the princess so much.

"Ning Er, is Qingwan outside?"

"Your Highness, we are waiting outside. Please come with us."

The joy of the moment was temporarily put aside. Ning Er's cave entrance was on the upper wall of the cave, and below was the pool of water. Although the surrounding walls were not smooth, it was still quite difficult to climb up with bare hands.

"Ning Er, go out and find a way to get some vines."

Ning Er nodded, squatting at the cave entrance, about to turn around and go outside to report the news, when he suddenly remembered something. He took off his coat and wrapped the luminous pearl, water bag, and dry food inside, and with a great effort...

"Xiao Yi, please take this. Your Highness, please have something to eat first. I'll be right back."

When the King of Chu and his entourage saw that someone had come to rescue them, their hearts gradually calmed down. At the King of Chu's signal, Xiao Yi distributed the few pieces of pastry he had hidden in his clothes to everyone. After the King finished drinking his water, they each took a sip and then sat around the fire waiting for Ning Er to return.

After Ning Er went outside, he stood on top and said to Gu Qingwan, "Miss! The Prince and the others are trapped inside!"

Gu Qingwan was overjoyed to hear this, never expecting to have stumbled upon the prince and his entourage by chance. "Is the prince alright? Is he injured?"

"No! It's just that this location isn't easy to get up here; we need to find some vines or something."

Gu Qingwan thought for a moment and had Ning Yi gather all the food and water he was carrying. Ning Er then used the vines around his waist to carry the items up.

"Ning Er, go and take this food to the Prince so they can replenish their strength. Ning Yi and I will make the vines for you right away. Come back later!"

"It's Miss!"

After Ning Er bent down and went back, Gu Qingwan, Ning Yi, and Xiao Achen searched for something useful. The weight of several grown men was not to be underestimated, so they had to be sturdy, otherwise, if they fell, it would be no joke.

Gu Qingwan's hands were cut by the vines, but she didn't care at all. She just wanted to hurry up. This place was bound to be a dangerous place, and staying any longer would not do any good for any of them.

Ning Er and Si Qi waited upstairs for a while. Si Qi quietly asked, "Ning Er, um... how is Xiao Yi?"

"Xiao Yi? He should be fine, but I don't know why he saw me crying and laughing just now."

Hearing Ning Er's description, Si Qi knew that the guy was still as neurotic as ever, with no real problems.

"Ning Er, do you think the length is enough?"

Ning Er used the vines around his waist to lower himself down, and Gu Qingwan tied them up for him. He then led her inside. A moment later, Ning Er returned with a frown and said, "Miss is still a little short."

Seeing this, Gu Qingwan took off her outer garment, tore it into strips, twisted it into a rope, and tied it to the rope. Ning Yi also took off her outer garment, tore it open, and twisted it to the rope. Achen was a little at a loss and took off his belt.

"Sister, my belt is long enough, use mine too."

Ning Yi found some more vines, which, combined with their clothes, were just enough. Ning Er and Si Qi pulled on the vines inside, and after a while, Xiao Yi came out first, followed by Xiao Jingchen, then Xiao Bing, Xiao Jia, and Xiao Ding.

They used their light-footed skills to jump down into the cave. Xiao Jingchen looked at Gu Qingwan, who was naked in the distance, and couldn't describe the feeling in his heart. He never expected that the one who would come to save him would be the very Wanwan he had been thinking about day and night.

Gu Qingwan felt a lump in her throat and wanted to cry. The prince in front of her looked rather disheveled. She opened her mouth as if she had a thousand words to say, but only one sentence came out: "Your Highness, I'm sorry you had to crawl out of there."

Without saying a word, Xiao Jingchen pulled Gu Qingwan into his arms.