When the rope slid down into the pit from above, Rat Monk and the middle-aged man had already driven dozens of torch heads into the sand pile. The process in between had been nothing worth mentioning. They only needed to hammer every falling torch securely into place, like playing whack-a-mole.
But once you knew that missing even one torch would result in being roasted like a pig, this boring game of whack-a-mole became exceptionally thrilling.
"Lord Xuanwen! The Chancellor is here! Keep digging, quickly!"
"Lord Xuanwen, thank goodness heaven was watching over you!"
"Father!"
"Father, are you all right?"
The Silver Spear Guard had cleared the three nearby streets. It was growing dark, but the area was as bright as day. All the torches and braziers had been kept more than ten paces from the pit, while the area within ten paces was packed with people: officials, martial artists, and even nobles. Every one of them was filthy, covered in mud. When the middle-aged man grabbed the rope and climbed out of the pit, many people burst into tears of joy. Cheers and jubilation filled the surroundings as two young men hurried forward to support him. One of them, a young man with an unusually pale complexion, was someone Yan Qing had seen before in the Wandering Star Forest.
Shang Xin Lei's elder brother, Shang Yue.
Faced with the concern of so many people, the middle-aged man remained expressionless. He only asked calmly:
"Rats emerge from their holes, birds and beasts take flight, and cattle and horses grow restless. Knowing this and failing to report it—whose fault is that?"
"The Directorate of Celestial Observation cannot shirk its responsibility." Shang Yue immediately answered.
Someone in the crowd fell to the ground. There was no need to guess; he was clearly one