The five followed the secret passage all the way back to the private room.
No more bandits appeared to stop them along the way. This delighted them all, and they thought this trip might end with nothing more than a scare.
But when they were only a step away from the private room they had booked, Protector Bai abruptly stopped, her expression shifting dark and light.
"What is it?" someone in the group asked by voice transmission, sounding somewhat restless.
Protector Bai carefully examined the exit of the secret passage ahead. She sighed, then pinched a crimson talisman between her fingers and fiercely hurled it at the passage exit.
Boom!
A violent peal of thunder rang out, followed by the thick smell of sulfur and saltpeter.
The secret passage was instantly blasted to pieces, while screams came from outside:
"It's a Six Tribulations Thunderfire Talisman!"
At this, Fang Shu and the others either showed expressions of having expected as much or shuddered in alarm. They all realized that bandits had laid an ambush outside the exit.
The martial artist surnamed Zhuang cursed several times. "Damn it! How did these people discover our movements?"
After deploying one thunderfire talisman, Protector Bai flicked out more talismans with sharp slaps, throwing the bandits outside the passage into disarray.
She said in a low voice, "Kill our way out."
As soon as the words fell, she sprang out of the secret passage.
They were in peril. Together, they might live; scattered, they would certainly die. Naturally, Fang Shu and the others followed close behind.
The moment they emerged from the secret passage, the ruined, charred sight within the private room came into view.
Some Dao soldiers and immortals had rotten faces; others had rotten legs; still others lay on the floor like dead fish.