By sheer accident, Fan Dazhi had activated the mechanism for the secret passage.
Fang Yizhi stared at the pitch-black opening, his expression grave.
He stopped Feng Chun from charging inside, then sent He An outside to catch a wild rabbit. They tied a long rope around its hind leg and tossed it into the opening.
After a while, they pulled the rabbit back out. It was still lively and hopping about, with nothing amiss.
Only then did Fang Yizhi have everyone light torches and enter cautiously...
Unbeknownst to any of them, at that very moment, a sedan chair appeared in the pine grove not far from the Mountain God Temple.
Han Zhan, the broad, corpulent lord of Qin Prefecture City, lay sprawled inside the chair, his eyes half closed.
A dozen or so well-trained personal guards stood behind him, motionless as javelins planted in the ground.
His adviser, Qin Kelan, wore white as she narrowed her eyes at the distant Mountain God Temple.
Sunlight filtered through gaps in the dense forest, turning into shafts of light that shone between the trees and cast mottled shadows on the ground.
A squirrel darted across a tree trunk, scattering a few pine needles...
Qin Kelan gently waved her folding fan, bent down, and murmured, "My lord... our great undertaking is as good as accomplished!"
"Mm..."
Han Zhan seemed a little overheated. He pulled open his collar and scratched his hairy chest.
"My lord, they went inside half an hour ago. They should be in the secret passage by now..."
Ever attentive, Qin Kelan quietly fanned Han Zhan as she spoke in a low voice.
Han Zhan sat up at her words, then stood and stretched, his bones cracking sharply all over.
He looked up at the sky, then plopped back into the sedan