"Does that mean there are still special means of getting out?" A thought stirred in Zhangsun Youyue's mind at Old Man Fan's words, and she hurriedly asked.
Huang Xiao's eyes lit up as well. Being able to leave offered them hope.
"What? You still want to leave?" Old Man Wang asked coldly.
"I do want to go back," Huang Xiao answered honestly.
There was nothing to hide about that. Who would want to spend their entire life here?
"Unfortunately, you cannot leave," Old Man Zhu said mildly.
"But didn't Senior Fan say there was still a way out?" Jiang Liuli asked.
"Yes, he did. But do you know how many people have left this place over the past ten thousand years?" Old Man Zhu asked.
Huang Xiao and the two women shook their heads. How could they know such things?
Old Man Zhu held up three fingers.
"Thirty?" Zhangsun Youyue exclaimed.
"You certainly dare to dream, little girl!" Old Man Wang sneered.
Zhangsun Youyue flushed, then her expression dimmed, just like Huang Xiao's and Jiang Liuli's.
"Three?" Huang Xiao murmured.
"That's right. Only three have left in ten thousand years, and we aren't even sure whether they survived getting out," Old Man Zhu said.
"You aren't sure?" Huang Xiao asked with a frown.
"Of course we aren't sure. We can't leave ourselves, so we have no way of knowing whether those three got out alive. All these years, and not a word. Even the tiniest scrap of news brought back would have been something. I'm afraid the outcome is disheartening," Old Man Fan sighed.
"Tiger Wing and Inugami only resurfaced recently. Even if they survived getting out, those clearly hadn't been found at the time, so naturally they couldn't return. Ah, it's been five or six hundred years since they