Following the head steward's directions, General Shen quickly led his troops to the room that led to the underground secret chamber.
Although burning with greed, General Shen was still cautious and did not rush in himself. Instead, he waved his hand and ordered his most elite personal guards to charge down.
"Boom!"
However, not long after dozens of guards rushed down, a violent roar came from deep underground, and even the open entrance to the secret chamber spewed out scorching flames.
Immediately afterwards, the entire earth began to tremble violently, and then the earth began to bulge upwards rapidly, as if some terrifying being was about to burst out from below.
"Oh no, retreat quickly!"
General Shen's expression changed drastically. He immediately disregarded his own limits and frantically circulated his internal energy, using his lightness skill to rush outwards.
As a general, he naturally possessed considerable skill, and thus he eventually broke through the most dangerous core area. The ground, spanning a hundred feet in diameter, exploded, like a volcanic eruption, with intense flames shooting straight into the sky.
At the same time, the violent tremors spread, causing the entire Hangzhou City to shake violently.
Once the situation eased slightly, the entire Feng residence was almost completely reduced to ruins. Dozens of deep and wide cracks appeared in the ground, and the inner courtyard had become a large crater, with a heavy smell of gunpowder permeating the air.
"Damn it, it's gunpowder!"
General Shen, who had narrowly escaped death, roared angrily, coughing up blood. He had clearly realized what had happened; someone must have set fire to a large amount of gunpowder below, and now it was impossible to trace the source from here.
The thousands of soldiers he brought into the inner courtyard were completely wiped out. The losses were enormous, filling him with rage.
Do you know where the other end of the secret passage below is?
Grabbing the head steward, who had also escaped unscathed, General Shen suppressed his anger and questioned him.
It's hopeless to trace the treasure from here. Even if they could dig this place up, the owner would probably have already run off far away with the treasure.
The only solution now is to block the other end of the passage.
"Nobody knows. Back then, the master executed everyone in charge of digging that tunnel. Apart from the master himself, nobody knows where the other end of the tunnel is."
The head steward looked utterly dejected; he knew he had no hope of obtaining the treasure.
"Waste!"
Having confirmed that the head steward was not lying, General Shen threw him to the ground and ordered his soldiers, who were barely managing to calm their panic, "Pass on my order: seal off all major transportation routes in Hangzhou City, and thoroughly investigate all suspicious persons, especially those carrying large quantities of goods out of the city. Anyone who disobeys will be executed without exception!"
Leaving aside how General Shen ordered the search of Hangzhou City, Wang Hao and his two companions were in a very sorry state.
The shockwave from the explosion of tens of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder struck the three men directly through the passage, nearly killing them. Even Wang Hao, the strongest among them, couldn't help but cough up blood.
However, at the most critical moment, he still reached out and grabbed Zhou Xueyi, who was right behind him, and threw her forward, avoiding the strongest shock wave. He and Wangcai, who was running at the front, escaped the disaster, only suffering some minor injuries.
"Damn, how come gunpowder is so powerful these days?"
With his ears ringing, Wang Hao shook his head and couldn't help but complain.
He had no concept of gunpowder, only knowing that it was the earliest and oldest type of gunpowder, and the word "ancient" was almost synonymous with "outdated" in his eyes as a modern person.
He thought this thing wasn't very powerful!
But who would have thought that even after running several miles along the passage, the shockwave almost killed them? If they had stayed in the secret room, they would probably have been doomed.
Meanwhile, Old Cheng, whose body was almost embedded in the side wall of the passage, was spitting out blood while looking at Wang Hao with resentment.
He was running alongside Zhou Xueyi, but Wang Hao only threw Zhou Xueyi ahead to avoid the shockwave and ignored him. If he hadn't used his internal energy to protect his internal organs at the last moment, he would probably be dead by now.
Isn't this putting romance before friendship?
His condition was far from good; many of his bones were broken, and his internal organs had suffered severe damage. It would take him two or three years to recover from these injuries.
"Miss Zhou, are you alright?"
Wang Hao stood up and asked Zhou Xueyi, who was standing in front of him, with concern in his voice.
There's no other way; I came out here specifically to tame this girl. If she dies here, it would be a huge loss.
"It's just a broken arm, nothing serious!"
Zhou Xueyi, who was in front, got up and gave Wang Hao a resentful look.
That guy swung with such force that even though she managed to react, she still broke her left arm bone, but thankfully she survived.
Otherwise, if she were hit by an impact of that magnitude, her current recovered internal strength would not be enough to withstand it, and she would surely perish.
So this is a life-saving grace!
" Wangcai, where are you? If you're not dead, give me a shout!"
Seeing that Zhou Xueyi was unharmed, Wang Hao felt relieved and then quickly asked Wangcai a question.
"Waaaah!"
Wangcai got up and whimpered in response, indicating that he was alright.
It was originally running at the forefront to scout the way, and the shockwaves coming from behind were mostly blocked by Wang Hao and the boxes piled up on the long cart, so the rest were no longer a concern.
In addition, since it instinctively crawled to the ground, the impact was even smaller, and it only had some dog hair wiped off.
"Cough cough..."
Seeing that Wang Hao didn't ask him any questions for a long time, Old Cheng, who was embedded in the side wall of the passage, couldn't help but cough to show his presence. But who would have thought that he would actually cough up blood, which made his internal organs hurt terribly, making him very depressed.
" Old Cheng, are you alright?"
Wang Hao then realized that Old Cheng was still there, and quickly turned around to ask a question.
"He's not dead yet, but most of his bones are broken and his internal organs have been damaged. He'll need at least several years to recover."
Old Cheng is now filled with regret!
Why did I agree with the chief escort's words and come with Wang Hao to take a trip into this muddy water?
Look at you, covered in injuries. Who knows if you'll suffer any lasting health problems after you recover, or if it will affect your strength? You've really lost out big time.
"That serious?"
Wang Hao was shocked and quickly ran over to gently press on Old Cheng's body for a while before letting out a sigh of relief and saying, "Don't worry, you only have a fracture, not a broken bone. You'll recover in a few months."
Fractures come in many forms. The mildest type is when there is a crack in the bone, but it has not broken completely. This type of fracture heals the fastest and may even heal spontaneously without the need for bone setting.
Especially for martial arts practitioners, regular use of internal energy to gently nourish and heal the body can lead to a rapid recovery without leaving any hidden dangers.
"Really?"
Old Cheng; it was much lighter than he had expected.
"Of course it's true!"
With a laugh, Wang Hao carefully pried Old Cheng out of the earthen wall on the side of the passage and laid him flat on the ground.
"You all rest here for a while, I'll go take a look ahead."
With a shout, Wang Hao led Wangcai toward the end of the passage, and soon they arrived at the end of the passage.
As expected, the passage was blocked at the end. After Wang Hao slashed wildly with his broadsword again, he forced it open and found himself in a dry well. After climbing out, he discovered that it was an abandoned temple surrounded by weeds, which looked like it had been abandoned for several years.
"We're already outside the city! That saves us a lot of trouble!"
Wang Hao jumped up and onto the temple wall, gazing at the distant Hangzhou City, thus roughly determining his location.
Feng Lun's residence was located in the southeast corner of Hangzhou City, less than a hundred feet from the city wall. They had just traveled several miles through the underground passage, so they had naturally long since left the area of Hangzhou City.
Feng Lun is really afraid of death; he actually prepared such a long Earthly Dao.
What's even better is that this temple is right next to a river that connects to the Yangtze River, so you can leave by boat directly. It was obviously something Feng Lun had planned long ago, but now it all benefits Wang Hao.
Looking around, Wang Hao ran to the dock Hangzhou City and brought over the ship they had come on. He asked the bodyguards from the Fuwei Escort Agency to help bring Old Cheng and Zhou Xueyi aboard, and also to bring out the treasures that had been scattered all over the place by the shockwave.
Lin Zhennan brought a lot of trusted men with Old Cheng this time, including an old doctor. After Old Cheng was brought onto the ship, he was taken to a room by the old doctor for treatment, while Wang Hao was alone in a room with Zhou Xueyi, whose arm injury had been treated.
There's something I need to talk to this girl about.
"I heard you once declared in the martial arts world that you would marry whoever could kill Feng Lun, is that true?"
Having dispelled the Thousand Faces Divine Technique and regained his original form and appearance, Wang Hao poured himself a glass of fine wine and asked with a calm smile.
These words startled Zhou Xueyi, who quickly replied, "I did say that, but I changed it not long ago. Whoever can kill Feng Lun will have my life."
From this day forward, my life belongs to you!
"..."
These words left Wang Hao completely dumbfounded. After regaining his senses, he was speechless, and a series of black lines appeared on his forehead.
"Can you tell me when it was changed?" Wang Hao asked with a dark expression.
"Just!"
After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Xueyi decided to tell the truth.
"..."
Upon receiving this answer, Wang Hao's face darkened even further.
It's obvious that she found him rather ugly after seeing his appearance, and would rather risk her life than marry him!
To put it bluntly, she'd rather die than marry him.
This dealt an unprecedented blow to Wang Hao's self-esteem.
The creature he possessed had an honest and simple appearance when it smiled, but when it didn't smile, its face was full of menacing flesh, which, combined with its extremely burly physique, made it look even more ferocious.
But what you're doing is really hurtful!
"Alright, I'll do as you say. From now on, your life is mine!"
With a dark expression, Wang Hao had no choice but to agree to the girl's suggestion.
Although he felt very uncomfortable, he never intended to take this girl in from the beginning.
He hasn't even managed to win over Dongfang Bai yet!
If he gets involved with another woman, he'll have even less chance of winning over Dongfang Bai in the future.
After all, given that girl's Tyrannical Dao personality, there's absolutely no way she'd tolerate sharing a man with another woman!
Of course, the most important thing is that Zhou Xueyi isn't his type this week.
Although this girl is tall, standing at least seven feet, comparable to a man, it's a pity her breasts are too small; she's probably only a B-cup.
As a staunch supporter of the voluptuous figure, he simply couldn't muster any sexual interest or interest!