Chapter 91 The Lurkers of the Underground World
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Chapter 91 The Lurkers of the Underground World
At night in the capital, the ground is ablaze with lights from countless homes, filled with the sounds of music and dance.
But beneath the surface lies a completely different world.
This is the underground drainage system of the capital city, a dark, damp, and enormous labyrinth filled with the smell of decay.
[Squeak! Hurry up! Don't dawdle!]
A large, shiny gray rat named "Zhaocai" is nimbly darting across the moss-covered and slippery stone wall.
Its whiskers trembled, and its small, beady eyes gleamed with shrewdness.
Behind it followed hundreds or even thousands of rats of various sizes.
They are like a well-trained black army, silently marching through the complex network of pipes.
For humans, this is a dirty and chaotic place to be avoided at all costs.
But for them, this is a highway that connects them in all directions.
For the sake of rice! For the sake of the granary!
[Charge! The boss said we need to find a stinky guy under that big stone bridge!]
Zhao Cai sniffed; the air was filled with the smell of dead rats, rotten vegetable leaves, and sewage.
But amidst this familiar stench, it keenly detected a highly discordant scent.
It was a pungent, spicy smell, like a wildfire.
There was also a strong, pungent smell of blood, like the pus from a human wound.
[Squeak! Stop!]
Zhao Cai suddenly braked, its front paws gripping the slippery stone wall.
It barked warning cries at its underlings behind it.
[It's just ahead! The smell is pungent! Everyone be careful, don't get trampled!]
Ahead lies a massive confluence of underground waterways.
Above your head is the most magnificent Changsheng Bridge in the capital.
The space here is open, and there is even a slightly dry high ground.
Zhao Cai, accompanied by several clever henchmen, quietly peeked out from the shadows of the pipe.
On that open space, a dim oil lamp was lit.
A man in black was kneeling on the ground with his back to them.
He tore off the layer of coarse cloth clothing that was his disguise, revealing the black night clothes underneath.
The wound on my left arm was simply bandaged, but it was still bleeding.
It was that fish that slipped through the net—the lone wolf.
Beside him were a dozen or so wooden barrels tightly wrapped in tarpaulin.
The wooden barrels emitted a smell that rats found extremely repulsive—the sulfurous smell of gunpowder.
Achoo!
A little mouse couldn't help but want to sneeze, but Zhao Cai smacked it on the head with his tail, forcing it to hold it back.
Shh! You want to die?! That two-legged creature has a knife!
Zhao Cai stared wide-eyed at the man in black.
The lone wolf deftly arranged the wooden barrels along the base of the bridge pier.
Then, he pulled out a roll of thick black fuse that had been soaked in kerosene from his pocket.
He inserted one end of the fuse into the gunpowder barrel, and then, like a spider web, spun along the gaps in the drainage ditch all the way to a very hidden vent that led directly to the ground.
After doing all this, Lone Wolf seemed somewhat exhausted.
He leaned against the cold stone wall, toying with a tinderbox in his hand, a chilling grin spreading across his scarred face.
In this desolate underground world, the villain's irrepressible urge to confide (or perhaps his dying madness) led him to begin talking to himself:
"So what if they're well-hidden? So what if the Black Armor Guards are powerful?"
The lone wolf's voice was hoarse, echoing in the empty waterway, filled with a deep-seated hatred:
Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival.
"At the third quarter of the hour of Xu (7:45 PM), according to etiquette, the Regent's carriage will promptly ascend the Bridge of Longevity."
He raised his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through the thick stone slabs, and saw the man he hated to the core:
“Pei Yunjing...you ruined ten years of my hard work and killed eighty-three of my brothers.”
The lone wolf's fingers gently stroked the black fuse, as if caressing a lover's hair:
"As long as this tinderbox is thrown down..."
"The fuse burns for ten breaths."
"boom--!"
He mimicked the sound of an explosion, a destructive pleasure gleaming in his eyes:
"The Bridge of Immortality is broken, the moat overflows. I will make you, and all this joyous laughter in the city, pay with your lives for my brothers!"
"This is... the final revenge."
In the corner.
Although Zhao Cai and its underlings didn't understand "Mid-Autumn Festival" or "Regent," they did understand the "boom" and the unsettling murderous aura.
[Squeak! This two-legged creature has gone mad!]
[That black line is dangerous! If that black powder explodes, our base will be destroyed!]
Zhao Cai's beard trembled violently.
Although it is a mouse, it is also a knowledgeable local mouse living in the capital.
It knew how terrifying something that made a "boom" could be.
[Hurry! Hurry!]
Zhao Cai acted decisively, waving his claws at his henchmen behind him:
[Did you remember? The location of that black line! And the time that bad guy mentioned!]
[Hurry back and tell the eldest sister! If we're late, we won't have any rice to eat! We'll end up as roasted rats!]
rustling sounds.
Like the receding black tide, the rats disappeared silently into the depths of the intricate pipe network.
Only the lone wolf, lost in his dream of revenge, remained, guarding his gunpowder and awaiting the moment of destruction.
Above ground, at the base of the back wall of the Regent's Palace.
Tangli was pacing anxiously.
"Squeak!"
With a sharp cry, Zhao Cai darted out of the dog hole and began gesturing wildly before it could even stand properly:
[Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! That wicked man is going to set off firecrackers under that bridge!]
So many black barrels! So many lines!
He said... that fierce-looking man in black (Pei Yunjing) will blow everyone up as soon as he gets on the bridge tomorrow night!
Upon hearing this, Tang Li's face turned deathly pale.
The third quarter of the hour of Xu (7:45 PM).
Changsheng Bridge.
The fuse detonates.
"Good...very good."
Tang Li took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
Now that we know the time, place, and method, there's still hope.
But the biggest problem now is—how to make Pei Yunjing believe it?
How can we get that stubborn brain of his to investigate a bridge that seems to have no problems at this critical juncture?
"Good luck, Zhao Cai."
Tangli scattered a handful of peanuts, then turned and ran towards the master bedroom.
Since we can't tell the truth, then we can only...
It's all about acting skills!