"Let's go. Everyone, be careful when stepping on these square stone pillars. Don't miss your footing," Leng Ruo Li solemnly warned everyone.
Then, she and Jun Mo Han led the way onto the white square stone pillars, and Ye Ying and the others immediately followed their footsteps.
Before long, the group crossed the stone pillar formation and reached the passage opposite the underground chamber. After traversing a passage less than three meters long, they saw an iron door.
Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han fumbled with the mechanism on the iron door for a few minutes before opening it. The moment the iron door was opened, another volley of arrows rained down on them.
Fortunately, everyone reacted quickly and managed to dodge the arrow shower. Subsequently, the six of them entered another underground chamber.
This underground chamber had three iron doors. The one they had just entered was one of the three, but two more iron doors remained unopened. Leng Ruo Li and the others could not guess where these two doors would lead.
Therefore, they went to the sides of the two iron doors to search for the opening mechanisms. With their previous experience, Leng Ruo Li and the others quickly opened these two iron doors as well.
Subsequently, the six people split into two groups and entered the passages behind these two iron doors. Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han took the left passage, while Ye Ying led the other three guards down the right passage. As it turned out, the passage Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han took was a dead end.
Later, the two of them had no choice but to return the way they came and walk down the right passage with Ye Ying and the others.
After walking for a quarter of an hour, the six people saw a staircase leading to the ground. Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han stepped onto the stairs, only to find a small wooden door at the end of the stairs that led directly outside.
Next, Leng Ruo Li and the others emerged one by one through that small wooden door.
Everyone looked up at their surroundings and found themselves in a farmhouse courtyard hidden within a forest.
Just as the Cold King and his consort were about to knock on the door to enter, the door of the courtyard house suddenly opened, and ten thugs dressed in black combat attire emerged.
"Who are you people? How did you find this place?"
The leader of the black-clad men had a square face and narrow eyes. He was now looking up with a ferocious expression as he asked the Cold King and his consort.
"It's none of your business, but I can tell you that we are here to find the missing children," Leng Ruo Li stated directly.
"Children? We don't have the children you're looking for here. Get lost, or we won't be polite to you," the leader of the black-clad men said, his face suddenly darkening ominously.
But as soon as he finished speaking, he was proven wrong. The sound of children crying suddenly echoed from inside the house, wailing miserably.
"You said there were no children here? How do you explain the cries of these children?"
Leng Ruo Li's expression immediately turned cold. Her clear and bright almond-shaped eyes, however, exuded a chilling aura.
"You'd best not meddle in our affairs, or you won't be leaving this courtyard today."
The leader of the black-clad men stared intently at the Cold King and his consort with his small, malevolent eyes.
"Heh, that remains to be seen if you have the ability to kill us."
As Leng Ruo Li spoke, she took out a mini pistol from her sleeve pocket and shot the leader of the black-clad men without a second word, hitting him directly in the heart. He collapsed to the ground and died. Then, she fired two more shots at two other black-clad men, catching them completely off guard.
After Leng Ruo Li killed three of the black-clad men in quick succession, the remaining ones reacted and quickly retreated into the house, closing the door.
Immediately, the Cold King and his consort rushed forward and kicked open the house door forcefully. The interior was dark, and Leng Ruo Li and the others could not see the situation inside. Several thugs then lunged at them with swords.
"Be careful!"
Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han immediately alerted Ye Ying and the others, dodging aside. Then, Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han each grabbed a black-clad man by the wrist and twisted them, breaking their wrists. They then smoothly snatched the swords from their hands and slit their throats.
The six of them quickly engaged in a fight with the black-clad men, and in the end, they eliminated all of them without taking much time.
Afterward, Leng Ruo Li followed the cries of the children and pushed open a door inside the house. Suddenly, a swarm of dense small flying insects flew out from within.
Leng Ruo Li and the others could not dodge in time, and all six of them were bitten by these small flying insects. They soon began to hallucinate.
"This is bad! Jun Mo Han, these small flying insects are poisonous..."
Leng Ruo Li said as she retrieved a bottle of refreshing medicine from her personal space. She took one herself and then distributed one to each of Jun Mo Han and the others, allowing everyone to first overcome the drowsy state.
After they had all taken Leng Ruo Li's refreshing medicine, they quickly regained their senses. Then, Leng Ruo Li had Jun Mo Han and the others take the antidotes she always kept on hand.
However, even after taking the antidotes, the poison in their bodies was not completely removed. The wounds where they had been bitten by the small flying insects gradually turned purple and then slowly spread outwards.
Her spare antidotes were surprisingly ineffective against the poison of these small flying insects, which made Leng Ruo Li anxious. It seemed she would need to analyze their blood to identify the composition of the poison before she could formulate a new antidote.
Just then, a frail old man with a cane, wearing tattered clothes and with silver hair, walked out of the room.
"Young lady, your medical skills are quite good. You've managed to suppress the poison of my little flying insects."
The old man's sunken small eyes stared intently at Leng Ruo Li, filled with admiration.
Leng Ruo Li ignored his words and coldly questioned him, "Who are you? Why have you captured those infants?"
"Heh heh, little girl, I advise you not to meddle in too many things, or you might easily bring about your own demise. However, seeing as you possess some medical knowledge, I'll let you leave this place quickly. Someone has already gone to call for reinforcements. As for those lowly infants, I will not let you save them. I need their heart's blood to raise my two beautiful Gu worms."
After speaking, the old man's lips curved into a sinister smile.
As he finished speaking, Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han and the others were greatly shocked.
"What? You actually use the heart's blood of these children to cultivate two Gu worms?"
"Those children are all still alive! How can you, an old scoundrel, be so wicked to harm even children?" Leng Ruo Li immediately pointed at the old man and accused him.