Volume 1, Book 6, Chapter 2 (Part 1) Chapter 2: Digging Three Feet Under

  We spent the whole day searching almost every corner of the Tomb of the Flower Maiden but still couldn't find Ju Dan.

  There aren't any prison cells here, nor are there any demon guards. No matter how hard I rack my brains, I just can't figure out where Ye Liu Bing has hidden Ju Dan Mei.

  Standing on the White Stone Bridge, Gan Ning truly looked at it with a lotus-heart gaze for a long time, and slightly shook his head.

  "Can't find it? Not even with your lotus heart eyes?" I exclaimed in disappointment. The beautiful female demon beside me leaned against the bridge railing, her slender waist half-turned, lost in thought for a long time, her eyes clearer than the rippling water. Night Flow Ice is really sinful, such a beautiful wife is actually just a decoration, if it were me, I would have already taken her to bed.

  Hai Ji's expression was uncertain: "Is Ju Dan Mei really in the Burial Flower Abyss? Or is Yun Da Lang trying to deceive you? If he's plotting against you, this method would be perfect for luring you into a trap. Besides, Ju Dan Mei might be imprisoned in the hills near the Burial Flower Abyss."

  I thought for a moment and shook my head resolutely: "Yun Dalang is a straightforward person, different from those monsters like Shui Liulang. Besides, I have spared his life before, so he shouldn't repay kindness with enmity. Ju Danmei must be locked up in some secret prison cell; let's search carefully again."

  Gan Ning raised his head and gazed up at the dark, deep pool, murmuring: "Since Ye Liu Bing dares to let us move freely, he's not afraid that we'll find something. Even if we do find it, he'll immediately detect it."

  The little princess suddenly said: "The person you are looking for, could it be one of these female demons? If Ye Liu Bing used magic to change her appearance?" "Impossible." Gan Zhen interrupted the little princess's words and said affirmatively: "I have used Lian Xin Yan to examine them again and again, they are all their original faces."

  I helplessly said: "There's no other choice, I can only force out Night Flowing Ice's true form and make a desperate move."

  "Got a way?"

  I smiled mysteriously and intentionally kept him in suspense. This was the final move, not to be made unless absolutely necessary. I would never break up with Ye Liu Bing. The game of cat and mouse was a test of endurance between the two sides.

  That night, I slipped out of my room quietly, accompanied by Mouse. Under my coercion, he had to muster up his courage and accompany me on a midnight expedition to the Tomb of Flowers. As for Hai Ji and Gan Ning, they would leave the Embroidered Tower an hour later to continue searching for Ju Danmei. This way, we split into two groups, leaving Ye Liu Bing no time to take care of both.

  Down the stairs, through the semi-circular corridor. We first touched the outer courtyard, the dog's tail had been ordered to stay inside, his room was still lit, and the shadow of someone pacing back and forth was faintly reflected on the window paper. I deliberately hid under the window and lightly patted a few times, making a slight noise.

  "Who?" The dog tail pushed open the window, stuck out his head and looked around. More than a dozen bright, shiny threads flashed and wrapped around him like lightning. First, they sealed his mouth, then bound his limbs. The dog tail didn't even see my shadow, "thud" fell to the ground. I took out the small powder box given by Little Princess, aimed at the house, lightly popped it open, and a blue powder flew in. Not long after, the sound of Dog Tail came from inside the house. This is the secret hypnotic powder of Huatian, once inhaled, one will fall into a coma, and when awakened, they will also forget what happened that day.

  Then I silently recited the Thousand Incantations of Unraveling, withdrew the crystal threads and walked towards the main gate.

  The gate was already locked, I pulled up the mouse king and jumped high, wanting to jump over the door. "Bang", a black ice wall suddenly floated in mid-air, blocking our way. The mouse king and I were caught off guard. We heavily crashed into the ice wall, momentarily dazed and disoriented. When we fell back into the courtyard, the ice wall had disappeared.

  The old mouse covered his forehead with a bulging red package and groaned: "Young master, the surroundings have been sealed with magic, we can't get out. Let's go back to the mansion."

  As far as the eye could see, the copper lock on the gate was shining brightly with a yellow light, flashing on and off. I suddenly realized that it was the culprit. Forcing the lock open wouldn't be difficult, but doing so would be equivalent to forcing Night Flowing Ice and us to have a falling out. After a moment's hesitation, I returned to Dog Tail's house. I stripped him of his clothes and indeed found the key on his belt. The gate was easily opened.

  The surroundings were quiet, the tree shadows stretched long on the ground, frozen in place. Except for the female ghosts of the Night Flowing Ice, there was not a single ghost around, and the vast Burial Mound of Flowers seemed empty. Mouse Old Man looked at the deep pool in mid-air with trepidation, shrinking his neck: "Just thinking that Night Flowing Ice might be spying on us makes me feel afraid."

  "I hummed: 'Even if we're discovered, there's no need to be afraid. Since he wants to play cat and mouse with us, he definitely won't harm us halfway through. Besides, Ye Liu Bing isn't a god, it's impossible for him to keep watching us without eating, drinking or sleeping. Hurry up and get to work, make the most of our time!'"

  The old mouse buried his head, limbs prostrate on the ground, sniffing wildly for a while, occasionally tapping the ground with his hands, and listening intently with his ears perked up. Judging from my speculation, since the cell where Ji Danmei was imprisoned wasn't above ground, it's highly likely that it's underground. The old mouse is a mouse spirit, naturally skilled at digging tunnels, so I brought him out to investigate whether there were any hidden secret passages underground.

  Along the small path in front of the door, Mr. Mouse crawled all the way, passing through the Hundred Flowers Ping, bamboo forest, fake mountains, streams, and gardens. Sometimes he suddenly grabbed a handful of soil, pinched it, shook his head, and continued on his way.

  "What's been found?" I couldn't help but urge, after searching for almost three hours, this guy still had nothing to show for it, I was of no use, and could only stand by anxiously.

  The mouse king hung his head and shook it dejectedly

  "Grandfather, the soil here is hard and solid, it doesn't seem like there's a hollow underground tunnel."

  "I exclaimed in surprise: 'How could Zhū Dānmei, a living person, fly up to the sky?' I forced Old Man Mouse to search again, exhausting him until he was drenched in sweat and finally collapsed on the ground, panting and shaking his head."

  As the time was getting late, we had to head back. When I arrived at the Embroidered Tower, I reattached the key to the dog's tail belt and was about to return to my room when I suddenly heard a shrill cry from Mouse: "Young Master, come quick!"

  I rushed out, and the mouse was crouched by the pool in the yard, its beady eyes shining brightly as it stared intently at the wall of the pool. It pointed with one hand: "Young master, look! There's a leak here!"

  The pool is built with colored flower-patterned stones, near the bottom of the outer wall of the pool, there is a very fine crack, and water seeps out from the crack drop by drop. If you don't look carefully, it's completely invisible.

  "I asked in puzzlement: 'The pool has been out of repair for years, what's the big deal about water seepage?'"

  The old mouse smiled and said, "Young master, the stones used to build the pool are the special five-color stones from the Demon Subduing Heaven. Once they're stuck together, they're as solid as gold soup, and no matter how many years pass, they won't crack open." He stretched out his hand and knocked on the ground near the base of the pool. "Thud thud", the sound was muffled and thick, even I, an outsider, could tell that beneath it was a solid layer of earth, and it was impossible for there to be a hidden passageway.

  "What's going on?" The mouse official furrowed his brow, thinking hard for a moment. His shiny mouse claws flipped out his fingernails, the joints crackling with a loud noise, and his paws swelled up like steel hooks, fiercely digging into the ground.

  The black soil was constantly being dug up, and the mouse sniffed fiercely for a moment, grabbed a handful of soil to examine it for a while. His eyes lit up, and his four claws tightened their digging. At first, the excavated soil was very hard, but after digging three feet deep, the soil gradually became loose, and as they dug further down, the soil suddenly fell "plop plop" downwards. I couldn't help but punch a fist, and a thin layer of soil was pierced through. Below, a dark cave was exposed, curved and winding, leading all the way to the depths of the earth.

  "Found it! The prison is really hidden underground!" I was overjoyed, my heart racing with excitement.

  Master Mouse was triumphant: "Young Master, didn't I tell you? The fine crack on the wall of the pool should be a leftover from when they dug the tunnel. Those who dug the tunnel were very cunning and the original entrance should have led directly to the pool wall, but it was renovated. They filled in a thick layer of soil above, so when we tapped on the ground earlier, the sound didn't seem hollow, almost fooling me. Unfortunately, there's always one mistake, and I, an expert at digging tunnels, caught a glimpse of it."

  "What's wrong?"

  The old mouse picked up a handful of mud he had dug out and brought it in front of me: "Logically, the soil closer to the surface is lighter in color and drier. While the soil deeper down is usually darker and slightly damp. But look, this soil from roughly the same position has different colors mixed together. Obviously, someone has been digging here recently."

  He said that, and both of us were shocked. Could it be that the ice cave was dug out not long ago? This is unreasonable. There's no use thinking about it too much, looking at the time it's getting late, and Gan Ning and the others haven't returned yet, I steeled myself, grabbed Mousey and jumped into the deep pit.

  The cave sloped downward, and we walked for about half a mile before the path suddenly disappeared. It was a dead end. In the corner, a plump pangolin was curled up, motionless. Upon closer inspection, it had been dead for some time. My chest felt stifled, and my excitement from earlier was dashed. This cave was actually a pangolin's den, not some kind of underground prison.

  The mouse was stunned too. I sighed dejectedly: "Half a day's effort, all for nothing. Let's go back." I turned to leave.

  "Wait a minute, young master, let me take another look." Old Mouse stared at the wall of the hole for a while, his hands moving over it inch by inch. Suddenly, he let out a few cold laughs: "What a clever trick! Unfortunately, you've met me, the ancestor of digging holes. Whatever tricks you have up your sleeve are useless against me!" He raised his paws and began to dig furiously in front of him. After digging for over ten feet, the mud collapsed with a loud crash, and another dark hole appeared before them.

  I suddenly realized that the person who designed the hidden passage was very cunning, temporarily sealing off the tunnel and intentionally placing a dead pangolin here to lure people into not investigating further. It seems that there must be some secret hidden inside the cave. Thinking of this, my confidence increased greatly, and I quickly rushed towards the depths of the tunnel.

  The road twisted and turned for several miles, then suddenly forked in two directions. Old Mouse tapped the walls of both tunnels, and without hesitation darted into the left-hand passage.

  The tunnel went up and down, the fork in the road became more and more, the deeper I walked, the more frightened I was. The tunnel seemed to have no end. Mouse Lord deliberately showed his face in front of me, volunteering to lead the way. After walking for a long time, I heard a "bang" sound, the mouse lord in front of me let out a muffled hum and flew towards me.

  I was startled, behind Mr. Mouse's back, a figure emerged like a ghost, slender and tall, with a tattered and worn-out robe covered in patches of oil paint, wearing a red child's mask with a smiling face that hid his features, revealing only a pair of small green eyes.