Chapter 72: Death is Not Worth Lamenting

  The boulder rumbled and rolled, Zi Ruo Ye hugged Liu Qing You, rolling on the spot for a few rounds before retreating to a safe distance. The governor only wanted them dead and didn't want to risk his own life, so he just struck the edge of the stone cave with a palm force.

  "Hahaha! You can just wait for death here!" The city guard laughed with a somewhat ferocious expression, his hand still stained with fresh blood from being suddenly attacked by Zi Ruoye's dagger earlier.

  Tore a piece of cloth from his clothes and hastily tied it up, then exchanged a flustered expression and rushed out.

  Zhao Yu had been guarding the entrance of the coal mine. When he heard a loud rumbling sound, his heart skipped a beat. Immediately afterwards, he saw someone rushing out. He took a few swift steps forward and grabbed one person's arm, asking "What happened inside?"

  "Don't pull me! The coal mine is collapsing, people will die! Let go quickly!" The man hastily used his hand to pry open Zhao Yu's fingers, with a look of panic on his face.

  What! The coal mine has collapsed!

  He immediately let go of the passionate person's arm and was about to rush in, but was caught by several people beside him. Those few people shouted, "What are you still going inside for? Hurry up and escape with us!" As they spoke, they pulled Zhao Yu along without another word and continued running!

  "Let me go quickly! Why are you the only ones who came out? Where is the master?" He was extremely anxious in his heart, and could only use his clever strength to push away these laborers.

  "The adults should be in the back! I just heard the adult's voice." Although it was faint and unclear, she had indeed heard the county magistrate's voice.

  They ran to the gate when people had this narrow escape, almost being crushed by the pile of stones. As soon as they stood still, they heard the anxious shout of the county governor!

  "Save me! Save me!" With a dusty and disheveled appearance, as if he had just crawled out from under a pile of rocks, he rushed towards Zhao Yu and the others with a panicked expression.

  Zhao Yu's eyes narrowed, she didn't see the figures of Zi Ruoye and Liu Qingyou! Grabbing the panicked Taishou, she said in a calm voice, "Taishou! What about the adults who came in with you and that man?"

  The county guard's body shook, and tears poured down like a flood as he regretfully said, "Sir, she... she pushed me out just in time when the mine collapsed to save me!" He wiped away his tears fiercely and continued, "Right, right! Hurry up and rescue Sir! Quickly!"

  Zhao Yu listened and her body had already flashed into the cave entrance. The emperor entrusted Wang Ye's life to her, and now no matter what, she couldn't let anything happen to Wang Ye! The floor beneath her feet transmitted a shockwave, and ahead of her, the collapse was still ongoing!

  Barely avoiding the falling rocks, Zhao Yu sped up as much as possible. However, after all, it was too late. When he finally arrived at the place where Ziyue Ye had gone, which was almost the deepest part of the coal mine, what he saw in front of him made his heart turn cold!

  The road is completely blocked by stones!

  As far as the eye can see, there are only stones and no way to go!

  "If it's a coal mine collapse, there's a limit of seven days! If you can't rescue me within seven days, you'll set off back to the capital!" Suddenly remembering what Zi Ruoye had reminded him today, Zhao Yu hastily turned around, he must find someone to clear the road!

  "Cough, cough!" The rolling stone brought up a cloud of dust. Ziyue Ye waved her sleeve to dispel the dust while gently covering Liu Qingyou's mouth and nose with her hand, lest he inhale too much powder.

  It wasn't until the dust had slowly settled that Ziyue Ye could see clearly and realize just how severe the situation was!

  The entrance was actually completely blocked?!

  Moreover, they were still some distance away from the entrance and were also blocked by huge boulders! Zi Ruoye slightly furrowed her brow, just as she was about to move her left arm, a sharp pain shot through it. Only then did she notice that when she had used her left arm to catch Liu Qingyou earlier, he had rolled on the ground and some small stones had gotten stuck in his wound, causing him great pain.

  Zi Ruoye looked at Liu Qingyou, who was still unconscious, and reached out to take his pulse. Her brow furrowed even tighter. That scoundrel, the Ning City Governor, had actually beaten Liu Qingyou so severely that he suffered such a serious internal injury!

  Zi Ruoye carefully moved Liu Qingyou to the wall, ensuring a safe distance from any potential further collapse. Only then did she slightly relax. Her left hand was starting to go numb; she had pressed on the acupoints, and the wound would no longer continue bleeding.

  Zi Ruoye looked at the unconscious Liu Qingyou and couldn't help but laugh, "Liu Qingyou, why is it that every time you're by my side, I always have to leave some blood or something?" She took out a small medicine bottle from her bosom, poured out a snow-white pill, and placed it by Liu Qingyou's mouth, softly saying, "Liu Qingyou, open your mouth and swallow this, and you'll be fine."

  Fortunately, Liu Qingyou had a bit of consciousness and subconsciously swallowed the medicine pill. Seeing that Liu Qingyou had indeed taken it, Zi Ruoye finally let out a gentle sigh of relief. This coal-filled cave had one-third blocked by fallen rocks, one-third occupied by coal, and the remaining space was extremely limited.

  How long can the air here last? Zi Ruoye glanced around, unsure how many days Zhao Yu would take to dig open a passage... Looking at everything around her again, except for the wine in her small wine jug and a bag of water she had brought just in case... there was nothing left.

  A person won't starve to death if they don't eat for a week... but if they don't drink water, their body will shut down in three days. Luckily there's still air, or else they'd really be done for.

  Zi Ruoye let Liu Qingyu rest her head on his lap, took off his clothes, and picked out the stones from the wound with his bare hands. The dust on his fingers fell into the wound again, causing a burst of pain. Zi Ruoye slightly furrowed his brow, and fine sweat beads appeared on his forehead. After clearing all the stones, he tore his clothes to bandage his left arm. Although he had avoided the vital parts when stabbing, this left hand would probably not be very agile in the future.

  Helping Liu Qingyou up, with palms facing each other, transferring internal energy to him... The internal injury is quite severe, and it's likely that even with medication, he won't recover that quickly.

  "Hmph!" Half a moment later, Liu Qingyou finally spat out the stagnant blood accumulated in his chest cavity and immediately fell softly on Zi Ruoye's body.

  "Liu Qingyou, you absolutely did that on purpose." Zi Ruoye helplessly wiped away the bloodstains on her face. Normally, when someone vomited blood, it would be to the side, but this person directly spat it onto her face. Even in a coma, they still had to oppose her?

  If Liu Qingyu were awake at this moment and heard the tone of Zi Ruoye's words, she would definitely have a lot to say to her. But if she saw Zi Ruoye's pale face at this moment, it would be a different story.

  Just now, in order to delay time with Tai Shou, Zi Ruoye didn't even go to stop the bleeding. Moreover, she used her left arm to catch Liu Qingyou, and her arm hit the ground. Now, due to excessive blood loss and consumption of internal energy, Zi Ruoye was so exhausted that she could hardly lift her hand.

  She leaned her body against the wall, closed her eyes and fell into a light sleep. Now she needed to recover her strength...

  The county guard did not follow Zhao Yu into the coal mine. Her face was pale and her expression was filled with respect and sorrow, as she choked back tears and said, "At that time, the situation was too urgent, the sudden collapse of the coal mine, sir actually pushed me out of the cave first to save me, but didn't expect that when I was about to save sir, rocks kept falling one after another. I hurriedly ran out to let you come and rescue." As she spoke, she still seemed to be in pain from the scene at that time, as if Zi Ruoye was already beyond saving.

  "What a good person the adult is!" The people next to them were also very moved, that adult had just arranged for them to have three meals and a good rest yesterday, but now he's going to pass away at a young age!

  Heavens, is it really true that you never open your eyes?!

  The man glanced at Tai Shou, his eyes slightly displeased, and by the time people reacted, he had already left.

  Zhao Yu was using his lightness skill, when he arrived at the entrance of the cave, he was caught by someone grabbing his arm. He looked and saw that it was the county magistrate, who had been crying so much that his nose was runny and his eyes were red. "You all quickly follow me to rescue the master!"

  "What's wrong with you!" The county lieutenant hastily said, his tone was extremely urgent, but he pulled Zhao Yu's hand and didn't let her move.

  "The road is blocked and I can't see the entrance." Zhao Yu's anxiety grew, and he continued, "The county magistrate should hurry to find someone to clear the road, the longer the adults are trapped inside, the more dangerous it will be!"

  "But we can't go in now." One of the veteran workers spoke up, "The coal mine collapse will take at least a day to clear. As you said, the roads are all blocked, so..." The rest of his sentence was left unspoken, but everyone knew what it implied.

  "Yes, after the coal mine collapsed, it's true that we can't enter until a day later. The governor, in order to save me, might have already..." The county magistrate sobbed again, staring at the entrance as if lost in thought.

  "Shut up! If something goes wrong, the first one to be held responsible will be you, Ning City Governor!" Zhao Yu took out his own waist card, "I am Zhao Yu, Deputy General of the Iron Cavalry Army! Can't I still give orders to you? I order you to immediately gather men and clear the road!"

  Zhao Yu looked at the person in front of her, if it were before, she would have killed Ning Chengtai with one palm, but now she couldn't afford to think too much, and had to hurry up to rescue Wang Ye!

  Zi Ruoye usually only had two shadows by her side, one of whom she sent to deliver the evidence of the governor's treason, and the other happened to be helping Zi Ruoye investigate who the governor was secretly communicating with.

  "The subordinate official pays respects to Deputy General Zhao!" The governor hastily knelt down and said, "The subordinate official will go and make arrangements now." After finishing speaking, he hurriedly ran down. The governor indeed ordered people to come and help Zhao Yu with his affairs, after ordering them, he directly returned to the governor's mansion.

  Rushing back to his room in a flurry, he quickly began packing up his valuables. Perhaps due to years of distrust, the Taigong had converted all his earnings over the years into silver notes, stacked thickly together. After grabbing the most important ones, the Taigong once again stealthily opened the switch for the secret tunnel under his bed.

  After walking for a while, she knocked on the stone gate again. As soon as she entered, her heart was filled with joy. Actually, she didn't know if the master was there or not. The master sometimes was there and sometimes wasn't. She thought that if the master wasn't there, then she would first find a place to hide for a while and contact the master later.

  "Your Honor, this time you must save me." The governor hastily knelt down and said sincerely.

  "Huh? What's going on?" The man lying on the soft couch seemed to be unclear about everything, lazily lying there, not even opening his eyes, and all that could be seen was the gemstone on the mask refracting a dazzling light in the firelight.

  "This time, the private transportation of official media was discovered by someone, and they even found evidence that I had secretly communicated with the noble country. Although there is still some time before the agreed-upon date, please, esteemed master, take me to Haiyue! The bulging package on my back was filled with silver notes. With these silver coins, once we arrive at Haiyue, doing some small business will be enough for us to get by."

  "If what you say is true, then haven't we lost all that coal for nothing?" the man asked in response.

  The governor was shocked! What does this mean, Your Honor!?

  "Your Honor, this matter really isn't something I can control. Who would have thought that the one investigating the case was Ye Wang? She's completely different from what I heard about her. I've been deceived by her!" The county governor had a regretful expression, but immediately replaced it with a ferocious smile. "However, in the end, I still managed to turn the tables on her! This time she will definitely die! When I came out, I destroyed the entrance of the cave! They're either going to suffocate or starve to death inside! So there's no need to worry! As for now, I hope Your Honor will spare my life."

  The young man, after hearing the county magistrate's words, instead fell silent, stretched out his slender white fingers, and lightly beckoned to the county magistrate with a flirtatious gesture. The county magistrate saw this and was slightly startled, involuntarily walking forward.

  "Long live the master..."

  "Was it you who destroyed the cave entrance?" The man whispered softly, his body slightly leaning towards the governor, sweet and sticky bodily fragrance filling the governor's nostrils. A ghostly nod...

  The man stretched out his hand and gently stroked Tai Shou's neck, instantly pinching off Tai Shou's throat.

  "Ah......" The county governor's eyes widened in shock, his eyeballs bulging out, and he died without even knowing how he died!

  Disdainfully, the corpse of Jiang Taigong was discarded to one side. The man's seductive voice was accompanied by a bewitching laugh, "What a waste... Now that you've failed, do you think I'd still give you a place to stay? And you had to go and kill someone so interesting too... How infuriating." He hadn't even gotten to play with that prince properly yet, what a mood killer. A person like that is simply not worth pitying.

  On the other hand, Zhao Yu and the laborers were busily transporting the stone blocks, although Zhao Yu was surprised by the sudden appearance of the four black-clad men, saving Prince Wang was now the top priority!

  Digression

  One hour late...