Chapter 603 - 391: Ingenious Scheme (Part 1)_2

"It’s already the hour of the tiger."

Duan Rong suddenly leaped up like a fallen leaf, landing silently in front of the door. He opened it and went out.

The moment Duan Rong stepped out of the room, his eyes flickered, and he took a glance at the rockery in the courtyard not far away. However, he only paused slightly, then quietly closed the door and leapt out of the courtyard like a large bird.

As soon as Duan Rong’s figure disappeared over the courtyard wall, Liu Shushan emerged from behind the rockery not far from Duan Rong’s room. In the darkness, he watched the spot on the wall where Duan Rong had disappeared, his eyes flickering.

Liu Shushan stood there for a moment, then returned to his room to sleep. He was merely curious about when Duan Rong would make his move. Since Duan Rong had told him not to participate in the night’s operation, he wouldn’t act recklessly.

He was well aware that they were trying to rescue someone from under Chen Xun’s nose, which was like poking a hornet’s nest. Duan Rong’s plan could not afford any mistakes, and he dared not act rashly.

As Liu Shushan walked back to his room, he felt much more at ease. He realized he still had confidence in Duan Rong.

The cold moon was like a line, and a large star hung upside down in the sky.

In the ink-like darkness of the night, Duan Rong’s figure flickered like a ghost.

The patrols on the streets of Prefecture City had clearly been strengthened, but under Duan Rong’s Divine Sense Projection and Ghostly Body Technique, no amount of patrols seemed to matter.

Soon, Duan Rong darted into a residential alley not far from the city’s dungeon. Once he entered the dark alley, he moved even faster, like a fish in water.

Within a few breaths, he had leapt into a courtyard overgrown with sparse weeds.

Under Divine Sense Penetration, everything inside and outside the house remained unchanged.

Duan Rong walked over slowly, pushed open the slightly ajar door, and was greeted by the heavy scent of earth.

He stepped inside, gently closed the door, and bolted it.

Duan Rong’s eyes flickered as he picked up a short-handled iron shovel from the corner of the wall, then leapt up, tucking his shoulder, and jumped into the hole in the middle of the main room.

Duan Rong crawled to the end of the tunnel, his Divine Sense Projection keeping track of the situation in the dungeon above. With just two hours until daybreak, now was the best time to dig through the last half-zhang.

Duan Rong infused his True Qi and began shoveling away.

In a cell above the tunnel.

Tang Wanhong lay on a pile of dry straw in the corner, but he was seriously injured and often woke up in pain in the middle of the night.

At that moment, there was a piercing pain at his ribcage. He gritted his teeth and barely managed to endure it, feeling the pain ebb away slowly like the tide.

Tang Wanhong exhaled a breath of turbid air, preparing to sleep a bit longer. Just then, he seemed to hear a faint sound.

The sound seemed to be coming from beneath him.

Because the rustling sound was so faint, Tang Wanhong thought he might have misheard. But in the silence of the cell, as he listened carefully for a while, he discovered that the sound actually continued.

Tang Wanhong shifted his body, sliding to the edge of the straw pile. The movement tugged at his wound, causing him to grimace in pain.

But when he turned to press his ear to the ground and listened carefully, the sound suddenly disappeared.

Then, after just a moment, the rustling sound started up again.

"Maybe it’s a rat..." Tang Wanhong thought after listening for a while.

Under Duan Rong’s Divine Sense Investigation, the movements above in the dungeon were "seen" clearly. When Tang Wanhong pressed his ear to the ground earlier, Duan Rong paused for a moment, then continued shoveling.

Tang Wanhong listened for a while longer, and the sound seemed to grow clearer. A look of doubt flashed in his eyes. "It doesn’t sound like a rat..."

Just then, a patrol of Heavy Armored Soldiers walked past the cell. As they passed, the sound clearly disappeared. Once the patrol moved away, the rustling sound started up again.

Tang Wanhong’s parched throat moved slightly, astonishment written all over his face. "Is... is it a person?"

Though uncertain, the awareness to evade the patrol of armored soldiers made it very likely it was a person.

"Could it be someone is under the dungeon?" The thought of this baffling conclusion made Tang Wanhong’s heart tremble.

Tang Wanhong had long since considered himself a dead man.

But now, the sound from beneath the dungeon gave him a glimmer of hope for life.

Could it be someone was coming to save him?

Tang Wanhong’s mind whirled. "Who could it be?"

"Is it Yu’Er? No! Yu’Er is still so young."

"Is it Guan Kui? Impossible, that boy is still locked up."

Tang Wanhong thought it over and over. He almost felt certain that no one would come to rescue him in his dying hours.

His eyes grew cold.

But then he thought, what if? What if someone remembered a favor and he simply forgot about it?

Like a drowning man clutching at a straw, he tormented himself with wild hopes and illusions.

With these thoughts, Tang Wanhong pressed his ear to the ground again, hearing the rustling sound so clearly it seemed to be right beside his ear, vividly audible and within reach.

Tang Wanhong jumped in surprise, immediately turning to the side, and at that moment, in the darkness, faintly visible, the soil caved in at that spot.

Then a shadowy figure emerged from the spot where the soil had collapsed.

Although the cell was shrouded in darkness, Tang Wanhong immediately realized it was a person.