Dr. Ye listened and thought carefully, a gleam flashing in his eyes.
"Miss, Young Master, I know of a place in the mountain stronghold that can bypass the guards to escape, but that mountain forest is filled with miasma. Even if no one were guarding it, we wouldn't dare to escape from there," Dr. Ye sighed.
"Where is it? Hurry and take us there, I have a way to detoxify the miasma," Leng Ruo Li said with confidence.
"Alright! I will take you there."
Dr. Ye looked at the confidence in Leng Ruo Li's eyes and for some reason, he believed her. He led everyone to the small door in the backyard leading to the back mountain.
"Miss, Young Master, we go out through this small door, walk along a narrow path by the cliff, and we will reach that miasma forest," Dr. Ye explained carefully.
"Okay, Yin Chen, pry the door open," Leng Ruo Li commanded.
Then, Yin Chen stepped forward, used his dagger to pry open the lock of the small door in two swift movements, and led the group outside.
As they walked out, they saw the sheer cliff below. Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han instructed everyone to move along the stone wall, not to look at the bottom of the cliff.
The path beneath their feet was extremely narrow, and one wrong step would send them plummeting.
Following the method Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han had described, the group hugged the stone wall and, after the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, reached the miasma forest on the other side.
Leng Ruo Li immediately took out a box of detoxifying pills from her portable system space and distributed them to Dr. Ye and the women.
"Dr. Ye, young ladies, after taking this detoxifying pill I've given you, you will no longer fear the miasma and can walk out of this mountain forest," Leng Ruo Li explained.
"Really? Miss, do you also know medicine?"
Dr. Ye picked up the pill, brought it to his nose, and inhaled. A pleasant medicinal fragrance filled his senses, but he couldn't identify the medicinal ingredients used in the pill. This shocked him.
Because he had been secretly researching for a long time to escape, he couldn't find any clues to a detoxifying pill that could resolve the miasma.
"Yes, Dr. Ye, I have some knowledge of medicine!" Leng Ruo Li said faintly.
Dr. Ye: "..."
If this was considered merely knowing some medicine, then he was worse than an apprentice doctor, Dr. Ye grumbled inwardly.
Then, Leng Ruo Li took out seven daggers from her sleeves and distributed them to everyone.
"These daggers are for your self-defense when you go down the mountain. Time is urgent, so hurry and take the detoxifying pills you have. After taking them, go down the mountain. We still need to return to the stronghold to handle the remaining matters," Leng Ruo Li urged them.
She looked up. The sky was showing its belly, the sun had risen from the horizon, and the distant mountains stretched out in continuous undulation.
Dr. Ye took the lead in eating the detoxifying pill. After bidding farewell to Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han, he turned and walked down the mountain. Subsequently, the six women also took the detoxifying pills and followed Dr. Ye down the mountain.
Seeing them descend, Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han, along with the other two, returned to the stronghold.
Meanwhile, Gou Dan searched the entire stronghold but couldn't find their third leader, Liang Yan. The brothers in the stronghold were anxious.
Hei Lang reluctantly revealed Liang Yan's whereabouts, as he knew that Ling'er, with whom Liang Yan had an affair, had already returned, and they hadn't seen Liang Yan. He guessed that something must have happened to him.
Thus, Hei Lang led Gou Dan and a group of subordinates to the small door he had mentioned.
Gou Dan and Hei Lang opened the door and peeked outside, only to see Liang Yan lying face down on the ground, a sharp dagger plunged into his back.
Gou Dan and Hei Lang immediately squatted beside Liang Yan. Both of them felt for Liang Yan's breath and confirmed that he had already died.
Hei Lang and Gou Dan exchanged glances, their faces filled with horror. "Heavens! Who killed the third leader?"
Immediately, Hei Lang looked up at the narrow path on the cliff. As if thinking of something, he raised his hand and patted Gou Dan's shoulder. "Gou Dan, hurry and tell the Great Leader. Someone might have infiltrated our stronghold."
"Hei Lang, how do you know? Maybe a traitor from the stronghold killed the third leader?" Gou Dan asked doubtfully.
"It wasn't someone from the stronghold! Look at the small path on the left, aren't there several large muddy footprints?" Hei Lang said with certainty.
"Footprints don't prove that the third leader was killed by an outsider," Gou Dan retorted.
"Look at this dagger, isn't there a character 'Leng' engraved on it?" Hei Lang prompted again.
Gou Dan lowered his head and carefully examined the dagger, discovering that it did indeed have the character 'Leng' engraved on it. He then nodded immediately.
Hei Lang then said, "This dagger is forged from the most expensive cold iron in the world. Anyone who can use such a dagger is either rich and noble, or a high-status martial arts master. It seems the people who infiltrated our stronghold are not ordinary, and they are skilled martial artists."
After hearing Hei Lang's words, Gou Dan became flustered. "Then I'll quickly tell the Great Leader about this. Hei Lang, have someone carry the third leader's body to the main hall."
With that, Gou Dan turned around, pushed through the crowd behind him, entered the stronghold, and ran towards the main hall.
In the main hall, the Great Leader had only recently returned from the main building to take his seat. Ever since he learned that Liang Yan and Ling'er had betrayed him, his face was covered with a thick layer of gloom. The subordinates below dared not make a sound, fearing that the Great Leader would take his anger out on them.
Instantly, the atmosphere in the entire main hall became oppressive.
At this moment, Gou Dan rushed in from the door in a panic.
"Great Leader, disaster! The third leader is dead outside the back door of the southern cliff. According to Hei Lang's analysis, outsiders killed the third leader and infiltrated our stronghold," Gou Dan reported tremblingly to the Great Leader.
"What did you say?"
The Great Leader thought he had misheard and wanted to confirm again.
"Great Leader, the third leader was killed by outsiders outside the southern cliff's back door. According to Hei Lang's analysis, several foreign enemies have infiltrated our stronghold."
Gou Dan repeated what he had just said in simple language.
"Then why aren't you quickly apprehending those people who infiltrated the stronghold?" the Great Leader roared, his brows furrowed.
As soon as he finished speaking, the subordinates below immediately divided into several groups and began a thorough search of the stronghold.
Meanwhile, after Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han returned to the stronghold, they found the treasure vault of the mountain stronghold. Then, they quickly deciphered the mechanisms to enter the treasure vault and absconded with all the wealth the bandit lair had plundered over the years, including the grain, oil, rice, flour, and precious medicinal materials they had seized from down the mountain. Leng Ruo Li collected them into her portable space, intending to return them to the villagers below.
When the bandits in the mountain stronghold discovered that their treasure vault had been emptied, everyone in the bandit lair was furious.
In order to catch the people who had plundered their treasure vault, they sealed every exit of the mountain stronghold and searched every corner of it. Finally, they found Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han and their group on the main building.