"Ahem!"
Zhong Li and Lu Wuxie exerted all their strength to close the secret room door, yet they could not stop the thick smoke from扑ing towards them.
Fortunately, there was a pot of tea on the table in the secret room. The two used handkerchiefs dampened with tea to cover their mouths and noses, otherwise, they didn't know how much smoke they would have inhaled.
It had been two incense sticks since the fire was set outside. The two were like ants on a hot pan, unable to find an exit.
Zhong Li knew that if they rushed out of the secret room's entrance, there might be many enemies waiting outside. They might be shot full of holes by darts before even stepping out of Li Kun's study, but staying here was not an option; Zhong Li and Lu Wuxie would eventually suffocate.
Just as she was at her wit's end, Lu Wuxie seemed to have discovered something. He grabbed her soft hand and pulled her towards the secret room's shelves.
"Rustle!"
Books and ledgers were removed from the shelves. Zhong Li watched Lu Wuxie's actions. Although she didn't understand why he was doing this, she followed suit, quickly throwing the items on the table to the ground.
When the shelves were completely cleared, a wall with slight cracks appeared before them.
Upon seeing these cracks, Lu Wuxie's tightly furrowed brow relaxed slightly. He glanced at Zhong Li. Enduring the choking smoke, the two moved the shelves aside.
"As expected, this wall was added later." Lu Wuxie walked to the wall and gently ran his fingertips along the cracks. Then, he used his fingernails to pick at the cracks. Some debris from inside the wall stained his hands.
He smelled it again and his face showed even more joy. "It must have been built in haste. The rammed earth outside doesn't have an outer layer of bricks made with glutinous rice or brown sugar. Li'er, we can save ourselves."
Saying this, Lu Wuxie looked around the room and walked to the only table in the secret room. He quickly overturned the table and forcefully broke off one of its legs. He then drew his dagger and began to whittle the wood.
Zhong Li looked at the wall Lu Wuxie had touched earlier. She also ran her fingertips along the cracks as he had done. When a faint cool breeze brushed against her fingertips, combined with the layout of Li Kun's study, she instantly understood Lu Wuxie's intention.
If her guess was correct, this secret room was once part of the study, and the wall with the cracks was likely a window or something similar. Li Kun had sealed it with rammed earth to hide his secrets.
Now, all they had to do was break through the unreinforced rammed earth. Through the window, they could escape.
With this thought, Zhong Li also got busy. She pushed over the shelves that had been thrown aside and used all her strength to dismantle the unstable shelves into pieces. She joined Lu Wuxie, who had already sharpened the table leg and was digging into the wall.
The smoke outside grew thicker and more seeped into the secret room through the wall. The two could even hear the shouts of the night watchmen passing by Li Kun's mansion, beating gongs and calling out about the water.
As clumps of earth piled up by the wall, an irregular round hole, large enough for one person to pass through, finally appeared before them.
As Zhong Li had analyzed, there was indeed a window behind this wall. Although the window was latched, the wood had rotted over the years due to disuse. Lu Wuxie only needed to kick it a few times, and the window began to shake precariously.
"Go!" Lu Wuxie picked up Zhong Li and pushed her outwards.
Zhong Li was not hesitant. She grabbed the wall with all her might and tried to escape.
However, as soon as she extended halfway out, she found that there was no foothold outside. This window overlooked the Jia Mansion's carp pond.
But this was not the time for her to hesitate. She casually told Lu Wuxie behind her, "There's water," and without waiting to see if he heard her, she leaped into the pond.
"Splash! Splash!" Two sounds.
The secret room was empty.
The next moment, as another splash sounded in the pond, Lu Wuxie had already appeared on the riverbank.
Fortunately, the weather was warm, and with the large fire around, he didn't feel particularly cold. He flicked the water from his hair and was about to turn back to call Zhong Li to leave with him and not linger, when he found no one behind him.
"Li'er!" Lu Wuxie thought she hadn't seen her and called out in a low voice.
"..." The only response was the heatwave from the fire.
A bad feeling flashed through his mind. He ignored whether the black-clothed men who wanted to kill them had already left and shouted into the pond, "Zhong Li! Zhong Li!"
As his voice fell, something seemed to flash in a corner of the pond, then quickly disappeared.
Lu Wuxie narrowed his eyes and looked closely. It turned out that small bubbles were pushing the pond water, causing it to churn.
Damn it! Zhong Li was drowning.
With this thought, he took a deep breath and plunged into the pond.
Lu Wuxie was naturally a good swimmer, and coupled with his concern for Zhong Li, in the blink of an eye, he had already swum to where she had disappeared.
However, the water surface was calm, as if telling him that everything he had just seen was an illusion. But Lu Wuxie knew he had not misread; Zhong Li was nearby.
He scanned the surroundings, confirming no one was on the water surface. He took another breath, contracted his body, and moved towards the depths of the pond.
Li Kun liked landscapes, so the pond was dug deep. According to Lu Wuxie's estimation, the pond was about four meters deep.
His black pupils searched the bottom of the pond. Fortunately, the fierce fire at the Li Mansion illuminated the pond water, making it clear. In a moment, Lu Wuxie found Zhong Li's trace ahead.
However, Zhong Li seemed to be entangled by something. She held a dissection knife and was desperately trying to cut something at the bottom of the pond.
At first, Lu Wuxie couldn't see clearly from a distance. When he swam closer to her, he realized it was a large clump of hair.
'I'll do it!' He moved Zhong Li's body and made a gesture to her.
Zhong Li was already lacking oxygen from being entangled. Drowsily, she saw Lu Wuxie, her strength seemed to drain away, and she began to sink underwater along the long hair.
Lu Wuxie's gaze sharpened. He drew the dagger he had used to whittle the stool leg from his waist and aimed it at the hair wrapped around Zhong Li's feet, cutting it.
As the hair snapped, Zhong Li was freed. Lu Wuxie immediately pulled her body and swam towards the shore.
When both of them reached the shore, Lu Wuxie was slightly out of breath, but he didn't have time to rest. He quickly took off his heavy clothes, which hindered his movements, and began to press on Zhong Li's abdomen.
At the same time, the unconscious Zhong Li spat out mouthfuls of water like a fountain.
Seeing that it was effective, Lu Wuxie increased the pressure of his hands. He looked at Zhong Li, who was only breathing in and not out, and his heart hardened. After some thought, he pried open her mouth, took a deep breath, and slowly leaned down.
"What are you... going to do?" Just as the two were only inches apart, a voice sounded in front of Lu Wuxie.
Lu Wuxie was startled. He lowered his gaze and saw that Zhong Li had woken up at some point and was staring at him intently.