bookrandom Chapter 260 Poison
Chapter 260 Poison
At this time, Prime Minister Ren had not yet come to his senses. After the emperor closed the stone door of the mechanism, the secret passage was instantly swallowed by darkness. It was pitch black in the secret passage, and you couldn't see your hand in front of you.
He just felt dizzy, his legs went limp, and he sat down on the ground, as if all the strength in his body had been drained at this moment.
The thrilling scenes he had just experienced kept replaying in his mind like a kaleidoscope of events. The prince's conspiracy to usurp the throne, the emperor's resolute response, the tense and almost frozen atmosphere... All of this made it impossible for him to recover from the huge shock for a while.
But he knew very well that he must not indulge in panic at this moment. The most urgent task was to protect the imperial seal, which the emperor had risked his life to preserve. It must be safely handed over to the Sixth Prince, which was the last hope of the entire dynasty.
Prime Minister Ren sat quietly in the darkness for a while, trying to steady his breathing and forcing himself to think calmly.
After calming down a little, he slowly took off his coat, carefully wrapped the seal, and then put it tightly on his back and tied a firm knot to ensure that it was safe.
After everything was ready, he slowly stood up, stretched out his hands, and carefully groped forward in the darkness ahead.
This secret passage was filled with an old and decayed smell, as if no one had set foot in it for a long time, and every inch of the air was gloomy and mysterious.
On a stone platform not far away, there were several cloth bags. Prime Minister Ren walked over slowly, taking every step with caution.
He gently opened the cloth bag and saw a small amount of food inside. The grains of food had a light color under the firelight. It should be an emergency item reserved when the secret passage was built.
On the ground around them, there were several large wooden boxes stacked up. The boxes were glowing alluringly under the light of the fire, as if silently telling of their preciousness.
But Prime Minister Ren had no time to pay attention to these things at the moment. His mind was filled with thoughts on how to safely leave the secret passage with the imperial seal and find the Sixth Prince as soon as possible.
The imperial seal on his back seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, reminding him of his mission at all times, and he could not afford to make any mistakes.
He continued to move forward with the light of the tinder, and found that the secret passage became narrower and narrower. With every step forward, the sense of cramped space became stronger.
In the end, it turned out that only one person could pass through the wall, and there were sharp stones protruding from the wall from time to time. Those stones were like sharp daggers, which could scratch your body if you were not careful.
Prime Minister Ren carefully sidestepped through these obstacles, and every step he took was filled with fear. He could clearly feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest, as if it was about to burst out of his chest.
Every time he turned sideways, he had to tense all the muscles in his body and try to get his body as close to the other side of the wall as possible to avoid the sharp stones.
The narrow space made him feel it was difficult to breathe, as if the air had become thinner. The entire secret passage was like an invisible giant hand, tightly holding him.
Suddenly, a "hissing" sound came from the front. Prime Minister Ren was startled and stopped abruptly.
The sound was like a cold snake's tongue scratching his eardrums, making his scalp numb. He subconsciously clenched his fists, his palms were full of sweat, and his heartbeat accelerated instantly, as if it was about to jump out of his throat.
He raised the tinder and looked forward, only to see a black shadow flash by in the light of the fire, followed by a hissing sound. The sound seemed to be right next to his ear, making his hair stand on end.
He secretly thought that it was not good. Could there be some mechanism or poison in this secret passage? At this moment, all kinds of terrible thoughts flashed through his mind. If it was really a poisonous snake, he would be in great danger if it bit him, not to mention that he had to protect the safe delivery of the jade seal.
But he couldn't retreat. This was the emperor's instruction and a matter of great importance to the fate of the dynasty.
He clenched his fists, forced himself to calm down, and slowly moved forward. Every step he took seemed to exhaust all his strength.
The hissing sound was getting closer and closer, and Prime Minister Ren's heartbeat was getting faster and faster, as if it was about to jump out of his throat.
He stared straight ahead, trying to see through the darkness, but he could see nothing except the looming black shadow and the terrifying "hissing" sound.
Just as he was preparing to deal with possible danger, a mouse suddenly ran past his feet, startling him so much that he almost screamed.
The sound of the rat fleeing was particularly harsh in the silent secret passage, and he shivered violently in fear.
However, he then breathed a sigh of relief, secretly thanking God that it was just a false alarm, but he did not dare to slack off in the slightest and continued to walk cautiously towards the depths of the secret passage.
He muttered silently in his heart: "I must be careful, I must not make any mistakes, I must quickly find the Sixth Prince and give him the Imperial Seal."
As we walked, the road under our feet suddenly became rugged, and potholes of varying sizes appeared on the ground. Some of the potholes were filled with water, and we didn't know how deep they were.
Prime Minister Ren looked down at the bumpy ground and frowned slightly.
He took a tentative step forward, but accidentally stepped into a puddle. The cold water instantly soaked his shoes and socks. The biting cold spread up his feet, making him shiver.
He gritted his teeth, endured the discomfort, and continued to move forward in this difficult secret passage, one step deep and one step shallow. He only hoped that he could get out of this dangerous place as soon as possible and complete the mission entrusted to him by the emperor.
At this moment, his feet were wet and cold, but his eyes became more determined, with a determination to achieve his goal no matter what.
When this happens, on the other side.
Shen Yiran led a group of people and walked forward with difficulty in this deep and dark cave. They didn't know how long they had been walking. Time seemed to have lost its meaning in this endless darkness.
Every step was extremely difficult, and everyone could only grope forward relying on their weak intuition and mutual support.
Finally, they came to a relatively spacious cave.
This cave is quite peculiar. Its top is raised high, like an inverted giant bowl. Under the faint light, it emits a mysterious luster.
The luster seemed to carry some kind of mysterious magic, making people want to explore what was hidden in the depths of the cave.
The surrounding stone walls were wet, with water drops dripping from time to time. The water drops sparkled as they fell, like falling stars, forming small puddles on the ground, reflecting the surrounding scenes and adding a somewhat eerie atmosphere.
The ground is rugged and covered with large and small stones and bumps. If you are not careful while walking on it, you may trip.
The footsteps of the crowd made a dull sound on the rugged ground, as if telling of their fatigue and hardship.
Shen Yiran looked at everyone's exhausted appearance and was filled with worry.
She thought with heartache that these soldiers usually fought bravely on the battlefield, but now they had to suffer such hardships in this cave. It was really not easy.
Seeing this, Shen Yiran pulled Ren Jingzhi aside and said softly, "Husband, this place is quite spacious, let's rest for a while. Given their current condition, it is really difficult for them to walk out of the cave safely, so they need to recover some strength first."