Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

Chapter 151 Life and death

"Tao'er!" Hu Bugui's eyes were bloodshot, and without thinking, he followed Wu Tao and jumped into the darkness.

The feeling of weightlessness caused Wu Tao to close her eyes tightly, and her ears were filled with the rumbling sound of explosions, as if the whole world was collapsing. After an unknown amount of time, she fell heavily on a pile of soft hay. Before the pain could hit her, she was hugged tightly by a pair of strong arms.

"Tao'er, are you okay?" Hu Bugui's voice trembled slightly due to nervousness. He helped Wu Tao up from the ground and checked her injuries in the faint light.

"I'm fine..." Wu Tao shook his head and looked around with lingering fear. He found that they were in a small space, surrounded by hard stone walls. Only a ray of light came through from above their heads. It could be vaguely seen that fallen rocks had blocked the entrance.

"We seem to be trapped..." Wu Tao's voice trembled a little. She realized that the situation they were in now was more dangerous than before.

"Don't be afraid, I will take you out." Hu Bugui held Wu Tao's hand tightly, his eyes determined. He groped the stone wall, trying to find the exit, but there was nothing except cold and hard stones.

At the same time, Li Xiaoyao and the general were anxiously looking for an entrance outside. The smoke from the explosion filled the entire temple, making it difficult to breathe. They hid from the buildings that could collapse at any time, while shouting the names of Hu Bugui and Wu Tao, but only received a dead silence in response.

"Prince! Princess! Where are you?" Li Xiaoyao was so anxious that he was sweating profusely. He swung his sword to chop open the wooden beams that blocked the way, not leaving out any corner.

"Calm down, Xiaoyao," the general held him back and pointed at the messy footprints on the ground, "Look, they must have fallen from here."

Following the direction the general pointed, Li Xiaoyao saw a collapsed ground, revealing a pitch-black hole.

"Did they fall in?" Li Xiaoyao's heart sank. The entrance of the cave seemed bottomless, and the surrounding rocks were loose, so a second collapse could happen at any time.

"Let's go down and take a look!" The general jumped down without hesitation, and Li Xiaoyao followed closely behind. However, they searched the entire underground space and did not find Hu Bugui and Wu Tao.

"How could this happen? Is there another exit?" Li Xiaoyao was extremely anxious. He looked up at the top of his head and had a bad feeling in his heart.

At this time, Hu Bugui and Wu Tao, who were trapped in the secret room, were also facing a greater crisis.

The secret room was silent, with only the occasional small pieces of gravel falling from overhead, beating Wu Tao's uneasy heartbeat. Hu Bugui was still groping the wall tirelessly, trying to find even a glimmer of hope for escape. Wu Tao took a deep breath, suppressed the fear in his heart, and began to carefully observe the surrounding environment.

With the weak light, she found some strange patterns carved on the wall. The patterns had complicated lines, like some kind of text, but they were different from any text she knew. Just as she was about to take a closer look, Hu Bugui's voice rang out behind her: "Tao'er, look!"

He pointed to the corner where some old wooden boxes were piled up. Wu Tao hurried over and opened the boxes with Hu Bugui. They were filled with scrolls and books, as well as some strange-looking utensils.

"What is this?" Wu Tao picked up a scroll and carefully unfolded it. The scroll was densely covered with words, and she could only barely make out some of them were Chinese characters, but when put together they were completely incomprehensible.

"It seems to be some kind of secret code." Hu Bugui also picked up a book and flipped through it, frowning. Although he was well versed in military tactics, he knew nothing about this kind of strange text.

At this moment, Wu Tao suddenly exclaimed: "I know! This is... this is a record of time travel!"

The scroll in her hand recorded the mysterious organization's research on time travel technology, from the initial theoretical conception to the experimental process, and even included their plan on how to use time travel technology to change history.

Hu Bugui was shocked and quickly took the scroll to examine it carefully. As he read deeper, his expression became more and more solemn. He finally understood that the goal of this mysterious organization was not simply wealth and power, but to overthrow the entire dynasty and build an empire of their own!

"We must deliver these things to the emperor as soon as possible!" A sharp light flashed in Hu Bugui's eyes. He knew that they now held secrets that could change history, but they were also in great danger.

"But...how do we get out?" Wu Tao looked at the unreachable sky above his head, feeling powerless. They were trapped in this secret room, just like being trapped in the cage of fate, unable to escape.

"There must be a way!" Hu Bugui took Wu Tao into his arms and comforted her softly, "Don't worry, I will protect you."

He looked around and his eyes fell on the strange patterns on the wall. His intuition told him that these patterns might be the key to escape from the secret room. Wu Tao began to recall all the knowledge he had learned in modern society, trying to find a way to crack the mechanism...

Wu Tao stared at the patterns on the wall, and various possibilities flashed through his mind. These patterns seemed chaotic, but there was a hint of regularity, like an ancient code waiting to be solved.

"Eight trigrams? Five elements? Or..." Wu Tao muttered to herself, trying to recall the various ancient mechanisms and code knowledge she had seen in history books and archaeology programs, trying to find clues that matched the pattern in front of her. As time passed, the air in the secret room seemed to become thinner and thinner, making it hard to breathe.

Hu Bugui looked at Wu Tao anxiously. He knew that all his hopes were now pinned on her, but he was powerless and could only pray silently. He clenched his fists, forced himself to calm down, and began to carefully search every corner of the secret room, hoping to find other exits or clues.

"Tao'er, how is it? Have you found anything?" He tried to keep his voice as low as possible, for fear of disturbing Wu Tao's thoughts.

"I... I'm not sure yet." Fine beads of sweat oozed from Wu Tao's forehead. She had tried all the methods she could think of, but all ended in failure. Every attempt was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, causing the hope in her heart to dissipate little by little.

Just when they were almost in despair, there was a sudden noise at the entrance of the secret room. Hu Bugui and Wu Tao immediately became alert, holding their breath, holding their weapons tightly, and staring at the direction of the entrance.

"Prince! Princess! Are you in there?" Li Xiaoyao's voice came from outside, with a hint of anxiety and worry.

"Xiaoyao! We are here!" Hu Bugui shouted excitedly, as if he had grasped the last straw.

Li Xiaoyao appeared at the entrance, followed by a general in armor, who was Hu Bugui's good friend. Together, they moved the huge stone blocking the entrance, revealing a passage leading to the outside world.

"Hurry! Follow me!" Li Xiaoyao said anxiously, "This place is about to collapse!"

Hu Bugui and Wu Tao did not dare to delay and quickly followed Li Xiaoyao and the general out. However, just as they were about to escape from the secret room, the wall behind them suddenly made a creepy cracking sound, and then a stream of icy cold water gushed out from the cracks in the wall, instantly submerging their ankles.

"Oh no! The secret room is about to collapse! Let's go!" the general shouted and pushed Hu Bugui and Wu Tao forward.

They tried their best and finally rushed out of the secret room at the last moment. However, what greeted them was an even more shocking scene... The biting cold instantly swept through their bodies. Wu Tao and Hu Bugui got up from the ground in a panic and looked around in shock. The mysterious organization's headquarters, which had once stood tall, had now become a ruin, and the broken walls and ruins looked even more desolate under the light of the fire.

"This...what on earth is going on?" Wu Tao muttered to himself, his mind going blank.

"It seems that we are still a step too late." Li Xiaoyao looked solemnly at the ruins in front of him, with a hint of bitterness in his tone, "Someone destroyed this place in advance."

"Who is it? Why do you do this?" Wu Tao's heart was full of doubts.

"No matter who they are, they have only one goal, which is to destroy all evidence and prevent us from finding out the truth." Hu Bugui took a deep breath, his eyes firm, "But they miscalculated, we are still alive, and..." He raised the document tightly grasped in his hand, "We still have this."

Wu Tao then noticed that Hu Bugui was holding a document tightly in his hand. Even during his escape, he had never let go. That document was the one they had fought so hard to get in the secret room. It was a file that recorded all the evidence of the mysterious organization's crimes!

"This is our only hope." Hu Bugui carefully put away the document, glanced at everyone, and said in a deep voice, "We must hand this document over to our father as soon as possible to expose the conspiracy of the mysterious organization, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous!"

"But..." Wu Tao was a little worried, "Now the entire capital is under the control of a mysterious organization. How can we safely deliver this document to the emperor?"

"This is indeed a difficult problem." The general also looked troubled. "The mysterious organization is huge and has many spies. Our every move is under their surveillance. It is extremely difficult to sneak into the palace without being noticed."

Everyone fell into silence, and the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was suffocating. At this moment, Li Xiaoyao suddenly said, "I know a secret passage that leads directly to the interior of the palace, but..."

"Just what?" Hu Bugui asked anxiously.

"But this secret passage is extremely hidden and full of traps. If you are not careful, you will be doomed." There was a hint of hesitation in Li Xiaoyao's tone.

"At this point, we have no other choice." Hu Bugui's eyes were firm and his tone was unquestionable, "No matter what, we have to give it a try!"