The boss of a foreign organization called the police, claiming that he was defrauded by me

Gu Xiaowu perked up, moved closer to him, and asked, "What's wrong?"

He called out several times, but Meng Yu showed no signs of waking up. Realizing something was wrong, he panicked and started shouting to those around him, "Come quick, the general seems to be in trouble!"

At his shout, the crowd rushed over. One of them, with sharp eyes, noticed a wound about the size of a thumb on his leg.

The wound had almost turned black, and the man said in disbelief, "It seems the general has been poisoned."

Gu Xiaowu's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately sensed that something was wrong. At the same time, he blamed himself for being careless and not noticing the general's strange behavior.

If anything were to happen to the general, even dying ten thousand times would not atone for his sins.

When the general wanted to rest, he should have sensed something was wrong. The general has always been a fighter and would never allow himself to slack off in the slightest. Moreover, at such a critical moment, it was simply impossible for him to let everyone rush to the front while he chose to rest.

But he didn't think much of it and assumed that the general was tired and exhausted, which was why he wanted to sleep here.

Thinking about it this way, I realized that I had been far too careless.

The general's lips had turned purplish, a clear sign of poisoning. They had no doctor on hand and were completely at a loss as to what to do.

Seeing the general's face growing increasingly pale, Gu Xiaowu drew his dagger and made a bold decision.

The people around him quickly stopped him and asked, puzzled, "What are you trying to do?"

Seeing the wariness in the other person's eyes, Gu Xiaowu shook off his hand and said angrily, "Of course I'm saving the general's life. Do you doubt that I would harm the general?"

The man immediately lowered his head, as if embarrassed that his thoughts had been seen through. He stubbornly defended himself, saying, "That's not what I meant. We just don't know the general's current condition. If you rashly treat him, wouldn't it make things worse?"

Gu Xiaowu retorted, "Wouldn't things get worse if we just stood by and watched the general die?"

Although it hasn't reached the worst point yet, they have to try as long as there's a glimmer of hope, instead of sitting here waiting to die.

"If we do nothing, will the general get better?" Gu Xiaowu then asked rhetorically.

This is obviously impossible.

Rather than waiting to die here, we might as well let him give it a try; maybe he can save General Meng Yu's life.

The man finally fell silent, which was tantamount to acknowledging his decision. General Meng Yu wouldn't blame him, since although his words were harsh, they were all for the general's safety.

Gu Xiaowu took a deep breath and cut open the general's trouser leg, revealing the wound inside.

Seeing that the wound resembled a scratch, he suddenly recalled the scene at the edge of the deep pit. When the general jumped over, he was scratched by that thing, resulting in a wound on his trouser leg.

At the time, he was focused on saving the general and didn't pay much attention to other unexpected situations. After the general was rescued, he didn't show any signs of discomfort, so he didn't think about it.

Gu Xiaowu used his knife to make a cross-shaped cut on the general's wound, then used a bandage to tighten around his thigh, allowing the blood that had accumulated inside to slowly flow out.

The blood was black. I never imagined that the person who set up the trap here was so vicious, even smearing poison on those mindless stones, just to kill anyone who came in later.

It's truly hateful to think that such a vicious method could be devised; it's not the behavior of a gentleman at all.

Gu Xiaowu took a deep breath and slowly drew out the thick, dark blood. Soon, a pool of black blood accumulated beside him.

Da Zhuang looked at the blood, his face turning ashen: "I didn't expect it to be poisonous, and judging by the color of the blood, the poison is quite potent. It's fortunate that our general has profound internal strength; if it were an ordinary person, they would probably be a cold corpse by now."

Such a concentrated toxin is simply beyond the resistance of ordinary people.

Moreover, the incubation period of this toxin is so long that even General Meng Yu, with his excellent internal strength, did not notice it. If he had noticed it earlier, he could have used his own internal strength to force out the toxin hidden in his body.

Unfortunately, this toxin initially causes drowsiness and fatigue, but once the person is completely asleep, it begins to attack the body, slowly draining it until the person dies silently.

This can be considered a rather vicious poison.

Meng Yu felt himself slowly losing consciousness in a daze, his whole body seemed to sink into the sea and he could not float up.

The suffocating feeling almost drove him to the brink of collapse. Just when he was in despair, a pair of strong, powerful hands lifted him up.

He suddenly opened his eyes and found that he was not drowning in the sea, but had returned to that strange and desolate ancient tomb.

Gu Xiaowu was looking at him with a worried expression, and his subordinates around him were also very nervous. He wanted to speak, but he felt a burning sensation in his chest, and his throat was so dry that it felt like an eternity had passed.

Gu Xiaowu quickly comforted him, "You've just been out of danger, so there's no need to speak now. Rest well and drink some water first."

Meng Yu himself was confused about what had just happened, so he quickly drank a few sips of water to moisten his already dry throat. He sat on the ground for a while before slowly coming back to his senses.

Recalling the suffocating pain he had just experienced, his expression was serious yet somewhat bewildered as he murmured, "What exactly happened just now?"

Gu Xiaowu recounted the general events to him: "The situation just now was extremely dangerous. You were poisoned in the leg. It's all my fault for being careless and not noticing the situation sooner, which led you into such a dangerous predicament."

If he had discovered the situation sooner, things wouldn't have turned out this way.

Meng Yu didn't blame him. After all, even he, the person involved, hadn't noticed anything unusual about his body, let alone Gu Xiaowu, an outsider.

Ultimately, it was their carelessness that led them to fail to notice the changes in their physical condition. Meng Yu admitted that he was in danger; if he had discovered the residual toxins in his body earlier, he wouldn't be in this state now.

"Have we found a way out here?" Meng Yu was more concerned about this.

Gu Xiaowu replied dejectedly, "This place is like a dead end. No matter which direction we start from, we always end up back where we started. The brothers have tried several times, but it's no use. We just can't find a way out."

At this rate, they would eventually run out of ammunition and food. Once they finished eating all the food they had brought, they would be trapped and die here. Gu Xiaowu would not allow this to happen, and he would not give up easily. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, he believed that he could lead his brothers out of this hellish place.

Meng Yu was also aware of the seriousness of the situation. Despite his injuries not yet being healed, he immediately pushed himself up from the ground and said, "Perhaps you used the wrong method. From now on, you will follow my instructions."

His injuries hadn't fully healed, and he coughed violently as he spoke, as if his lungs were about to come out.

Gu Xiaowu quickly helped him up and said, "Leave this to me, or you can tell me your thoughts and I'll take care of things here. You should rest here now; your condition isn't suitable for continuing to command."

Meng Yu knew Gu Xiaowu was worried about his health, but in the current situation, there was no time for him to think it over. Only by charging ahead himself could he boost morale.

His gaze swept over everyone present, and he could sense that they all remained dejected. Perhaps they had been unable to find their way out for a long time, or perhaps they had lost confidence because they saw their leader injured and unable to move.

Whatever the reason, now that I'm awake, I can't just lie here and rest without doing anything.

Gu Xiaowu understood Meng Yu's personality and knew that she couldn't stop him, so she could only stay by his side and follow his arrangements.

Meng Yu took out the short knife he carried with him and said to the people around him, "Every time you go to a place, use the knife on your body to make a mark. Don't think it's a hassle. This may be the key to our escape."

Gu Xiaowu continued, "There are three paths here. After we defeated those stone men, another path appeared. However, this path leads downwards, and it's pitch black down there. I felt it might be dangerous, so I didn't let the brothers go down rashly."

In the very center, there was a huge pit with some stone steps leading up to it. The place looked dangerous, and there was no light inside. Gu Xiaowu felt there was danger inside, so he didn't let anyone with him go down.

He wanted to look around for other ways out first, and only consider going down from here if he couldn't find any.

Meng Yu narrowed his eyes and made a crucial decision: "Then I'll go down and take a look. You all go and find a way out elsewhere. We'll meet here in an hour."

Gu Xiaowu quickly stopped him: "No, this place is too dangerous. If you go down rashly, the consequences will be unimaginable."

That's too risky!
Since there is a safer way, there is no need to risk one's life, especially since Meng Yu is their general and they cannot take any risks.

Meng Yu patted his hand and spoke his mind: "I know it's dangerous down there, but someone has to try. Maybe we can find a way out from here. There's a saying that goes, 'Put yourself in a life-or-death situation and you'll find a way out.'"

Sometimes, places that seem dangerous are not actually that scary.

Whether what lies ahead is a way out or a dead end, only by going down there will he know; everything else is just speculation. Therefore, he must take the risk and try.

Gu Xiaowu stopped trying to stop him, but made one condition: "Since you want to go down, I will go down with you. I can't let you go down while we wait up here."

Meng Yu felt a little uneasy, unsure of what they might encounter down below: "You should stay up here. If I encounter danger down there and can't come back up, someone here needs to be in charge."

In this team, the person he trusted most was Gu Xiaowu. After spending this time together, the two had become sworn brothers, people he could trust with his back.

He didn't want to get into trouble and end up without anyone to lead the team.

Gu Xiaowu chuckled, patted his chest, and said, "It might not be as bad as you think. Maybe if we go down there, we'll find a way out and then we can lead everyone away from here."

You should always look on the bright side; going down there doesn't necessarily mean you'll encounter danger.

Meng Yu knew that Gu Xiaowu was saying these things to comfort him and get him to come down with him, so he could only say helplessly, "Then pick a few skilled people to come down with us. But we need to make it clear beforehand that if any unexpected situation occurs, you must protect yourselves."

Gu Xiaowu nodded and said, "Don't worry about me. I don't have any other skills, but I do value my life very much."

So they selected ten men who were fairly skilled, turned on their lights, and walked together into the dark cave entrance.

The steps were somewhat old, and there were occasional skeletons along the side, seemingly weathered and not very noticeable.

They walked for an unknown amount of time before finally reaching the bottom. The temperature here was much lower than up there, and Gu Xiaowu covered his arms, unable to help but shiver.

Seeing this awful place, he couldn't help but complain, "Wow, it's so cold here! It's nothing like up here. I thought the temperature up there was low enough, but coming here has completely changed my perception."

The temperature here is at least twice as low as up here. In such a cold environment, it's easy for a person to lose consciousness.

Therefore, they must conserve their body temperature and energy, and at least not make any mistakes until they find a new way out.

Before long, they were stunned by the sight before them.

Before me stood a huge glass column of water, inside which was a red garment, its color as red as fresh blood.

Moreover, a pungent smell permeated the surroundings, like a strong medicinal odor. However, everything around them was well preserved, but as soon as they entered, the temperature dropped several degrees, making it impossible for anyone to stay there, even with their profound inner strength.

Just then, a tall, thin man behind him sneezed. He channeled his inner energy to warm himself: "This godforsaken place is too cold. I can't stand it for another second. Besides, we've reached the end; there's no way out."

“Yes! There’s not even a road here, let alone a way out. I suspect this is a trap, deliberately luring us here.”

echoed another.

Others also thought it made a lot of sense.

This is a trap.

The goal is simple: to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

Gu Xiaowu didn't want to leave, not because he was particularly attached to the place, but because he felt from the bottom of his heart that there must have been a reason for the existence of such a place.

There might be other opportunities here, but it's not certain yet.

"It's so cold!" Meng Yu said, shivering. (End of Chapter)