Phoenix Cries Return to Court

Shen Jueyan and Lin Xihe exchanged a glance. He gently raised his hand, signaling Lin Xihe to stay where she was.

He then slowly stepped forward, and in just a few breaths, he was silently standing behind the guard.

Taking advantage of the moment he yawned, she swiftly delivered a chop to the back of the guard's neck.

The guard felt a sudden dizziness, and before he could make a sound, Shen Jueyan covered his mouth with his hand, and his body went limp and he fell to the ground.

Shen Jueyan bent down, grabbed the guard's arm, and quickly dragged him into the shadows of the nearby bushes.

After doing all this, he turned around, waved gently in Lin Xihe's direction, and gestured for her to come over.

Lin Xihe rushed forward and saw that the man had already squatted down in front of the iron railing, stretched out his hands to grasp the rusted iron railing, his muscles tense, and he was using all his strength.

With a sharp crack, the iron bars were bent, revealing a gap large enough for a person to squeeze through.

"Let's go." Shen Jueyan reached out to Lin Xihe, her cheeks flushed, but she still placed her hand in his warm palm.

The man pulled her along, and they carefully squeezed through the gap into the hole.

The cave was a dark and damp tunnel, and there was not a sound to be heard.

Just as Lin Xihe was about to speak, Shen Jueyan suddenly gripped her hand tightly, indicating that there seemed to be some movement. The two of them listened carefully.

Footsteps, accompanied by the faint sounds of two men talking, came from the depths of the passage, growing louder as they approached.

Shen Jueyan's expression changed slightly. Without thinking too much, he quickly pulled Lin Xihe into a recessed corner of the wall.

The recessed area was narrow and cramped. The man's arms were wrapped around Lin Xi's waist, and the two bodies were pressed together, so close that they could almost feel each other's body temperature and heartbeat.

Lin Xihe's cheeks flushed slightly, the faint scent of agarwood emanating from Shen Jueyan lingered around her nose, and an indescribable ripple stirred in her heart.

The footsteps grew closer, and accompanied by the faint light of lanterns, two patrolling soldiers slowly approached. The light from their lanterns flickered and swayed in the dark tunnel.

"This damn night shift is really tough. It's freezing cold, and we can't even get a hot soup. If this keeps up, I'm going to get sick from the cold," one of the men complained, rubbing his shoulders.

"Stop complaining. We're just unlucky to be stuck guarding this mine." Another man sighed, lowered his voice, and said mysteriously, "I heard that something important is hidden inside. Haven't you seen how many guards have come these past two months? We'd better be careful. If something goes wrong, we'll lose our heads."

As the two drew closer, Lin Xihe's heart leaped into her throat. Shen Jueyan seemed to sense the unease in the person in his arms, tightening his arms around her waist and gently patting her back with his other hand, as if silently comforting her.

The two men grumbled on and on as they slowly walked past the depression, but they didn't notice anything unusual. Before long, they walked away and disappeared into the depths of the passage.

Lin Xi let out a long sigh of relief and subconsciously loosened her grip on the man's clothes, stepping out of his embrace.

"Let's go quickly." She said somewhat awkwardly, and then took a few steps forward.

The two walked silently forward, one after the other, following the light at the end of the tunnel. But just as they reached the end, they were once again so shocked that they were speechless.

What came into view was an even larger mine shaft, brightly lit with dozens of oil lamps hanging high on the ceiling.

Inside the cave, there were about a hundred laborers, dressed in tattered clothes, hunched over, their expressions numb like those of walking corpses, mechanically raising their tools and digging something.

If they paused even slightly, the overseer behind them would raise his leather whip and lash them hard.

The sounds of whipping and painful groans filled the air, creating a scene reminiscent of hell on earth.

On the other side of the mine was a heavy wooden door with a huge copper lock on it, and six guards with knives were pacing in front of it.

They stood tall and straight, with solemn expressions, clearly elite soldiers who had undergone specialized training.

"Indeed, this is a hidden paradise," Shen Jueyan said in a low voice, narrowing his eyes. "The defenses here are dense; we can only outsmart them."

Lin Xi and He understood each other. The two hid in the shadows, their eyes fixed on the wooden door, trying to find a weakness in the defense.

Persistence pays off. They discovered that every half hour, someone would push a material cart from another passage on one side of the main mine shaft. The cart was piled high with mined ore. The laborers pushing the carts would walk to the wooden door, and after being checked by the guards, they could enter the wooden door to transport the ore inside.

"Got it."

Shen Jueyan's eyes lit up as he watched the laborers push the cart in. He lowered his voice and said, "I'll disguise myself and push the cart close to the wooden door. While the guards are checking, you'll sneak in quietly. This is our only chance right now."

Lin Xihe nodded in agreement.

Time passed second by second, and finally, the sound of a cart being pushed could be heard again in the distance.

A cart piled high with unidentified ore was parked a short distance away, and the laborer pushing it was walking aside to drink water and rest.

Shen Jueyan exchanged a glance with Lin Xihe. He silently circled behind the laborer, gently covered his mouth and nose with his right hand, and pressed down on his shoulder with his left hand. With a little force, the laborer didn't even have time to struggle before his vision went black and he fainted.

Shen Jueyan quickly dragged the laborer into the shadow of the ore pile, tore off his tattered hat, and put it on his own head.

Then, he walked to the cart, lowered the brim of his hat to cover most of his face, and deliberately hunched over, mimicking the posture of a laborer. He gripped the handles of the cart with both hands and slowly walked towards the heavy wooden door.

Lin Xihe stared at the scene before her, her heart pounding and her palms sweating.

But he dared not delay for even a moment. Using the piles of ore and tools in the mine, he quickly and constantly changed positions, silently approaching the pile of tools near the wooden door, and carefully concealed himself.

Shen Jueyan pushed the cart and slowly walked to the wooden door.

"stop!"

A guard shouted sternly, stepped forward, and eyed the person in front of him warily.

Shen Jueyan forced a fawning smile and said in a hoarse voice, "Big brother, I'm new here."

The guard snorted impatiently, glanced at him a few times, and then inspected the ore on the cart for a moment. Seeing nothing amiss, he waved his hand, "Hurry up and go in. Once you've unloaded the ore, come out as soon as possible. Don't linger in there. If anything goes wrong, you'll be sorry!"

"Yes, yes, thank you, brother, thank you, brother!" Shen Jueyan nodded and bowed, gripping the handle of the cart tightly with both hands, but his eyes secretly glanced in the direction of the pile of tools.

A guard took out a key and turned to walk towards the heavy wooden door.

With a click, the lock cylinder turned, the brass lock was removed, and the wooden door opened.