Miss Truth
Chapter 262 - 165: How to Break Through

Chapter 262: Chapter 165: How to Break Through

It couldn’t possibly be so! Even if they could take down the black-clothed figure inside the room at close range, what about the more than ten outside? Seeing their bodies brimming with explosive potential, Ran Yan felt that the chances of breaking out were less than one percent.

But what about entering the cold storage... would the chances be somewhat better?

The black-clothed figure glanced outside, discreetly put away the Jade Pendant, and then stopped hurrying them along.

After only about two minutes, the black-clothed figure pushed Liu Qingsong again, "Get down there quickly, don’t wait for me to get tough!"

Knowing they couldn’t drag this out any longer, Liu Qingsong got to it, although his movements were deliberately slow. Just as he crouched at the entrance, he heard the drumming of the second watch.

The drumming signifying the hour seemed to give him a tranquilizer, as he went down briskly with the lantern, and fearlessly asked the black-clothed figure for a second lantern.

Ran Yan and Wan Lu followed into the cold storage in turn.

Standing at the entrance had felt bearable, but once truly inside, they could feel the cold air of the cold storage piercing deep into their marrow.

The light of the lanterns seemed very weak in the cold storage, illuminating less than ten steps around them, unable to discern the size and layout of this place.

"Alas! After a token struggle, we were still thrown in here," Liu Qingsong grumbled.

Ran Yan didn’t respond, people with the disposition of Zhuang Yin, she feared, could only manage a token struggle. If they truly resisted fiercely, they would certainly meet a very violent end.

"Could this be where Zhang Xuan was frozen to death?" Liu Qingsong asked, lifting the lantern and surveying the cold storage.

"I don’t know, but from my experience, Zhuang Yin doesn’t seem quite like the killer who murdered Zhang Xuan," said Ran Yan, removing the large cloak from her body and draping it over Wan Lu.

Wan Lu was startled and hastily declined, "Wife! You should wear it, this slave can withstand the cold."

"You’ve just thrown up everything you ate, how long do you think you can last! Don’t be stubborn with me!" Ran Yan secured the cloak around Wan Lu, her tone and movements not the least bit gentle.

Wan Lu saw frost forming quickly on Ran Yan’s temples amidst the chilly air and couldn’t help but get teary-eyed.

Ran Yan glanced at her, saying, "Don’t cry in a place like this, saving a few tears might save your life."

Crying and having an empty stomach would both lessen the body’s ability to resist the cold. In such a place, every bit of heat loss could be life-threatening.

Seeing Wan Lu nervously wearing the cloak, Ran Yan couldn’t help but say, "There are two doctors here, we know how to survive, don’t overthink it."

Wan Lu nodded, but inside she was beginning to regret. If she had chosen to leave immediately with Doctor Liu, she wouldn’t have ended up in this predicament. But if given another chance, she would still make the same choice, as leaving the Wife alone here worried her even more. Zhuang Yin’s gaze at the Wife was definitely ill-intentioned.

"Did you hear the second watch drum just now?" Liu Qingsong extinguished one lantern, leaving only one lit.

Ran Yan nodded slightly and rubbed her hands together, "I felt the journey in the carriage was steady and we were always moving on stone-paved sounds. We could still hear the drumming just now. This place is definitely not far from Jushui County’s marketplace, maybe it’s even within the marketplace. Qidian will surely find a way to locate us, I left a mark in the yard just now and scattered plenty of things along the way, hopefully, he finds this place soon."

Ran Yan spoke casually, but she had her doubts about the abilities of those left outside to solve the case. However, with Liu Qingsong there, someone with deep connections, the Government would also make an extra effort. Would they not find them even if they dug three feet into the ground of Jushui County?

It was just a matter of time... The most important thing for them now was to figure out a way to survive in this place.

"When did you leave the mark?" Liu Qingsong asked in surprise. Under the watch of more than a dozen burly men, she actually managed to leave a trace!

Ran Yan spoke slowly, "I discarded everything I could, and I was a bit bored in the previous days, so I devised quite a few medicines with little use. One of them causes the skin of anyone who touches it to rot, and without the antidote, they would eventually be reduced to a skeleton...I applied it to my mask."

Liu Qingsong gasped in shock, paused for a moment, then smacked his lips and said, "That’s ruthless! But how did you make sure he would remove your mask?"

Ran Yan did not answer. In fact, her resistance was not purely out of defiance; part of it was to buy time to leave a mark. She did not hide her cunning, deliberately appearing calm and bold, all to attract Zhuang Yin’s attention.

There’s a saying: Curiosity killed the cat. For someone as overconfident as Zhuang Yin, his guard couldn’t ultimately withstand his curiosity.

Seeing that she had no intention of answering, Liu Qingsong changed the subject and asked, "Is this useful, though? How long before the poison takes effect? Will he think to come to us for an antidote?"

"It will take effect in about an hour, but the rate of rot is not fast. Considering our current situation, it won’t be of much help," Ran Yan said as she knocked on the wall near her, speaking indifferently, "However, if I’m suffering here, there’s no reason he should be comfortable."

Liu Qingsong shrank his neck and swore, "I swear, I will never cross you in this lifetime."

It would take some time for people outside to rescue them, and naturally, Ran Yan was not going to wait to die, so the three of them began to feel their way around the ice cellar.

This space was about thirty feet in length and width, making it a very large ice cellar.

To alleviate the fear in his heart and distract himself, Liu Qingsong continuously analyzed the case with Ran Yan.

This case, as it now appears, has some connections, but the thread of it remains unclear. Zhang Xuan, who was frozen to death and moved to the inn, and Feng Zhao, who was chopped to death, were both former prison guards in Jushui County and had tattoos on their bodies. Other than that, the connections seemed absent.

"That Zhuang Yin just now made us swear by gouging out our eyes, remember? And the beggar Liu Wen is also missing an eye. I suspect that even if Zhuang Yin is not the murderer, he has a significant connection with this case," Ran Yan said. Thinking of the embroideress who found the beggar’s corpse, she added, "I still believe that the embroideress is related to this case."

Liu Qingsong asked in confusion, "Why? If it is as County Magistrate Song said, there are no doubts, right?"

"Intuition," Ran Yan answered truthfully.

The three of them quickly and carefully explored the entire ice cellar. Apart from ice blocks, the walls on all four sides were tightly sealed, with not a single crack to be found, and they were made of huge boulders at least two feet thick.

"Would explosives work?" Liu Qingsong asked.

Ran Yan looked at him in surprise, "You have explosives?"

Lifting his robe, Liu Qingsong untied a bundle of firecracker-like items from his leg, "If I had had something to light them with earlier, I would’ve already thrown them in that Zhuang Yin’s face!"

Ran Yan weighed the explosives, pressed her ear against the wall and listened for a moment, "It’s very possible that we’re beneath a lake outside. If we were to blast through, the water would rush in immediately. With the force of that influx, we wouldn’t have a chance to escape before the people above come down. And this amount of explosives might not even blow open the wall. If it doesn’t, we could very well end up splattered on the spot."

"So, what do we do now?" Liu Qingsong took out a small hammer from his sleeve pocket, "Shall we take a page from ’Shawshank Redemption’ and dig our way out with a small hammer?"

Liu Qingsong looked at the surrounding ice, and feeling powerless, he tossed the small hammer aside, clearly an impractical idea...

This looked like a hammer used for trepanation, and Ran Yan picked it up and climbed up to the entrance, hammering hard at the exit.

An icy voice immediately came from outside, "Stay put inside like good little captives!" (To be continued. If you like this work, please feel welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast a recommendation or monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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