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墨書 Inktalez
"The mine tunnel..." Cui Xiaoman's voice was hoarse and alarming. "The water carried us for over two miles."
Lin Dahe finally noticed her left wrist, swollen and shiny—it had been injured in the turbulent flow. As he tore off a piece of his clothing to bandage it, the system suddenly unlocked new information: [Aflatoxin Detoxification Plan: Mung Bean Licorice Soup + Acupuncture at Baihui Point.]
"You were just rambling..." Cui Xiaoman suddenly spoke up, "What system... task..." The confusion in her eyes gradually turned to suspicion. "Who exactly are you?"
The sound of the dark river became deafening. Lin Dahe opened his mouth, and the crystals on the stone wall began to flicker violently—it was the light from a torch! Zhou Liangzhang's men had actually chased them into the mine tunnel!
"Run!"
He grabbed Cui Xiaoman and dashed toward a fork in the path, only to collide with an unexpected figure around the corner. The Mad Old Woman stood on a stone platform, holding a torch, her bony finger pointing to a small hole on the right. "A way out."
Behind the old woman were several clay jars, which were the ice-making tools Lin Dahe had seen before. More astonishingly, the walls of the hole were covered with dense symbols—identical to those on the One-Armed Veteran's bronze medal!
"How do you know...?"
The Mad Old Woman suddenly shoved something cold into Lin Dahe's hand. "There’s more than one hidden stake from Jinyiwei." It was half a gilded copper talisman, with dark brown bloodstains at the break.
In the distance, Zhou Liangzhang's roar echoed: "Alive or dead, I want to see them!"
Cui Xiaoman suddenly began to cough violently, blood seeping from her lips. Lin Dahe then noticed that her back was completely torn apart, revealing skin covered in spiderweb-like red marks—signs of mold toxicity!
The Mad Old Woman rummaged through the jars and pulled out some mung beans, thrusting them into his hands. "Take her to Doctor Li and just say... say that the Snowflake Ointment's poison has flared up."
As the footsteps of their pursuers drew near, the old woman suddenly knocked over a jar of nitre, and the torch arced through the air...
"Boom!"
In the deafening explosion, Lin Dahe carried Cui Xiaoman into an escape tunnel. In the scorching wave behind them, he faintly heard the Mad Old Woman humming an ancient tune:
"A grain of rice, ten drops of blood..."
The shockwave from the explosion knocked Lin Dahe to the ground, and Cui Xiaoman slammed heavily against the stone wall. He struggled to look back and saw the Mad Old Woman's torch tracing a crimson line in midair before plunging into an overturned nitre jar—
"Boom!"
A blinding white light erupted, and hot air mixed with debris rained down upon them. Instinctively, Lin Dahe shielded Cui Xiaoman's head and face, only to suddenly feel warmth at her nape. In the flash of flames, he realized what stained his palm was not water but dark red blood.
"This way..." Cui Xiaoman gasped weakly, her fingers digging into a nearly invisible scratch in the rock crevice. It was an arrowhead carved with a sharp tool, beside which were three star-like patterns.
Dirt began to fall from above as screams from their pursuers echoed in the tunnel. Lin Dahe grabbed a handful of gunpowder and threw it onto the remaining fire; an orange fireball erupted momentarily blocking their pursuers. Using the smoke as cover, he half-dragged and half-carried Cui Xiaoman into a narrow gap beside the scratch.
The dark tunnel barely allowed one person to crawl forward; sharp stone edges scraped his elbows until they bled. Cui Xiaoman's breathing grew weaker as mold spots on her back glowed eerily in the darkness. After what felt like an eternity of crawling, a faint light appeared ahead, mingled with a familiar herbal scent.
"The Mad Old Woman's... vegetable cellar..." Cui Xiaoman suddenly convulsed, her nails digging deep into his arm.
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