Xue Yao suppressed the words he had originally intended to say. His brow lifted slightly. “Oh? What can you help me with?”
“I can…”
Lu Dantao lowered her head and took out a slender hairpin from the inner pocket of her clothes. This was one of the original host’s relics, something she had always kept closest to her body, afraid of losing it.
Under the sunlight, the redness and swelling around the girl’s eyelids had yet to fade. She forced her heavy eyes open, carrying a faint hint of pride. “I can pick locks!”
Back at the apothecary, although she had not understood the conversation between him and the old physician, he had repeatedly questioned matters regarding the dungeon. His goal was clearly to investigate the prison.
Naturally, she had to follow him. This place was far too dangerous. Without the male lead as a ready-made fighter, she would probably be finished very quickly.
It was just that… she had embarrassed herself quite badly earlier. Now she had to prove that she had value.
Otherwise, given the male lead’s nature of being both capable in combat and resourceful, yet unwilling to share information with her, he could abandon her as a burden at any moment.
‘Look, ever since just now, those dead-fish eyes of his haven’t changed at all.’
Xue Yao’s gaze swept over her slender fingers, then landed on the vivid vermilion cinnabar mark between her brows. His thin lips parted slightly as he uttered two words, “Pick locks?”
Lu Dantao nodded vigorously. “Yes.”
Picking locks.
This skill might be difficult for other college students, but for her, it was practically her old profession.
Thinking back, the reason she had chosen to major in mechanical engineering was because of one incident. She had gone out to grab a food delivery, and a gust of wind slammed the door shut behind her, locking her outside. The locksmith casually pried it open, and just like that, one hundred and fifty yuan disappeared from her wallet.
At the time, she had set a goal for herself. She would learn how to pick locks too.
Although after entering university, she discovered that mechanical engineering was not really about that at all.
But when it came to locks, she had spent plenty of her spare time studying them. From lock mechanisms to lock picking and lock making, even Mohist mechanism techniques, she had dabbled in all of it.
At the very least, before transmigrating into this book, she had already become a somewhat well-known uploader on a certain video platform.
Xue Yao lowered his gaze slightly, a cold laugh in his heart.
The daughter of the Prefect of Jingzhao. Amnesia. Picking locks with wire.
Interesting.
He neither agreed nor disagreed, silently turning and walking toward the government office.
“I’m very experienced.” Lu Dantao followed closely behind him, doing her best to sell herself. “No one understands lock picking better than me.”
At least, here and now, she was the best.
*
The moon hung high in the sky. In the shadows of the government office’s back courtyard.
Lu Dantao followed Xue Yao, hiding within the darkness.
She glanced around, quietly stifling a yawn, then leaned closer to look at the map in Xue Yao’s hands.
“Should we go in now?”
“Mm.” Xue Yao nodded. With a light tap of his toes, his figure nimbly flipped over the wall.
Lu Dantao stared at his agile back and hurriedly called out, “Hey, give me a hand.”
A cold reply came from inside the wall. “If you want to come in, figure it out yourself.”
She stomped her foot in frustration. If he would not help her, how was she supposed to get in on her own? Even if she wanted to crawl through a dog hole, there had to be one first.
Gritting her teeth, she lowered her voice and threatened, “If you don’t pull me in, then I’ll start shouting!”
The inside of the wall fell into instant silence.
After a moment, the slender figure silently flipped back over, his icy gaze fixing tightly on her face.
Lu Dantao was not the least bit intimidated. She was determined to cling to him no matter what.
She met Xue Yao’s gaze directly. “We formed an alliance. You can’t just leave me behind.”
Xue Yao: …
He remained silent for a long time. In the end, he reached out an arm to wrap around her waist, pulling her into his embrace. With a light push from his toes, the two of them drifted up onto the wall like a feather.
Lu Dantao only felt her body grow light. The sound of wind brushed past her ears, the scenery before her eyes blurred by, and in the blink of an eye, she landed steadily on the ground.
She turned back to glance at the towering wall and silently mouthed a “wow,” then quickly chased after Xue Yao’s figure.
Having martial arts was just too convenient!
The government office was eerily quiet. Following the map, the two of them moved one after the other, sneaking toward the dungeon.
Lu Dantao felt that something was very wrong.
Logically speaking, in a place like this government office, should there not be guards patrolling at regular intervals?
Why was it so quiet here that not even a ghost could be seen?
Could it be that the old physician had tricked them at the last moment, letting the guards set up an ambush in advance?
But… she looked at Xue Yao’s back.
For her, this was actually the perfect opportunity. An opportunity to prove her value.
She quickened her pace, rushed forward, and grabbed Xue Yao, pulling him to the side of the wall. She stepped forward to shield him, raising her right hand to stop him from continuing.
Xue Yao lowered his gaze and looked at her.
He saw her assume a guarded stance, her expression grave as she lowered her voice seriously. “Something’s off…”
Xue Yao: ……
Of course he knew something was off.
The source of the strangeness was not her?
As the only daughter of the Prefect of Jingzhao, although the Lu family was not among the highest-ranking nobility, they were still a prominent household.
She was a sheltered young lady, and in her early years had even lived long in a Daoist temple. How could she have learned lock picking skills? If she truly possessed such skills, then the only possible source would be that traitor Pei.
Xue Yao lightly brushed her arm aside and walked straight ahead.
Since she was so determined to follow him, and the government office was behaving so abnormally, that traitor Pei had most likely already laid out a net that covered heaven and earth. At this point, if he wanted to leave, it was clearly too late. He might as well go along with the situation.
After he figured out the connection between the dungeon and his former subordinates, he would use her as a shield, seize an opportunity, and escape.
Lu Dantao was momentarily stunned by his actions.
So reckless?
She glanced around, then lifted her skirt and hurried after him.
The two of them proceeded without obstruction all the way to the dungeon entrance.
Before them stood a heavy iron-barred gate. Several loops of iron chains as thick as a baby’s arm were wrapped around it, and at the center of the chains hung a massive iron lock.
The corners of Lu Dantao’s lips could not help but curl into a smile. This was actually just the most ordinary type of broad lock, but due to its large size, its structure was extremely sturdy. It could not be opened by brute force alone. Only she…
She shot a glance at Xue Yao, the meaning obvious. If she had not come along, the male lead would probably have been forced to retreat in defeat upon seeing this lock.
She raised her hand, palm facing forward, chin slightly lifted, striking a fully professional pose as she said seriously, “Let me handle it.”
Xue Yao cooperated as well. He stepped aside and even made a “please” gesture to her.
Lu Dantao lightly held up the lock and took out the hairpin from her bosom. The pin was extremely slender and slipped into the keyhole in an instant.
She held her breath and focused, her fingertips sensing the positions and resistance of the tumblers as she carefully nudged them one by one.
The flickering firelight at the dungeon entrance illuminated the girl’s concentrated profile.
Her small face scrunched up, her brows tightly furrowed. Her bright eyes darted left and right, as if she were listening intently.
She certainly looked the part.
A faint trace of a smile flickered across Xue Yao’s lips. Her entire head was blocking the lock anyway, so who knew whether she was truly opening it or just pretending.
Within a few breaths, there was a soft “click,” and the iron lock sprang open.
Xue Yao’s brows lifted slightly.
Lu Dantao straightened up, her smile radiant. “It’s open!”
As expected of her!
She carefully removed the lock and unwound the chains, then pushed open the iron-barred gate.
The old iron door let out a harsh creaking sound. Lu Dantao took the first step forward, looking at the stone stairs ahead, lit by torches and stretching down into the depths underground.
She took a deep breath, maintaining the composed expression from before, then turned back to Xue Yao and gestured. “I’ll go first. You cover the rear.”
Xue Yao took in all her little movements. His gaze lightly swept over the large iron lock hanging on the gate.
Lowering his eyes, he gently closed the iron-barred gate, restoring the chains and lock to their original state before following her down the steps.
The dungeon was damp and cold. The walls were covered in slick moss, and the air was filled with a heavy earthy stench mixed with a faint, lingering odor of decay.
The deeper they went, the stronger this strange smell became, and the cold grew more bone-chilling.
Lu Dantao stepped down the last stair and halted. Ahead was a narrow, deep corridor. Torches were fixed along the walls, but perhaps due to a lack of oxygen, they burned dimly, casting the entire passage into gloom.
She suddenly recalled an American TV series she had once watched. In one episode, the protagonist entered a dungeon and discovered a deranged psychopath inside.
Lu Dantao was a firm materialist. She was not afraid of ghosts, only of insects and psychopaths.
“Weren’t you the one going first? Why did you stop?” Xue Yao’s voice sounded faintly from behind her.
Lu Dantao shuddered in fright, then turned back and forced out a smile. “I already checked ahead for you. There’s no problem. Let’s go together from here.”
Xue Yao let out a soft scoff, casting her a sidelong glance before stepping forward.
She followed closely at his side, step for step. Hearing faint, pained groans echoing from deep within the corridor, she nervously edged closer to him.
She glanced up at him. The young man’s clear, refined profile was illuminated by the firelight. His steps were steady, his expression calm, as if he was completely unfazed by the dungeon environment.
Lu Dantao swallowed, suppressing her anxiety, and imitated a composed demeanor as she looked around.
Only then did she realize that this was not just a single corridor. Instead, after every two prison cells, there was a branching passage. Each cell was enclosed by iron bars and unusually low, likely requiring one to bend over just to enter.
If someone were locked in here, they would probably go mad before long.
Just as she was pondering this, the corner of her eye suddenly caught sight of something. From the bars of the cell on the right, a bloodied, mangled hand stretched out tremblingly, grabbing at the hem of her skirt.
Startled, she leapt toward Xue Yao. He glanced at her, and his body shifted sharply to the side.
Lu Dantao missed him completely, staggering a step. Her almond-shaped eyes widened. “Hey, you!”
Clatter—
Suddenly, the heavy sound of iron chains being dragged rang out.
Xue Yao’s gaze sharpened. He raised a finger to his lips, signaling for silence.
Lu Dantao followed the sound of the chains and looked over. The source was precisely the dungeon entrance they had come down from earlier.
Someone was coming!
“What do we do?” she asked urgently in a whisper.
Xue Yao tilted his chin toward the side. “Aren’t you good at picking locks?”
Lu Dantao looked in the direction he indicated. It was precisely the cell where that hand had reached out earlier.
The cell was pitch black. The person who had stretched out their hand was already dead, eyes wide open as they leaned against the bars. Inside, several shadowy figures lay scattered. It was impossible to tell whether they were dead or alive. Her voice trembled. “That’s a corpse…”
Xue Yao did not respond, only focusing on listening toward the entrance.
The sounds of armor rubbing and orderly footsteps grew closer, rapidly approaching downward.
Within a few breaths, the dungeon suddenly became brightly lit.
Inside the pitch-black cell, Lu Dantao pressed tightly against Xue Yao, holding her breath as she peeked outside using the corpse beside her as cover.
Xue Yao, however, frowned slightly. Catching the faint fragrance coming from the girl beside him, he extended a finger and pressed it against Lu Dantao’s shoulder, pushing her aside.
Lu Dantao’s eyes widened as she quickly glanced behind her—
It was a corpse that had only recently died!
She could hardly believe it!
Was this bastard insane?
Was he a demon?
Lu Dantao scrunched up her small face, yet instead clutched his arm tightly into her chest!
Xue Yao only felt his arm sink into an unusual softness. His expression changed abruptly as he tried to pull it back at once.
“Shh.” Lu Dantao warned in a breathy whisper, her face buried against his shoulder. “They’re here.”
The sound of footsteps was already right at hand.
Several guards carrying lanterns led the way. Beside them walked a middle-aged official in a red robe with a protruding belly, respectfully guiding a young man dressed in dark, plain clothing.
“My lord, all suspicious individuals have been detained in the dungeon.”
Xue Yao tilted his head slightly, his gaze passing through the gaps between the bars and landing on the young man’s face.
The moment he saw the man clearly, his pupils suddenly constricted—
It was him!
Pei Di!