As soon as he went behind the house, Yuan Gang approached the well. He carefully glanced around, then suddenly leaped. Yuan Gang immediately vanished into the well.
As soon as Yuan Gang leaped into the well, he immediately stretched his legs into a split, preventing himself from falling straight down. Slowly moving his legs and supporting himself, he descended, carefully maintaining his balance. Once Yuan Gang had descended three zhang, he noticed protruding bricks on either side.
He noticed many such bricks with indentations, yet one brick looked quite interesting. Its indentations were symmetrical, unlike the others. Yuan Gang tried to press on it and pushed, exerting considerable force. Consequently, a door appeared in the well wall, as if some mechanism had rotated and opened the door halfway.
Yuan Gang leaned towards it, then submerged himself slightly. Taking out a rope, he lit it and noticed a torch nearby. Yuan Gang lit the torch and looked around. It turned out this brick was a stone rod that linked the mechanism. And this stone mechanism was not easy to move. If one didn't know the key to this contraption, they wouldn't discover it at all.
Yuan Gang leaned back and looked up. He scraped off a bit of green moss and tossed it upwards.
Seeing the piece of green moss, Niu You Dao signaled to Yuan Fang. The latter, also glancing around, leaped into the well.
"Princess, it wouldn't be convenient for you to descend by yourself, so I'll take you with me." Niu You Dao turned and said to Shu Qing.
Shu Qing nodded: "Mhm."
Chao Zong cupped his hands and said to Niu You Dao: "Lord Dao, please protect Shu Qing, no matter what."
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, nothing will happen to her." Niu You Dao assured them. He implied that if he didn't perish, Shu Qing would be fine too.
Lan Ruo Ting cupped his hands and said: "Princess, Lord Dao, please take care!"
Niu You Dao and Shu Qing nodded to him, then headed behind the house together.
They glanced around. Niu You Dao picked up the piece of moss and threw it back into the well. Then he extended his arm and wrapped it around Shu Qing's slender waist. They leaped and disappeared into the well.
Standing behind them, Chao Zong gritted his teeth. It was uncomfortable for him to watch his younger sister being embraced like that. After all, Shu Qing had grown up and was a young woman now!
Chao Zong couldn't bear it and, looking back, asked:
"Shu Qing runs to him every morning, has she fallen in love with him?"
Lan Ruo Ting was surprised: "The Princess is such a tactful person, why does the Prince think that? Did you perhaps notice something?"
Chao Zong realized he had spoken out of turn, so he awkwardly waved his hand: "No, it just seemed that way!"
Shu Qing herself tensed up when Niu You Dao gripped her like that.
As soon as they were in the well, Niu You Dao activated his Qi and utilized the force of the air to slowly levitate.
Thus, the man and the young woman held each other very closely. Feeling the man's scent, his strength and Qi, chaotic thoughts arose in Shu Qing's mind, and her heart pounded wildly.
Niu You Dao seemed to sense her pounding heart and said reassuringly: "There's no need to be afraid. Nothing will happen."
Once they had floated down to the correct spot, Niu You Dao guided the Princess, then entered after her.
As soon as Shu Qing caught her breath and calmed down, she immediately pointed at the stone pillar of the mechanism: "It needs to be put back and the door closed. We can't let anyone discover this secret place." Shu Qing herself would have put the stone pillar back, but it would have been very difficult for her.
Yuan Gang immediately picked up the pillar, which weighed over 200 jin, and put it back in its place.
After replacing the pillar, he noticed Niu You Dao looking for something.
"I've already found it. There's a torch here."
Niu You Dao let him pass so he could show the way, then turned to Shu Qing: "Only one torch?"
"There will be many more torches ahead, enough for over a thousand people." Shu Qing turned to him and curiously asked: "Lord Dao, do you not have a Little Moon?"
Niu You Dao awkwardly replied: "That butterfly only recognizes one master, and I haven't had the chance to nurture one yet. I'll find one and raise it sometime."
He didn't have a Little Moon, nor did Yuan Fang, so everyone had to follow Yuan Gang.
Under the torchlight, steps of a staircase could be seen in the tunnel. The tunnel stretched for several hundred meters. And the further they walked, the louder the sound of water became.
Niu You Dao asked: "An underground river?"
Shu Qing replied: "Correct. A very large underground river."
When they reached the end of the tunnel, the river was already visible. It was a vast space, and with the light of a single torch, the opposite bank could not be seen.
"Torches!" Yuan Fang exclaimed, pointing to a pit.
Several people turned and saw a multitude of torches. They immediately lit them, and the visible area instantly expanded.
"Which way do we go?" Yuan Gang asked.
Shu Qing: "Upstream."
They walked along the winding path upstream. Now, even Niu You Dao couldn't determine where they were going or in which direction. However, they noticed that this rugged path was naturally formed. No one had made it themselves.
"Princess, give me your things." Niu You Dao pointed at the bag hanging on Shu Qing's back. It was already difficult to walk on the path, let alone carry things, and here was a young woman bearing such weight.
Shu Qing politely refused: "No need, I can carry it myself."
Niu You Dao simply reached out and took the bag from her. He immediately handed the bag to Yuan Fang, who was walking behind: "Bear, take this. You're used to climbing mountains, by the way. Go on ahead and clear the path. Monkey, stay at the rear."
"Mhm!" Yuan Fang obediently took the bag and hung it around his neck, then immediately went ahead to clear the path.
Shu Qing was speechless. She thought Niu You Dao would take the bag and carry it himself, but he gave it to Yuan Fang. What's more, he even took off his own bag and gave it to Yuan Gang. And the latter took his bag without a word of objection.
Niu You Dao followed Yuan Fang, with Shu Qing behind him. Yuan Gang brought up the rear of their single file.
They had been walking for some time when Niu You Dao asked: "Princess, have you been here before?"
Shu Qing: "No, this is my first time."
Niu You Dao stopped. He frowned and turned around:
"You've never been here before, and now you're leading us?"
Shu Qing explained: "This path has many forks, but I know secret passages that can shorten the detour."
"Many forks?" Niu You Dao was surprised: "And how long will it take to walk?"
Shu Qing: "Normally, several days. This underground river is truly long."
Several days? It would take several days? They all looked at Shu Qing. This was why they had brought so much dry provisions with them.
Niu You Dao already surmised that there was an 80-90% chance this passage led beyond Cang Wu County.
"Ning Wang truly spared no effort to create such a long passage."
Shu Qing: "It wasn't intentional. Father stumbled upon this river by chance during a campaign, and after exploring it, decided to establish passages here."
Niu You Dao hummed and recalled something. When they were still on the small Southern Mountain, Chao Zong had mentioned that they might go to sea. Perhaps this river indeed led to the sea?
The group continued forward, and the path constantly changed. Mostly, the path shifted on its own. There were places difficult to traverse, some required climbing hills, some needed chains to pass, and in others, someone had already hammered nails to create a path. However, these places posed no difficulty for Niu You Dao. He simply took Shu Qing and flew over them through the air.
Shu Qing herself had already grown accustomed to all this. After Ning Wang's fall, life had forced her to become a more resilient and courageous young woman. And now, she was no longer that pampered girl who constantly hid in the inner chambers of the palace.
Along the way, Niu You Dao increasingly pondered raising a Little Moon butterfly. With a Little Moon, he could immediately fly with Shu Qing. But moving with a torch was quite inconvenient, as it constantly extinguished.