Opening the box and looking inside, Mr. Liang nodded happily and said: “Good. Let's not waste any time. Where's my steward and guard?”

Le Jiang snorted with disdain: “Your steward is scared to death that he isn't able to walk properly for now. As to your guard, he is even more useless. He fell down the cliff on his way here. Your people are good-for-nothing!”

“You!” Mr. Liang suppressed his anger and said: “I see. Send me to the capital as soon as possible.”

“All right.” Le Jiang nodded happily as he said: “Have a rest. You'll leave later.”

Outside the cave, Ye Li glanced at Han Ming Xi who shook his head without a word. There were indeed many bodies at the bottom of the cliff, skeletons to be specific. He didn't see Zheng Kui's though. It was very likely that Zheng Kui didn't fall off the cliff, instead, he was killed by those of Nan Zhao.

The Sick Scholar wasn't in a hurry to do anything to Mr. Liang since the two guards that were killed by him a while ago were found dead which turned the originally quiet cave into a noisy market. Mr. Liang left under the protection of heavy guards. Ye Li and her companions had no choice but to scatter in order not to draw any attention to themselves, ready to leave. Without a doubt, Secret Guard No.3 remained by Ye Li's side. Han Ming Xi left with the Secret Guard No.3 reluctantly.

“My Lord, we...”

Ye Li shook her head as she said: “Let's stay for now and have a look inside.” Without having to care about the Sick Scholar and Han Ming Xi, they were able to move quicker. Carefully, they went deep inside the underground palace. It wasn't large with seven to eight rooms. They searched each room only to find nothing of value until they turned to the room in the deepest corner which looked different than the rooms they were in before. Its door was closed with two Nan Zhao men keeping guard. Ye Li turned to Secret Guard No.3 and gave him a gesture quickly: You take the left one, I, right.

Secret Guard No.3 nodded. They approached quietly and controlled the two guards. Secret Guard No.3 broke the guard's neck. Ye Li watched the man she had under her control pa.s.s out. Frowning, she put him in a secret corner. Watching the lock to the door, she took out a gold hairpin with a frown. With a twist of her hairpin, she got a sharp gold needle. She jabbed it inside the lock which snapped open. Nodding at Secret Guard No.3 who was in the dark, she pushed the door open and went inside in a flash. Secret Guard No.3 was still crouching down in the dark, paying attention to his surroundings. After a good while, Ye Li came out and locked the door again.

Probably because Han Ming Xi and the Sick Scholar had attracted most guards, Ye Li and Secret Guard No.3 didn't see as many guards around as a while ago. Following Han Ming Xi's secret marks, they saw the exit in less than 15 minutes. However, at a distance from the exit, they could smell that dangerous scent, same as that in the mountain.

Secret Guard No.3 took out several pellets and pa.s.sed them to Ye Li who smashed them and smelled hard as she laughed in a small voice: “Did you get these from the Sick Scholar?”

Without others around, Secret Guard No.3 was more expressive. He laughed, a little smug: “Right. He had so many poisons with him. I was afraid I might have taken the wrong ones so I didn't take anything else except the kind he gave us. They may last three hours.”

“Great.” Both took a pellet. Secret Guard No.3 took the lead. He walked to the exit and looked around before he waved to Ye Li. They went out carefully and rapidly, stunned by what they saw - endless red. The exit was not even two meters high up the bottom of the cliff which was covered by big red flowers with red and black snakes under each of them. Some snakes wound around the flower stems and slid on the flowers. Finally, Ye Li understood why Han Ming Xi couldn't help cursing after he was down here. This horrible place sent chills down her spine. However, it was fair that they didn't have any guards here since the exit led to such a dangerous place.

“Can we get there?” Pointing at the cliff on their opposite, Ye Li asked.

Secret Guard No.3 had a looked and nodded as he said: “We can.”

“Be careful. n.o.body can save you if you fall.” Once one fell in the sea of flowers, one might be swallowed by those flowers and snakes alive.

Secret Guard No.3 asked with a frown: “My Lord, how do you plan to get there?” He himself could fly over with his flying skills. However, it wouldn't be possible for him to take a person with him. Given his master's flying skills, she probably couldn't make it there herself. Besides, this place was way too near the bottom of the cliff for them to use the ropes since they might be bitten by those snakes by accident.

Ye Li sighed, frustrated: “This place gives me headache. But this trip will be worth it if we can get away successfully. You go first. I'll find another route.”

Secret Guard No.3 didn't move. Though he knew how good the princess was, he didn't see any other way around. It wasn't safe to stay here either. The fact they didn't have company for now didn't mean they wouldn't forever.

Seeing how stubborn Secret Guard No.3 was, Ye Li waved her hand, resigned, as she said: “Forget it. I'll go first. Stay here and follow me after I make it successfully. Sometimes I really don't understand your stubbornness.”

Secret Guard No.3 said seriously: “My Lord, I'm your secret guard. Your safety is everything to me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Thanks. I'll appreciate it if you have a bit more faith in me.”

She waited till dark and climbed up along the side of the cliff with the help of her daggers. She didn't go very far when she found Secret Guard No.3 following her and asked: “What are you doing?”

Secret Guard No.3 answered solemnly: “My Lord, I'm coming with you.”

“Do you think I want to do this? If I have your flying skills, I would have flown there.” Glaring at him angrily, she kept climbing.

Now Secret Guard No.3 was at the same height as she was, he said: “This cliff is at least 100 Zhangs. It's quite a challenge to climb all the way up.”

Ye Li laughed in a low voice: “Did I say I was going to climb all the way up? I just need to move a little upwards. There's a stone sticking out. I'll stop there.”

Looking up, he saw the stone and nodded: “I see. I'll wait for you on the other side, My Lord.”

“Watch out.” Ye Li told him.

He nodded. Stepping on the side of the cliff, his body shot up. However, probably due to how he was climbing a short while ago, now it seemed he lacked strength in the middle of the air. Though he could use the flowers as help, it would be bad if he was to be bitten by the snakes since there wasn't any antidote. Ye Li cursed below her breath and aimed one dagger below his foot. He stepped on the dagger and went up again. After a few ups and downs, he landed safely. Having lost a dagger, it took Ye Li more time to reach that stone. There wasn't much s.p.a.ce up there, barely enough for her to stand. It must have been part of a large stone. Steadying herself on the stone, Ye Li had a breath and took out a rope from her luggage. She fixed one end of it to her a sleeve arrow and shot it to her opposite.

Secret Guard No.3 who was standing there caught it and fixed it to a safe spot. He shook it to tell her it was ready. She found somewhere to fasten her end of the rope. Pulling it hard, she slid along.

“My Lord!” Seeing her land safely, Secret Guard No.3 let out a sigh of relief.

Dusting her clothes, she said: “Let's go. We are probably at the opposite side of the mountain in regard to the village. This might be our way out.”

Secret Guard No.3 nodded. He followed Ye Li as he said: “My Lord, I remember where we are now. We are in the Snake Valley.”

“Snake Valley?”

He nodded and said: “My predecessors went to war against Nan Zhao with His Highness. It is said there was a Snake Valley in Nan Zhao where red flowers with venom were all over the place. However, it's said His Highness burned it to ashes. I never thought it could return to its old self in less than ten years. But... this isn't the right location. It should have been in the south-west of Nan Zhao. How is it so close to Scattered Snow Pa.s.s?”

Ye Li shook her head as she spoke: “Someone has built it like this in purpose. Have you noticed that those flowers are in rows. They can't have grown like that themselves. Besides, the snakes are strange too. Even though those flowers grew back, there can't be so many snakes. Be it the flowers or the snakes, both are put here by man.”

Recalling the sea of flowers, Secret Guard No.3 can't help cursing: “Are they nuts? It's so dangerous...”

“They aren't afraid of snakes.” Ye Li smiled: “I think they put such a fearful Snake Valley here to cover up something in this mountain.”

“You mean the weapon factory?” Secret Guard No.3 was puzzled.

She smiled again: “No, something more interesting. Let's get out of here first. Have you found any marks left by Han Ming Xi?”

Secret Guard No.3 was crouching down, looking around as he said: “Something probably happened to them. This mark...is a mess.” Night had fallen. It was impossible to see anything like footsteps. Secret Guard No.3 spent a lot of time before he found the mark left by Han.

Ye Li frowned. She bent down as well and said below her breath: “It has been four hours since we separated. They could cover six miles in two hours on foot. Since they both know flying skills... they might not use it but they could at least cover nine miles. Normally, they should have been some 20 miles away from here now. So... was Han Ming Xi set up? Or were they both taken?”

“I don't think the Sick Scholar would set Han Ming Xi up. Tianyi Pavilion has informants everywhere. Some of them must have seen him hang around with the Sick Scholar in Yong Lin. If anything happens to him, the Sick Scholar can't account for it to the master of Tianyi Pavilion.” Said Secret Guard No.3.

With a frown, Ye Li said: “Well... were they taken? Secret Guard No.3, let's split and look into it. See if he left any other marks.” If something did happen to Han Ming Xi, not only the Sick Scholar but they couldn't account for it to Han Ming Yue. After all, she was the one who sought Han Ming Xi's help which was why Han Ming Xi came to Nan Zhao. If they were indeed taken, she could only pray that he wasn't killed yet.