In this way, although everyone could not leave the courtyard, they were not bored.
Shi Dajian led more than 20 strong men to dig the soil below. They dug nearly 100 steps in one day, which was much longer than expected. Yuchi Lianghong was sparring with Zhao Chengxiao and Ye Lu, and they were quite like-minded. Yi Ran and Wen Lingjiao were still a little bit at odds. Even when they were eating at the same table, they never looked at each other or talked to each other. Qiu Yizi saw that although they were not close, they stopped arguing, so she let it go.
The next day was the same.
By the third day, the speed of tunnel digging had slowed down significantly.
Qiu Yizhi saw this and was anxious. He quickly called out Shi Dajian from the cave and asked, "Master Shi, I see that the sand and soil being transported out is getting less and less. What obstacles are we encountering in this cave?"
Shi Dajian replied, "Please forgive me, sir. The tunnel has been dug to the bottom of the Ministry of Justice Prison, and now we are digging upwards. Although the brothers you brought with you are strong, they are still novices after all. I am afraid that they will collapse the hole, so I will do it myself today, so the speed is slow."
Qiu Yizi was immediately surprised and delighted when he heard this, and asked hurriedly, "How long will it take to dig through this tunnel?"
Shi Dajian closed his eyes and thought for a while, then answered carefully: "The foundation of the Ministry of Justice's prison is very solid, and it seems that it will be difficult to open it. If you look closely, I estimate that it will be opened by this evening."
Qiu Yizi finally suppressed his excitement, took two deep breaths, and said, "There's no rush. Let's prepare and ask Master Shi to open the tunnel at the second watch."
Shi Dajian nodded repeatedly and said, "This kind of thing is not afraid of slowness, but of haste. It would be great if you can give me more time, sir." After saying that, he bowed to Qiu Yizi and went back into the cave.
So Qiu Yizhi called Yuchi Lianghong, Zhao Chengxiao and Yelu and said to them, "Master Shi just told me that the tunnel will be dug through soon. Then we will have to start a big operation. This matter depends on you three." Seeing the three people nodding, he said, "I have been into the prison of the Ministry of Justice once and took the opportunity to observe the terrain structure in detail..."
As he spoke, Qiu Yizi squatted on the ground, picked up a branch at random, and drew a sketch on the mud. He pointed and continued, "When this prison was built, in order to prevent prisoners from escaping, they imitated a long snake formation and connected all the cells with a passage. But the people who built the cells never thought that hundreds of years later someone would dig a tunnel from below to rob the prison. This terrain is exactly what I want."
Yuchi Lianghong was puzzled and asked, "Brother, what do you mean?"
Qiu Yizi smiled complacently, circled the sketch twice with a branch, and spent a full half hour before he finally spoke out the plan that he had already made up his mind.
Yuchi Lianghong, Zhao Chengxiao and Yelu listened very carefully, and only breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Qiu Yizhi's speech. Yuchi Lianghong couldn't help but admire: "Brother is really a genius, with such a plan in mind, no wonder he dared to rescue people from the Ministry of Justice prison!"
Qiu Yizi said, "This is just the first step. We still have to pass three more levels before we can be considered successful!" He then revealed some of his plans to the others, and said, "I am not very knowledgeable, so I have not yet made a plan on how to pass Tongguan and cross the Yellow River. We have to wait until we rescue my adoptive father and then he can discuss it with Mr. Zhongli before we can make a decision."
After saying that, Qiu Yizi asked everyone to go back to the house to have a good rest first, and then take unified action in the evening.
Having said that, Qiu Yizi returned to the house, but tossed and turned and couldn't close his eyes. He simply came out again, not minding the dirt, and sat on the hill with his head down to think, going over the plan in his mind over and over again.
I finally waited until the Golden Crow set in the west.
He'er followed Wen Lingjiao's instructions and put all the remaining vegetables, fish and meat into the pot, making several tables of extremely sumptuous meals. Ye Lu saw that there were still a few lamb legs left, so he also set up a fire in the yard and used some unique secret method to roast the lamb until it was fragrant.
Everyone knew that life or death depended on this night, so they simply let go and ate to their heart's content.
They ate until midnight. Seeing that countless delicacies had been eaten up, Qiu Yizi stood up and bowed to everyone, saying, "You are all my good brothers and friends. If we fail today, we will be doomed; if we succeed, we will all become prisoners of the court. If anyone is afraid and wants to withdraw, I will never stop him. As long as he doesn't betray us as soon as he leaves, he will still be my good brother and friend in the future!"
After hearing this, everyone was silent. However, a bandit brought out by Zhao Chengxiao from Yunmeng Mountain said, "Your Highness Yi, are you looking down on us? Were we not originally wanted criminals of the imperial court? Whether this mission is accomplished or not, we have become famous all over the world. When the storyteller tells this story and mentions that among those who saved Prince Youyan, there was also the name of Iron-Headed Dragon, then my life in this world will not be in vain! If there is anything, please give the order, Your Highness!"
The man who was speaking was short and of plain appearance, but Qiu Yizi remembered that his skills were all in his big, shiny head that was shaved, and he could break stones and crack rocks. He also heard that although he spoke rudely, he was still heroic, so he clapped his hands and praised, "Well said! A real man standing between heaven and earth, even if he has a moment of rising up, it is better than living in mediocrity for half a lifetime. Well said!"
The other bandits didn't know how much of Qiu Yizi's words they understood, but they all shouted in unison: "Well said! Well said!"
Seeing the excitement among the crowd, Qiu Yizi nodded and said, "Then I will give the orders!"
After saying that, Qiu Yizi glanced around the courtyard, and seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, he became more excited and said, "Princess Yiran and the two brothers from Bohai, please take out all the swords and distribute them to the brothers coming down from Yunmeng Mountain. There is no need to pack the extra ones, just throw them all in the carriage. You just wait here and listen to Princess Yiran's orders, and don't act rashly!" All the people whose names were mentioned agreed in unison.
Qiu Yizi saw this, nodded and said, "Shi Dajian, Yuchi Lianghong, Zhao Chengxiao, Yelu, follow me down the cave to rescue my adoptive father, the prince. You must know that this matter has not yet succeeded, you must act according to my plan, and don't act recklessly!" The four of them also bowed and accepted the order.
Qiu Yizhi thought for a while and said, "As for Miss Wen and Miss He'er... I'm sure you two have your own clever ways to get out of this situation, so please do as you please! I'd like to thank you for your care these past few days. I'll definitely reward you handsomely if we meet again someday!"
After saying that, Qiu Yizi looked at Wen Lingjiao who was squatting with her head down, and hesitated to speak. Instead, he said to Shi Dajian: "Master Shi, take me to the cave now!"
Shi Dajian said "Okay!", bent down, took out a hammer and a chisel from his tool bag, put a few torches on his waist, and jumped into the cave.
Qiu Yizi drew the precious sword from his waist, tested the blade, put the sword back into the scabbard, and followed him down the cave.
Upon seeing this, Yuchi Lianghong pulled out a soft sword from his belt in a very cool manner, waved it in the air for a while, and said thoughtfully: "Good brother, today let's go with me to achieve great deeds and leave our names in history!" Then he sheathed the sword again and jumped into the tunnel.
Zhao Chengxiao and Ye Lu also followed him down the cave, each holding a weapon.
Qiu Yizhi had been in this tunnel before. It was hastily dug and was crude, but it was enough for two people to move side by side while bending over. The four of them followed Shi Dajian in the tunnel and walked about two or three hundred steps before finally reaching the end of the tunnel.
It turned out that Shi Dajian was really good at digging. The long tunnel slowly extended upwards from the beginning. When it reached the bottom of the prison, he could touch the bluestone slabs on the prison floor. So Shi Dajian used a hammer to knock around the bluestone slabs that were five or six feet square, and finally turned around and said to Qiu Yizhi: "Young Master, be careful, I'm going to dig a hole!"
Qiu Yizi quickly dodged to the side, but when he looked out, he saw Shi Dajian holding the iron chisel against a corner of the stone slab and hammering it hard. The stone slab was hit on the weak spot and it cracked into countless palm-sized pieces that fell into the hole at once.
Qiu Yizhi didn't have time to admire him, and said, "Master Shi, go back first. I'm going to kill people here!" Then he squeezed past Shi Dajian, grabbed the edge, and climbed out of the tunnel. Yuchi Lianghong, Zhao Chengxiao, and Ye Lu also jumped out of the tunnel.
Qiu Yizi saw that the prison was pitch black. He could only hear countless prisoners shouting and yelling after hearing the sound of the stone slabs collapsing. He quickly lit a torch, held it high, and carefully observed the surrounding environment.
I saw four people in a cell. Except for a stone wall, the rest of the walls were surrounded by iron bars. A prisoner in the room who had committed an unknown crime stared at the uninvited guests with wide eyes, his mouth wide open but unable to utter a word, as if he had not yet fully woken up from his sleep.
Qiu Yizhi ignored him and asked Yuchi Lianghong to knock him out. He then drew out his precious sword and slashed at the iron bars near the passage. The prison had been built for a long time and was not well maintained. The iron bars were already weak inside. Qiu Yizhi held the precious sword from the Western Regions that could cut through iron like mud. With a few swipes, he completely destroyed the iron fence and ducked out.
Qiu Yizi stood in the only passage of the Ministry of Justice Prison. He carefully distinguished the front and back several times, then pointed to the front and said, "That's the exit of the prison, and behind it is the cell where my adoptive father is imprisoned. Everyone, follow the plan!"
So Yuchi Lianghong led Zhao Chengxiao and rushed forward in the direction pointed by Qiu Yizi, holding sharp blades, while Ye Lu protected Qiu Yizi and ran quickly to the back.
Here, Yuchi Lianghong ran all the way to the exit of the prison, and when he encountered the jailer patrolling in the passage, he killed him with his sword without saying anything. He was very skilled in martial arts and fast, and each time he struck the sword, he hit the vital points. The jailers didn't even have a chance to scream before they died. There was no fork in the prison, only a winding passage running through the inside and outside. Yuchi Lianghong killed 20 to 30 jailers along the way, and didn't stop until he reached the prison gate, and didn't let a single jailer escape to inform the police.
Zhao Chengxiao followed behind, but he didn't even have the chance to draw his sword. He hurried and hurried to catch up with Yuchi Lianghong, but he was already out of breath. He heard Yuchi Lianghong say, "Your Highness Yi wants us to kill all the jailers along the way and then lock the prison door from the inside. The task is half done. I will stay here first, and please help me find a few official swords, brother Zhao."
Zhao Chengxiao agreed, turned around and ran back a few steps, took a few official swords from the dead jailer, ran back to Yuchi Lianghong, and handed the swords to this martial arts hero.
Yuchi Lianghong took the official sword, inserted the blade into the crack of the door, closed his eyes and gathered his strength, then suddenly opened his eyes and shouted loudly. He gripped the hilt of the sword and twisted his wrist hard, twisting the two official swords like a twist. In this way, the door of the sky prison was completely blocked and could not be opened from the outside for a while.
Yuchi Lianghong made such a mistake, which made Zhao Chengxiao dumbfounded. A prisoner who was imprisoned in a nearby cell saw it and praised him: "This hero is really good at martial arts! But his brain is not very good. If you break the door like this, you will be trapped in this prison. Why don't you let me out now, and we can work together, maybe there is a way to escape."
Yuchi Lianghong seemed not to hear anything, and called to Zhao Chengxiao, "The matter has been settled. Let us go back and help!" After that, he turned around and ran away.
The prisoner who was speaking saw that the two men ignored him, so he cursed with gnashing teeth and shouted loudly: "Someone come! Someone come! A prisoner has escaped! A prisoner has escaped!" (To be continued)