One second, two seconds, nothing happened.

On the third second, the entire top of the tunnel suddenly opened, and countless black spiders the size of fingernails poured out,

Accompanied by rustling sounds, they pounced towards Yu Qingqiu.

While Commander Qianhu was having a thrilling adventure underground, the people above ground were not idle either.

"Cough, cough cough—"

Li Yushan coughed up blood as he slowly stood up, his bloodshot eyes scanning left and right.

The once magnificent palace banquet hall had been reduced to ruins. Silk curtains that had fallen to the ground were set ablaze by candlelight, burning rapidly and sending up fleeting, dim sparks.

The Xi Jishi factory and the Wu De Wei's Tiqi (imperial guards) all lay on the courtyard floor, their heads bleeding, groaning softly in pain.

But miraculously, none of them were dead.

"Damn it, all of you, get up! Take off your armor!"

Li Yushan roared hoarsely, pulling his subordinates up from the ground and tearing off the leather armor from the latter's body.

The White Lotus cultist's final self-detonation had not only destroyed the hall but also scattered clumps of white hyphae.

The hyphae that landed on bricks and stones remained motionless and unchanged.

The hyphae that landed on trees and wood grew and expanded rapidly at a visible rate, forming white fluff about a finger long,

Like mold growing on rotten fruit that had been left for a long time.

The Tiqi's leather armor seemed to be equally attractive to the hyphae.

The white fluff pierced deep into the leather armor, growing wildly at the slightest breeze,

But it would dissolve immediately upon contact with the skin.

No, not dissolve.

In Li Yushan's keen senses, the white hyphae dissolved into small droplets the moment they touched the skin, seeping into the Tiqi's skin pores.

Whatever these things were, they couldn't be good for the human body...

Various bizarre and evil techniques that Li Yushan had once seen flashed through his mind, and a chill rose from his spine.

Demons capable of splitting mountains with their strength were not terrifying, nor were elusive and treacherous spirits.

For the soldiers of the Wu De Wei, the most terrifying thing was often gu poison that was invisible, intangible, and impossible to counter effectively...

Urged by Li Yushan, the Tiqi, realizing that something was wrong, jumped up from the ground and hurriedly removed their armor.

They also took out ointments specifically for dealing with gu poison from the pockets on their waists and smeared them on the skin surfaces that the hyphae had touched.

Some Tiqi, who had been standing at the very front of the battle formation, had come into contact with white hyphae all over their bodies.

They simply tore off their upper garments, went around smearing it everywhere with their bare chests, and rubbed frantically.

Those who couldn't reach their backs had their comrades help.

The courtyard, filled with ruins, looked a bit like an open-air bathhouse for a while.

Li Yushan's body was not contaminated with hyphae.

He ignored the Tiqi who were smearing ointment on each other,

And quickly walked to the front of the ruins, moved away the beams, giant trees, rubble, and bricks, and came to the place where Bai Yongyan and Yu Qingqiu had disappeared.

The tunnel entrance had disappeared.

No matter how Li Yushan used his precious horizontal saber as a shovel, he could only shovel out piles of dirt and couldn't see the tunnel at all.

At this time, the six eminent monks from Yongling Temple and the Annam envoy also rushed over from the side hall. Seeing the mess in the hall, their expressions changed.

A middle-aged monk from Yonglin Temple asked, "Commander Li, where is the auspicious creature?"

Li Yushan straightened up, flicked the dirt off the blade of his horizontal saber, and gritted his teeth and said, "It was taken away by the cultist along the tunnel."

"Hiss..."

The middle-aged monk gasped.

Yonglin Temple had previously communicated with Wu De Wei, knowing that the other party was going to use the auspicious creature as bait tonight to eliminate those with ulterior motives who were trying to plunder it,

Paving the way for escorting the auspicious creature to the capital.

They never expected that this Wu De Wei would be so unreliable, allowing the auspicious creature to be taken away right under their noses.

"The auspicious creature is good at divination and prediction. The White Lotus cultist can cooperate with it and let the auspicious creature help him escape the city's pursuit."

The Yonglin Temple monk gritted his teeth and said, "If he escapes this time, it will be extremely difficult to retrieve it..."

"Alright, Lian, it's no use saying more now that things have come to this."

The older Yongling Temple monk frowned and stopped his disciple's complaints, and looked at Li Yushan and said, "Commander Li, the iron cage that holds the auspicious creature,

Was made by Annam craftsmen with Nine Heavens Profound Iron, which is indestructible and as solid as a fortress.

The only key is also kept by us.

Even if the White Lotus cultist hijacks and escapes, it will be difficult to escape far with the iron cage."

"I understand."

Li Yushan nodded and said, "This official has already sent a signal to let the Luzhou soldiers seal off the city gates and search the city.

If there is an entrance to the tunnel, there must be an exit.

Miao Renfeng, Wu Renji, you two come over and continue digging!"

The two Tiqi who were named quickly walked over, took out a metal rod from the long wooden box they carried on their waists,

Then took out some small parts from the wooden box and installed them in the narrow groove at the front end of the rod,

Assembled a small shovel that was somewhat similar to a modern engineer shovel,

And quickly started digging.

Li Yushan breathed a sigh of relief and took out a circular compass from his arms, holding it in his hand. He held his breath and concentrated, sliding the small pieces on the compass.

The Xi Jishi factory and Wu De Wei were not completely unprepared.

The former smeared a special ointment on the iron cage holding the auspicious creature, which could allow the firefly swarm to trace the scent.

The latter set up a tracking restriction on the iron cage, which could be used with the compass to lock the position of the iron cage.

The dozens of small metal pieces on the compass automatically operated for a while, and finally stabilized, leaving only one still sliding along the compass slide.

Found it! It's in the west of the city!