Liu Huangshu didn't last long before breathing his last. His fatal injuries were likely the two shots Old Wei had fired.

Before he died, I smashed him over the head with rocks, which was my way of avenging Uncle Mei, Jiang Yongguang, and the others.

Xiao Liang and I had been running like mad, and we were both panting with exhaustion. We sat side-by-side, listening to the underground river flowing beside us, neither of us having the strength to get up.

After about five minutes, Xiao Liang asked me, "Chen Rongsheng, what do we do now?"

I said, "What can we do? The most important thing is to find a way to escape."

Xiao Liang glanced at the Crystal Palace above and asked, "Aren't you going to the Crystal Palace? Your Little Mei-jie is still in the Crystal Palace."

I said I knew, of course I wanted to go to the Crystal Palace, but now the only rope bridge had been cut off by that bastard Liu Huangshu, blocking the path. How could we get to the Crystal Palace?

Xiao Liang thought for a moment, then suddenly had an idea. "Right, Chen Rongsheng, didn't Ge Xueying carve a Divine Immortal Cave (Shengxian Dong) above the Crystal Palace? We can go out first, then find Ge Xueying's Divine Immortal Cave, and go directly to the Crystal Palace from there."

This was indeed the most reasonable approach at the moment. After hearing it, I nodded approvingly and said, "You're the smart one."

As we were talking, I faintly heard the sound of wading through water near the underground river in the distance. Since Liu Huangshu and the old guide were both dead, the wading sound must have come from either Old Wei or Hu Wazi.

I shone my headlamp over and tried to shout, "Hu Wazi? Old Wei? Is that one of you?"

To my delight, two voices came from the underground river.

"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law! Are you alright, brother-in-law!"—This was Hu Wazi's voice.

"Xiao Chen, is Xiao Liang with you?"—This was Old Wei's voice.

I quickly stood up and said, "I'm fine, Xiao Liang is right beside me. How are you two? Are you injured?"

Hu Wazi said with a grin, "Don't worry, I'm as tough as nails, I'm not easily injured. Old Wei is thick-skinned too, he's fine."

Old Wei chimed in, "Don't worry, we're okay."

After saying that, the two of them walked over and immediately saw Liu Huangshu's corpse.

"Damn! Is this... Liu Huangshu?" Hu Wazi asked quickly.

I nodded and told him about meeting the old guide, and then meeting Liu Huangshu.

I said that Liu Huangshu had wanted us to save his life before he died, and wanted to go to the Crystal Palace, but I had smashed him over the head with rocks and sent him to meet the King of Hell.

Hu Wazi laughed with relief after hearing this, and said to me, "Brother-in-law, well done!"

After saying that, he squatted down in front of Liu Huangshu's body, wanting to rummage through his corpse.

I quickly shook my head and said, "Hu Wazi, don't touch him. This guy seems to be cursed or poisoned, his eyeballs have turned green, and the skin on his neck is all wrinkled. Be careful of contagion."

Hu Wazi didn't believe it and asked me with a laugh, "This thing is contagious?"

I nodded and said, "It is! The corpse driver (gan shi jiang) Master Liao that Shopkeeper Wang hired before, was infected with the laughing sickness because he drove the corpse of the ancient Shu king. At that time, the corpse of the ancient Shu king was a bit like the current Liu Huangshu. You should stay away from him."

Old Wei quickly chimed in, "Hu Wazi, Xiao Chen is right. Liu Huangshu's condition doesn't look good. Even if there's no curse or anything, you might not be able to handle being infected with some ancient virus."

The two of us persuaded him together, and finally Hu Wazi was convinced. Hu Wazi spat at Liu Huangshu's corpse and said resentfully, "He got off easy this time. I was going to flog his corpse, but forget it, I'll let him off."

After the four of us reunited, I suggested that we leave quickly, after all, Yun Jie, Er Jun, and the others were still waiting on the shore, and they didn't know if we were dead or alive.

But at this moment, Old Wei was in a difficult situation, standing by the underground river, staring into the water, as if he had lost his soul.

I asked Old Wei, "What's wrong? Why do you look so distracted?"

Old Wei gave a bitter smile and said, "Hey, don't mention it, I lost my gun. I didn't hold it tight when I fell just now, and it fell into the water."

I had heard Jiang Yongguang say that losing a gun was a very serious matter, and would result in disciplinary action.

And if someone picked up the gun and caused a bad influence, the person who lost the gun might even have to go to jail.

Therefore, when we went to the Tuo River Ancient Shu Tomb and the Duck River Ancient Shu Tomb before, involving underwater operations, the Xiaoling Guards would rather risk a little danger than bring their guns down, for fear of losing them.

As a result, it was Old Wei's bad luck this time. He finally brought his gun down, and lost it.

Although the water flow of this underground river wasn't very rapid, the key was that the environment inside was too dark. Losing a gun in this environment was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I didn't know how to comfort Old Wei. I could only tell him the truth: "Old Wei, think positively, the gun probably can't be found."

Xiao Liang also came over to persuade him: "That's right, Old Wei, think of the bright side."

Old Wei was stunned by this and asked, "There's a bright side to this?"

Xiao Liang nodded and said, "Yes, the downside is that you definitely can't find the gun, but the upside is that if you can't find it, then no one else can find it either, at least no one will pick up the gun and do anything illegal."

Old Wei couldn't help but laugh when he heard this, scratched the back of his head, and said, "Alright, I'll take the disciplinary action when we get back. Let's go, let's find a way out and see if we can detour to the Crystal Palace."

So the four of us temporarily left Liu Huangshu's remains behind and walked along the underground river together.

Along the way, we never had the opportunity to return to the underground palace from the underground river, let alone return to the Crystal Palace above. We were gradually moving away from the Crystal Palace, and could only do as Xiao Liang said, wait until we got out, then find a way to find the Divine Immortal Cave (Shengxian Dong), and then go directly to the Crystal Palace through the Divine Immortal Cave.

We walked along the underground river for about an hour, and then we saw the underground river flowing out of the underground palace and into the outside world. We crawled out along the waterway and suddenly came to the outside of Nanshan.

The scene before us suddenly opened up. I saw the newly rising sun in the distance. This was a small river at the foot of Nanshan Mountain, where the underground river flowed out, forming a small waterfall.

This trip, we circled around in the underground palace, spending a whole day and night. But this time the harvest was still great. I actually saw Little Mei-jie's shadow in the Crystal Palace.

After Old Wei came out, he told us to rest first, and he went back along the robber's hole on the Nanshan side to call Yun Jie, Er Jun, and the other Xiaoling Guards out.

As a result, halfway there, he met the Xiaoling Guards who were returning along the same route, wanting to come out to get reinforcements. Everyone was very happy to see us alive.

Because everyone was very tired, and the flashlights, dry food, and mineral water were almost used up, Old Wei decided to go back to rest for one night, and then come back the next day to look for the Divine Immortal Cave (Shengxian Dong) left by the White-Clad Immortal Maiden (Baiyi Xianggu).