Though women generally take longer in the restroom than men, ten minutes was still excessive.

Lao Wei quickly sensed something was wrong and frowned, "Damn it, if they haven't returned after so long, something must have happened! Let's go check it out!"

Er Jun, however, was nonchalant, waving his hand, "Lao Wei, is that appropriate? What if we catch the ladies with their pants down? That would be embarrassing."

Hu Wazi chimed in, "Yinhuan She is injured and handcuffed, plus Xiao Liang is with her. Nothing should happen, right? If something really happened, Xiao Liang would have shouted for help already. Lao Wei, I think you're overthinking it."

Lao Wei ignored them and dashed towards the tunnel, taking two steps at a time, shouting, "Xiao Liang? Xiao Liang? What's happening over there?"

But after calling out twice, there was still no response. At this point, we realized something truly had gone wrong!

That old fox, Yinhuan She, had tricked us all!

I carried Little Mei-jie and followed Lao Wei into the tunnel. After all, Xiao Liang and I had been together day and night recently, going through thick and thin. I was worried about her safety.

Turning a corner, in the light of the flashlight, I saw someone lying on the ground. It was Xiao Liang.

"Xiao Liang!"

I shouted anxiously.

Lao Wei had already reached Xiao Liang and carefully helped her up. He tested her breath and immediately turned to us, "She's alive. She must have been knocked unconscious."

Just then, Hu Wazi picked up a pair of shiny silver handcuffs from nearby and said, "Damn it, Yinhuan She really has some skills. She actually broke free from the silver bracelets!"

Seeing this, it suddenly dawned on me that Yinhuan She knew the art of shrinking bones.

Her shrinking bone technique allowed her to squeeze into even narrow tunnels. Escaping from a pair of handcuffs would be child's play for her!

Thinking about this, I was filled with regret. How could we have overlooked such a simple thing?

Realizing this now was just being wise after the event.

I slapped my thigh in frustration, but it was no use.

Fortunately, Yinhuan She hadn't used any poison on Xiao Liang. Her injuries weren't serious. She probably knocked Xiao Liang unconscious and fled. This Qu Shang Underground Palace was intricate and complex; she could easily escape.

Lao Wei pinched Xiao Liang's philtrum and quickly woke her up.

The first thing Xiao Liang said after waking up was, "Someone, help! Yinhuan She escaped! Yinhuan She escaped!"

Lao Wei patted her shoulder and said with a wry smile, "Alright, stop shouting. Yinhuan She has already escaped."

Xiao Liang carefully looked around and realized that we had all arrived, but it was too late.

She said regretfully, "Alas! I was so careless! I should have guessed that Yinhuan She could break free from the handcuffs. She knows the shrinking bone technique; handcuffs can't hold her! Ugh!"

Lao Wei quickly comforted her, "Xiao Liang, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. It's my fault. I was inconsiderate."

I also walked over and asked, "Xiao Liang, are you alright? How did Yinhuan She knock you out? Are you seriously injured?"

Xiao Liang shook her head and said, "I'm fine, not seriously. She probably didn't want to hurt me, so she was careful. Alas! I knew I couldn't trust that woman. She just seemed dishonest! So shifty!"

Then Hu Wazi asked, "Could it be because we didn't fulfill our promise to her that she ran away?"

After all, we had promised Yinhuan She that we would help her avenge her brothers, but in reality, apart from the graverobbers who were bitten to death by the dog, we hadn't caught any of Yinhuan She's enemies.

From this perspective, we hadn't fulfilled our promise to Yinhuan She.

Lao Wei shook his head, "Hmph, I think that woman had planned her escape from the beginning. She was just playing us, first tricking us into bandaging her wounds, then tricking us into avenging her, and then coming to the Crystal Palace with our help. Once we were of no use to her, she made her escape. Heh, that woman is truly cunning!"

I agreed with Lao Wei and nodded, "That's right. Think about it, which graverobber would willingly surrender? Yinhuan She has committed so many crimes. She might be executed if she goes out. How could she obediently accept punishment? Her escape was only a matter of time."

"What do we do now?" a Xiaoling Guard asked. "The prisoner has escaped. Should we go and catch her?"

Lao Wei pointed to Little Mei-jie behind me and shook his head, "Saving her is the priority. We can't delay any longer."

Xiao Liang also nodded, "That's right, we've spent enough time in the underground palace already. If we delay any longer, the flashlights will run out of battery, and we won't have enough water and dry food. We might be in danger. Let's go back first."

"Yeah, besides, this Qu Shang Underground Palace is like a maze, and Yinhuan She knows the shrinking bone technique. Who knows where that woman is hiding? We might not be able to find her!" Yun Jie shook his head.

Lao Wei finally made a decision, waving his hand, "Retreat, retreat. Let's get out of here first."

So we followed the path we came from back towards the grave robbers' tunnel. Halfway there, the batteries in our flashlights started to run out one after another.

Fortunately, we had stored some flashlights in advance, so we hadn't used them all up, allowing us to barely make it out.

As we retreated to the outer tomb chambers, I suddenly heard footsteps and voices not far away. I quickly reminded everyone, "Be careful, I hear people talking!"

The Xiaoling Guards immediately became alert and put their hands on their waists. At the same time, the group opposite us must have noticed our presence as well, and the footsteps and voices suddenly disappeared.

After a stalemate of about five minutes, I suddenly heard a familiar voice ask, "Hei Zhe explores the dragon and raises the treasure cover; the Ban Shan initiates the mound and has a cave dwelling. Who are you folks on the other side? May we have your names?"

As soon as Lao Wei heard it, he immediately recognized the speaker and chuckled, "Damn?! Da Yong! Why aren't you resting in the hospital? What are you doing digging around? What a mess!"

The person speaking on the other side was none other than an old friend of the Xiaoling Guards—Jiang Yongguang!

Across a tomb chamber, Jiang Yongguang laughed loudly, "Lao Wei, you're not dead yet? Damn! It's not like you guys haven't come up for two days. I thought something had happened to you, so I quickly brought people down to rescue you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't bother coming down here!"

After confirming that the people on the other side were friendly forces, the Xiaoling Guards all put away their weapons. We immediately went to meet them and saw that Jiang Yongguang had brought four or five local police officers to the underground. They were all happy to see us.

"How is it? Did anything unexpected happen? Any casualties?" Jiang Yongguang asked immediately.