Little Xibei was seen walking over to a thick and sturdy willow tree, feeling the coarse bark with his hand.
The next second, something unexpected happened.
Little Xibei rolled up his sleeves, braced the sturdy willow tree with both hands, slightly spread his legs apart, and threw his weight into his lower back.
In an instant, the massive willow tree was uprooted by Little Xibei and tossed aside.
Witnessing Little Xibei's bold feat, Lin Zaozao's jaw nearly dropped in astonishment.
Who would have thought the slim Little Xibei possessed such immense strength!
The scene of him uprooting the tree evoked the image of Lin Daiyu pulling up the drooping willow branches.
Brushing off Zhao Cai's large head from her waist, Lin Zaozao stood up from the ground and walked towards Little Xibei.
Looking at the large hole in the ground, Lin Zaozao turned back with a puzzled gaze, met by Little Xibei's equally perplexed expression.
What was Little Xibei trying to do by uprooting that willow tree?
"Little Xibei, why did you pull up that tree?"
"No reason. I just remembered Han Ye told me the entrance to the secret passage was under the sturdiest willow tree in this grove. How could there not be one here?"
"The entrance to the secret passage?"
Lin Zaozao pointed at the large hole in the ground, which didn't even have a crevice, let alone resemble the entrance to a secret passage.
"Little Xibei, are you sure you didn't get it wrong?"
"I shouldn't be mistaken! Han Ye told me the entrance was beneath the thickest willow tree in this grove. He instructed me to remove any obstructions, and the opening would appear.
Earlier, while carrying you, I circled this grove, and this seemed to be the sturdiest willow tree. But why isn't the entrance here?"
Hearing Little Xibei's mumbling, Dashan couldn't help but burst into laughter.
He scoffed at Little Xibei, then walked towards another part of the grove.
When he reached a pile of boulders, Dashan brushed aside the vines covering them, revealing tree bark underneath.
Spotting the bark, Dashan shot a disdainful look at the dumbfounded Little Xibei, then struck the boulders with his palm, sending them flying.
As the dust settled, a thick tree trunk was revealed. At its base was a hole just big enough for one person to crawl through.
"Han Ye was indeed correct. Little Xibei, you're simply incapable of discerning things properly.
This massive willow tree, and you failed to notice it, running off to uproot another one instead.
Truly embarrassing. I can't believe you've been the Imperial Tutor all these years without anyone exposing your inability to navigate or identify objects!"
Facing Dashan's unrestrained ridicule, Little Xibei lowered his head, looking at the hole he had dug, then at the tree hollow beneath Dashan's feet.
For a moment, he was rendered speechless.
And dumbfounded.
His earlier actions were indeed quite foolish. How had he impulsively decided to uproot a tree?
Little Xibei furtively glanced sideways, catching Lin Zaozao suppressing her laughter.
He had indeed made a fool of himself just now.
"Little Xibei!"
"Yes, Zaozao?"
"You were really impressive just now. Such a thick willow tree, and you just uprooted it like that."
Lin Zaozao mimicked Little Xibei's pose while uprooting the tree, but her stance - with legs splayed, back bent, and arms outstretched - resembled a plucked duck waddling.
She twisted her waist, turned to Little Xibei with a smug raised eyebrow, then deliberately waddled over to Dashan in her comical pose.
Little Xibei watched Lin Zaozao's antics and gritted his teeth. Just as he was about to go over and pull her up from the ground, Lin Zaozao's next words nearly made him storm off in exasperation.
"Hills beyond hills, towers beyond towers, Little Xibei mistook the drooping willow.
I slept soundly on the lone mountain, Little Xibei wept after uprooting the willow.
All things grow under the sun, Little Xibei grew unseen, blown by the wind.
Autumn winds send leaves falling, autumn winds bring chill, Little Xibei still stands by the pit's brim.
Today we have wine, today we're drunk, Little Xibei suffers for uprooting the trunk.
Back aching, hands calloused, Little Xibei fumes like a big fool.
Hahaha..."
Lin Zaozao's improvised rhymes made Dashan laugh until his eyes were mere slits.
He shot Little Xibei, whose face had turned pitch black, a massive eye roll across Lin Zaozao's waddling form.
Ridiculous fool! The young mistress was right to mock him.
He should have used his brain and realized Han Ye wouldn't have someone uproot a tree to create a secret passage.
Utterly stupid of him.
Ignoring Little Xibei's gnashing teeth, Dashan turned back, his face instantly brightening into a smile as he addressed Lin Zaozao.
"Young mistress, this tunnel will lead us directly into the heart of Purgatory Valley. Everyone says Purgatory Valley is impenetrable because it's a path to certain death.
In this world, the only ones who can safely enter and exit Purgatory Valley's entrance are the Demon Lord Gu Shan and his Eighteen Monasteries.
And even the path taken by the Demon Lord Gu Shan is built upon countless corpses.
Following this secret passage into Purgatory Valley's interior, we'll arrive at the residential area of the poisoners and their supervisors.
There are no traps, poisonous mists, toxin pools, or insect valleys there.
As long as we take control of those poisoners and key personnel, the entirety of Purgatory Valley will be in our grasp."
"Is that so?"
Lin Zaozao peered into the pitch-black tunnel, devoid of even a speck of light.
Adding to the chilling breeze emanating from within, she couldn't help but shudder.
"Dashan, when did you excavate this secret passage?"
"Young mistress, we planted our spies in Purgatory Valley long ago. But the Female Emperor of Canglan Country kept such a tight watch that our spies couldn't get to the interior.
Recently, after the Female Emperor of Canglan Country perished, and with Han Ye's people keeping the Female Emperor of Fengshuo Country occupied, our undercover agents finally had a chance to infiltrate the heart of Purgatory Valley.
This passage was dug out by those agents working around the clock."
"I see. Then let's head in now."
After taking a deep breath, Lin Zaozao closed her eyes, preparing to crawl into the passage. But before she could stick her head in, someone grabbed the back of her collar and pulled her back.
"Zaozao, let the six poisoned children take the lead. They have an innate sensitivity to toxins and danger. If there's any disturbance ahead in the passage, we'll have enough warning to protect you and retreat."
Seeing Da Bao, Er Bao, and their four siblings about to enter the tunnel first, Lin Zaozao's face grew concerned.
Letting such young children lead the way made her uneasy.
As she watched the hesitation in Liu Bao's steps upon noticing her worried expression, he slowly approached Lin Zaozao and shyly hugged her legs in reassurance.
"Sister, don't worry about us. We six brothers survived the toxin pools of Purgatory Valley, so we have our ways of survival.
We're more attuned to danger than others. If there's any peril in the passage, our instincts will immediately alert us to retreat.
The Imperial Tutor made the right call having us take the lead. Sister, please be extra careful once we're inside, okay?"
"Liu Bao, I'll be careful. And you all need to be just as cautious too. If you sense any danger, we turn back immediately.
The world is vast, but our lives are most precious. Understood?"
"Yes, Sister."
Liu Bao obediently responded.
Watching Liu Bao burrow into the tunnel, Lin Zaozao and Little Xibei exchanged a glance, then prepared to follow into the tunnel.
But before she could go first, Zhao Cai and Jin Bao went into the secret passage after Liu Bao.
"Zhao Cai, Jin Bao, you two shouldn't go in there. What can you do? You're just going to your deaths!"
Lin Zaozao grabbed Jin Bao's large tail, pulling it hard to drag him back out.
Jin Bao turned his head, first looking at his messy tail that Lin Zaozao had pulled.
The next second, his hind legs were like a donkey's hooves, kicking Lin Zaozao's hand off his tail with one strike.
"Idiot!" Jin Bao whimpered.
Watching Jin Bao's disappearing back, Lin Zaozao looked at the red mark on her hand, so angry her face was contorted.
Ever since she could understand what Zhao Cai and Jin Bao said, those two had been showing her less and less respect.
Words like "idiot" and "fool" were all used against her now.
"Zaozao, is your hand okay? Does it hurt?"
"Little Xibei, my hand doesn't hurt, it's just that Jin Bao's attitude towards me is really too bad."
"Well, that's because you spoiled them like that. If there's good food, you give it to them first. If there's meat in the bowl, you pick it out for Zhao Cai and Jin Bao.
Zaozao, if you want to blame someone, blame yourself! You really spoiled them too much!"
Hearing Little Xibei's teasing voice, Lin Zaozao sighed helplessly.
Forget it, no matter what Little Xibei said, Zhao Cai and Jin Bao were her little masters, she spoiled them because she wanted to!
"Zaozao, if you're okay, let's go in now!"
"Okay!"
Little Xibei smiled at Lin Zaozao, then took her hand and headed into the secret passage.
Before going in, Little Xibei looked at Dashan with a smiling expression.
"Dashan, you walk behind Zaozao."
"Got it!"
But when Dashan tried to follow Lin Zaozao into the secret passage, he only took a few steps before his body was stuck in the narrow tunnel.
"Young master, the tunnel is too small, I can't get in."
Hearing Dashan's call for help, Lin Zaozao turned to see him blocking out all the light, unsure what to do.
"Hahaha...Dashan, don't you see your physique? Look at what Uncle Zhang has fed you into.
You alone could feed at least three regular people. With that big lump of yours, how dare you think you could follow us earlier."
Hearing Little Xibei's mocking words, Dashan's forehead throbbed with anger. But since his body was wedged too tightly in the hole, his ferocious look couldn't do any harm to Little Xibei.
