The final escape method, when you strip away all the earlier preparations and the scam process, turns out to be quite simple.
As long as no other people remain inside the cave, and as long as he manages to get the others out of the cave, he can move to a position near the entrance. After that, he designs a way to lure Tie Miaoqing and the rest back inside. Once they pass by, he emerges from a hiding spot near the entrance and flees at once. In the vast, desolate ancient deadlands, finding him again would be extremely difficult.
Besides, they have important matters to attend to. Spending time hunting him down seems unlikely.
He has already calculated the exact hiding spot near the entrance. All along the way he kept thinking about how to escape, constantly observing the terrain and surroundings, always preparing for the worst and ready to run at any moment. When he first entered this cave, he noticed a recessed area above the passage near the entrance that was perfect for concealment.
The most critical part of the entire escape plan is to make those people believe he cannot run away, and that he will not run.
Of course, with such a large sum of money involved, he will not simply flee without trying his best.
After confirming that Tie Miaoqing and the others had withdrawn, he turned back once more and quickly returned to the spot where he had sat cross-legged three incense sticks earlier.
The three incense sticks had long since burned out. With no one else around, he could not be bothered to light more. He simply stared closely at the faint changes in the drifting smoke.
Under the sparkling starlight, Tie Miaoqing’s group emerged from the cave and returned to the place where they had first met Yu Qing.
Looking around in the night, Tie Miaoqing glanced at the always restrained Xu Fei and Chong’er, then turned her head to Sun Ping and said, “They have been rushing about all day and must be tired. Get them something to eat and drink so they can rest early.”
“Alright.” Sun Ping agreed, but turned and signalled her husband Zhu Shangbiao to handle it.
Seeing that even Yu Qing’s two companions were being taken care of, Cheng Shanping felt somewhat displeased and spoke up, “Boss lady, what exactly are we doing here? This concerns the life of our master. Time is precious. Are we really going to let that boy waste our time and mess around like this? We just came out and left him alone inside with no one watching. Aren’t you afraid he will run?”
Chong’er slightly curled his lip. Though he said nothing, he firmly believed Yu Qing would not abandon them.
With Xu Fei and Chong’er present, Sun Ping also did not believe Yu Qing would flee. She replied, “If he can dig another tunnel from that deep underground all the way to the surface and escape, then that would be his skill. If he really has that ability, I honestly would not blame him.”
Cheng Shanping was speechless. Thinking about it, digging a tunnel out from such a deep place in a short time was indeed impossible. As long as the entrance was guarded, the person truly could not escape. But that was not the point he wanted to make.
Tie Miaoqing lifted her bamboo hat, fixed her eyes on his, and said sincerely, “Old Cheng, we already agreed to let him try first. If we had a solution ourselves, why would we need him to attempt it?” Although she spoke words of comfort, deep inside she actually held considerable hope in Yu Qing.
She still vividly remembered the scene of the “An Fou” characters, and she remained deeply wary of that mysterious presence.
“Sigh!” At this point, Cheng Shanping could only let out a long sigh and shake his head.
A trace of doubt flashed in Sun Ping’s eyes. She sensed an inexplicable anxiety in Cheng Shanping, which could be understood as worry for their master’s safety, but it had not been so obvious before. She clearly felt it became stronger after Yu Qing appeared. She could not explain this baseless feeling.
Hearing the discussion, Xu Fei felt deeply worried and anxious. He had no idea what bad karma he had accumulated to end up meeting “A Shi Heng” and getting involved. He now regretted it greatly. If he had never known that “Shi Heng brother,” he would not be in this state of constant fear and suffering.
Just this one trip had shown him how hard the martial world really is. He completely abandoned his former unrealistic dreams and now only wanted to survive and leave.
They waited and waited. After eating and drinking their fill, the group still waited. Xu Fei and Chong’er, curled up on a pile of dry grass in the corner, felt their hearts hanging in suspense and could not fall asleep.
In the latter half of the night, Tie Miaoqing and the others one by one turned their heads toward the cave entrance. Finally, a faint smell of smoke and fire drifted out from inside.
Deep inside the cave, Yu Qing, sitting cross-legged in silence, noticed the smoke was starting to thin gradually.
The airflow here was poor, so the gathered smoke dissipated slowly. Its fading meant a long time had already passed.
Yu Qing gave a bitter smile inwardly. He realised this attempt had indeed failed. He had overthought it. He had already done his best and must leave now. If he delayed further until the smoke completely cleared, Tie Miaoqing and the others would likely come in to check, and once suspicion arose, none of the three would escape.
To flee, he had to escape precisely when Tie Miaoqing and the others believed escape was impossible for him.
His abilities were limited, so he could only apologise to Xu Fei and Chong’er.
Just as he prepared to stand up and throw all the remaining unused wood from the earlier barrier pile into the lava to increase the smoke, just as his gaze on the smoke was about to give up, his eyelids suddenly twitched violently. His eyes widened again, staring intently.
Staring at the slowly drifting smoke against the red glow background, his eyes showed disbelief.
Was it the reaction of a lava bubble bursting? No. He was certain this was a fluctuation he had never seen before. He immediately focused and observed carefully.
In the smoke-filled lava lake, on a small island of land, beneath a bamboo-shoot pillar, a black dot emerged from the lava. After briefly adjusting to the smoky environment, it suddenly sprang out from the bright red lava and landed on the island. It was an insect.
The black-brown insect matched the colour of the rocks around the lava lake perfectly. Even the uneven texture of its shell resembled the rock formations. Its six jointed legs had sharp barbs. It slowly turned its body on the island, two large black-gem-like eyes seeming to cautiously survey the smoky surroundings.
Sensing something wrong, the insect immediately spread its wings. Only then could one see that the black wings carried a faint blue sheen.
The insect was not large overall, slightly smaller than an average adult’s thumb, but its head took up half its body. The head was huge, while the remaining half tapered into a cone shape.
Perhaps to attract something’s attention, the insect’s sharp chewing mouthparts spat out bursts of sparks repeatedly.
After quietly observing for a while with no abnormalities around, the insect finally seemed reassured. It slowly crawled away from the lava edge, hopped onto the bamboo-shoot pillar, and used its sharp mouthparts to gnaw at the surface, apparently searching for food.
Outside, Yu Qing sat motionless, not daring to move. He was certain now. A small creature had emerged from the lava. Though he had never seen one, anyone with sense could guess what it was.
He waited quietly. Once the small creature’s movements stabilised, once he estimated its approximate position, once he took a deep breath, Yu Qing slowly reached for the apple-sized metal canister on the ground, the one Tie Miaoqing had crafted to hold the fire cricket.
He gently unscrewed the lid, tucked the lid into his belt, slowly stood up, and quietly moved toward the lava lake entrance while constantly watching the smoke for any changes. If he sensed anything unusual from the insect, he immediately held his breath and froze. Only when the insect behaved normally again did he continue forward.
He slowly reached the entrance, confirmed the situation inside the smoke once more, pinpointed the insect’s exact position, then slowly raised one leg and pressed his foot against the wall. His whole body coiled like a spring, waiting in silence for a moment. Suddenly he kicked hard and shot forward, launching himself straight into the red smoke.
While in mid-air, Yu Qing hurled the metal cup-shaped object with full force. It whistled toward the hazy shadow of the bamboo-shoot pillar in the mist.
The insect on the pillar reacted with extreme agility. Seeing something flash through the smoke and hearing the sound of rushing air, it instantly sprang toward the lava lake. Its dodging speed was astonishingly fast, but it was still too late. A dark shadow covered it, and with a clang it was slammed back onto the pillar. The metal cup sank deeply upside-down into the stone, half embedded.
Clang clang clang clang…
Clear metallic clanging rang urgently inside the cup. The cup embedded in the stone pillar visibly loosened from the insect’s impacts and soon got knocked loose entirely, bouncing off the rock.
A human figure leaped up again from the lava lake surface. The soles of his shoes instantly burst into flame, yet he ignored it and lunged forward to act urgently.
Yu Qing grabbed the bouncing cup and pressed it firmly back onto the pillar. It was an extremely close call.
The rapid clanging sounded again without pause.
He quickly stamped out the flames on his soles. Feeling the powerful impacts vibrating inside the cup, Yu Qing’s heart shouted with relief. Just a tiny bit slower, just a moment later, and it would have escaped.
Having experienced it personally, he finally understood why this thing was so hard to catch. Its reactions were truly too fast. Even with a surprise attack, he had nearly failed. One could imagine how difficult it usually was.
He felt fortunate for the smoke. Without this smoke acting as a screen, there was no way to approach the little creature. The moment a human figure appeared or moved in this underground space, the little thing would vanish instantly. No wonder Tie Miaoqing and the others could do nothing about such a small thing.
Fortunately, the smoke from the Guan Zi Jue assisted in creating a blinding effect on the fire cricket, preventing it from noticing someone approaching in time. Thanks to that, he succeeded.
With no prior experience in this, his clever move turned into luck. How could he not secretly rejoice?
Feeling the strong impacts inside the cup, Yu Qing had not expected the little creature to be so strong. No wonder its escape leaps were so swift. He also breathed a sigh of relief. With this item in hand, he no longer needed to flee in a hurry. There was now a real chance to recover his own wealth.
He felt lucky that the turning point arrived just when he was about to give up. That was truly close.
The people outside had waited far too long, from shortly after nightfall until now, almost until dawn. How could they not feel doubtful?
In the end, Cheng Shanping, who had been sitting on the ground, stood up first. “Boss lady, look, the smoke is already thinning. In less than an hour the sky will brighten. Sitting here waiting endlessly is no solution. We have no idea what is happening inside. Let me go in and check.”
Tie Miaoqing hesitated. The only reason she had patiently waited until now was because of the divine miracle she had witnessed. Otherwise she would never have allowed Yu Qing to stay alone inside for so long. With no reaction from Yu Qing for such a time, her confidence had gradually wavered.
Because of his words, she left the swing, walked past the group, and said, “I’ll go.”
She casually took a wet towel.
Yet the moment she reached the cave entrance, her graceful figure, with the bamboo hat covering half her face, suddenly froze. Doubt appeared, then contemplation, and gradually she tilted her head as if listening carefully.