Chapter 16 — Once I am reborn, I will not give him even a strand of hair

Co Nghien Hanh leaned his hand against the cliff and walked forward. In front of his chest, two more silver needles fell down.

“Thach Thanh, take them out.”

As soon as Thach Thanh stepped down the stone steps, Tong Uyen Nhu rushed forward and hugged his leg tightly.

“Can't go through the main door.”

"Cong Cong Hoa's people are guarding outside, just waiting for the warehouse to open and will immediately set fire."

“There is a secret route to the west to transport food.”

She took out half a bronze card from her waist.

“This is the key to the warehouse door.”

I helped my mother stand up and asked coldly:

“Why did you help us?”

Tong Uyen Nhu raised her tear-filled face.

“Because on that secret decree there is also my name.”

“He never intended to let me leave this place alive.”

From deep inside the tunnel came Hoa Cong Cong's cold laughter. Immediately after that, the first explosion rang out, shaking so much that the brick wall cracked. Rubble fell like rain, and the exit was half blocked by a collapsed wooden beam. Thach Thanh used his shoulders to carry the wooden beam, while the bodyguards protected my mother and crawled to the ground. However, Co Nghien Hanh turned around and went deeper into the tunnel. I grabbed his wrist.

“What else do you want to do?”

“The bottom is connected to the foundation of the grain warehouse.”

"As long as the wire is not cut off, tens of thousands of military provisions will be buried."

“Now you can't even hold your sword steady.”

“So you should take them away.”

Co Nghien Hanh withdrew his hand and stuffed the metal order into my palm.

"The city defense troops only need to see the order and will listen to her mobilization."

I looked at the blood stain on his chest that was constantly spreading, but did not respond. Cong Cong Hoa suddenly appeared from the smoke screen, holding a burning fire in his hand. He threw the firecracker towards the wire, then turned around and slammed open the stone door next to him. Co Nghien Hanh rushed to stamp out the fire, but the iron hook shot out from behind the brick wall went straight through his waist. Fresh blood in just a moment dyed his shirt red. As soon as my mother saw the pattern on the iron hook, she cried out loudly.

“Tu Nhi, that is your father's agency.”

“The person on the other side of the tunnel... is your father!”

Behind the stone door came the sound of heavy gears turning. The iron hook quickly retracted, dragging Co Nghien Hanh straight towards the wall full of sharp spikes. Thach Thanh swung his knife and cut off the iron chain, Co Nghien Hanh fell heavily to the ground. A blood hole appeared on his waist, black blood mixed with fresh blood continuously flowing out. I squatted down and pressed firmly on his wound.

“Don't move.”

“That person is not my father.”

My mother tore herself away from the guards and staggered to the stone door.

“This Lien Hoan Sentence can only be made by your father.”

“Seven years ago, in order to protect me, he was taken to the old pharmacy in the imperial city.”

“I saw with my own eyes that he was still alive.”

From the crack in the stone door, a pale hand emerged. That hand was missing two fingers, and the wrist was covered with old scars. My mother's voice trembled.

“Nghien Chi.”

The person behind the door paused for a moment. Immediately after that, several steel needles impregnated with medicine shot out from the crack in the door. I rushed forward and pressed my mother down, the silver needles grazed my bun then slammed into the brick wall behind. The wall was immediately covered with a layer of white ash.

“He doesn't recognize us anymore.”

My mother lay on the ground, looking at the figure in the crack of the door.

“Cong Cong Hoa used too much medicine on him.”

Co Nghien Hanh propped his hands on the stone steps and sat up.

“The old pharmacy always used living people to test drugs.”

"Perhaps Mr. Khuong was mentally controlled by them."

Deep in the tunnel there was another explosion. The hot air swept up with dust and dirt, and the bricks on top of his head kept loosening. Tong Uyen Nhu held the bronze card and pointed to the corner of the west wall.

“The secret passage is over there.”

“If we're any later, we won't be able to make it.”

I don't leave. I took off the white jade hairpin from my hair, followed the crack of the door and slowly pushed it inside.

“Father, this is the brooch my mother left me.”

“If you still remember, please stop the agency.”

There was still no response from behind the door. On the contrary, the sound of gears moving more and more urgently. A row of iron spikes slowly rose from the ground, completely cutting off the escape route. My mother suddenly slit her palm, smearing blood on the groove in the middle of the stone door.

“This door was made by your father for the Khuong family's pharmacy.”

"The receiving authority is not the jade order, but the bloodline of the Khuong family."

Fresh blood slowly seeped into the stone door along the grooves. The spinning gears suddenly stopped. From behind the door came a hoarse, choking sound.

“Thanh Tu?”