Chapter 276: Negligence

　　Lu Mingshu fiddled around with her sword.

　　Even she had not expected that things would go so smoothly.

　　When they were discovered, she only hoped to drag things out for as long as she could.

　　However, when they came across the soul magic blobs, she thought that they might have a chance.

　　Yan Fei told her that the protectorate administrative building had strict security. If something was not considered serious to them, no one dared to disturb the Solid Pellet Realm. When the trap in the dungeon was activated, it would surely be the in-charge who would make his way down and get things done. With that, he could be considered to be doing his job well.

　　Which meant that it should be the person who was controlling the array who discovered them.

　　After realizing that she and Zhou Ruying had suddenly gone missing in the dungeon, there was no doubt the other party would send someone over, which gave them a chance to take a hostage.

　　What took her by surprise was that the other party would only send one person over, and they could catch him without much effort.

　　However, that didn’t mean that they would be able to just get away with it. If any outsiders found out about this, the management would do whatever they could, whether the hostage lived or died, to make up for this mistake and kill them all, not even leaving remains behind.

　　That’s why…

　　“Hey, what are we supposed to do?”

　　Lu Mingshu randomly picked up two items from the floor and stuffed them into Zhou Ruying’s hand. “Take this.”

　　“Bronze statue fragments? What do I do with them?” Zhou Ruying looked at her, raising her eyebrows.

　　…

　　Zhou Ruying was having a great time playing.

　　The two fragments were rolling around, jumping here and there under her control.

　　Meanwhile, Lu Mingshu was holding the badge and commanding the soul blobs to chase the bronze pieces around in boredom.

　　The middle-aged man was staring at her, eyes so wide that they were going to pop out.

　　This is a very powerful array, and you two are using it to play tag? Are you nuts?

　　After a while, Zhou Ruying looked over to Lu Mingshu. “How long has it been?”

　　Lu Mingshu took out her watch. “It’s been half an hour since we came in. Adding on the first hour, we will leave in fifteen minutes.”

　　“I wonder if they succeeded.”

　　“Who cares? We already did our part.”

　　The array check was only once per hour, and they needed to get out before the second check. When the array was completely activated, its power would not be like what they were experiencing right now; it would be way stronger.

　　Lu Mingshu and Zhou Ruying did not want to bet their lives on this endeavor. Even if Yan Fei hadn’t succeeded, they would do as they planned and leave on time.

　　“Misses….” They could hear a soft voice coming from the back.

　　Both turned their heads and looked over at the middle-aged man.

　　“I do not have any hatred with Misses, can you spare me?” He looked like he was about to cry.

　　“Spare you?” Zhou Ruying side-eyed him. “Give me a reason,” she said lazily.

　　“Reason? Oh!” The middle-aged man fished out something from his pocket. “This is a Violet Cinnabar Plant, it’s five hundred years old! I got it two days ago.”

　　Zhou Ruying drooled when she saw the spiritual plant.

　　Five hundred years? This kind of medicine is so rare in our world that even Spirit Realms might not have one, and in this world, someone with the same cultivation as me has it?

　　Zhou Ruying grabbed the Violet Cinnabar Plant and put it in her sleeves.

　　“Miss, you agree?” The middle-aged man looked at Zhou Ruying in anticipation.

　　Zhou Ruying blinked her eyes and smiled sweetly at him. “But there’s two of us, how are we going to share this?”

　　“Er….” The middle-aged man frowned. As if in deep pain, he took out a small bottle. “This is Violet Ginseng Fluid. It’s most suitable to be consumed when one is about to break through. How precious it is, I guess you would know….”

　　Lu Mingshu opened it up to sniff before keeping it.

　　“Well?”

　　“Sure, we’ll let you off.” Zhou Ruying giggled. “But who knows what you might do? Should we…?”

　　The middle-aged man stared at her in horror and frantically started to take out items. “Please, Miss, please don’t cripple me! This is Brightest Night Gravel….”

　　“…this is Ghost Head’s Vine.”

　　“…Heavenly Wolf’s Ivory.”

　　“…this…”

　　“Miss, I have given you everything. I’m being serious!” He sobbed.

　　Zhou Ruying laughed. She smiled sweetly at him. “What’s that on your waist?”

　　The man hesitated for a moment before taking the piece of jade off. “This is Jade of Pure Spirit… I really do not have anything else.”

　　Zhou Ruying wanted to continue, but Lu Mingshu cut her off; “Time’s up.”

　　Zhou Ruying sneered. She raised her hands and numbed the man’s meridians. “Let’s go.” She turned to Lu Mingshu.

　　They both disappeared into the dungeon.

　　The man wiped away his crocodile tears and smirked. “You wanna leave? Dream on!”

　　He gritted his teeth, tolerating the pain, and went to the wall, placing a badge of authorization into an indent.

　　*Crack—–*The sound of something being activated rang through the dungeon.

　　The badge of authorization for the array may have been taken away, but what array would not have a backup plan? He had already activated the alternate method, and soon, the two ladies would have nowhere to hide!

　　And my stuff, I’ll get it all back!

　　Lu Mingshu waved the badge, and the fog in front of her disappeared.

　　They ran through the passage.

　　Lu Mingshu soon felt that something was out of place.

　　“Wait up.”

　　Zhou Ruying stopped in her tracks. “What?”

　　“You don’t find anything weird?”

　　“Well, we have been running for quite a while.”

　　Lu Mingshu nodded.

　　“Shouldn’t we be out already?”

　　“That’s why it’s weird.” Lu Mingshu calculated the distance and time they ran and came up with a conclusion. “We have been tricked.”

　　“Huh?” Zhou Ruying looked at her in confusion. “Isn’t the badge with you?”

　　Lu Mingshu shook her head and sighed. “It’s my fault. It’s with me, but there’s a living human back there.”

　　“That guy?” Zhou Ruying huffed. “I’m going to behead him!”

　　“We can’t.” Lu Mingshu pulled her back. “We’re trapped here.”

　　“Then…”

　　“The lesson is, never give anyone a chance.” Lu Mingshu bit her lips.

　　“You’re inexperienced. I’m the one at fault.” Zhou Ruying sighed.

　　Lu Mingshu shook her head. This isn’t Zhou Ruying’s fault. We don’t know this world well, so how would we know that the other party would have a backup plan even after we took everything from him and temporarily paralyzed him?

　　What’s done is done. There’s no use crying over spilt milk. Finding a solution is the most important thing now.

　　She looked around and started to make plans.

　　“What, you already have an idea?” Zhou Ruying asked.

　　After a while, Lu Mingshu nodded. “If I’m right, this is only a maze. He wants to trap us for fifteen minutes and have the guards get us after the next check.”

　　“Then we…”

　　“Follow me.” Lu Mingshu smiled. “No matter how difficult a maze is, we just have to find the exit, right?”