The man called Brother Ma watched contentedly as these people went back to work with high morale. But as soon as he turned around, he saw Shen Li and Han Yue silently working in a corner. They had been there since they arrived and had not said a word.
"Hey, brother! How's it going? Is this job tiring?" Brother Ma walked up, casually patted one of them on the shoulder, and asked in a familiar way.
Han Yue, who was patted on the shoulder, stiffened and stopped her work. She said in a gruff voice, "Well! It's okay! Not too tiring!"
"Hahaha! You, little brother, are an honest man!" Brother Ma laughed out loud when he heard this. He also removed his arm from Han Yue's shoulder. "Work hard! You'll get paid in a couple of days!"
After saying that, Brother Ma encouraged Han Yue by patting her shoulder twice.
Hearing this, Han Yue just lowered her head and nodded. She didn't stop her work. To outsiders, she really looked like an honest worker.
Brother Ma turned around, squinted his eyes slightly, stared at the hand that had just patted Han Yue's shoulder for a while, and then pretended to casually glance at Shen Li and Han Yue while lowering his head to pick up the shovel.
After he finished speaking, the only sounds left in the tunnel were the shovels digging the ground and everyone's breathing.
The tunnel was damp and stuffy. After working for a short time, everyone was sweating. Brother Ma stopped his work, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm, and asked Shen Li and Han Yue, who had been working with their heads down, "Two little brothers, it's so hot and stuffy here. If you're hot, just take off your outer clothes. They're cumbersome and will just get dirty!"
"It's okay! We're not hot yet!" Han Yue replied without stopping her work.
She looked more rugged than ordinary girls and had a coarser voice. By deliberately speaking in a gruff voice, her voice was very similar to a man's. So it was always her who spoke.
Hearing this, Brother Ma turned around and looked at Han Yue's back while she was working. "Hey! It's okay, little brother. There are no outsiders here. It's just us guys. There are no girls. What are you afraid of?"
Immediately someone nearby started to boo, "Yeah! What are you so shy about! You're like a girl!"
Han Yue unconsciously tightened her grip on the shovel, and even Shen Li slowed down her movements.
After the teasing, Brother Ma walked over seriously from behind and stood two steps away from Han Yue. He sized them up from head to toe. "Brother, which team are you two from? I think you look a bit unfamiliar."
Han Yue didn't know how to answer and just stood there silently.
Hearing this, Shen Li beside her preemptively said in a gruff voice, "Brother Ma, we're from the neighboring team. We're here to help out!"
Brother Ma nodded when he heard this, looking like he understood. "From the neighboring team! I really don't know much about you then."
After saying that, he turned around and shouted, "Alright, brothers, get your spirits up! It's time to get down to business!"
As he said this, he took a few steps forward and quickly exchanged glances with two people beside him.
When the other men heard his words, their faces showed a bit of solemnity. Although they didn't stop their work, they slowly slowed down.
Brother Ma forcefully stuck his shovel into the soil and winked at the two people close to him. They immediately nodded in understanding.
The two men deliberately walked lightly. Their shoes made no sound on the ground. When they were only about two arm - lengths away from Shen Li and Han Yue, they suddenly raised their arms and were about to strike at their heads.
Shen Li slowly poured the shovelful of soil she had just dug onto the ground and then shoveled another one. She heard the faint sound behind her and felt the strange movement of the air being violently fanned.
Before the shovel fell, she dodged to the side. After turning around, she kicked the man to the ground. She took out the hidden dagger from the side of her calf and cut the man's throat.
Han Yue had also dodged the attack and taken care of the other man.
Seeing how powerful Shen Li and Han Yue were, Brother Ma immediately signaled to two people beside him to run out and call for help.
The remaining strong men attacked Shen Li and Han Yue again. These men were not only strong but also had some martial arts skills. However, they were all knocked down by Shen Li within two or three moves.
The man who had received Brother Ma's signal took advantage of the fight and ran as fast as he could towards the exit.
After Shen Li knocked down a man, she picked up a shovel on the ground and threw it towards the two running men. The sharp shovel immediately hit one man in the waist, and he immediately fell down bleeding.
The other man was frightened and ran even faster.
After only two men, including Brother Ma, were left in the secret passage, Shen Li and Han Yue quickly finished them off, one for each of them. It just took a bit more time to kill Brother Ma.
By this time, the man who had run out to report the news had long disappeared.
Thinking of the escaping man, Shen Li didn't dare to stay any longer. She grabbed Han Yue's arm and said, "Let's go!"
Han Yue didn't hesitate either. The two of them immediately ran towards the exit as fast as they could.
But before they had run halfway, Shen Li lay on the ground and heard the messy but quite numerous footsteps coming from the front.
Getting up from the ground, Shen Li looked at the two fork roads not far away and said, "It's too late! Go this way!"
Han Yue closely followed Shen Li without slowing down. They had not run into the fork road for half a quarter of an hour when dozens of people rushed past the place where they had just been.
In the secret passage that Shen Li and Han Yue had chosen, there were only six or seven torches not far from the fork road. Further inside, there were no torches. Shen Li took out the fire starter on her body and walked while looking around the secret passage.
She didn't choose a road blindly just now. She had heard from those people that there was more than one secret passage here, and these fork roads might lead to different parts of Panhu Fort.
She chose this secret passage because the torches in this one burned more vigorously than those in the other fork road, whose flames were flickering.
Since the torches burned more vigorously, it meant that there was more air here. It was very likely an already - dug - through secret passage.
Facts proved that Shen Li's choice was correct. After they had run for only a quarter of an hour, they heard voices coming from above.
"Bang! A bunch of useless idiots! They even let others find the secret passage! And you didn't even see a single shadow." An angry male voice came from above.
"Third boss, it's really not our fault. Those two are just too cunning! They even knew our password for tonight. That's why the brothers below weren't on guard and let them into the secret passage."
This was another male voice. At this moment, he was kneeling on the ground with a helpless look on his face.