Mu Wulin still didn't understand what his second elder brother meant. "All of them escaped? That can't be! Although the one who just ran away got away, there must still be one in the secret passage. As long as our men guard the exits well, we can still catch that one!"
Zhuang Yusheng clearly knew Mu Wulin very well. He knew that Mu Wulin was a one - track - minded person. So he explained to him right away, "This person deliberately showed up just to divert our attention. If I'm not wrong, the other one has probably already escaped."
"Someone! Go and check if there's anything strange at the exits we've been guarding!" Zhuang Yusheng loudly ordered his subordinates. "And remove the incense. Go down the secret passage and see if the person is still there."
As soon as Zhuang Yusheng gave the order, someone immediately went to carry it out. With a gloomy look on his face, Zhuang Yusheng went to the main hall in their stronghold where they usually held meetings. There were already many people standing below, waiting to report.
"Have you all checked clearly? There really wasn't anyone coming out of the secret passage?" Zhuang Yusheng sat on the seat belonging to the second leader and looked at the people below.
A small leader in the front immediately stepped forward and said affirmatively, "Second leader, our brothers have been guarding the exits. Indeed, not a single figure has come out of it."
Hearing this, Zhuang Yusheng was silent for a moment. "There's still one place where we didn't assign anyone to guard!" Then he turned his gaze to Mu Wulin sitting below him.
Mu Wulin immediately remembered that they hadn't assigned anyone to guard the secret passage exit in his room. His face darkened instantly. He immediately stood up and ordered, "Someone, go and check the secret passage exit under the bed in my room. See if there are any signs of people coming in or out!"
In his heart, he couldn't help thinking: If the person really escaped from the exit in his room, then it was his fault.
After a while, a subordinate came in to report. "Report to the second leader and the third leader. We found some fresh soil and several muddy footprints at the secret passage exit under the third leader's bed."
Now that these things were clear, Mu Wulin remembered that Zhuang Yusheng had wanted to assign someone to guard the secret passage exit in his room at first, but he had interrupted and dragged him away, and he had forgotten to tell someone to do it later.
He immediately knelt on one knee in front of Zhuang Yusheng and pleaded guilty. "Second brother! The person escaped from the secret passage exit in my place. I can't shirk the responsibility! I'm willing to accept the punishment!"
Zhuang Yusheng reached out his hand to pull him up. "Third brother, today's matter is not your fault! Those two people are too cunning! If there's any fault, I can't escape responsibility either. It was my underestimation that let them escape! If we're going to be punished, it should be me first!"
Hearing Zhuang Yusheng say so, Mu Wulin had no choice but to stand up.
Zhuang Yusheng walked down the steps of the main hall. He said coldly to the people below, "Pass my order! The whole Pangu Tiger Stronghold is on high alert. Count the number of people! From today on, until the big brother returns to the stronghold, no one in the stronghold is allowed to enter or leave!"
After that, the people in the Pangu Tiger Stronghold didn't rest. They started to search along every path in the stronghold, while Zhuang Yusheng and Mu Wulin went to check the footprints found in Mu Wulin's room.
The secret passages in the Pangu Tiger Stronghold were first dug a month ago. The whole tunnel was very damp, and the soil inside was naturally wet. So when someone came out of the tunnel, their shoes would be covered with soil, leaving a clear trail of footprints on the ground.
At this time, Mu Wulin's bed had been moved away, and the trail of footprints was even clearer.
Zhuang Yusheng squatted on the ground, his head down, staring at the footprints. He sneered, then stretched out his palm to measure. Sure enough, it was only as big as his palm.
Then he stood up and stepped his foot beside one of the footprints. The contrast was obvious at once. His shoes were not only two or three inches bigger than the footprint, but also much wider.
Mu Wulin looked at the trail of footprints on the ground in disbelief. "These belong to a woman?"
Zhuang Yusheng let out a soft laugh. "She's a woman with good martial arts skills and is good at scheming! This matter is getting more and more interesting!"
Just then, someone suddenly came from outside to report. "Second leader, third leader, we found Wang Li's body in the stronghold and Li San who was knocked out and tied up. They were in Brother Ma's team before!"
Zhuang Yusheng immediately said, "Bring Li San up, and carry Wang Li's body in too."
After a while, someone carried Wang Li's body covered with a white cloth and Li San, who had no outer robe on.
Mu Wulin stepped forward to lift the white cloth and check Wang Li's body. "The wound is on the head. It was a fatal blow! Judging from the wound, it seems to be caused by a dagger."
Zhuang Yusheng had his eyes fixed on Li San kneeling on the ground all the time. "You're Li San, right? Tell us what happened to you? How did he die?"
Li San, who was called out, trembled. When he was just woken up, he couldn't believe that he was still alive. It took him a while to come to his senses, but his face was still pale.
"Today we were following Brother Ma to dig the secret passage. Wang Li and I were in charge of transporting the soil. When we got to the place and were about to pour out the soil, suddenly someone came up and covered my mouth, and put a knife on my neck."
As he said this, he lifted his neck for everyone to see. Everyone saw a bloodstain on his neck, which had already scabbed over.
"Then I turned my head and saw that Wang Li was in the same situation as me. He was also covered and threatened. Then the person who threatened Wang Li started to ask him questions."
"What questions were asked?" Zhuang Yusheng sat on the seat, his hand quietly stroking the armrest.
Li San couldn't see Zhuang Yusheng's expression clearly, but he could feel the chill in his voice. His heart was pounding wildly. He said in a trembling voice, "They just asked what we were digging the soil for. At that time, Wang Li was scared and said that we were digging a secret passage."
After saying that, he nervously swallowed his saliva.
"Is that all?" Zhuang Yusheng's hand was still rubbing the armrest. He didn't even raise his head.
"Then, that person asked Wang Li what the secret passage was for. Wang Li said he didn't know. Then the black - clothed person threatened Wang Li and made a cut on his neck."
"Later, when the black - clothed person saw that Wang Li really didn't know, he asked him if there was any secret signal in our stronghold. At that time, I was so scared that I was afraid Wang Li would say it, so I struggled desperately and shook my head at Wang Li to stop him. Maybe the person who threatened me thought I was too much of a nuisance, so he knocked me out. I don't know what happened after that. When I woke up, I saw our brothers in front of me."
As soon as Li San finished speaking, someone stepped forward to check the back of his neck. Sure enough, they found a purple and blue mark. Then they nodded to Zhuang Yusheng and Mu Wulin above.