At this moment, it's also not the right time for Qingcuo to come.
Because Huo Hengxuan previously confirmed there was no longer a need to dread the Black Armor Guard's surveillance inside the cell, so clearly Qingcuo, wandering in front of them as a Dazed Beast these days, belonged to Huo Hengxuan.
Each one of them, their acting is quite something!
No wonder the previous plans went so smoothly; it turns out this guy has been quietly coordinating all along...
Chen Kuang simply didn't bother to pretend anymore, staring directly at Qingcuo, he asked:
"What exactly is Huo Hengxuan planning?"
"Don't tell me he just plans to leave like this and toss the mess over to me?"
He pointed to Chu Wen Ruo and her daughter beside him: "This is the last legitimate bloodline of your Liang Kingdom!"
"He's been creating such a mystery for so long, inserting you by Li Hongling's side, or maybe even more people, is it all just for such a hasty conclusion?"
Qingcuo put down the food box, took out a bottle of wine from it, and placed it in front of himself.
The rest, he handed into the cell as it was.
He said: "A final meal, enjoy it properly."
Chen Kuang laughed angrily: "Is this really a last meal before execution?"
Qingcuo shook his head and said:
"Don't waste it; in the future... there might be a long time without such meals."
He paused, then added seriously:
"If you are going to escape the Liang Kingdom with the lady and the princess, with your strength, it's best to go incognito and blend into the fleeing refugees."
"By then, even getting a bun might be difficult."
Chen Kuang: "..."
His eye twitched, realizing the implication of Qingcuo's words.
As the trail of the Elixir of Longevity has been linked to himself, Huo Hengxuan being taken away won't result in futile interrogations; he is to be executed.
But executing Huo Hengxuan isn't the end, rather... the beginning!
Their secret arrangements have all been activated, and the final executor to take the princess and the lady away is Chen Kuang!
Qingcuo glanced at him, seeing his serious expression, he continued:
"If on your way you meet someone claiming to be 'Earth Official', that's one of us; you can seek help from them."
He pointed toward the food box in front.
Chen Kuang reached out and opened it, inside lay quietly a small wooden plaque about an inch square in addition to the food.
A "正" character was written on it.
Chen Kuang picked it up and solemnly kept it.
And under that bottle of wine was also a key... the key to the cell, the key to the shackles.
"What about the two Immortal Masters outside the Celestial Prison?"
"Someone has already gone to delay them."
A question arose in Chen Kuang's mind, if someone could delay, why wait until today?
As if seeing through his thoughts, Qingcuo explained:
"We lacked manpower, and our cultivation wasn't enough; we can only use the Blood Burning Secret Technique to forcibly elevate cultivation level."
"It took several days to prepare, solely for this battle, ten deaths, no survival, success is imperative."
Chen Kuang listened, his heart pounding, wouldn't this be similar to self-detonation...
Go there and surely face death, yet even knowing it's death, with so many days for them to regret, they still chose this path.
Truly tragic.
However, Chen Kuang himself intended to leverage their power to escape, having no stand to sympathize or pity, he could only sigh silently in his heart.
He unlocked the shackles, rotated his wrists, exercised his limbs, and took a deep breath.
He finally felt a sliver of ease with freedom close at hand.
Subsequently, he also released Chu Wen Ruo and the Little Princess.
Lady Liang, her figure weak and feeble like a willow swaying in the wind, her eyes slightly red, seemingly due to emotional agitation, but she bit her lips tightly and endured.
The Little Princess sneakily crouched down, snuck a chicken leg from the food box that was inside Chen Kuang's cell, and devoured it clean within a few bites, then grabbed another one.
Her greasy hands hidden behind her back, she looked up with big, innocent eyes at the three adults in front of her, remarkably pure.
The commotion finally woke the other prisoners in the cells, causing a commotion.
Someone climbed up, desperately shouting: "Save me! Please save me! My lady, have mercy, save your humble servant too! For generations, my ancestors have been officials, vital ministers of Da Liang!"
Others cursed: "Heaven is blind! That only these two women should survive, while so many loyal souls have been misplaced, and we ambitious souls can only die here! Da Liang is doomed!"
Still others clung to unrealistic hopes: "Has the Saint won?"
His guess seems normal.
Tonight, the starlight in the sky seemed like a final sparkle, filling one's heart with hope.
The gaze of everyone in the prison gathered on them, Chu Wen Ruo hastily took hold of the Little Princess, a little flustered, not knowing what to do.
She instinctively cast her gaze towards Chen Kuang.
Chen Kuang held the Dragon's Gums in one hand, and patted Chu Wen Ruo on the shoulder with the other, telling her to pick up the Little Princess.
He looked at Qingcuo: "What about you? Are you coming with us?"
Qingcuo shook his head: "I won't go, I still have things to do."
His blood-red eyes flashed, and he pulled out a yellowing paper crane from his bosom, handing it to Chen Kuang.
Chen Kuang was slightly startled, reaching out to receive it.
Qingcuo hesitated for a while, removed his face mask, revealing a delicate and pale face of a young girl.
He... no, she, speaking out with a clear voice like a oriole:
"If possible, please help me bury it by the side of Quchun River."
The Quchun River is south of the Liang Kingdom, at the foot of Wushu Mountain, a river that passes through both Zhou and Liang Kingdoms.
Wushu Mountain, ten years ago, had its ridge shattered by a punch from Li Hongling.
At that time, at the mountain's foot, by the beautiful Quchun River, there was an unnoticed, subsistence-dependent little village.
For Qingcuo, even to this day, she never understood.
Why did those towering peaks suddenly collapse under the clear sky?
The stones falling from the sky were so large that they killed 43 people.
The young girl herding cattle by the river leisurely kicked the water with her feet; she had just learned to fold paper cranes, writing her parents' and her own name on it.
As she turned her head, she saw Hell.
She dumbly watched at that time, seeing a tiny figure standing on the remnants of the mountain range, an arrogant voice spreading thousands of miles around.
"Give me Li Hongling ten years, let me enter the Liang Kingdom like it's an empty land!"
Such spirit!
She claimed she would trample the mountains and rivers of the Liang Kingdom, shaking the world, yet who would see those 43 insignificant corpses.
Qingcuo asked: "Do you know where Quchun River is?"
Chen Kuang nodded.
Qingcuo's lips seemed to twitch into a slight smile, but she ultimately didn't smile, only softly said: "It's a very beautiful place, and you will definitely like it when you see it."
She handed the bottle of wine to Chen Kuang, taking one for herself as well:
"This is Carefree Wine, which can gather spirit and condense energy. The wine vapors can elevate your blood and qi cultivation until it dissipates."
Chen Kuang looked at her: "You..."
"Parting."
Qingcuo explained, somewhat awkwardly tipping back her head to take a swig, and then coughing twice hard.
Her pale face flushed.
For whom is this parting?
Chen Kuang drank down the liquor, feeling the scorching wine vapor instantly starting to surge, permeating through his body, speechless for a moment.
Qingcuo detailed a route once more and was preparing to leave when Chen Kuang suddenly called out to her.
"Can you do me one more favor?"
Qingcuo was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"I will help you."
Chen Kuang turned his gaze to the wall of the Celestial Prison: "Li Hongling has planted explosives in the secret tunnel, most likely in more than one spot. I have observed in the past days that she used a Chain Array to detonate them, with the secret spell changing daily."
"Can you find today's secret spell for me and let me know?"
Qingcuo nodded: "Not difficult."
Chen Kuang added: "Then let's meet at the city gate later."
Qingcuo gazed at him steadily, promising: "Alright, see you at the city gate."