Because the nearby industrial park had mostly completed relocation, the factory warehouses were only used for storage purposes, so most of the sewers here were dry, at least without industrial wastewater or sewage.

However, due to inadequate cleaning of debris and garbage, the nearly two-meter-high pipes were still filled with an unpleasant odor.

“How are you holding up? Can you bear it?” Liang Qiuchi looked at Mo Xin with concern.

Mo Xin remained unfazed. “I’ve been to dirtier and smellier places.” This sewer, which had not been used for a long time and only retained some rainwater, was nothing.

In the dimness, Liang Qiuchi’s laughter became more pronounced, ringing in his ears. “But I still remember how you used to clean your shoes meticulously before starting school.”

“I don’t have OCD,” Mo Xin explained to him again after so many years. “That was just how I vented my emotions.”

“Ah,” Liang Qiuchi led the way ahead, holding Mo Xin’s hand as if they were casually strolling together, even chatting as they went. “So how does General Mo vent his emotions now? You can’t still be cleaning shoes, can you?”

“Now it’s smoking and having sex.”

Mo Xin answered candidly, causing Liang Qiuchi’s smile to grow even wider.

“Smoking is not good. Let’s stick to the latter method from now on.”

Mo Xin tightened his grip on Liang Qiuchi’s hand, softly murmuring, “Mm.”

The city’s sewer system was like a tangled web, with many forks in the road. However, Liang Qiuchi moved swiftly, having memorized the blueprint of this vast sewer system by heart long ago. Moreover, he had walked this route back and forth many times.

As they progressed, the sewage grew deeper, eventually reaching ankle level. Mo Xin knew they were probably not far from the 17th Camp.

Sure enough, after turning two corners, a rusty iron railing stood before them, blocking their path.

“Is this the 17th Camp ahead?”

Mo Xin shone his flashlight into the darkness and found that the rusty iron railing had been damaged with tools, with the middle two bars expanded to the left and right, creating a narrow gap wide enough for a person to pass through.

It must have been done by Liang Qiuchi.

“Follow me.” Liang Qiuchi went through first, and after walking a few dozen meters, a ladder hanging on the pipe wall appeared in front of them.

Liang Qiuchi climbed up first, and Mo Xin illuminated for him from below. He noticed that the overhead pipes, which should have been one solid piece, had been cut with tools to create a circular gap. The gap was covered with a metal plate of the same color, which Liang Qiuchi could easily lift with one hand.

“Come up.” Liang Qiuchi climbed out of the top of the pipe and leaned over to illuminate for Mo Xin.

Mo Xin quickly climbed up and found that the space above was much narrower than below, probably only half a meter high. The two big men couldn’t even stand up straight, only able to crouch and move forward.

Fortunately, after just a few meters forward, Liang Qiuchi stopped again and silently pointed to the uneven wall beside him.

Mo Xin knew they had arrived. He checked his watch, and Liang Qiuchi leaned over to check the time. There were still ten minutes left until eight o’clock.

The two extinguished their flashlights and sat facing each other in the dark and narrow space, quietly waiting for eight o’clock to arrive.

Suddenly, Mo Xin raised his hand and shone a beam of light on Liang Qiuchi’s chin, wearing a cold and stern expression as if interrogating a prisoner. “Tell me, when did you do all this?”

Liang Qiuchi chuckled lightly and cooperated, “Reporting to the officer, I dug the tunnel leading to the solitary confinement room here after renting the warehouse and learning the route three years ago.”

“So bold,” Mo Xin shook his flashlight at him, “Aren’t you afraid of being discovered?”

Liang Qiuchi grabbed his restless hand and extinguished the flashlight. “This place is dirty and smelly. Unless there are special circumstances, no one will come for regular inspections.”

Mo Xin lightly scratched his palm with his fingertips. “Was this tunnel your plan in case things didn’t go as planned after you surrendered?”

Liang Qiuchi nodded.

“But how could you be sure that if you surrendered, you would have been detained in the 17th Camp?” Liang Qiuchi had not been imprisoned there the last time he was arrested.

“It was just a contingency plan,” Liang Qiuchi replied truthfully. “I knew the chances of it coming in handy were slim.” He gently stroked Mo Xin’s wrist, his voice soft in the darkness, almost like a sigh. “But I always thought that if there was a possibility I’d have a chance to escape and see you again…,” 

Mo Xin held his hand tightly, calling him “Qiuchi,” solemnly. “I don’t want you to risk surrendering and implicating Reinis. There must be a better way.”

Liang Qiuchi fell silent for a moment, then in the darkness, he reached out and pulled Mo Xin into his arms. “Don’t worry, I won’t act recklessly. Let’s think of a better solution together.”

Although the current situation had taken a sharp turn, with Reinis seemingly having the upper hand, his move to bribe Wancha to assassinate Mo Zhenghong was too bold and could easily be caught.

Once Wancha was won over, it would undoubtedly add another piece of evidence to Reinis’ crimes.

“It’s eight o’clock.” Mo Xin turned on the flashlight, and after confirming the time with Liang Qiuchi, the two of them focused on the task at hand.

He pressed his ear against the wall, trying to determine if there was anyone in the solitary confinement room. Liang Qiuchi listened as well but could only hear the noise of the water pipes inside the wall.

“We can only take a gamble,” Liang Qiuchi said solemnly.

He found the markings he had made on the wall earlier. The 40-square-centimeter wall had already been chiseled by him, replaced by a thicker gate that fit snugly, allowing him to peek into the solitary confinement room with just a turn of the switch from the wall hole.

“I’ll do it.” Mo Xin held Liang Qiuchi’s hand. “In case there are guards on the other side, I can come up with an excuse to bluff my way through.”

Liang Qiuchi thought it made sense and stepped aside to illuminate for Mo Xin.

Mo Xin took out a silenced pistol, turned the gate, and with little effort, there was a faint “click.”

Liang Qiuchi quickly turned off the flashlight, and Mo Xin held his breath, trying to make his movements as light and slow as possible as he opened the gate.

The solitary confinement room was pitch black and silent, as if there was no one inside.

Mo Xin opened the gate to its maximum, waited quietly for ten seconds to confirm that there was no abnormal movement on the other side of the wall, then leaned over slightly to carefully observe the situation inside the room in the darkness.

The solitary confinement room was small, with only a simple toilet inside, and nothing else. However, due to the extremely dark and confined environment, even with his good eyesight, it took a lot of effort for Mo Xin to recognize a dark shadow not far from him on the ground.

He took the flashlight from Liang Qiuchi’s hand, covered the light with his five fingers, leaving only a slight glow to help him see the dark shadow more clearly.

With a closer look, his face darkened.

“There’s a situation.” He whispered to Liang Qiuchi, turned off the flashlight, and quickly and neatly moved into the wall hole to enter the solitary confinement room. Without waiting for Liang Qiuchi to follow, he swiftly retreated to the entrance of the hole, dragging the unconscious Wancha with him.

The two quickly dragged Wancha into the tunnel, closed the door, and Liang Qiuchi checked Wancha’s breathing. He was still alive.

Mo Xin turned on the flashlight and saw food residue and foam at the corners of Wancha’s mouth. He exchanged a glance with Liang Qiuchi, and they both had a rough guess about his condition.

—He was probably poisoned.

“Let’s leave first.” Liang Qiuchi and Mo Xin dragged Wancha out of the tunnel and entered the sewer. When they could stand up straight, Liang Qiuchi carried the person on his back and quickly walked towards their warehouse.

“His condition can’t be taken to the hospital. The safest option for now should be ‘Paradise,’ but ‘Paradise’ is too far away, and we may encounter duty posts on the way…” Liang Qiuchi quickly analyzed the situation.

Mo Xin said, “I have a place to go,” after being targeted by Godwin Reinis last time, Vincent immediately found a safe house for emergencies, “but the doctor won’t be able to come over in a short time.”

“I’ll arrange for the doctor through Yahui jie, hopefully, there’s still time.”

Liang Qiuchi quickened his pace. Originally a twenty-minute journey, they only took less than ten minutes back to the warehouse.

Vincent quickly started the car, Mo Xin told the address to Wu Yahui, and she contacted a reliable doctor to rush to the safe house immediately.

Wancha kept convulsing in the car, occasionally uttering a few uncomfortable groans. Liang Qiuchi patted his face, trying to wake him up, but to no avail.

Vincent pressed the accelerator to the floor. Fortunately, the safe house he had chosen was only three blocks away from this area. There were no checkpoints, and the road was clear. In less than ten minutes, they arrived at their destination.

At this point, Wancha had fallen into a complete coma.

“How long before the doctor arrives?” Liang Qiuchi asked.

“It should be soon. I’ll urge him again.” Wu Yahui dialed the phone while holding her mobile, and at the same time, the ringing sounded both from her ear and from outside the door.

“Here, here, here, coming, coming, coming…”

A person pushed open the door, stumbling in as the strap of his flip-flop broke. He staggered forward, but Wu Yahui quickly supported him, preventing him from dropping the large bag of bottles and cans he was holding in his arms.

“What are you carrying?” Wu Yahui scolded the doctor in a familiar tone. “Didn’t I tell you it’s urgent? Why did you have time to bring these things?”

The person didn’t hold back either, rolling his eyes at her. “Jie, if I don’t bring the antidote, should I suck it out with my mouth?” He kicked off the broken flip-flops, walked barefoot into the room, and directed Liang Qiuchi, “Put the patient on the bed and prepare something for induced vomiting, quickly!”