Chapter Forty Four.

Duan Xinyue searches from corner to corner trying to locate where the door mechanism is being controlled from. He's almost giving up. He's getting nervous because the women might wake up soon and who knows what they might do to him to avenge themselves?

"These women are extremely cunning,"he concludes.

For a moment he sits on the floor beside them watching them sleep like logs. He smiles proudly that such a simple trick would get rid of the women easily. His smile widens when he figures out that Lei Qiang is the one behind this. Meanwhile Lei Qiang and Hong Yi are worried sick about them but the fact that they can't help them anymore frustrates them even more.

After sitting for a while he feels his stomach growling probably because he's hungry. He can't take the food the women brought them because they may have added poison to it. He walks to the kitchen with the idea of cooking food for himself incase the women wake up he will have the strength to resist. The kitchen looks untidy with millions of cobwebs and dirt. He can't possibly cook there anymore. He notices a rope hanging at the back of the kitchen door. He walks towards it and pulls it carefully. A cellar door on the kitchen floor suddenly opens up revealing an underground room.

What kind of place is this? He wonders but since he can't figure out where the door controlling mechanism is located he might as well take the time to explore the underground room.

In the underground room,there are different kinds of weapons be it arrows,all types of knives,darts and all. He notices a large wooden gear mounted on the wall. There is an L-shaped lug wrench attached to the center of the wooden gear. He gets the idea that this might be the where the mechanism is being controlled from. He rotates the wooden gear using the lug wrench and sudden he sees a number of tunnels opening up in the room. He doesn't bother to explore the tunnels,he leaves the underground room and finds all the doors and windows wide open. The women are still lying there unconsciously. He picks up Du Yichen and carries him in bridal style and walks out.

"My Lord they have managed to walk out unscathed,"Hong Yi exclaims excitedly.

Lei Qiang who is now in the carriage raises the curtain a little and sees the approaching Duan Xinyue and Du Yichen who is in his arms.

Duan Xinyue requests Hong Yi to help him put Du Yichen in the carriage. After they lay him on the seat Duan Xinyue gets out a wooden box containing pills, takes out one pill and slips it into Du Yichen's mouth.

"Will the antidote be effective after being affected by the sleeping incense?"

"I've never tried before so let's wait."

"Hong Yi, let's leave."

Hong Yi pulls the horse bridles with all his strength making the horses gallop more swiftly than before. After travelling for two hours is when they feel they are safe to make a stop. Du Yichen is already up so they take the time to analyze about what happened at the restaurant.

"Those women looked like they had been dipped in a pool of aphrodisiac,"Du Yichen comments.

"They have been widows for a while so naturally they will behave like hungry wolves when they see men,"Duan Xinyue clarifies.

"Master Lei were you the one who slipped in the burning pieces of cloth?"

"Mm,"Lei Qiang replies bluntly. Lei Qiang has been quiet and grumpy the whole time probably because he wasn't pleased seeing Duan Xinyue carrying Du Yichen. Even though it was necessary,his heart doesn't seem to understand this. At times his eyes lock with Duan Xinyue's but none of them says a word to the other.

"By the way Duan Duan how did you figure out where the door controlling mechanism was?"

"I pulled a rope in the kitchen and luckily it led me to an underground room where the mechanism was."

"Indeed you're the King of Underground Rooms,"Du Yichen compliments him.

After a while Du Yichen's stomach growls due to hunger.

"Why isn't there any food stall nearby?"

"I'm hungry too. I wonder when I will eat next."

"But next time we should eat outside."

Lei Qiang unwraps two medium sized buns and hands them over to the two hungry men.

"Eat them,"he says in a low deep voice.

At first they are shocked by his actions but then they figure out he's being kind because they are in this together I mean facing all the journey restraints together. They both eat the buns greedily and finish within no minute. If Du Yichen was the only one feeling hungry then Lei Qiang wouldn't have given out his buns.

"Duan Duan I told you we should pack our own food but you said it's ridiculous for men to travel around carrying food now look we're suffering."

"You're a grown up man with your own mind why did you have to listen to me?"

Duan Xinyue takes out a map and begins looking at it in scrutiny.

"There's a market in front we can purchase food for the rest of the journey there."

"How long from here?"

"About thirty li. Brother Hong let me help you with the horses."

As Duan Xinyue is about to get up Lei Qiang holds him back.

"I'll do it."

"Huh?"

Lei Qiang alights from the carriage and joins Hong Yi and the two of them ride the horses together till they reach Yazi (duck)Market.