Chapter 41: Chapter 41 Moral Kidnapping
 

Guan Yidao’s voice suddenly arose, and Qi Yue nodded.

“Okay.”

The two worked well together and quickly cleared away some of the tightly compacted stones.

Finally, Qi Yue felt the button again and easily turned it.

“Click, click…”

After two slight tremors, the stone wall to the right of the button cracked open below.

To the amazement and excitement of everyone, the crack widened sufficiently to allow two people to pass through side by side.

Everyone cheered.

“We are saved, we can live!”

Guan Yidao took two government officials to scout ahead and quickly returned to report that there was a very wide passage below, but they did not know where it led or how long it would take to get out.

Qi Yue was not surprised by this outcome.

The Dayuan Uninhabited Area’s mountains stretched on endlessly, covering thousands of miles, but for hundreds of years, people had come and gone.

Perhaps someone had lived here to escape disasters or to search for treasures; in any case, a passage meant a chance for survival, which was certainly better than waiting to die in a cave.

Guan Yidao ordered torches to be lit and divided the exile team into twelve groups, each with about twenty people, led by a government official.

As for the Zhao Family, he made no arrangements, clearly leaving Qi Yue to make her own.

Qi Yue did not refuse and simply included the couple, Cong Zhonglan, in the Zhao Family’s group.

The two children were too young, and the Zhao Family had many people who could keep an eye on them.

Of course, she had her own selfish reasons.

Zhang Zhao was strong and could help carry Zhao Xiyan, so it could be said they were helping each other!

Originally, she had a fully automatic intelligent wheelchair in her space, which could handle most obstacles with ease, but she couldn’t take it out!

Fortunately, the exile team had brought a lot of bamboo poles earlier for carrying things, so Qi Yue simply made a stretcher and had Zhao Yonglian and Zhang Zhao carry Zhao Xiyan, one at the front and one at the back.

Thus, the party entered the dark passage whose end was unknown.

It was unclear what the purpose of this dark passage was, but it somewhat resembled the palace tunnels she had seen on TV, with marks from pickaxes on the stone walls.

However, compared to a palace tunnel, it was slightly more narrow and cruder.

At the beginning, it was fine as everyone was eager to leave the cave and regain the light, so they were full of confidence and moved quickly.

But after three shichen, people started to become restless.

Not only did their pace slow down, but quiet murmurs also began to surface.

“When will this end? Can we really be saved?”

“It feels like we’ve been walking for a day now, when will we get steamed bread?”

“Why bother with steamed bread that’s gone bad? Didn’t you see commander Guan throw it away directly?”

“…”

At first, the discussions were in low voices, but they gradually grew louder, and a few heavily shackled convicts simply stopped walking.

“I’m not walking anymore!”

“I’m as good as dead anyway, might as well die here!”

“…”

Guan Yidao knew how to quell such disturbances, silencing them with a whip.

Nevertheless, without food and water, and in a seemingly endless dark passage, the pace of the exile team slowed down even more.

Another two shichen passed, and Qi Yue began to feel anxious.

If they walked for another half day, most of these people would likely have reached their limits.

But the passage seemed endless, winding on and on.

Just as everyone was exhausted and nearly unable to go on, Guan Yidao, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.

After a moment, he turned back and approached from behind.

“Miss Qi Yue, there are three paths ahead, do you want to take a look?”

Three paths?

Qi Yue thought to herself, she had no idea what to do.

But as it concerned life and death, she still led the Zhao Family people to the front.

The situation was more severe than she had imagined.

Three identical forks in the path, without any signs—utterly eerie.

“Miss Qi,” Guan Yidao’s face flickered uncertainly in the firelight, “didn’t you have some kind of powder before that found the exit?”

Qi Yue rolled her eyes in silence.

The powder she had scattered before was a molecular substance called K-2d.

It could briefly gather oxygen molecules in the air, making the tiny airflows visible to the naked eye.

In the closed space of a cave, it was particularly useful, but in this place where three paths converged and each felt full of air, using it would be futile.

She tried to explain in simple terms, and Guan Yidao also lost his composure.

“What do we do then?”

“I don’t know either, how about Commander Guan just picks one at random, and we all follow?”

Qi Yue said half-jokingly, then decided not to bother anymore.

Along the way, she had come to see these people clearly.

One by one, they were all senseless.

If the path she chose did not yield a good outcome, they would probably turn on her.

She didn’t care about that trouble. By rescuing them from the cave, she had already earned merit enough for several hundred seven-tiered pagodas.

But Guan Yidao clearly wasn’t buying it and actually went over to Zhao Yongzhe to whisper.

“Duke, Marquis, we seem to be close to getting out, what should we do now?”

The implication was clear—he wanted Zhao Yongzhe and Zhao Xiyan to take action and press Qi Yue.

Hearing this, Zhao Xiyan said nothing, and Zhao Yongzhe shook his head repeatedly.

“No, Commander Guan, there’s no Duke or Marquis here.”

“The Zhao Family are all prisoners under Commander Guan, following your commands. You tell us which way to go, and we’ll go.”

Quietly overhearing this, Qi Yue felt a little more at ease inside.

The Zhao Family people finally had some sense, not letting her efforts on the road be in vain.

Guan Yidao glared at the Zhao Family members with an angry face, and when his gaze finally fell on Qi Yue, his frown deepened even further.

“Miss Qi, no matter when, you are the daughter of General Qi. If General Qi were alive to see you disregard human lives like this, he would definitely…”

“Definitely what?” Qi Yue, already displeased at the mention of Qi Yunzhang, saw him try to morally bind her, and her anger could no longer be contained.

“Would he disown me, no longer recognizing this daughter, or kill me with one strike?”

“Now that my father is no longer with us, is Commander Guan trying to take his place and educate me?”

She finished coldly, still feeling the anger boiling within her.

Nobody knew that Qi Yue was actually thinking of her past life.

Back then, she had heard too much of this kind of moral coercion.

“Why can’t you contribute more like your parents?”

“By becoming a doctor, you’ve agreed to give more!”

“Doctors are to save lives and heal the wounded, to have great selfless love…”

What now?

Because she is the daughter of Qi Yunzhang, should she sacrifice herself for others who aren’t worth it, for an emperor who isn’t worth it, just like Qi Yunzhang did?

Guan Yidao obviously did not expect Qi Yue to react so strongly and was momentarily stunned.

Then, Shen Yu approached her, placing a piece of jerked meat in her hand.

“Yueyue, your mother supports you. Let’s ignore him; some people just want to shift the blame!”

“Yueyue must be hungry, eat something first.”

Shen Yu spoke tenderly, her gentle fingers stroking Qi Yue’s back, as if soothing her heart, making Qi Yue feel as if her crumpled heart was being smoothed out bit by bit.