Chapter 256: Chapter 256

Afterward, a faint thud sounded.

Jing Shu stamped her foot in frustration. She only had time to see Fatty disappear in an instant before the floor tiles where he had stood returned to their original state. She did not know how he had activated the mechanism. It must be similar to the principle behind the trapped wooden board at the entrance of Jing Shu’s villa, which could only be opened from one side. Or maybe Fatty had already activated it and slowly made his way across.

In any case, Jing Shu’s reflexes were not quick enough to keep up; otherwise, she would have shot him on the spot. Who the hell expected a person to suddenly vanish while walking with a gun pointed at them? That Fatty could now have his boxed lunch – such great acting! One second he was cursing, and the next, he made his underground escape! Well played, it must have been premeditated.

Su Malie truly was a walking soap opera. Even here, she encountered a mechanism straight out of a TV show! To think that Jing Shu, who had lived what felt like a dog’s life for two lifetimes, had never come across such a device.

"He’s gone, escaped. We might be trapped in this house now. Let’s look for a way out." Jing Shu tucked her gun behind her and squatted down to knock on the floor tiles. They were solid, just like those around them, not hollow.

One bodyguard began checking for mechanisms in the corners while another tried to find a way out through the door.

Su Malie walked to the door, curious, and asked, "Wang Chuan, you’re trained in emergency escape skills, right? Can this door be opened?"

The middle-aged man with a beard shook his head. "It’s a stainless steel vault door, solid all the way through, with active bolts that latch into fixed slots on the outside. It can’t be opened from the inside. Even if we used rifles, they’d be useless; we wouldn’t even be able to penetrate the door. It’s unlike other doors where you can simply shoot out the lock. If I’m not mistaken, this was once a casino vault, specifically for storing money."

Jing Shu kicked the door several times forcefully, and a dull thud echoed. If it had been an ordinary wooden door, she would have smashed it by now.

"So you mean the bolts are on the outside, and the door can’t be shot through. Escaping through this door is impossible then?" Jing Shu asked, narrowing her eyes.

Wang Chuan nodded. "Yes, and moreover, we might run out of air in here if the people outside don’t open the door for us soon. We could very likely suffocate to death."

"Then could explosives blow the door open?" Jing Shu inquired. If it came to it, she was willing to use explosives to blow the door open. She couldn’t bear the thought of just waiting to die. It was too passive, especially since she didn’t know Fatty and the others’ true intentions. Jing Shu had already died once, which made her particularly fearful of death.

However, it’s very likely they’re after Su Malie. As for herself... it probably doesn’t have much to do with her, right?

Wang Chuan shook his head. "The amount of explosives it would take to blow open the door would also kill us. There’s nowhere to hide in here."

Alright, Jingshu’s space still contained several explosives, acquired from Zhetian before. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novel{f}ire.net

Su Malie’s eyes widened in fear. "No wonder they kept the door open... Da Mao, have you found the passage mechanism that Fatty used to escape?"

The bodyguard named Da Mao, a steadfast man in his early thirties, shook his head. "I checked for any dangers right as we came in and didn’t find any switches or surveillance bugs. Fatty didn’t touch anything just now, so it’s very likely it was voice-activated, or maybe... centrally controlled. Vaults usually have a central control system."

Su Malie let out a long sigh. "If only we had brought a satellite device, at least we could have called for help. Now we’re trapped here. Even if big data has our last known location, who could find us in a secret room of an underground gambling den in an abandoned manor? I wonder how Uncle Gou is doing."

After the four of them had thoroughly searched the secret room and found nothing, they became even more frantic. Just as Wang Chuan said, being in a completely sealed space without ventilation for a long time could indeed lead to a lack of oxygen.

At least Jing Shu felt that even after taking a deep breath, she still couldn’t catch her breath.

"Miss, drink some warm water first, then lie down on the sofa without moving, and don’t eat anything to reduce the oxygen demand caused by digestive movement," Da Mao settled Su Malie first. After all, Su Malie couldn’t be of any help and would be better off lying down quietly, not consuming oxygen.

"Do you want to lie down as well?" Da Mao asked.

"No need, I’ll think of another way." Jing Shu was now suspicious of everyone and didn’t trust anyone. Even though Su Malie said that Uncle Gou would definitely not betray them, she still felt that something had gone wrong somewhere.

Now Jing Shu truly regretted not having stored some climbing oxygen tanks in her Jingshu’s space. Those would have been life-saving! Who could have expected to encounter a lack of oxygen after being reborn? She had planned for myriad possibilities but did not foresee being caught in such a trap! Indeed, there are countless ways to die, and one is bound to encounter one of them sooner or later!

Even if she took them out now, they would be very curious. After all, it would be strange to carry an oxygen tank when just going out.

"Then I’ll leave it to you guys. I’ll rest for a bit." After finishing the water, Su Malie lay down on the sofa to rest. She truly had a relaxed disposition. Perhaps she hadn’t faced many setbacks from childhood to adulthood, as there were always people around her to help her overcome any difficulties, leading her to trust that the people around her could handle everything.

Jing Shu felt that they couldn’t just sit around and wait to die. Since there was no way out through the door, they might as well try to escape through the hole Fatty fell through. If there was any real danger below... well, that would be a job for the professional bodyguards, to clear any hazards.

"What tools do you all have? Do you have professional pry bars, gadgets, or picks and hammers?" Jing Shu asked.

"I have a set of wilderness survival tools with me, but they’re not much use against this kind of heavy-duty secret room." Da Mao took out a set of advanced tools: a Swiss Army knife, flashlight, multifunctional hammer and chisel, steel drill bits, and so on.

Jing Shu was somewhat surprised. This could work. Dripping water can pierce stone.

What came next truly astonished the two retired individuals. God, what were they seeing?

This girl, who appeared almost as delicate as the Miss, started by chiseling a shallow pit and then hammered in the steel drill bit as if it were a nail. Despite the tiny hammer in her hand, it seemed to carry the force of hundreds of kilograms. She forcefully hammered the drill bit into the ground, pulled it out, and continued to chisel. Soon, she had carved out a square section of floor tile.

It was the first time the two had seen a drill bit being used as a nail. Just how strong was Jing Shu, exactly?

The sounds of CLINKING and CLANGING rang out, and Wang Chuan could even see sparks flying! The chisel was about to bend under her force! Jing Shu gasped for breath, sweating profusely.

One by one, Jing Shu forcibly pried up the floor tiles. Finally, when breathing became extremely difficult for her, she managed to completely chisel open an 80 by 80 centimeter floor tile that was 20 centimeters thick.