Liu Ce and a few others reached the iron chain bridge first. Out of caution, he stepped onto it to check the other side.
After a few steps, he suddenly frowned.
Liu Ce had a sudden ominous premonition, he couldn't explain why, but it grew stronger.
Liu Ce retreated a few steps.
Upon returning to the stone wall, he bent down, pressed his ear against an iron chain, and listened intently.
He couldn't hear anything, but he could feel the vibration of the wind against the chains.
After carefully sensing all the chains, Liu Ce stood up. Sudan Novel Network
Someone next to him couldn't help but speak, "Steward Liu, aren't you being a bit too careful? Who can see us in the dark?"
Liu Ce still shook his head, "I just feel something is wrong, but I can't pinpoint what."
"Steward Liu, I'll go first," this person said, stepping onto the iron chain bridge.
Soon, all the people he brought had crossed. Liu Ce thought about it and followed.
Not halfway across, Liu Ce suddenly heard the sound of sharp blades cutting through the air. He immediately realized something was wrong and shouted, "Bad! Get down quickly!"
But it was still half a step too late. A few screams echoed in the darkness.
Liu Ce lay on the chains, slowly retreating back to the stone wall. At this point, Liu Rumei and the others had also arrived. Liu Ce hurried forward to stop them and explained the situation.
Hearing that there were ambushing arrows from the other side, Liu Rumei couldn't help but tremble.
Chen Xiaobei also inwardly cursed, admitting that this move was truly ruthless.
He instantly thought of Sun Jian.
"It's probably this damn guy, blocking me here too."
Before the thought had even settled, someone on the other side indeed shouted.
"Liu Rumei, True Man Taiping, you can just wait for death over there!"
It was Sun Jian's voice.
Chen Xiaobei was about to retort when Liu Rumei stopped him.
"Do you know who that is?"
Chen Xiaobei nodded, "He's Sun Jian, the one I mentioned to you a couple of days ago."
Liu Rumei's expression became even more solemn, "So, the one on the other side is Sima Wushuang."
"Liu Ce, go and shout a few words."
Liu Ce stepped forward and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Sima Wushuang, how despicable you are! If you have the guts, let's have a fair fight!"
"You despicable and shameless scoundrel, what kind of hero are you using such methods? You're the number one swordsman in the Central Plains!"
Sima Wushuang listened for a while and then laughed to the sky, "Enough, your taunts won't work on me. You should focus on how to last a few more days."
"Oh, and Liu Rumei, don't worry, I'll collect your corpse."
Hearing this voice, True Man Taiping nodded slightly, "This is indeed Sima Wushuang."
Liu Rumei waved her hand, "Alright, let's retreat for now and find a place to rest."
Helpless, everyone had to return to the Jujube Tree Forest, dust-covered.
The campfire was lit, but the atmosphere became extremely somber. Everyone knew what crossing the iron chain bridge meant.
Liu Rumei once again turned her hopeful gaze to Chen Xiaobei.
"Are there any other ways to get down the mountain?"
Chen Xiaobei shook his head, "To get down the mountain, you can only cross the iron chain bridge."
In fact, this question was redundant. Liu Rumei had seen it from the mountaintop. This peak was surrounded by sheer cliffs, with the iron chain bridge being the only passage.
Liu Rumei looked at True Man Taiping, "Venerable senior, I am truly sorry, but I'm afraid we might perish here."
True Man Taiping was very open-minded, "It's alright, it's alright. Everyone must die once. At worst, I'll jump into the abyss and end it myself. I'd rather die than starve to death here."
"If you jump into the abyss, there won't even be a body left, Venerable Senior," Liu Rumei advised with a wry smile.
Jumping into the abyss, the words were unintentional, but the listener took heed. Chen Xiaobei's mind stirred.
During the day, he had observed from the peak that this valley wound its way towards his home village of Hetou. Could he find a way out by following the abyss?
He slapped his forehead and looked at Liu Rumei, "Miss Liu, do you have a lot of rope with you?"
Liu Rumei looked at him, "What do you mean?"
"Miss Liu, if we have enough rope, we can climb down and find a place to lower the rope to the bottom of the cliff and go from below."
Upon hearing this, Liu Rumei's eyes lit up, and Ma Biao also immediately stood up.
"Miss, I'll go and scout ahead."
After taking two steps, Ma Biao suddenly stopped and turned to Chen Xiaobei, "Brother Xiaobei, this scouting task should be left to you. I'll stay behind to cover."
Chen Xiaobei didn't take it seriously and nodded. He took a few people and walked ahead. After he was far away, Ma Biao bowed to Liu Rumei, "Miss, please escort the venerable senior and the others first. I will stay to mislead Sima Wushuang."
Liu Rumei was about to speak when Liu Ce next to her interjected, "I'll stay. I shouted earlier, so they know my voice."
Both of them volunteered to stay, and Liu Rumei's heart ached. Logically, no one wanted to stay behind, as it meant a near-certain death.
But someone had to stay now to buy them time.
Liu Rumei finally looked at Liu Ce, "You stay for three days. After three days, follow our tracks and retreat."
Liu Ce nodded, "Miss, please rest assured. Even if we can't get through, it won't be easy for them to get past us."
Chen Xiaobei knew nothing of this. He led a few people back to the edge of the cliff and began to descend in the dark.
Fortunately, there was a bit of moonlight tonight, making the journey not too difficult.
He didn't know how long they walked, or how far.
Ahead, the ground was covered with scattered rocks and rugged terrain, almost without a path.
Chen Xiaobei sat down with a sigh, "Ah, I'm so tired. Let's rest for a bit."
A person next to him pondered for a moment, "We've walked about twenty li. It should be safe to light a torch now, right?"
Chen Xiaobei nodded, "That's right, it's safe to light a torch now."
A few people lit torches and cautiously approached the cliff edge, peering down, then shaking their heads repeatedly.
"It's pitch black, can't see a thing."
Chen Xiaobei smiled slightly, "If you really want to see, you'll need to prepare a few more torches."
Seeing that everyone was puzzled, Chen Xiaobei took a torch from someone's hand and carefully approached the cliff.
Then, he tossed the torch downwards.
The torch swayed in the air, flickering in the wind.
Chen Xiaobei silently counted one, two, three. Before he could count to four, the torch began to tumble.
It began to tumble, indicating it had landed.
According to the law of free fall he had learned in his previous life.
The acceleration of free fall for an object is 9.8 meters per second squared.
However, the torch, swaying in the wind, clearly wouldn't reach that speed. And he had counted for a little over three seconds, less than four. After all discounts, assuming it took three seconds and plugging it into the formula, the calculated depth of the canyon was approximately forty-five meters.