Luckily, the two people they were avoiding didn't stand for long in front of the stall that Shanquan and Qiuzhen were aiming for. From the movement of their hands, Shanquan guessed it looked like they were looking for food. After the two people left, Shanquan and Qiuzhen came out of the shop they were hiding in.

"Okay! At ten o'clock, I will enter the shop," said Qiuzhen.

"I'm going home now," said Shanquan. "You don't need to accompany me any further."

Qiuzhen looked deeply at Shanquan. He started to open his mouth. With a slow tempo, the words left his lips. "Did Biaoshu go here through the underground passage?"

Shanquan was very surprised to hear Qiuzhen's question.

How did he know about the underground passage? We hadn't even told him about the dungeon we found under the backyard a few months ago.

Qiuzhen grabbed Shanquan's shoulder. He continued his speech. "Biaoshu have to hurry back. Don't delay. That our new neighbor most likely also knows about the underground passage. Right now, he is indeed walking around the mall. However, we can't say for sure how long he will be at the mall. Don't let him catch Biaoshu in that underground passage!"

How did Qiuzhen know that someone else also learned about the underground passage that we even discovered just yesterday? What really happened?

A thousand and one questions raced through Shanquan's mind. Shanquan just stood still. Qiuzhen looked impatient.

"Okay! I'll explain a little while walking Biaoshu towards the secret passage entrance." Right after finishing his sentence, Qiuzhen walked quickly.

Shanquan instantly followed Qiuzhen's steps.

Qiuzhen, who lives in another city, found out what's going on here! This must be something big!

"Biaoshu's neighbor has been keeping an eye on our house and all its occupants for the past five months or so. That person is definitely not just a curious old man. I don't know who that person is, but Biaoshu must be very careful."

Uh? Since five months ago? This means that since he moved into the house next door! There's a possibility that he's deliberately occupied the place just to monitor us.

"How did you know?" Shanquan couldn't hold back those words.

"I found out by chance. Last night I saw him having a conversation with his friend. Not the person we just saw earlier. The friend I previously saw was much older than the person we just saw. They talked about many things, one of which was that our neighbor is working on a project related to the people who currently live in our house. He knows who lives in our house. The old man knows where we come from. He knows when Biaoshu dan others have lost their jobs. He knows Biaoshu is very picky at work. And, he also knows what the habits of our householders are. In other words, he's been keeping a close eye on Biaoshu and our friends!"

All this time, Shanquan had been a little suspicious of the person who suddenly became their neighbor about five months ago. But he never thought that this person was deliberately and systematically monitoring their house and all its inhabitants. Even so, he still wasn't sure that the person had bad intentions.

I have a hunch that the person has some reasons he couldn't just say.

Qiuzhen was taller than Shanquan, so the stride was longer. Right now, he was walking at high speed. Shanquan had to struggle to keep up with Qiuzhen's steps. In no time, they arrived in front of the Shindongchaang gate.

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Qiuzhen knew so much! This is absolutely amazing!

"So you already know the entrance to the underground passage from this mall?"

"Yes. Near the quietest toilet on this floor, there is a fork in the hall. The entrance is from there."

Shanquan was speechless. It seemed that Qiuzhen was much more mysterious than three months ago when they had last seen each other. Shanquan began to understand why Songfei chose to ask Qiuzhen for help over others. Qiuzhen's habit of saying far less than he knows was his principal asset. An advantage that might be extremely valuable in Songfei's eyes.

"Who was Biaoshu coming with?"

"Yiren and Yixiong. But Yiren and I were the only ones out of the passage and into the mall. Yixiong remained in the secret passage. He had to be on guard in there. Before I went to meet you, I told Yiren to go into the underground passage first. I told him to give Yixiong a photocopy of the documents so that Yixiong could bring the items home immediately. Yiren then replaced Yixiong on guard in that place."

"Why should anyone be on guard in the passage?"

"There's a part of the passage where I don't know how to open it from the outside. So one of us has to stand guard there so we can open it from the inside in case the door suddenly closes on its own."

"Which part?"

"Inside, there is a passageway where if we want to open it from the inside, we have to tilt a candle holder mounted on the hallway wall."

"Oh! Biaoshu, you mean that passage door near an ancient dressing table?"

This time Shanquan was not too surprised. After hearing Qiuzhen's story earlier, he already guessed that Qiuzhen had already entered the underground passage.

"Do you know how to open the hallway door next to the dresser? I mean, how to open the door from the outside?"

"Of course. The way to open it is in one drawer on the dresser." Qiuzhen answered quickly.

"Ah! I thought so. But we haven't had time to check the dresser carefully because yesterday we didn't have time."

"Do Biaoshu want me to show you how to open it?"

"No need. You can go back now. I have to hurry. If you come into the passage, I'm afraid when you come back here, you will meet our neighbors who will use this underground passage to go home. Besides, I don't know how to explain your presence to Yiren."

"Ah! I forgot about that." Qiuzhen laughed.

Shanquan also laughed.

Qiuzhen stopped walking. They had arrived at a forked passage. One branch led to the remote public restroom, and the other branch led to the underground path leading to the dungeon in their backyard.

"When I get home, our friends will tell me everything that happened. At that time, I will act like I know nothing yet. So, Biaoshu, please also support me."

"I see. Don't worry."

"That includes the existence of this secret passage. I know absolutely nothing."

"Okay!" Shanquan smiled.

Qiuzhen is indeed a cautious person. But I'm not sure that he can play well. Not saying something is not the same as pretending not to know.

"But you also have to act a bit. If you weren't at all surprised when you heard our story, of course, the rest of our friends would be suspicious."

"I'll try my best, Biaoshu."

"See you later," Shanquan said.

"Be careful, Biaoshu!"

Shanquan took out his flashlight. He began walking down the underground passage, guided by the bright light emitting from the tip of his flashlight.