Chapter 184: Escape Expert

“There was a secret passage even in the deepest part of this Bloody Prison,” Hai Ruoou said with a bitter smile. “The top level of the Bloody Prison is located directly beneath the imperial palace of Tianhai City. This passage was secretly left by the royal family for escaping during a crisis that threatened our extinction. Once opened, it leads straight into the sea. Only the true royal heirs know about it. For hundreds of years, it had never been used, and I never imagined I would need to activate it. Unlike ordinary secret passages, once opened, it connects directly to the ocean. In a very short time, seawater would wildly flood the entire Bloody Prison, blocking any pursuers.”

Darn! So there was a secret passage. This Sea Clan really had secret tunnels everywhere!

But it was good. Escaping would be convenient for him. As for the entire prison getting submerged in seawater after they escaped through that passage, that was none of his concern.

The problem was how to open the prison cell door.

Chen Mo thought for a moment, then summoned Sesshylow. Under Chen Mo’s command, Sesshylow walked to the cell door, extended her finger, and inserted it into the keyhole.

Sesshylow’s finger twisted and changed shape continuously, and then with a soft click, the lock on the cell door was easily opened.

“Hehe! Done!”

Holy cow, having a shape-shifting pet was awesome. They didn’t even need a key!

Hai Ruoou was stunned. It wasn’t her first time seeing Sesshylow, but she never imagined that the famous Sesshylow, known as the Elemental Goddess, was being used as a key to unlock doors.

“Opening the door is not a problem. Next is figuring out how to distract the guards,” Chen Mo pondered again.

After a while, he asked, “Miss Hai Ruoou, where is the Magic Array that produces the Crimson Poison Mist on this prison level?”

“I’m not sure of the exact location, but it should be in one of these cells,” Hai Ruoou said after thinking.

“If the Magic Array malfunctions, will the guards notice?” Chen Mo asked again.

During the Sea Clan’s attack on Eastern Sea City, he had seen the Magic Array that created the Crimson Poison Mist in the Sewer. Xue Ye Hua had even sabotaged it. Now he planned to cause a malfunction in that Magic Array to attract the guards’ attention.

“Yes! The Magic Array that produces the Crimson Poison Mist is the core of the prison. If it has a problem, they will notice immediately and check. If you can make the Magic Array malfunction, it will definitely distract the guards!” Hai Ruoou stated firmly, as she already understood Chen Mo’s intention.

“Hmm, in that case, almost all problems are solved. The last one is how the three of us can pass through the Crimson Poison Mist,” Chen Mo nodded.

Now only the final problem remained.

If there were only two people, they could escape easily by distracting the guards, but now there were three.

Of course, three people could be taken out in two trips, but there was a high chance of encountering the guards returning midway. After all, the guard only needed to check if the Magic Array had a problem. He would just go take a look, confirm the issue, then return and report upwards for a Mage to come repair it.

This process wouldn’t take much time. No matter how they calculated, it seemed unlikely they’d have time for two separate trips to bring everyone out.

“Take Haiweila and escape. I’ll stay behind!” After hearing Chen Mo explain the difficulty, Hai Ruoou fell silent for a moment before resolutely speaking.

“No! Sister, we must escape together!” Upon hearing this, Haiweila shook her head repeatedly, then looked at Chen Mo. “Adventurer Brother, is there really no other way?”

“Taking all three out at once definitely won’t work. Sesshylow hasn’t grown to that level yet. Probably, one person’s lower body cannot be fully covered. With such a large area exposed, that person would certainly be corroded to death by the Crimson Poison Mist before getting out of the prison,” Chen Mo shook his head. To deal with the Crimson Poison Mist, he only had Sesshylow to rely on. If Sesshylow couldn’t cover everything after transforming, then it simply wouldn’t work—no room for discussion.

The only option now was to gamble that the guards wouldn’t return too quickly.

However, after thinking, Hai Ruoou said, “The Crimson Poison Mist was created by our Sea Clan. We have ways to counter it. If the area isn’t too large, I can cast a small Magic Barrier to resist the Crimson Poison Mist for a period of time.”

Her Strength had greatly decreased, but she hadn’t lost all her power. Casting a small Magic Barrier wasn’t a problem, though a larger one would be impossible, and the Magic Barrier she could cast wouldn’t block much Damage.

“If that’s the case, we can give it a try. But before we go out, we need to test if it works here first,” Chen Mo heard this and felt there was a chance.

“Okay, let’s do it,” both Hai Ruoou and Haiweila stood up.

“Hai Ruoou, you need to cast the Magic Barrier to cover the missing part, so you must be in front. The remaining two, Haiweila and I, need to compress the space as much as possible. Haiweila, you’re shorter, you stand behind me. I’ll be in the middle,” Chen Mo looked at their body shapes and said after a moment’s thought.

“Okay!” Haiweila happily walked behind Chen Mo and hugged him tightly without any hesitation.

Hai Ruoou hesitated slightly, but since it concerned their escape, she didn’t think too much and walked in front of Chen Mo.

Chen Mo held Hai Ruoou and realized her waist was unexpectedly slender, reminding him of the feeling when he held Yang Liu.

Thinking of Yang Liu, Chen Mo immediately recalled those uninhibited days with her. Now, sandwiched between two beautiful female NPCs, he began to feel a stirring excitement and quickly took a deep breath.

Darn it, this was not the time for impulses!

After the three pressed tightly together, Sesshylow immediately covered their surfaces as usual.

However, just as Chen Mo predicted, no matter how much they squeezed—even making Hai Ruoou blush a little—Hai Ruoou’s lower body still wasn’t fully covered.

“Let me try,” Hai Ruoou exhaled, silently chanting an incantation.

A small Magic Barrier appeared, enveloping her lower body.

“That should work. Even if there’s a small gap at the end, I was born in the Sea Clan and have some resistance to the Crimson Poison Mist. I can endure it for a while,” Hai Ruoou judged after a moment.

“Since that’s the case, I’ll start the operation,” Chen Mo nodded, had Sesshylow open the cell door, and walked out alone.

The Sea Clan held very few prisoners. On the lowest level of the Bloody Prison, aside from the three of them, there were no other prisoners held there. Through Sesshylow’s vision, Chen Mo saw rows of empty cells.

The lowest level wasn’t too huge—just a large square grid. The three of them were in the middle of the left side. In the cell at the top right corner opposite them, Chen Mo found the Magic Array that produced the Crimson Poison Mist.

The Magic Array was also locked inside a cell, so normally it was very safe; others couldn’t even enter. But with Sesshylow there, the lock was just a decoration.

Sesshylow extended her finger, fiddled with the lock a bit, and immediately opened the door.

Entering the cell, with Hai Ruoou’s help, Chen Mo had Sesshylow start sabotaging the Magic Array.

They couldn’t damage the Magic Array too obviously. Otherwise, when the guard entered, he would see the problem at a glance without needing to get close.

Following Hai Ruoou’s instructions, Chen Mo only lightly disturbed the magic patterns of the Magic Array, then had Sesshylow withdraw and locked the door again.

“The Magic Array has a problem?” Outside the cells, about fifty meters from the prison door, there was a guard post. The guard inside looked at the alarm he received, puzzled, and came out.

The lowest level of the Bloody Prison rarely had anyone imprisoned. How come today, right after people were locked up, the Magic Array had an issue?

But important prisoners were held inside, so the guard couldn’t ignore it. Leaving the post, he entered the Bloody Prison, first going to the cell where Chen Mo and the others were to confirm all three were present. Then he headed towards the Magic Array’s location.

After the guard left, Chen Mo immediately had Sesshylow run to the main door to open it. While Sesshylow was doing that, Chen Mo and the other two pressed tightly together just as before.

Sesshylow quickly returned after opening the door and began transforming to cover the three of them.

“Let’s go!” After applying a Magic Barrier to her own lower body, Hai Ruoou started leading the way.

The three of them moved stuck together like skewered meat. This wasn’t easy. As they stepped out of the cell, they realized their moving speed was really a bit too slow.

“Take it slow, don’t rush. The more you rush, the slower you get,” Chen Mo took a deep breath.

Darn it, I should never walk like this with other women again.

Just the day before yesterday, he and Yang Liu had battled fiercely in a similar rear-entry position. Now holding Hai Ruoou, he couldn’t help but recall it, and it was hard not to react.

But Hai Ruoou was an NPC. Even if he had some reaction, it shouldn’t matter, right? Even if he wanted to do something with an NPC, his Favorability was far from sufficient. He just needed to get used to it for a moment.

And Chen Mo was right. Although Hai Ruoou felt something pressing against her lower back, she didn’t think much of it and just focused on leading the rhythm forward.

The prison door was right in front of them. Just a few more steps and they could get out.

But at that moment, from the other end of the prison, the guard who had checked the Magic Array suddenly appeared.

“You…” The guard saw the three of them, paused in surprise, then immediately darted forward, quickly chasing after them.

“Haiweila, hold me tight! Lift your feet off the ground, don’t push down!”

“Okay!”

Seeing this, Chen Mo immediately shouted. Haiweila did as Chen Mo said without question. Feeling Haiweila tighten her hold, Chen Mo used his arm strength to lift Hai Ruoou, then suddenly started running, charging the final distance in one breath, pushed open the prison door, and rushed outside.

“Go! Lead the way quickly!” Chen Mo shouted at Hai Ruoou.

“This way!” Hai Ruoou snapped to attention and dashed forward, leading the way.

The three rushed past the guard post. The guard behind them also charged out of the prison. Hai Ruoou continued running forward a bit more, reaching a oil lamp.

She gave the oil lamp a hard pull. It came out, revealing a rope inside. Hai Ruoou yanked the rope hard, and they heard a click. The stone wall beneath the oil lamp revealed a dark opening.

“Hurry! Seawater will rush in very soon!”

Hai Ruoou waved a hand and took the lead, ducking inside.