<h4>Chapter 1039: Chapter 1046: Dangerous Situation (3)</h4>


    As time ticked by, Ling Chen walked cautiously through the basement, his brows tightly furrowed with each careful step.


    Along the way, Ling Chen noticed that many stairways leading to the surface were blocked by stones and were impossible to traverse. Even if he found Nanrong Hao and Zhu Xiaozhu, getting back to the surface would still be a troublesome task.


    "Who’s there?"


    At that moment, Ling Chen suddenly heard a familiar voice ahead.


    "Haozi?" Ling Chen’s eyes lit up, and he quickly rushed forward. Before long, Ling Chen saw Nanrong Hao sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall, his leg covered in blood, with some bloodstains on the ground.


    "Chen!" Seeing Ling Chen arrive, Nanrong Hao asked in surprise, "Chen, what are you doing here?"


    "Why do you think I’m here?" Ling Chen said irritably, "If it weren’t for your great deeds, would I have toe looking for you?"


    Hearing Ling Chen’s reprimand, Nanrong Hao sheepishly scratched his head and said, "Chen, you... you know already?"


    "Enough, we’ll talk about thister. Let me check your injuries first." Ling Chen squatted in front of Nanrong Hao, tore open the trousers, revealing the wound inside. It seemed to have been scratched by falling stones, leaving a ten-centimeter gash on Nanrong Hao’s leg, blood and flesh mangled, with blood continuously oozing out.


    "How about it, can you still stand?"


    Nanrong Hao tried to stand but pain was already evident on his face before he got up. Seeing this, Ling Chen didn’t bother asking further and hoisted him onto his back.


    As he walked, Ling Chen asked, "Who detonated the explosives just now?"


    "Chen, it wasn’t me. I’m still down here myself, how could I have detonated explosives? I wouldn’t do such a reckless thing."


    "Then who was it? Could it be Zhu Hong?"


    "I don’t know. Originally, I could have taken out that bastard Zhu Hong, but suddenly a bunch of snakes appeared from nowhere and bit a few of mypanions to death. At that time, I was only concerned with escaping and didn’t pay attention to Zhu Hong’s whereabouts."


    "You! I don’t even know what to say to you. If Zhu Hong were that easy to deal with, I would have taken care of him long ago. Zhu Hong is not what he used to be; he has experts around him. Let alone you, I wouldn’t be 100% confident in killing him myself."


    "Then what should we do?"


    "Haozi, I understand how you feel, but you can’t rush into these things. Otherwise, you’ll only invite more trouble." As he spoke, Ling Chen stopped and turned to Nanrong Hao, asking, "Do you smell anything?"


    "Smell?" Nanrong Hao asked, puzzled, "Chen, what smell?"


    Ling Chen didn’t respond, but he gazed at the surrounding floor, his eyes sharp and alert. Suddenly, a red sh shot out from the rubble on the ground, heading straight for Ling Chen’s face.


    Without time to think, Ling Chen stepped back, his body subtly shifting as the red sh flew past him. Simultaneously, Ling Chen reached out with his right hand and grabbed the tail of the red sh, mming it against the wall. Instantly, blood sttered everywhere.


    Upon closer inspection, Ling Chen held a small red snake in his hand, its head shattered from the impact, with blood dripping to the ground.


    "Chen, it was this kind of snake that attacked us just now," Nanrong Hao eximed.


    Ling Chen nodded and casually tossed the small red snake to the ground, saying grimly, "Forget it for now, this ce is too dangerous; we need to find a way out quickly."


    A few minutes passed, and Ling Chen, with Nanrong Hao, searched several exits, but all were blocked by stones, impassable. Moving the stones would take too long, and by then, the building might have already copsed.


    "Chen, look over there!" At this moment, Nanrong Hao seemed to spot something, pointing excitedly to the distance.


    Following Nanrong Hao’s direction, Ling Chen nced over to see a crack on the top of the basement, with light shining through from outside, strikingly noticeable.


    The crack was about twenty centimeters wide, likely split by the earlier explosion, just wide enough for an adult to squeeze through. Ling Chen walked over to the base of the crack and examined it closely. The area wasced with cracks; it was uncertain how long it could hold. Moreover, the crack was quite high, about three meters up.


    "Chen, what do you think, should we try?" Nanrong Hao asked.


    Ling Chen didn’t respond, pulling out his cellphone instead. Checking the signal strength, he found it was halfway full due to the crack. Scrolling through his contacts, Ling Chen found a number and dialed it directly.


    After the call, Nanrong Hao asked, "Chen, why did you call Officer Xia?"


    "There’s been an explosion here; Xia Mutong will definitelye to the scene. At this point, we can only seek her help."


    After waiting in the basement for about four to five minutes, Xia Mutong’s voice came from the crack above: "Ling Chen, are you there?"


    "I’m down here," Ling Chen responded loudly.


    "Hold on, I’ll have someone send down a rope right away."


    Shortly after, a rope dangled down from the crack above. Ling Chen took the rope, wrapped it around Nanrong Hao, then tugged on it, signaling to Xia Mutong above to pull him up.


    "Haozi, once you’re up there, if Xia Mutong asks anything, don’t say a word. Let me do the exining, got it?" Ling Chen instructed.


    Nanrong Hao nodded, "Chen, don’t worry, I know what to do."


    Watching Nanrong Hao being hoisted up, Ling Chen suddenly heard a rustling sound behind him. Turning around, he saw a dozen or so small red snakes had appeared on the ground, slowly approaching from behind. Had it not been for Ling Chen’s keen hearing, he would have been bitten by them.


    Seeing the red snakes inching closer, Ling Chen picked up a few stones from the ground, flicked his wrist, and the stones flew out, urately hitting the heads of the red snakes, knocking them out.


    Perhaps sensing Ling Chen’s threat, the red snakes paused, slowly retreated. As Ling Chen picked up a few more stones, the red snakes turned and slithered away.


    Watching the red snakes crawl away, an idea struck Ling Chen. Their retreat was too orderly to be random, indicating someone nearby was controlling them. This suggested that Song Mingzhe must be nearby, not too far away.


    With this in mind, Ling Chen informed Xia Mutong above and pursued the direction in which the red snakes retreated. If Song Mingzhe was here, Zhu Hong and the others were likely here too. Since Xiaozhu wasn’t found yet, and her rescue was uncertain, Ling Chen needed to ascertain this.