Hidden Cave, Sending a Message to Ninth Royal Uncle

Serena Feng woke in agony, unsure how long she'd been unconscious. When she opened her eyes, total darkness surrounded her.

It was pure, absolute darkness—no light at all. It felt as if she were sealed inside a tiny box, the suffocating air closing in.

"I'm actually alive." Serena Feng moved her stiff neck, braced herself with her right hand, and slowly sat up.

With no trace of light, Serena Feng had no idea where she was and didn’t dare move recklessly, afraid of touching something dangerous. After sitting up, she rolled up her sleeve—the Smart Med‑Pack she'd activated earlier now emitted a faint glow. By its light, she could just make out that she was in a cave.

As long as she was safe, nothing else mattered.

Serena Feng pulled out an emergency lamp from her Smart Med‑Pack and switched it on, finally able to survey the cave.

The cave was less than ten square meters, and no more than a meter high—she couldn’t even stand. Sitting on the ground, it felt as if the mountain above might crush her.

No wonder it felt so suffocating—if this cave were any smaller, a person might suffocate within three days. It was as if the cave had been carved out of the mountain itself, with dirt walls on all sides. Such a place could easily drive anyone mad.

Serena Feng glanced around but saw no sign of an exit. She didn’t rush to get up—her shoulder was still injured, and even if she wanted to search for a way out, she lacked the strength.

After setting the emergency lamp down, Serena pulled a compact surgical kit from her Smart Med‑Pack—inside were medicines for treating external injuries.

The wound on Serena Feng’s shoulder hadn’t been serious at first, but after too much delay and contamination, infection had set in. Combined with blood loss, her body was growing weak.

Treating her own shoulder wound was extremely awkward. Serena scooted back, leaned against the cave wall, and painstakingly began to clean it.

The wound wasn’t large but it was deep, and the blood had already clotted, caked around the edges. With no hot water and barely any visibility, Serena could only dig out the clots by force. The moment disinfectant touched the gash, she gasped in pain.

“This birthday is unforgettable, all right.” The happiness of morning and her current misery made a stark contrast. Under the emergency lamp’s light, Serena’s face looked ghostly pale, lips pressed tight, blood welling at the corner of her mouth.

The pain in her lips distracted her, just barely shifting her focus from the agony in her shoulder. Serena took a deep breath, grabbed a cotton ball, and tried to dab her wound—but her hand slipped, jabbing the cotton straight into the gash.

The slender tweezers touched swollen flesh, and the pain was like stabbing needles into her heart. Cold sweat poured down Serena’s face as she gasped for breath.

She could have anesthetized herself, but... Serena was afraid of the side effects. She was a prisoner now—she couldn’t afford even a moment’s carelessness.

Gritting her teeth and enduring the pain, Serena slowly and clumsily finished cleaning and bandaging the wound. She then picked out some anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing pills and swallowed them down.

Serena had realized she was feverish the moment she woke—her body was burning hot but felt cold. With the cave’s low temperature, she was barely holding on.

“Thank goodness for the Smart Med‑Pack. Without it, even if I didn’t die of despair, I’d die of fever.” Serena packed up her medical kit, hesitated, then took out her handgun just in case.

No matter what, having a handgun gave her at least one way to defend herself.

Once everything was packed away, the cave returned to its eerie silence. Not a sound, not even the whisper of wind. The darkness was so absolute that every second dragged on forever.

"God, this is worse than solitary confinement." Serena couldn’t stand it after just a short while.

In the army, soldiers who broke the rules were punished with solitary—locked in a pitch-black cell, no freedom, no light, no human contact except for someone dropping off three meals a day. Time lost all meaning; every minute felt endless.

Even the toughest lone-wolf fighters eventually broke in solitary, let alone ordinary people. And the cave Serena was trapped in now was even worse than those punishment cells.

At least in solitary, someone brought you food and you knew you’d get out eventually. But Serena? She was sealed in a cave, no food, no water, no idea if she’d ever escape alive.

Her mind started spinning out of control. What if she died here? The more she thought about it, the more agitated she became—and the more she wanted to claw her way out.

She couldn’t stand being stuck in this hellhole. Eyes closed, it was pitch black; eyes open, still pitch black. Even with the emergency lamp, all she saw were walls—and she couldn’t even stand up.

If this kept up, she’d lose her mind!

Trapped in a sealed room, it was easy to fixate on your worst fears. Over time, you’d end up torturing yourself to death. Serena knew she couldn’t let that happen, but in her current state, there was no way to find an exit.

Hoo...

She had to stay calm.

Serena Feng took a deep breath and curled up in the darkness, pressing her right hand to her wound, squeezing it from time to time.

She was using the pain to remind herself not to panic, not to let her mind spiral out of control.

Wave after wave of pain kept Serena awake, but also made her weakness more obvious. She considered pulling an outdoor tent from her Smart Med‑Pack, but stopped—this was enemy territory. If someone walked in and saw her with items that couldn’t possibly exist in a cave, she might not end up dissected like a lab rat, but it wouldn’t be much better.

For her own safety, she endured it.

Gritting her teeth, Serena prayed her body would hold out a little longer... just enough to survive.

"Young Master, is this woman really useful?" Outside the cave, Serena’s captors were discussing how best to exploit her.

The man in pale gray at the head of the table nodded confidently. "Ninth Royal Uncle of Eastlyn values her highly. With her in our hands, he'll be forced to hold back."

"Can Ninth Royal Uncle really call the shots? This isn’t a small matter. Will the people of Shandong actually listen to him?" the skeptical strategist pressed.

The man at the head didn’t answer, but his subordinate to the lower left spoke up loudly: "That Ninth Royal Uncle got the Eastmont Governor‑General to seal and search the city. Clearly, he’s no useless prince. Whether he truly controls Shandong is his problem, not ours. If he wants that woman alive, he’ll have to play by our rules."

"Hugh Kane’s right. What Ninth Royal Uncle does isn’t our concern—we’re just taking back what belongs to us." The pale man seemed to think of something and turned to the strategist. "Mr. Sage, check the time. Has our message reached Ninth Royal Uncle yet?"

Mr. Sage paused, then nodded. "About now."

The message was already sent. There was nothing more to say...