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墨書 Inktalez
Qiu Wan led the group back to the main path. A crisp sound echoed from Rui Rui's feet, particularly noticeable in the silent tunnel. Wang Zhengxiang instinctively shone his flashlight in that direction, revealing a bone embedded at an angle in the ground, which had already broken into several pieces.
Upon seeing the bone on the ground, Rui Rui cried out sharply, "Hurry up!"
Wang Zhengxiang, who was walking ahead of Rui Rui, quickened his pace and followed the rope back to the main path. Once everyone had returned to the main path, Zhang Qiu took out a spring knife and cut the rope, saying, "Let's continue along the main path."
In light of the chilling sight of bones they had just encountered, everyone still felt uneasy. Rui Rui trembled as she asked, "That bone we saw... it couldn't have belonged to a human, right?"
Zhao Pingchuan replied, "It looked more like a pig's bone to me."
"Exactly, it's a pig's bone. How can you not recognize a pig's bone after eating pork?"
The words from Zhang Qiu and Zhao Pingchuan temporarily calmed everyone's nerves, but Zhang Qiu wasn't entirely sure that the bone belonged to a pig. He only said that to alleviate their fear. As they moved forward, each person unconsciously began to pay more attention to their feet.
Suddenly, Zhang Qiu instructed everyone to stop. The person at the front, Yang Yu, turned around and asked, "Brother Qiu, what's going on?"
"Nothing's wrong; everyone drink some water and take a break before we continue."
The group pulled out their water bottles and started drinking. Suddenly, Gao Zhi's candle went out. Yang Yu asked, "Brother Qiu, should we retreat?"
Lan Ningshan suggested, "Let's retreat; we shouldn't take any risks."
"Alright, let's pull back."
Zhang Qiu didn't dare risk everyone's lives. Since the candle had gone out, it indicated that the air ahead was thinning; continuing further could lead to danger.
Just as everyone was about to turn around, Gao Zhi casually remarked something perplexing: "When I was drinking water just now, I accidentally dripped some on the candle. Let's light another one and keep going."
It turned out to be a false alarm. Zhang Qiu said, "Change the candle and let's move on."
Gao Zhi took a new candle from his bag and lit it. The flame flickered a couple of times before swaying left and right. Zhang Qiu looked at the dim light and said, "Everyone, don't worry. There's airflow here; the flame is dancing, which means there must be a ventilation opening."
After walking a bit further, the dirt path came to an end, replaced by stone steps covered with a layer of moss, making them somewhat slippery.
"Wait." Lan Ningshan called out to everyone, taking a gun from her bag. With a whoosh, she fired a flare forward. The flare traveled in a parabolic arc before suddenly being blocked by something and falling down. Zhang Qiu took a closer look and saw that there were piles of rubble and dirt ahead. He carefully assessed the road conditions in front of him, but the flare was growing dimmer. The cave fell back into darkness, leaving only the light from Zhang Qiu and the others' flashlights.
Zhang Qiu asked, "Gao Zhi, have you been here before?"
"Brother Qiu, how could I have come this far? I've only been to that bedroom; I haven't gone any deeper," Gao Zhi replied while thinking to himself how Brother Qiu always brought up things that were better left alone. Fortunately, Zhang Qiu did not press further, allowing Gao Zhi to relax.
Yang Yu turned around and said, "Should we keep going? It seems like we can't get through."
Zhang Qiu replied, "Let's go take a look; it's not much further."
The others also leaned in to take a look, so they all moved forward together. When they got closer, they realized that this was not a man-made blockage but rather a natural collapse. Green bricks and clumps of dirt had fallen from above, obstructing their path and leaving only a narrow hole connecting to the other side. An idea struck Zhang Qiu as he took out his phone and gathered everyone around him. He smiled and said, "Look! There's signal here; it means we're not far from the outside. At least if we dig from this spot, we can create an exit."
Rui Rui widened her eyes at Zhang Qiu and asked, "Brother Qiu, you don't mean you want to dig your way out, do you?"
"No, I want to dig down and clear this area," Zhang Qiu pointed at the narrow hole exposed by the collapse.
"Brother Qiu, isn't that too dangerous?" Wang Zhengxiang looked at the collapsed area and couldn't help but think about whether digging would cause another collapse.
Zhang Qiu replied, "It might be dangerous, but you all step back; I'll handle it."
"Zhang Qiu, don't do anything reckless," Jiang Xue grabbed Zhang Qiu's arm firmly.
"Don't worry, Xue'er, I am confident."
"Then I'll help you dig."
Zhang Qiu smiled and said, "But there's only one shovel."
"I don't care," Jiang Xue pouted.
"Don't argue yet; let me check the situation inside first."
Lan Ningshan approached the narrow opening, holding a flashlight to carefully illuminate every inch of the corners, confirming there were no hidden poisonous insects before daring to step closer. Lan Ningshan held a gun in her right hand and fired a flare into the narrow opening. The flare trailed a long light as it fell to the ground, rolling repeatedly. Lan Ningshan said, "There are stairs leading down behind."
Zhang Qiu took the shovel from Zhao Pingchuan's hands and dug a few times into the narrow opening, noticing no signs of further collapse at the top. Only then did Zhang Qiu feel safe to continue digging. The obstruction loosened, making it easy to dig; the narrow opening gradually expanded, and people's courage grew as they came over to take a look.
Zhang Qiu raised his hand to stop them: "Everyone step back. Wait until I clear a path and confirm it's safe before you come over."
"Brother Qiu, let me help you; you take a break." Gao Zhi unceremoniously snatched the shovel from Zhang Qiu's hands and started digging vigorously. Suddenly, there was a noise from above as a layer of loose soil fell down. Fortunately, it was just loose soil and not a collapse. An opening large enough for someone to bend down and pass through had already expanded.
Zhang Qiu brushed off the loose soil that had fallen on himself and Jiang Xue, pointing at the opening and asking, "Now let's vote again; should we go in?"
The result was unanimous agreement to enter. Lan Ningshan fired another flare and cautioned, "The stairs lead down and may be slippery; be steady and don't rush."
Still led by Yang Yu, Gao Zhi held a candle as they passed through the narrow opening and paused for a moment; the candle did not extinguish before they continued onward. After Zhang Qiu passed through the narrow opening, he shone a powerful flashlight around. The space beyond the narrow opening had expanded; a long stone staircase led downward, covered in moss that made it slippery and sticky underfoot.
Following the stone steps down, the group immediately spread out into a circle as they walked single file; with flashlights shining out, they could not see any walls. Jiang Xue covered her mouth in awe: "It's so spacious in here."
"This used to be a place for storing grain and troops; no wonder it's so large. Ancient people were truly remarkable."
"Brother Qiu, come over and take a look!"
Wang Zhengxiang shouted from the side, and Zhang Qiu and the others hurried over. Upon entering, they discovered stone tables and chairs scattered around Wang Zhengxiang. Curious, Zhang Qiu walked to a stone table and gently touched it with his gloved left hand. A layer of dark green moss was scraped off, revealing the original color of the stone table.
"Indeed, this trip is worth it. I didn't expect such a spectacular place to exist in our old hangout."
"This place is so amazing; why isn't it developed into a tourist spot? What a pity."
Zhang Qiu smiled and said, "What good is a tourist spot? Real estate makes more money."
"Zhang Qiu, your thinking is quite..." Lan Ningshan struggled to find the right words to describe it.
Zhang Qiu smiled slightly and called everyone, "Let's take a look later. For now, let's gather our flashlights and take a group photo."
Zhang Qiu placed a powerful flashlight on the stone table, and others followed suit, using the limited light source to create a bright area. Zhang Qiu and the others stood in the center of the light source. Yang Yu held a selfie stick, wearing black sunglasses and striking a pose. Zhang Qiu and Jiang Xue held hands, both smiling lightly. Lan Ningshan stood on the outside, tilting her body and raising her gun in a cool pose.
"Here we go! Three, two, one, cheese!"
Yang Yu pressed the shutter, capturing the moment. In the overall dark-toned photo, Zhang Qiu and the others smiled brightly. The red candlelight in Yang Yu's hand stood out vividly against the black and white backdrop.
After taking the photo, Zhang Qiu reminded everyone not to get lost before allowing them to explore freely. He was particularly interested in the stone tables and chairs here, wondering if he could find someone to take a set back to White Day Fire to create an ancient city theme. However, he hesitated at the thought of damaging cultural relics; it didn't seem right. But was it acceptable to let these relics erode underground without anyone managing them?
As Zhang Qiu continued to ponder, Gao Zhi's loud voice reached his ears.
"Brother Qiu, come look! There's another path here."
Zhang Qiu picked up the powerful flashlight from the stone table and walked toward Gao Zhi. Sure enough, there was an archway directly in front of Gao Zhi that was wide enough for three people to walk side by side. After stepping inside a few paces, they noticed it seemed to slope downward. Zhang Qiu called everyone back and pointed at the new discovery: "There's another passage here. Should we go in and take a look?"
Almost in unison, Yang Yu and Gao Zhi walked side by side at the front, one holding a powerful flashlight to lead the way, while the other closely followed with a candle. Zhang Qiu and Jiang Xue also walked hand in hand, with Rui Rui behind them, holding her phone and taking several selfies of the group.
As they proceeded down the passage, the ground began to turn muddy, as if water had seeped in, making it feel like it had rained. Zhang Qiu and the others struggled through the muck. Lan Ningshan said, "Everyone be careful; don't let your minds get trapped."
Zhang Qiu thought about the man-eating swamp and wondered if such things could really exist in this ancient city.
"Ah!"
Rui Rui let out a sharp scream.
Zhang Qiu immediately turned around and saw Rui Rui fall into the mud. Zhang Qiu and Jiang Xue rushed forward to help her up. Poor Rui Rui was covered in dirt, her face streaked like a cat's. Zhang Qiu asked with concern, "Are you okay?"
Rui Rui rubbed her wrist and said, "I'm fine. I think I touched something; it's round like a stone."
"Did you find treasure?" Zhang Qiu felt relieved that Rui Rui was okay and jokingly pointed the flashlight down at the ground. The ancient buildings left by people should have seen few visitors this deep inside, and given the muddy ground, there might even be antiques left behind by ancient people. She had heard stories of people digging in the ancient city and finding old coins. If there were antiques on the surface, surely there could be more below.
Following the beam of light, Zhang Qiu suddenly felt a chill run down her back as Jiang Xue and Rui Rui screamed loudly at the same time. In the muddy ground lay a skeleton with half of its skull exposed, and the light from Zhang Qiu's flashlight illuminated the dark eye sockets of the skull!
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