Xiao Chen and the other two walked slowly along the stone road. After they passed a few turns, the road ahead gradually became brighter. Xiao Chen took a deck of playing cards from the supermarket and marked the order with a card at each fork in the road.
After turning another corner, Xiao Chen discovered the source of the light in the tunnel. Every ten meters or so on the wall in front of him, there was a palm-sized pattern that was emitting a faint white light. This light did not come from fire or light bulbs. It came from the pattern itself. The light was gentle and bright, better than a torch and almost as bright as an incandescent lamp.
"Hey! What is this?" Xiao Chen carefully moved his hand close to the light source.
Zhou He grabbed his hand and said, "Don't touch it! Do you know what this is? What if you get an electric shock?"
"Oh, thank you for your concern." Xiao Chen smiled. "It's okay. Since this thing is used for lighting, it will definitely not harm people. I think it's just a lamp. Who would make a lamp that will give you an electric shock when touched? And I didn't feel anything when I put my hand on it." Sure enough, Xiao Chen's hand touched the wall. It was neither cold nor hot, just like touching an ordinary stone.
"This trip today was not in vain. I got to see something new." Xiao Chen withdrew his hand and saw that there was no mark left on his fingers.
Luo Ling imitated Xiao Chen and gently touched the stone wall. "This is either high-tech that we have never heard of, or it is the legendary magic. Other than that, I can't think of any other explanation. But, look, does this thing look like the Chinese character for 'light'?"
Xiao Chen walked further away and took a closer look. "Well, apart from some patterns, it really does look a bit like the Chinese character 'light' in small seal script. It also looks like some kind of artistic calligraphy. Ha, could it be written by a Taoist priest? Or a wizard?"
"Don't talk nonsense, I'm scared." Zhou He looked around nervously, "Why is there such a place under the school? No, there won't be any monsters, right?"
Xiao Chen consoled him, "There are no monsters here. We didn't see a single moving creature along the way."
Zhou He pursed her lips and finally whispered, "But I have been vaguely aware of noises around me. It seems like something is moving around us. Listen, are there any 'clang clang' and 'clang clang' sounds? It sounds like an iron box hitting the ground."
This time, Xiao Chen and Luo Ling did not dare to be careless and listened attentively with bated breath.
"There!" Luo Ling pointed to a fork in the road where they came from. "There is really a sound there!"
Xiao Chen also heard it, and he found that the sound was becoming clearer and clearer, and was coming towards them.
In such a strange underground stone tunnel, hearing such a sound really makes people sweat and feel anxious. The two girls unconsciously took a step back, and Zhou He hid behind Xiao Chen.
"I'll go take a look!" Xiao Chen said decisively.
"No, what should we do if you leave?" Zhou He said.
"Listen to me!" Xiao Chen lowered his voice, "Someone has to go over and see what's going on. It might be other teachers or classmates. Just stay here and wait for my news. If I yell to run, don't hesitate, run quickly."
"But this place is like a maze. Where should we go?" Zhou He glanced at the dim stone path.
"We can run back by following the playing cards left by Xiao Chen." Luo Ling said.
Xiao Chen nodded approvingly and took out two fruit knives from his backpack. The blades of these knives were only three inches long, but they made people feel at ease when they were held in their hands. He gave one to Luo Ling and kept the other for himself. Then he leaned against the wall and moved towards the source of the sound.
"You, you must be careful." Zhou He hugged Luo Ling's arm tightly and warned.
Xiao Chen turned around and smiled, making an OK gesture with his hand to reassure her.
The passage had collapsed a bit, the ground was full of rubble, and the lighting runes on the wall were basically destroyed, making it dark and gloomy. Xiao Chen's eyes were dazzled by the bright light, and he couldn't adapt to the darkness for a while. He had to feel the wall with one hand in front, and hold the fruit knife with the other hand behind, and slowly move forward. A light breeze blew through the stone path, brushing against his cheeks and feeling a little cool, but beads of sweat flowed down Xiao Chen's forehead. It was not entirely because of nervousness, but also a little excitement, that was the feeling of curiosity being aroused.
After turning two corners, his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and he saw a shadow swaying on the wall at the corner ahead.
Sure enough, there is something!
The shadow was not shaking fast, but its movement was in rhythm with the "clang clang" sound.
Xiao Chen half-crouched in the corner and poked his head out to take a look over there...
Five figures walked over. At first glance, they were a group of ancient knights wearing full body armor, holding long swords in their hands. The armor and long swords looked a bit old and covered with spots of rust. But this could not hide the runes engraved on the armor. Their style was very similar to the illuminated runes, but they were a hundred times more complicated.
However, when Xiao Chen looked at their faces, he found that they had no faces! There was a black void in the middle of the helmets, nothing. These five knights were actually five sets of armor that could move on their own, and the "clang clang" sound heard before was the collision between the metals when these movable armors walked.
What the hell! What kind of monster is this!
Even though Xiao Chen always prided himself on being brave, at this moment his heart felt like it was hit by a heavy hammer, and cold sweat burst out from every pore of his body like weeds all over the mountains.
Xiao Chen suddenly felt his feet go weak, and he could no longer maintain his balance in his half-squatting position, and he fell backwards involuntarily. He took two or three steps back, and in his panic he kicked a few stones on the ground, making a crackling sound.
The leading armored warrior suddenly stopped and turned its head towards the corner where Xiao Chen was hiding. Xiao Chen poked his head out again and met it face to face. It stood there for a second, then pointed with its hand, and the four armored warriors behind it rushed over with their swords raised high.
They were charging, but they were not running fast, and their rusty joints made creaking sounds. But seeing the aggressive look of these armored monsters, Xiao Chen knew that if he was caught by them, he would be chopped into pieces. He picked up a steamed bun-sized stone from his feet and threw it at the leading armor with all his strength. The stone hit the chest of the armor, making a sound like a gong, leaving a grayish-white shallow mark, but the armor just leaned back slightly, immediately regained its balance, and continued to press forward.
Xiao Chen made a prompt decision, turned around and ran, shouting as he ran: "There is a monster, everyone run away."
Xiao Chen and his two companions ran wildly in the maze-like underground passage and soon lost their way in the chaos. But what made him even more depressed was that although the armored warriors ran slowly, new armored warriors often appeared from everywhere. No matter how they turned left or right, they would be chased and intercepted. After a while, there were more and more pursuers behind them.
"I... I hear more and more noises coming from behind." Zhou He's eyes were already filled with tears. "I really, really can't run anymore."
Luo Ling: "Try harder. If you don't want to be eaten by the monster, run."
"Xiao Chen, think about it quickly. What should we do? I don't want to be eaten by these monsters."
"You won't be eaten."
"Really? What good ideas have you come up with?"
"Not yet, but I can see clearly that they have no mouths!"
Luo Ling couldn't help but burst out laughing. Zhou He was very angry and her tears flowed even harder. "What's wrong with your brains? You can still laugh even in this situation!"
"Okay, hold on! We have to find an exit or a place to hide." Luo Ling grabbed Zhou He's arm and ran with her.
When the three men ran past another fork in the road, suddenly an armored warrior holding a long sword rushed out and blocked them.
"Ah~~" Zhou He had never seen them so close before. She trembled with fear, her left foot tripped over her right foot, and she fell to the ground. Luo Ling was pulled by her and almost fell. The two stopped fighting, and Xiao Chen quickly blocked them.
Xiao Chen looked at both ends of the stone path, and his heart sank. This stone path was long and narrow, and the armored monster blocked everyone's way with its sword. At this time, the pursuers behind had also caught up. It was definitely too late to take the two women squatting on the ground and retreat to another way.
what to do
When people are in crisis, they often behave in two completely different ways. Whether they become a hero or a coward depends on the choice they make in this moment. Do they rush forward and risk their lives, or do they return to the fork in the road alone
In a flash, Xiao Chen made the decision.
"Let's fight!" Xiao Chen felt the blood rushing to his head at this time. His eyes widened, his teeth bit on his lips, and he rushed towards the armored man with a ferocious face.
He swung his right hand first, and threw the fruit knife in his hand towards the armored man's head. The armored man blocked it with his sword, easily knocking the knife away, but the original slash was interrupted and lost its original sharpness.
Xiao Chen's eyes were fixed on the tip of the swung sword. He dodged the diagonal blow by leaning sideways. He pulled off the left shoulder strap of the backpack with his left hand and swung his right hand. The backpack full of things hit the chest of the armor like a meteor hammer. Although the origin of the armor was mysterious, it was not a real person after all. Both its movement and balance were a little stiff. It staggered after being hit and fell straight back.
"Run!" Xiao Chen yelled at Zhou He and Luo Ling to go first, while picking up stones from the ground and smashing them on the armored warrior's sword-holding hand. Perhaps due to disrepair, after a few smashes, the armor's elbow mechanism broke, and the armored warrior's forearm and the long sword fell off. Xiao Chen was delighted and was about to grab the long sword in his hand, but at this time the armored warrior's left hand grabbed his ankle and pulled hard, and Xiao Chen fell to the ground.
Xiao Chen was not very strong, but the armored warrior was obviously stronger than an ordinary person. It climbed onto Xiao Chen's back from behind, pressing Xiao Chen so hard that he could not turn over. While Xiao Chen was struggling, he turned his head and looked back with his peripheral vision. He saw that the armored warrior was pressing his back with his broken limbs and body, and his left hand was raised high, ready to smash down on the back of his head.