"... I wanted to go deeper yesterday to take a look, but it was too dark in here and I couldn't see anything. So this morning, I deliberately brought out the flashlight my dad put in the garage... Look!"
With a soft "click" sound, Kevin looked at the large flashlight in Candice's hand that suddenly emitted a slightly yellow light, instantly tearing a large hole in the darkness in front of him.
"Oh, it seems that you have already planned to skip school today!"
Little Kevin scratched his head and didn't know what he was feeling right now - to be honest, he was very concerned about that voice because he heard it several times in his home yesterday.
So, why does this sound come from this "burrow" that is taller than an adult
Naturally, little Kevin would not understand the reason.
He didn't even know that the "big hole" in front of him was actually one of the many abandoned drains in the London sewer system that was once included in the "Seven Wonders of Industry".
If he knew the way, he would have no problem if he wanted to follow the underground waterway home.
"Come on, Kevin! Why are you standing there!"
While little Kevin was still listening to the "hissing" sound and wondering what the noise was, Candice was already holding a flashlight and waving to him from deeper inside.
"Ah, okay! I'll come right away-"
Before he finished speaking, he finally seemed to have put aside all worries about truancy and quickly chased after Candice. Then, two children were seen walking side by side, excitedly and curiously walking deep into the underground waterway by the light of the flashlight.
Speaking of which, London's sewers are highly praised for a reason. This is not only because of the admiration for the huge amount of work, but also because it has truly protected the city and residents who were once trapped by severe pollution.
Before today's sewers were built, London had made great progress due to the rapid industrial development, but the various pollutions that followed began to breed diseases due to the backwardness of the sewer system.
In the hundreds of years before the last century, rounds of epidemics caused the mortality rate of Muggles to fluctuate, and London gradually became stinky.
I remember that at that time, the originally clear Thames River was powerlessly swallowing brown sewage, and the streets in central London smelled so bad that even the House of Commons had to hang curtains soaked in lime water on the windows to block the filtered water. Unbearable smell.
After that, after a series of discussions and visits to Paris, France, and a total of more than six years, a huge sewer system stretching over 2,000 kilometers was finally built under London.
A large amount of sewage was transported to the sewage treatment plant, and all the drainage outlets that were originally discharged into the river were abandoned. Some were demolished, some were borrowed by new systems, and some are still vacant to this day.
Right now, little Kevin and Candice are walking through one of the many abandoned drains.
"oh!"
Just after Candice turned a corner from a fork in the road, before taking a few more steps, she immediately let out an exclamation. Because she saw another intersection of bifurcated passages, and it was much larger than the one just now.
As the flashlight light slowly moved around, the brick wall gradually came into view. The design of the vault, the cutting of stairs and the orderly forks make this place look like an underground castle.
"I always feel that if I go further, I will encounter a vampire!" Candice observed the deep passages with great interest, as if she was not afraid at all, "Hmm... maybe it will be something else. What? Like a gargoyle... or a demon or something?"
Children always like these fantasy things. Although adults occasionally say that these things do not actually exist, this does not prevent children from continuing to imagine.
Of course, a little girl as old as Candice usually prefers unicorns and the like. There are not many people like her who are interested in evil creatures such as vampires and demons.
Hearing what she said, little Kevin couldn't help but look around worriedly.
"That voice... it better not be what you said! Otherwise we will be doomed!"
"Hey, Kevin, are you scared?"
Seeing Candice start to snicker, little Kevin immediately raised his head and said loudly:
"Who's scared? I'm worried about you... haven't you seen the movie? People like you who don't worry about anything are usually the first to die in monster attacks!"
"Bah!" When Candice heard this, the snicker on her face immediately turned into annoyance, "You are the one who will die!"
"Snapped!"
She raised her hand and slapped Kevin on the head. Then she turned around, held up the flashlight and walked towards one of the forks.
Little Kevin covered his head and pouted, and had no choice but to follow quickly - there was no way, Candice's flashlight was indispensable here. Without the light, he couldn't even see his own feet.
After the two of them passed through the branch road with ditches, they immediately discovered that there was a circular passage in front of them that was wider than what they had seen before.
Just looking at the diameter of this passage, I am afraid that five or six adults can stand side by side, and even carriages can pass through here safely.
"Yeah! So dirty!"
As soon as she settled down, Candice found that she had stepped into standing water - here, there were finally signs of water, but not much yet.
It's just that the water is full of oil and there are some weird dirty things floating in it, which looks disgusting. Even though Candice wasn't actually a girl who was afraid of getting dirty, she still couldn't bear it when she saw this scene.
"Oh! God... I think we should find another way..."
Under the illumination of the flashlight, Kevin also saw the accumulated sewage. Fortunately, Candice, who was impatient, got caught first, so that he did not step in all of it.
But at this moment, he suddenly turned his ear and whispered:
"Listen! The sound seems to be clearer... Did you hear it? It's that 'hissing' sound! I bet we are getting closer and closer to it... Wow! It's a rat!"
Before Kevin could finish speaking, he suddenly saw several extremely large rats running past the edge of the flashlight's light, making a splashing sound in the sewage.
And just when he exclaimed, Candice, who also noticed the mouse, hurried back to him.
Although there was no screaming or anything, Kevin knew from the way Candice grabbed his arm that she was finally scared.
"Hey! It's just a mouse... Ah! Are you scared?"
Thinking of Candice's ridicule to him just now, Kevin decided to take the opportunity to retaliate - there were not many opportunities to make fun of Candice, because this girl was even better than the boy in many places.
I just didn't expect that she would be afraid of mice
"Snapped!"
"Who is afraid!"
Kevin's head suffered another unreasonable disaster, and this time Candice obviously used more force, which made his head hurt.
"...violent woman." Little Kevin couldn't help but muttered softly.
However, although Candice was rarely afraid of mice, she seemed completely unafraid of other things. After the mice disappeared, she resurrected and happily walked deeper.
Even though there is sewage here and the smell is terrible, doesn't it just cover your nose to avoid the standing water
She also heard the "hissing" sound that Kevin just mentioned. It was obvious that she was also very interested in the sound that became increasingly clear.
As for the rat that might still appear... Hey, with Candice's strong nerves, she would have been forgotten about it all at once.
"Kevin, follow up! What are you doing so slowly!"
Unfortunately, their sewer adventure will not be smooth sailing. Not to mention what made that weird noise, the shadow of death had already shrouded the two of them before they found the source of the sound.
After walking forward along this wide passage for more than ten minutes, Candice's feet gave way involuntarily. If Kevin hadn't pulled her up, she would have almost fallen into the dirty ditch in the middle.
"Um...thank you."
Candice, who was supported by Kevin, shook her head vigorously, and then said slightly doubtfully:
"Why do I feel...a little dizzy?"
Of course, the two children would not know that a variety of harmful gases can easily be produced in sewers, and these gases can often poison people unknowingly.
The two of them were able to reach this point before problems arose, but it was still because the passage in front of them had been vacant for many years.
"Oh, Candace, are you okay?"
Little Kevin supported the girl's body with some difficulty, grabbed the flashlight in her hand and shined it back and forth, trying to find a place to rest.
But this is a sewer. Except for the steps at some intersections for maintenance personnel to walk, the rest of the place is so dirty that it is impossible to sit down.
But in a moment, he supported Candice and walked forward a short distance, and finally found the next small fork on the wall of the passage.
Upon seeing this, he hurriedly dragged the somewhat sleepy Candice into the fork in the road and came to a more or less solid earth platform for resting.
After leaving the wide and long passage, Kevin felt that the air seemed to be less smelly.
But at the same time as he helped Candice sit down, he suddenly felt dizzy in his head. He was bending over and immediately fell on top of the girl without stopping.
"Kevin?"
Candice struggled to push Kevin who was holding her down, but her hands and feet had already become weak and she couldn't use much strength. But at this moment, Candice felt a slight shock, and suddenly it came from her body...