Sunset west of the mountains, the night wind is slightly cold.
The dark air-raid shelter is like a yellow spring road leading to the purgatory of the underworld. I stood in front of the hole and seemed to hear a shrill howl coming from the abyss of hell.
Although Wang Xi claimed that the ghost hiding mirror would not appear in the air-raid shelter, the county police station deliberately prevented villagers from entering the cave to search, probably because there were some ulterior motives in the cave. Moreover, Xiao Jianqin witnessed Xiao Xiang coming out of the cave, and maybe he could find clues about his whereabouts somewhere in the bomb shelter. Therefore, it is necessary to go in and investigate.
Of course, I don't want to find any evidence in the cave that Xiao Xiang had any connection with the deaths of the eight children surnamed Cai.
In order to search for the hole, we went back to the school to borrow a rope from Teacher Lu, and he found a large bundle of strange rope for us. The rope is cotton, slightly slender, a bit like knitting yarn, but a little rougher than it is. The reason why it is strange is that the rope is wrapped into a ball, not much the size of a basketball, and it smells of cooking oil.
Mr. Lu said that the rope was taken by the principal from his home when he searched the air-raid shelter last year, and it was originally used to wrap zongzi. The principal was worried that another student would enter the shelter, so he put the rope on the school just in case. Although in that search, in addition to this rope, a lot of other ropes were spliced together, but this rope alone is nearly a kilometer, which should be enough for us to search a large area.
As for the odor on the rope, he explained that the school has no warehouse, and the rope can only be placed in the small kitchen of the dormitory. When he was holding the rope just now, he accidentally knocked over a bottle of cooking oil and spilled the whole bottle on the rope. The rope is cotton and has a very high adsorption capacity. The oil is sucked into the rope, and it will naturally have a peculiar smell.
Although the rope is slightly slender, it always feels like it will break at any moment, and it feels a little dirty, but it's better than nothing. After all, we don't know many people nearby, and finding a rope long enough is no easy task.
Zhen Zhen tied one end of the rope to a tree outside the air-raid shelter, and tugged it a few times to determine whether the knot was strong and the toughness of the rope. At first, I was worried about the rope, but seeing that she didn't break the rope with so much effort, I realized that the rope was much stronger than I thought.
She tied the other end of the rope around my waist and said, "It's done, let's go in!"
"Why don't you tie the rope to yourself?" I asked.
She rolled her eyes at me and said, "You run so slowly, if you really meet the ghost who hides the mirror, won't you be able to run away if I'm tied to you?"
"You really don't have a conscience." Although I said that, I knew in my heart that she was doing this because she was afraid that she would be tied up in the event of danger and would not be able to protect me with all her strength. Of course, I can't rule out that she actually thinks the rope is stained with oil.
Using a powerful flashlight from a police car, I illuminated the dark cave ahead, held her hand as if nothing had happened, and walked slowly into the disturbing dugout. She did not resist any move, bowed her head and silently followed behind me. I think her shy cheeks are probably rosy again at this moment.
After entering the air-raid shelter, the first few meters can still see the surrounding things clearly, and if you go deeper, you will be completely in the dark. The boundless darkness surrounded us like a tide, and the oppressive feeling of crisis made me feel short of breath.
Zhen Zhen held my hand tightly, I could feel her body trembling slightly. Although there is a flashlight to illuminate it, it is like a water pipe at this moment, and we can only spy on the inside of the pipe through it. Whether or not there is a mortal danger lurking beyond the orifice, we have no idea. In this cave full of unknown dangers, the only one who can rely on is the other side.
I held Zhen Zhen's hand tightly and walked towards the depths of the air-raid shelter, step by step, without any suspicious findings. The dugout was bigger and drier than I thought, and the channels were crisscrossed. I thought that if a fire broke out, the fire would be out of control, and encountering a fire in the labyrinth-like air-raid shelter can be said to be fatal.
Fortunately, there are not many combustibles in the cave. We only found a small amount of materials left over from the war in some caves. Although these materials have been baptized by the years and have become dilapidated, God knows whether there are bombs that can still be detonated in these broken copper and iron. So, we didn't venture out to inspect the supplies, and we wouldn't find the clues we were looking for in the junk anyway.
Continuing to go deeper, I found that there was a light at the end of one of the passages. The air-raid shelter has been abandoned for many years, and it is logically impossible to still have lights unless someone is active here recently. No matter what the purpose of the other party is to wander here, it is also necessary to investigate. Of course, what I want most is to see Xiao Xiang's figure.
I suppressed the excitement and anticipation in my heart, turned off the flashlight, and walked cautiously into the aisle with Zhen Zhen. Suddenly, Zhen Zhen grabbed me and whispered, "Don't you think it's strange?"
I only thought about Xiaoxiang, so I replied casually: "There are lights in this kind of place, and even a fool knows there is something weird."
"I didn't say that." She shook her head. "We should have gone very deep. Is the rope this long?"
After she said this, I remembered that we have come a long way, and the rope should not be so long. Could it be that she didn't tie up the rope just now? I said what I thought, but what I got was her blank eyes. She glared angrily and said, "You let me try to tie it once? I can tie you up like a zongzi with shoelaces."
She was born in the armed police, and must have learned binding skills, so the rope she tied should not come loose easily. But if the rope hadn't come loose, with the length of the rope, we couldn't have gone this far.
"Will the rope break?" An uneasy look appeared on her face.
I was also a little worried, after all, the rope was so slender that it always felt unreliable. But I didn't want to add to Zhen Zhen's uneasy feeling, so I forced myself to say calmly: "Didn't you try the toughness of the rope just now? It would break so easily!"
In order to relieve Zhen Zhen's anxiety, and to relieve my doubts, I slowly pulled the rope. The other end of the rope was unstressed, and I pulled a long stretch without much effort, and the rope was still lying weakly on the ground. Pull again, the same is true. When I pulled for the third time, I found the problem - there was a faint light of fire at the end of the passage we had just passed. I pulled the rope quickly, and the firelight approached us with my movements. When the firelight appeared in front of us, I was dumbfounded.
"Damn, the rope is on fire!"
The rope is cotton, and it absorbs cooking oil, so it will burn quickly if it catches fire. Normally I wouldn't care how it burns, but now it's the only way we get out of the dugout.
"How could the rope catch fire for no reason?" Zhen Zhen was also dumbfounded, but she quickly reacted and immediately untied the rope tied around my waist.
I threw the rope on the ground, lifted my foot and stomped on the flames vigorously, and said angrily, "Of course the rope won't catch fire for no reason. Someone must have set the rope on fire on purpose."
"Who would do this?" Zhen Zhen asked in confusion.
"Who else is there besides Wang Xi! He must have a grudge against us because of what happened in the afternoon..." I suddenly remembered what Teacher Lu said when describing Wang Xi, "Every day when he goes to school, he goes to the reference room next door to practice calligraphy. Leave as soon as school is over and don't stay at school for an extra minute."
It was already dark when I decided to enter the dugout. Wang Xi should have left the school early, which means he should not know that we were going into the dugout, and of course he couldn’t stay outside the dugout and light the rope after we got in. The only person who knew that we were going into the air-raid shelter was Mr. Lu who borrowed our rope, so it was most likely that the person who lit the rope was him.
But why did Teacher Lu do this? We have no trouble with him, nor do we have any conflict of interest, and he does not necessarily benefit us. And as a teacher, he should not do such boring things that harm others and not himself.
"Will he be ordered by Wang Xi?" Zhen Zhen said.
"Impossible." I shook my head, "You saw it in the afternoon. His relationship with Wang Xi is only average, and he doesn't even want to have too much contact with Wang Xi, so he definitely won't do such a thing for Wang Xi."
Although I would love to know which bastard broke our way, the priority now is how to get out alive. A way out must be found in this labyrinth of bomb shelters in order to rectify that bloody bastard.
The mobile phone is like a brick in the cave. Zhen Zhen and I have tried to make a call to the mobile phone, but we couldn't pull it out because we couldn't receive the signal. The only way to get out of here at the moment is to carefully recall the road you just walked.
When I was racking my brains to recall every passage I just walked through, Zhen Zhen pointed to the lights in front of me and said, "Why don't we go over and have a look? Maybe we can find a way to get out of here."
Women are sometimes strange. Although they know that there is danger ahead, they are often willing to move towards the known danger, but they are afraid of the unknown in the dark. Zhen Zhen is like this, the reason why she suggested to keep walking is probably because the lights ahead made her feel safe. Although the lights appearing in such places are obviously a red flag.
Anyway, I have already come here, and there is not necessarily any loss if I go forward for a while, but leaving now is destined to come back empty-handed. So, I agreed with her proposal and walked slowly towards the end of the passage, holding her hand tightly.
We move forward cautiously, always paying attention to the dangers that may appear at any time, but at the end of the passage, the dangers we have been worried about have not yet appeared. The light comes from a kerosene lamp hanging on the wall of the cave, which is very old and may be from the same period as the cave. However, with the capacity of the kerosene lamp, it is impossible that it has not been extinguished for more than half a century, and someone must have lit it recently.
The kerosene lamp hung at a T-junction with a downward sloping passage on the right, and there was a very faint light at the end, but it didn't look like another kerosene lamp.
The light beam of the flashlight is extremely dazzling in the dark, and if someone is hiding here, it is easy to find us. Therefore, I did not turn on the flashlight and continued to use the dim light to follow Zhen Zhen into the passage on the right, walking forward slowly and cautiously.
The end of the passage seems to be a huge space, because only the faint light in front can be seen, and most of the space is swallowed by darkness, so the actual size cannot be determined. What is certain is that the temperature here is obviously lower than the place we just passed by, and there is a strange smell of deja vu.
I didn't take the time to recall smelling this scent there because I found out that the light source in front of me was coming from a mirror!
This is an ordinary square mirror, slightly larger than a human face, and it would not attract attention at all if it appeared in other places. But when I found this mirror, my scalp immediately became numb, and the terrifying appearance of the ghost who hid the mirror immediately came to my mind. Zhen Zhen was no better than that, her body trembled involuntarily and slowly retreated.
Wang Xi must have lied to us, and the truth may be as Wu Wei said, the bomb shelter is the hiding place of the ghost who hides the mirror. But now it was too late, because when we were about to run back, the gloomy laughter echoed in the dark cave: "Hee hee hee... I let you run away yesterday, but I didn't expect it to come to the door today. Since you all want to be the servants of this eldest lady, how can I not fulfill you all!" With the sound of this terrifying voice, the hideous mirror ghost's hideous face also appeared in the square mirror.
"run!"
Zhen Zhen decisively pulled me back and ran back, but as soon as I took the first step, the sound of breaking wind came to my ears, and then there was a cold numbness in my calf. I think that the calf was probably stabbed by the "Ghost Claw Technique" of the hidden mirror ghost.
"This is my territory, it's not that easy to run away, hee hee hee..."
The gloomy laughter of the hidden mirror ghost echoed in the dark cave, as if it came from the abyss of hell. Her terrifying invisible claws seemed to emerge from a dark corner at any moment, piercing our fragile bodies.
Zhen Zhen helped me up and stood in front of me, whispering to me, "Can you still walk? Run as fast as you can, I can only block for a while."
I knew she was just trying because I could feel her shaking as she lifted me up. Although she is a Sanda champion, in front of the invisible ghost, she can only let the opponent fish and meat like a three-year-old child.
I was moved by her willingness to sacrifice herself to save me. If I think rationally, I should accept her kindness and run away immediately. After all, I wouldn't be able to help even if I stayed, maybe even pulling her back. However, emotional thinking prevents me from doing this shameful behavior of greed for life and fear of death and abandoning my companions.
However, just when I was about to say to Zhen Zhen, "You can't live together, let's die together!", when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my calf. It was an excruciating pain, so severe that it made me want to chop off my entire leg at once.
The severe pain caused me to roll on the ground, thinking that the neurotoxin that Liu Nian said was working. Zhen Zhen hurriedly stood in front of me and whispered, "Hold on, this pain will come and go quickly, it will stop after a while. When you can run, run away immediately."
I was in so much pain that tears almost fell, and I couldn't stand up for a while, let alone run away. The Mirror-Hidden Ghost will definitely not wait quietly for me to recover. It's no wonder she won't give me a few more stabs before I can run.
Falling off Zhen Zhen and running away alone is not feasible either emotionally or objectively. Since he can't leave, he can only stay and fight with the ghost who hides the mirror.
"You two just talk and chat, and don't take my master seriously, right! It seems that I have to show you some color..." With the gloomy voice of the Tibetan Mirror Ghost, the sound of breaking the wind came again.
Zhen Zhen stretched out her arms in front of me like a conditioned reflex, but her speed was nowhere near that of Hidden Mirror Ghost, and I was hit on the shoulder again. Just like just now, when I was stabbed by the claws of the Mirror Ghost, it didn't hurt very much. I just felt a bit of icy cold air spread from the wound to the nearby area, accompanied by a little numbness. But when the cold air gradually disappeared, it was followed by severe pain enough to make people die.
I endured the excruciating pain, pulled Zhen Zhen and whispered: "Leave me alone, you run away first, I have a way to deal with her."
"You can't even run, there is a way!" Zhen Zhen suddenly became smart, but she was too smart for the time. She didn't want to run away first, and I couldn't run. If the two of us stayed here, we could only wait to die.
"Okay, you two have quarreled enough, it's time to serve Miss Ben. I'll let you get along well in the future, hee hee hee..."
At the same time as the gloomy laughter echoed in the darkness, the sound of breaking wind sounded three times, I suddenly pushed Zhen Zhen aside, and stood up to withstand the terrifying "Ghost Claw Technique" with my arms. The Mirror-Hidden Ghost is extremely fast, and the shot is only a snap of my fingers. Fortunately, I was mentally prepared in advance, and I had already started to push Zhen Zhen when she opened her mouth, otherwise the claw would definitely land on Zhen Zhen.
"What are you doing!" Zhen Zhen helped me up, and while blaming, she showed her concern.
The pain in the calf has started to go away, but the pain in the shoulder and arm is still very strong. I endured the excruciating pain, pushed Zhen Zhen behind me, and said righteously, "Isn't it something every man should do to protect his own woman?"
Although I am often sane, I seldom say such disgusting words, and I have never said it in front of Zhen Zhen. Perhaps this sentence moved her, her strength disappeared in an instant, and she cuddled softly behind me like an ordinary girl.
In fact, the reason why I stand up to the claws of the Mirror Hidden Ghost is not to be a hero in front of her. I'm already hurt, and it wouldn't necessarily be worse if I took a few more hits, but if she got hurt too, it would be more trouble. Moreover, I have already thought of a way to escape, but the key to success or failure lies in Zhen Zhen.
"Boy, I didn't expect you to be quite manly, I like it. Let you be my housekeeper!"
The gloomy voice of Hidden Mirror Ghost echoed in the darkness, and I knew she was about to attack us with her invisible claws again. I quietly handed a stone that I just picked up on the ground to Zhen Zhen who was behind me, and at the same time as the sound of breaking wind sounded, I turned on the flashlight and pointed it at the mirror in front of me.
Under the strong light of the flashlight, the mirror reflected a dazzling light. Although it illuminated parts of the cave, it also made it difficult for me to see the surrounding situation. Although my eyes couldn't see clearly, the pain in my body was very obvious, and the claws of Hidden Mirror Ghost stabbed my thigh.
At the same time as I was stabbed, Zhen Zhen leaned over from behind me and threw rocks at the mirror vigorously. "Bang" sounded, the mirror shattered, and the reflected light disappeared. I quickly turned off the flashlight, and the darkness immediately surrounded us. Although there was light shining at the entrance of the passage, it was insignificant compared to the strong light just now.
All I need is a moment of "darkness".
At this critical moment, Zhen Zhen and I no longer need to communicate verbally, any physical contact can let us know each other's intentions. At this moment, there is only one word in our mind - escape!
Zhen Zhen helped me to go back desperately, and behind me came the hideous mirror ghost screaming: "You dare to escape, I will never let you go!"
The sound of breaking wind resounded from behind, but the terrifying claws did not stab me or Zhen Zhen. Because the passage was sloping upwards, the ghost claws of the Mirror Ghost just stabbed randomly on the ground behind us.
We fled to the T-junction where the kerosene lamps were hung, and just as we were thinking about entering through that passage, the sound of breaking wind rang again. Although the claw did not land on us, it stabbed the kerosene lamp hanging on the wall of the cave.
The kerosene lamp was knocked over, the faint light went out, and the passage was immediately pitch black.
Although I have a flashlight, using it at this time is tantamount to telling the Mirror Ghost our exact location. However, in this dark environment, for those of us who are not familiar with the terrain here, the situation is very bad. After all, this is the site of the hidden mirror ghost. She can find us even in the dark, but we are afraid that we will fall down even if we run faster, or even hit the wall of the cave.
Hidden Mirror Ghost's terrifying screams were already sounding behind him, and just when he didn't know what to do, a familiar voice entered his ears: "Amu, come here!"
This is a long-lost voice. Although I haven't heard it for more than two years, I still immediately recognized the owner of the voice and called in the direction of the source of the voice: "Xiaoxiang, is that you?"
"It's me, come here, I'll take you away."
Although I hadn't seen Xiao Xiang yet, I was overjoyed to hear his voice, and immediately motioned Zhen Zhen to go in the direction of Xiao Xiang.
The Ghost of Hidden Mirror did not disappear because of Xiao Xiang's appearance. On the contrary, he became more violent, and his irritable roar filled every corner of the passage: "Xianxiwang, you shameless thief! I didn't mess with you, but you Not only did you steal my holy sword, but you also did bad things to me again and again, I will never let you go today!"
I don't know what Xiao Xiang has been doing in the past two years, and I don't know what kind of grievances he has with Cangjing Ghost. All I know is that he will never harm me, and I will ask him slowly about other things after leaving the dugout.
However, the biggest question now is, in this dark air-raid shelter, can we escape the pursuit of the Mirror Ghost