Soul-eating Golden Coffin - C29
The air inside the cave grew moist and heavy as we went forward and down, and the musty smell continued to irritate my nasal mucosa. After walking for less than two hundred meters, Zhang Shan stopped and turned around. After searching through my backpack for a long time, he took out a matchbox sized box and pushed it open. Zhang Shan immediately dug out a bit and smeared it next to my nose, then smeared some more on himself before continuing forward.
After a few seconds, I felt much clearer, and the pain that had been triggered by the smell of mildew was beginning to subside. But I’m sure it’s not cooling oil, because I don’t feel any mint coolness at all.
The corridor was long, and our shadows were slanted to the wall behind us by the light, as if dancing in a mysterious dance as we walked. It was so quiet that we could only hear the heavy breathing of the two of us, one after the other.
After about three minutes of walking, the slope suddenly stopped and we finally reached the basement level of the dugout. Looking around, wherever the lights went, there would be green and grey stone bricks in the distance. There were even some slogans that could be seen on some of the walls that had been painted on. However, due to the passage of time, these once exciting slogans had fallen off with the passage of time.
In front of us was a rectangular hall that could accommodate at least two thousand people. There were benches scattered around the hall, presumably reserved for people in need of special care when the dugout was opened.
I counted a total of eight lights at the top of the hall, but we couldn’t find them. They must all have been turned on.
It was also in this large hall that the first forked road appeared.
We entered through a passageway that opened in the middle of the hall, and at each end of the hall there was an opening leading in opposite directions. The door frame of the cave entrance was painted white, which made it easy to see in the light of the mine lamps.
“What should we do? “Which way should we go?” Zhang Shan didn’t have an idea and turned to ask me.
I was thinking back to what my father had told me about the dugout: “In an ordinary city, the dugout is only a layer, and the excavation is relatively shallow. But Zhengzhou is different. Because Zhengzhou is located in the artery of railway traffic, its strategic significance is very important. Therefore, Zhengzhou’s air-raid shelter is usually divided into two layers. The upper layer is 20 to 30 meters underground. The truly safe and reliable way to store strategic goods and personnel is on the second level, sixty to eight meters below ground level, and there are multiple protective measures between the first and the second level to prevent the infiltration of chemical and biological weapons. Even if a nuclear weapon were to explode above their heads, it would definitely not affect the people on the second floor … ”
“Let’s take a look first.” I actually feel that if Corpse Supporting Spell were to hide, it would definitely hide in the deeper parts of the dugout so that it can slowly recover. As long as we find the passageway to the second level, we won’t be far from finding that guy.
I indicated for Zhang Shan to head towards the hole on the left side of the hall.
Zhang Shan was leading the way, but I kept watch behind me.
Although it was very possible that the Corpse Supporting Spell would not be hiding near the entrance, in this pitch black environment, you had to be careful at all times. Who could guarantee that it would not launch a fatal attack the moment you let your guard down?
Once we entered this cave, our speed clearly slowed down. This corridor was much narrower than the one leading to the entrance, and its width could only barely fit two people to the side. It was also only slightly taller than Zhang Shan. Furthermore, Zhang Shan is big and tall, he has blocked the road in front of us completely, I couldn’t even see the crack in the road. I even doubted if he would be able to turn around if anything happened.
There seemed to be no end to this road. It neither climbed nor turned, but continued straight underground.
Zhang Shan also didn’t have a watch on, so I don’t know how long he walked for, probably just five minutes, or maybe half an hour. In short, your sense of time is lost in this dark and very quiet environment.
While I was pushing, Zhang Shan suddenly stopped, and as I was constantly paying attention to the situation, I crashed into him.
Zhang Shan struggled to turn his head, because there was a light on top of his head, he could not look straight at me. He looked at the long path behind him and said: “This is a dead end.”
“Impossible!” I immediately realized how the dugout could have been a dead end. Even if there was no exit in front of them, there should at least be a large area for personnel or supplies. With such a long path, it would be impossible to walk in and out. This was completely illogical, unless they had already dug this far enough to give up on it.
Zhang Shan saw that I did not believe him, and turned his body to the side, trying to place his back against the wall of the path, leaving a one foot wide gap for me to look at. In the light of the lamp, I could clearly see that five meters ahead of me, neatly paved with a layer of green brick, the road actually broke down.
Zhang Shan also felt that something was amiss, he walked over and used the Mountain Splitter blade to knock on the door, wanting to see if there were any places that had been blocked. However, the only response we get is the sound of clashing, proving that the brick behind us is indeed solid.
“Let’s go. We’ll take another route when we get back.” Zhang Shan gave up trying to beat him up and turned to take the initiative to speak.
Encountering this kind of strange situation as soon as he entered, he really didn’t need to investigate to the end. After all, our goal is to destroy the Corpse Supporting Spell, and coming here is neither an adventure nor a treasure hunt.
We had no choice but to turn back.
Zhang Shan wanted to change his position with me, but he was going to walk in front, but I rejected him. On one hand, we are walking the path of return, as long as we are careful, there shouldn’t be any danger, and this tunnel is too narrow.
As we walked, Zhang Shan grabbed onto me and whispered, “Listen, what’s that sound?”
I stopped and pricked up my ears. But I didn’t hear anything. Zhang Shan also felt a little awkward, even saying that he was probably too nervous and told me not to be afraid. However, just as I took another step forward, I also heard the sound. Deep in front of us, there was a faint “Goo” sound. If you weren’t careful, you would easily be drowned out by the sound of footsteps.
I immediately indicated for Zhang Shan to take light steps. It was a steady sound, and every time we took a step forward, it would make a “Goo” sound, sometimes big and sometimes small, but it would become clearer as we got closer.
Fortunately, the searchlights above our heads were very far away. These kinds of high-intensity lamps were obviously not like ordinary household bulbs. They weren’t afraid of anything approaching quickly, but they were unaware of it.
When they were about twenty meters away from the source of the sound, it suddenly stopped. We stood there for more than a minute, waiting, and then we heard nothing else, but we pushed forward more slowly.
After walking for five steps, Zhang Shan with his sharp eyes patted me and said, “Look at the ground in front of us, there’s a black ball.”
I followed the direction of his finger and found that there was a black mass about the size of a fist lying motionless on the ground in the middle of the tunnel ten meters in front of us.
I was surprised. Although this lump of black stuff wasn’t too conspicuous on the green stone bricks, the passageway was already so wide. When the two of us walked in, it was impossible for us to not notice it. Unless the thing moved and followed us all the way in.
Zhang Shan then forcefully pushed me to the wall, and squeezed through from the other side. He held the machete tightly in his hand and walked towards the black mass.
Zhang Shan slowly squatted down in front of that thing. I also couldn’t wait to get close to it to see what it was, but his body was really too big, blocking me from seeing anything.
Suddenly, with a “gu” sound, I heard it clearly again.
Zhang Shan then laughed and turned around, raising his hand horizontally, raising his palm upwards, he held the thing and said to me: “I say what, you are actually a toad! It’s just that the tone of the voice has changed in this small alley, so it doesn’t sound that way anymore. ”
Seeing that Zhang Shan’s palm was indeed that of a toad, I dispelled my wariness and walked over. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a very special frog. Under our lamp, it was a deep blue color with a sparkle on it.
I don’t recall seeing any frogs of that color.
Due to the strong light, it half closed its eyes and lay there obediently. Just the bulging belly was the size of an ordinary fist. And the strangest part was its stomach, which was round and bulging, with a certain degree of transparency, and I could even see something moving beneath its thin belly.
I had just put my face close to see what was inside its transparent belly when the toad, whose eyes had been half-closed, suddenly opened its eyes and stared at me. Being so close to it, I was shocked by it. The little toad immediately opened its mouth, and with a “Goo” sound, light purple smoke rushed out from its mouth, spraying my face.
Seeing this, Zhang Shan immediately threw the “Toad” behind him, wanting to pinch my nose.
But it was too late. I was inhaling when it blew out the smoke, and in an instant the smoke was half sucked in. By the time I reacted, my throat was already starting to go numb, and the feeling of numbness was spreading all over my body. In less than three seconds, my four limbs had already started to soften. Before Zhang Shan could reach me, I had already slowly collapsed to the ground.
At the last second, my head tilted to the side, but I saw the small toad lying on the ground in front of me.
In a daze, I was awakened by a noise. When he opened his eyes, a boundless darkness had enveloped him. I waved my hand in front of my face, but I couldn’t see anything.
“Zhang Shan? Zhang Shan! ” I didn’t answer.
Only then did he realize that he had brought a light with him. He quickly reached for his waist and tried to switch on the light. However, when I touched it, my whole body became cold. The battery hanging on my belt and the mine lamp above my head had all disappeared!
I sank to the ground, barely able to move without the light. Zhang Shan also didn’t know where he had gone to. At this time, not to mention looking for the Corpse Supporting Spell, even walking out was a big problem.
“Chairman Mao has taught us that young people with knowledge must devote themselves to the countryside. They should not be afraid of hardships, nor be afraid of …” The noise that woke me up sounded again behind me.