"Thump—!!!"

The sound was like a giant iron hammer, slamming hard into everyone's hearts!

heavy!

blunt!

With a piercing sound of rocks squeezing and metal twisting and rubbing, it pierced through layers of rock walls and slammed into everyone's eardrums!

The entire cramped space was buzzing! Tiny coal dust and particles were falling from above!

"Ah!" A miner who had just entered the tunnel was so startled by the sound that he fell into a puddle.

The color drained from Zhu Zi's face instantly, leaving only a stiff, deathly gray.

His hand, which was reaching out to Jiang Chan, froze in mid-air, his fingers trembling slightly.

“Stone…stone gate…” The old miner collapsed against the rock wall. “First hammer blow! The gate is down! They’re smashing the stone gate! It’s blocked! It’s going to be blocked—!”

Stone gate!

Jiang Chan's heart sank!

From the blurry fragments of Xiao Shitou's memory, information about this thing became clear!

That's no ordinary stone!

That was the last resort used in the mine to completely isolate dangerous tunnels!

A massive, incredibly heavy iron-wood gate! The main body is hardwood, covered with thick iron sheets, and the edges are inlaid with heavy cast iron! Normally suspended in a pre-reserved groove deep inside the mine shaft, once lowered, its terrifying weight and locking mechanism allow it to completely seal off the entire mine shaft like a guillotine!

Not even a mouse could get out, let alone a person!

Then, a large amount of rammed earth and gravel are used to fill and compact the wellhead, turning it into a real, inescapable tomb for the living!

Wang Bapi chose to use this substance to ensure that none of his men would escape alive! To completely eliminate any future troubles!

Another miner broke down in tears, his voice filled with utter despair, "They're really going to bury us alive!"

Despair, like cold, black magma, instantly filled the passage where a glimmer of hope had just been ignited.

The air seemed to be sucked out instantly, leaving only a suffocating, terrifying echo and the miners' dying sobs.

"Shut up!" Jiang Chan suddenly shouted! Her voice was hoarse and sharp, with a ruthless determination that suppressed everyone's cries!

She didn't look at the hand frozen in mid-air on the pillar, nor did she pay attention to the small pebbles falling from above.

She stared intently at the end of the passage—the dark, narrow "rat tunnel" barely wide enough for one person to pass through by bending over! That was the only direction!

"Pillar!" Jiang Chan's voice was fast and urgent. "You're the strongest! Climb in! Use all your strength! Push forward! Push all the rubble and anything you can clear away! Make a path! Hurry!"

Zhu Zi suddenly jolted, and a fierce light, like that of a trapped beast, suddenly burst forth from his eyes, which had been covered in despair!

"ah--!"

He let out a roar that was not human, like a wild bull driven mad. He lowered his head and practically crawled into the depths of the narrow passage!

Immediately from inside came his frantic roars and the rumbling sound of stones being roughly pried open and pushed!

"You guys behind!" Jiang Chan whirled around and yelled at the miners crowded at the entrance of the passage, "Follow the pillar! Climb one by one! Crawl! Use your hands and feet! Hurry! If you want to live, crawl out of here!"

The instinct for survival once again overwhelmed everything!

"Climb! Climb quickly!" Li Dachui roared hoarsely, almost tumbling and crawling as he rushed into the passageway, using both hands and feet to desperately move and arch towards the direction of the commotion caused by the pillar!

Those behind immediately followed, and the narrow passage was instantly filled with writhing bodies! Gasps, coughs, and the hissing of bodies scraping against the rough rock walls mingled together in a chaotic cacophony, filled with the madness of impending death!

Jiang Chan stood sideways, blocking the inner edge of the passage entrance like a reef.

She used her shoulders to push against the people who kept pushing in, used her feet to brace against the slippery ground, and used one hand to firmly grip a protruding rock on the cliff to steady herself.

The air is becoming increasingly murky and thin.

"Uncle Liu! Hold on! Climb! Climb forward!" Jiang Chan shouted towards the depths of the passage.

"Cough cough... I... I..." Uncle Liu's weak, painful breathing came intermittently.

"Uncle Li! Push him! Push him!" Jiang Chan was so anxious her eyes were blazing with anger.

"Push! Push!" Li Dachui roared from inside, his voice muffled and strained.

Just then—

"Thump—!!!"

A second terrifying muffled thud!

With an even clearer sound of rock shattering and the ear-piercing scraping of metal tightening, it slammed down from above once more!

The entire abandoned alleyway shook violently!

Large chunks of loose coal and rubble collapsed from the top of the passage with a loud crash! They splashed into the water near the entrance, creating a huge spray of dark water!

"Ah!" A skinny miner who had just climbed to the entrance and was about to crawl inside was hit on the head by a flying rock. He screamed and rolled to the ground, his head bleeding profusely.

"Pull him up! Shove him in!" Jiang Chan roared as she lunged forward, grabbing the man's tattered collar and dragging him desperately into the narrow passage!

The passageway was filled with chaos, congestion, and desperate struggle.

And on the ground—

Mine shaft entrance!

The torchlight was so bright it pierced the darkness of the night, tearing a large chunk of the darkness away.

The massive stone gate, cold and heavy like the gates of hell, was already more than half closed!

Only a dark slit, half a person's height and less than three feet wide, remained! Like the gaping maw of a monster.

Wang Bapi stood by the well, his oily, chubby face contorted in the flickering torchlight, half filled with extreme fear and half with morbid madness!

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