Chapter 68: The flowers are gone, please don’t leave me.
"You didn't expect it to be me." Qi Yinrui said with a smile.
"I have this feeling." Xia Huanming glanced at him and walked straight towards the mottled wall.
This cell is only eight square meters at most, but the light is very bright, making the word "death" on the wall look like it was painted on just a few days ago.
The damp smell of mold mixed with the scent of rust hit him in the face. Xia Huanming's fingers gently stroked the dark red words "death" on the wall, and the uneven touch felt by his fingertips.
"Let's find a way out first." Xia Huanming rubbed his fingertips, and dark red debris fell.
"It looks like it was written not long ago. Did someone write this on purpose to remind us?" Qi Yinrui walked to his side. "But you were quite calm when you saw me. I thought you would complain a little."
"What can we do?" Xia Huanming continued to grope along the wall without looking back. "It's already a foregone conclusion. It will be good for all of us to gather together early."
Suddenly, Xia Huanming caught a glimpse of a strand of black hair sticking out from the gap in the prison door.
He squatted down without hesitation, grabbed the wig and pulled it out - with a rustling sound, a skull covered with faded talismans rolled out, and the empty eye sockets were facing the two of them.
Qi Yinrui whistled: "Wow, surprise."
"..." Xia Huanming didn't even raise his eyelids. He threw the skull with his backhand, and it fell into the pile of weeds in the corner with a "bang".
His right hand continued to reach deeper, and indeed he touched an angular object. He pulled it out and saw that it was a palm-sized wooden box.
Xia Huanming pushed open the lid of the box with his thumb, and inside lay a piece of paper folded into a square.
Qi Yinrui came over and read the words on it: "You who see this paper should have lost your memory due to the confusion of time and space. You originally traveled to 2028, but the time point of travel changed and became 120 years later. The originally peaceful house has undergone earth-shaking changes. Everything is different, as if something strange is attached. You have to escape from this ancient house to return to the original time and space. Remember, be careful of eyes behind you - the number 20200 who escaped an hour earlier than you stayed."
After reading, Qi Yinrui carefully checked the paper against the light. After confirming that there was no invisible handwriting, he shrugged and said, "It seems that there is no other task except to escape from here."
Xia Huanming touched the rusty combination lock on the prison door. A cold metallic glow could be seen faintly through the mottled rust on the lock.
He turned the gears thoughtfully: "Have you tried 20200?"
Qi Yinrui sneered and looked at Xia Huanming with a "you are too naive" look: "How can it be that simple? It must be deciphered..."
Xia Huanming had already aligned the numbers to 20200. As the last digit fell into place, the lock core made a crisp "click" sound and the rusty lock tongue popped open.
The cell door creaked in front of them and slowly opened outwards.
Xia Huanming: “…”
Qi Yinrui: “…”
After a brief silence, Xia Huanming held the note in his palm and took the lead: "Let's go."
Qi Yinrui coughed lightly: "Hmm."
When they stepped into the corridor, they realized that the cell was the brightest place here.
It was almost pitch dark in the narrow corridor, with only a broken oil lamp in the corner swaying with a faint flame. The bean-sized halo cast an erratic shadow on the damp wall, as if it would be swallowed up by the surrounding darkness at any time.
Qi Yinrui, who was standing behind Xia Huanming, lowered his voice and said, "After leaving the Novice Village, nothing can be predicted."
Xia Huanming stared at the bottomless corridor in front of him, his expression unchanged: "There will definitely be scary things in this kind of corridor."
Xia Huanming actually guessed it right.
A bloody severed head suddenly dropped from the ceiling, hanging by long black hair, as if someone was showing it off to them - the pale skin was covered with purple corpse spots, and the corner of the mouth was cut from the ear to the root by some sharp weapon.
The eyeballs of this head had been dug out, leaving only black and red tears of blood slowly flowing out of the sunken eye sockets, forming a small puddle on the ground.
Qi Yinrui was actually amused by such a gloomy and terrifying scene. He patted Xia Huanming on the shoulder and said, "It's a good thing you didn't stand there, otherwise you would have to wash your hair again."
Xia Huanming said nothing and silently walked around the fake head.
They continued to walk along the wall. The strange screams seemed to come from the cracks in the rocks, sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes near, sometimes far away.
Suddenly, a dozen pale arms stretched out from the base of the mottled wall, blocking their way.
The wounds on each hand were different - some had turned-out nails, some had ulcerated flesh, and the most horrifying one had only white bones left.
Xia Huanming didn't even pause, he put one hand in his pocket and easily stepped over the pile of squirming arms. Qi Yinrui followed him and looked back.
Why do those hands feel a little limp?
The closer they got to the exit, the thinner the light became, until finally even the pitiful light from the oil lamp disappeared. The two could only move forward by groping the wall, and from time to time they would feel a wet liquid. Xia Huanming simply pointed at the wall with his index finger.
In the darkness, Xia Huanming heard Qi Yinrui's voice with a smile: "Xia Huanming, do you know why the male and female protagonists in romance dramas always go on roller coasters or haunted houses when they go to amusement parks?"
Xia Huanming answered straightforwardly: "Because these two are the most fun."
"It's because these two will produce a suspension bridge effect," Qi Yinrui's voice was clearly audible in the darkness. "Do you think anyone in our group will also experience the suspension bridge effect? Those few places just now were actually quite scary for other people, right?"
Xia Huanming: “…”
How could he not know who Qi Yinrui was talking about?
That's why he was eager to gather and find Chen Xing as soon as possible.
The next second, Xia Huanming's fingers touched the cold metal door handle.
He pulled down hard, and with a slight "click" sound, faint white light poured in like a tide, tearing a hole in the darkness.
Xia Huanming opened the door without thinking, and when he walked out he found that they were on the second floor.
A broken crystal ceiling hung above the hall of the old house, and the broken crystal fragments flickered with an eerie cold light in the dim light that came from nowhere. The wooden floor of the corridor on the second floor made a teeth-grinding "creaking" sound as they walked, as if it would collapse at any time.
Looking down from the railing on the second floor, there were several dolls with twisted postures scattered in the hall. Their glass eyes reflected faint light in the darkness, and they would look up when someone spoke.
They seemed to be the first group to come out. Apart from the two of them, there was no other person in sight in the corridor.
Xia Huanming and Qi Yinrui walked around and found that the stairs leading to the first floor were blocked, and five of the seven doors on the second floor were locked. Only two doors could be opened, one was the door they had just come out of, and the other led to an ordinary bedroom.
They found a basin of bones under the bed in the bedroom - it was really bones in an iron basin, and it looked like someone was trying to refine something, with incense ash in the middle.
Xia Huanming found something reflective among the tangled bones. He poured out the contents of the basin and the key fell out. The shape of the key was a bit strange, with a specially customized diamond head.
"I seem to have seen this pattern somewhere." Qi Yinrui pondered and suddenly remembered, "It was on the painting in the corridor just now."
Xia Huanming also thought of that place. If he guessed correctly, this was the key to the secret room.
They returned to the corridor they had just been in and stood in front of the tilted painting. On the lady's dress in the painting was embroidered a black diamond pattern that exactly matched the shape of the key.
Qi Yinrui inserted the key precisely into the diamond-shaped groove and gently turned it to the right. With a crisp "click", the secret room door hidden in the wall slowly opened.
The two exchanged glances and stepped into the secret room one after another. In front of them was a dark staircase leading to the third floor, with dim wall lamps casting flickering light and shadows on both sides.
In stark contrast to the gloomy passage downstairs, this corridor becomes brighter as you go forward.
When he reached the exit, dazzling white light poured down like a tide, and the tip of Xia Huanming's shoe was already stained with a layer of pale halo before he stepped out of the threshold.
The moment I pushed open the door, a dazzling scene came into view - countless white candles were swaying with cold flames, and countless white cloths were hung in the air by steel wires, floating strangely in the still air.
The two struggled to make their way through the white cloth maze and finally got out, but the lights around them suddenly dimmed, and the exhausted oil lamps were releasing their last life.
At the end of the corridor, Xia Huanming squinted his eyes and vaguely made out a few blurry figures.
Even from such a long distance, the eye-catching blue sweatshirt was still clearly visible - it was Chen Xing and the others.
Chen Xing walked in front with a flashlight. The three people behind him huddled like frightened quails, following his footsteps closely.
"It seems they are faster than us. Let's gather now." Qi Yinrui's voice came from Xia Huanming's side.
Xia Huanming said "hmm" and walked quickly towards the people in front.
Chen Xing was moving to the left when he suddenly caught a glimpse of two figures approaching from the distance, and he was suddenly filled with joy.
However, they all forgot one thing.
Since the other three people were huddled together and were looking at Chen Xing's legs as he walked, Chen Xing was the only one among the four who saw the two people.
Qi Yinrui wanted to say hello politely, so he reached out and gently patted the shoulder of Zhao Xingyu, who was at the end of the team.
Chen Xing suddenly thought: Oh no!
Sure enough, before Qi Yinrui could say anything, Zhao Xingyu bounced up like a basketball and screamed, "Ahhhhhhhh!! Something is touching me!!!"
The two girls were frightened by Zhao Xingyu's sudden scream. They covered their eyes instantly and never looked up.
The three of them were like dominoes, one after another screaming.
“Ahhh! Where did this ghost come from!!”
"Are you behind me?"
"No no no! I feel it behind me!"
Chen Xing: “…”
Xia Huanming: “…”
Qi Yinrui: “…”
Zhao Xingyu squatted on the ground, covered his ears, and muttered: "Now we are in a society ruled by law. Now China has been established. Now that the country has been established for so many years, there can't be any ghosts, there can't be any ghosts..."
Jiang Ke covered his eyes and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Ahhh! Canni! The devil is betraying the core values!!"
Chen Xing: “…”
Xia Huanming: “…”
Qi Yinrui: “…”
Chen Xing and Xia Huanming exchanged helpless looks. Chen Xing gently poked Huang Canni's shoulder and said, "Uh, why don't you open your eyes and take a look?"
Huang Canni shook his head vigorously: "No, those things are too disgusting."
What Huang Canni couldn't stand more than the horror was the disgust - the deliberately old decay effects and sticky blood plasma props drove her crazier than the ghosts themselves. Especially the head that fell out just now, which got her hands covered in fake blood, and she had to wipe it off all the way.
Chen Xing coughed lightly: "Oh, it's Xia Huanming and Qi Yinrui."
Fortunately, Chen Xing was very trustworthy. The three of them listened to him, slowly opened their eyes, and when they found that it was indeed these two people, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhao Xingyu slumped on the ground and blamed the two: "Oh my god, you guys walked without making any sound."
Qi Yinrui smiled and said, "Wouldn't you run faster if you heard the sound?"
Jiang Ke tapped Zhao Xingyu's shoulder and said, "You too, can you not be so scary? I wasn't scared to death by ghosts on this trip, I was scared to death by you."
Huang Canni also followed the review time, and several people began to share their own information.
Xia Huanming deftly moved around the crowd and dodged to the side of Chen Xing. He deliberately frowned, pretending to be frightened, and even his breathing was deliberately quickened.
Chen Xing remembered that Xia Huanming was also afraid of ghosts, so he took Xia Huanming's hand and asked softly, "Do you also have heads dropped over there? Do you still have those fire basins?"
"There's no brazier, but there's a head." Xia Huanming lowered his head, the corners of his mouth curled up imperceptibly. When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with "fear" and his voice was deliberately lowered and trembling, "I was scared to death at that time..."
Chen Xing rubbed Xia Huanming's hand and comforted him, "Fortunately, Brother Rui is not afraid of ghosts, otherwise you would be in trouble."
Xia Huanming nodded obediently: "Yes, he protected me."
Qi Yinrui at the side: "?"
Who does he protect?
To protect Xia Huanming who had been walking in front of him and digging bones with his bare hands? How could he not know?
The "weak" Xia Huanming put his cheek against Chen Xing's head and said, "My legs are a little weak, let me lean on you."
The corners of his mouth hidden in the shadows were clearly slightly raised, and he didn't look afraid at all.
Qi Yinrui: “…”
No wonder he couldn't wait to find Chen Xing, it turned out to be such a drama.
He had been saying that he would just bear with it, but it looked like that person couldn't bear it at all.
Forget it, what does it have to do with him?
Qi Yinrui smiled and nodded in agreement: "Yes, I protected him, and he has to thank me."
When Zhao Xingyu heard that Xia Huanming had a weakness, he stood up immediately and said, "I didn't expect that Xia Huanming, you are also afraid of ghosts. Haha, I didn't expect that you also have a weakness!"
Xia Huanming's sight lightly fell on the back of Zhao Xingyu. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he said in horror: "Ah! You, what is that on you?"
Zhao Xingyu immediately twisted his body like he was shaking off a bug, and shouted anxiously: "What what what?! Help me take it off!!"
Jiang Ke also noticed it and covered his eyes again and said, "Ahhh, this is so disgusting!"
Qi Yinrui calmly took off half of the finger from Zhao Xingyu: "It's okay, it's just a finger."
Zhao Xingyu: “?”
Jiang Ke: “?”
Just one finger?
Where is the “that’s all”?
But he seemed to have found a savior and immediately walked close to Qi Yinrui.
You know, before meeting Chen Xing and Huang Canni, he was walking with Jiang Ke, an actress he had hardly ever spoken to. When they encountered a ghost face, they were so scared that they wanted to hug something, but when they found out that the other person was someone they didn't know, they could only hug themselves tightly.
God knows how they got here.
They chatted for a few more minutes and continued to look for a way out.
It is known that Chen Xing and Huang Canni were born on the fourth floor and there are no stairs going up, so the third floor is a breakthrough point and they must leave from the third floor.
While trying to find the way, there was a sudden "click" sound outside the window. Before anyone could react, a deformed and terrifying figure swooped towards the window - it was a twisted two-headed monster with two rotten heads squeezed on the same neck and four cloudy eyeballs spinning wildly.
"Bang!" Two bloody palms slammed heavily on the window glass. The sticky blood slowly slid down the glass, leaving a winding bloodstain on the window frame.
“Ahhhhhh!”
Zhao Xingyu had been hiding behind Qi Yinrui. Even if he didn't look at him, he would start shouting when he heard the slightest noise.
Jiang Ke was frightened by Zhao Xingyu again and started to scream as well; Huang Canni crossed her arms coldly, she just felt disgusted by the bloody handprint and dry-heaved twice.
Xia Huanming was so focused on finding clues that he forgot about his disguise for a moment. He stared at the bloody handprint on the window for a moment, and after confirming that there was nothing unusual, he continued to search for other suspicious places.
Little did he know that in Chen Xing's eyes, his actions were a sign of complete fright.
Chen Xing thought for a moment and stretched out his hand.
Just as Xia Huanming was groping for the wall, he suddenly felt someone gently pulling the corner of his clothes.
He turned around suddenly and met Chen Xing's worried gaze.
"Ahuan." Chen Xing called his name softly, his voice incredibly soft, "If you are scared, just hold my hand."
That beautiful right hand hung quietly between the two of them, palm facing up.
Is the drawbridge effect happening here?
Otherwise, why was his heartbeat so deafening that it seemed as if it was about to burst through his chest?
Never mind.
Without any hesitation, Xia Huanming grabbed the hand in the dark room and pulled the person into his arms.
Chen Xing's arms froze in mid-air. At this strange moment, the first thing he sensed was the familiar aura of Xia Huanming.
His hand dropped involuntarily and patted Xia Huanming on the back.
She seemed really scared, hugging him like this.
Chen Xing patted her gently and assured her in a low voice: "I said I would protect you, don't be afraid."
"Well, I believe you," Xia Huanming took a deep breath and rubbed Chen Xing's neck, his voice so soft that only he could hear it, "You won't leave me."
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