Chapter 74 A New Fork in the Road
The fine sand in the corridor had buried Li Dong's calves, and his whole body was sinking rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"What the hell! Brothers! Help!"
Li Dong instinctively struggled, twisting his body constantly, trying to pull out his two legs that were deeply stuck in the sand. As he continued to twist, his entire body sank faster and faster.
"Don't move!" Xie Liang shouted at him, "Open your arms and fall backwards! Don't struggle! This is quicksand. The more you struggle, the faster it will swallow you!"
Hearing Xie Liang's words, Li Dong hurriedly lay down on the sand. The suction under his feet seemed not as strong as before, and his sinking body gradually slowed down.
Li Dong didn't dare to move, lying stiffly on the sand: "Fuck! I...I start sinking as soon as I move."
"Don't move yet, we're trying to find a solution." Xie Liang said.
Xie Liang and Xu He tentatively took a few steps towards Li Dong. When they were two meters away from Li Dong, they felt something strange in the sand under their feet.
Xu He pulled Xie Liang back a few steps and said, "Wait for me here."
Xu He swung his sword to cut down some vines on the green wall. He tied some of the vines together and threw them on the sand in front of Li Dong. He then tied the other part into a strong rope and threw it to Li Dong who was lying on his back on the sand.
"Tie it around your waist." Xu He said to Li Dong.
Li Dong carefully grabbed one end of the rope. "If I move... it starts sinking again! What should I do?"
His forehead was covered with sweat and he looked at Xu He without daring to move.
"It's okay, continue." Xu He said in a steady voice.
Hearing Xu He's calm tone, Li Dong felt that he was sure he could pull himself up.
Li Dong carefully passed the rope through his waist and tied a knot. At this time, most of his legs had been swallowed by the sand.
After tying the rope, he nodded to Xu He who was not far away, and made an OK gesture with his hand.
"Big...Brother! My life depends on you!" said Li Dong.
Xu He threw the black sword to Xie Liang and jumped onto the sand covered with vines. He turned his back to Li Dong, carried the rope on his shoulders, and pulled it up with all his strength.
Under the continuous pulling force of the rope, Li Dong's calves gradually emerged from the sand, while Xu He was getting closer and closer to Li Dong's position, and the quicksand on the ground was pulling him towards Li Dong.
The distance between the two was getting closer and closer, and soon, Xu He could touch Li Dong even without the rope.
Just when the vine Xu He was standing on was almost completely swallowed by the quicksand, Li Dong's calf finally broke free from the suction of the quicksand.
Xie Liang hurriedly rolled up the remaining vines and threw them onto the sand where the two of them were. Seeing this, Xu He stepped on the vines he threw.
Just when Li Dong wanted to stand up, Xu He suddenly whispered, "Don't move." Then, Xu He stepped on the vines on the sand and dragged Li Dong, who was lying on the sand, back to the safe area step by step.
"I'm scared to death. What the hell is this?" Li Dong said in fear as he sat on the ground, sweating profusely.
Xie Liang took the black sword and helped him cut the vines tied around his waist. "It's quicksand. Quicksand often eats people in the desert."
"Damn it! I was walking for so long and nothing happened, but when I was taking a piss, something happened."
"People walking on quicksand like this are generally fine. But once they stop and stand still, the force distribution becomes heavier, and the person standing on it will gradually sink. By the time they react, their legs are often half buried."
Li Dong sighed: "Thanks to Brother He, I was able to save my life. I can never repay you for saving my life. I am willing to repay you with my own body..."
Before he could finish his words, Xu He took Xie Liang's hand and walked forward.
"It's fine if you two take me as a concubine! I'm willing to be the third party whether you like it or not! Hey! Brother He! My benefactor! Wait for me!" Li Dong shouted and followed.
Not long after they walked, a new corridor entrance suddenly appeared on the wall on one side, and cries for help were heard from inside.
Li Dong listened carefully for a while and said, "It sounds like the voice of the beautiful lady from before. Do you want to go and have a look?"
"It's her voice, let's go." Xie Liang said as he walked towards the entrance.
The floor of this corridor was the same as the previous one, covered with fine sand that could eat people. Ji Ranzi was hanging on the wall on one side, her whole body tightly entangled by vines on the wall.
When she saw Xie Liang and his group coming in, she shouted excitedly: "Great! It's you, hurry up and save me!"
"Fuck, beauty! How did you get hung there?" Li Dong said as he took out the kitchen knife from his waist and cut the vines on the wall.
"These vines suddenly moved! I was entangled by them and dragged to the wall." Ji Ranzi said.
"What! These vines can move?" Li Dong asked in surprise.
"Yes, otherwise, do you think I hung myself up here for fun?" Ji Ranzi moved the two arms that were rescued by Li Dong.
Li Dong cut off some vines wrapped around her and pulled her down from the wall.
"When I saw you holding a scimitar before, I thought you, a beautiful lady, were very powerful in combat." Li Dong said carelessly.
"Where are your companions?" Xie Liang asked.
"Don't mention them to me!" Ji Ranzi said as she picked up the scimitar that fell on the sand.
"Under what circumstances did these vines move?" Xie Liang asked in a serious tone.
"When the green wall moves, a new fork appears. After the new fork appears, the surrounding vines will move. There is also a very thick white fog. It is difficult for people to see each other clearly even if they are less than half a meter apart. My knife was knocked away by the vines when the fork appeared. Otherwise, I wouldn't..."
"Did the vine just entangle you?" Xie Liang asked.
"Yes, I was almost at the new fork in the road when the vines around me suddenly started moving. My knife was knocked away and I was entangled by the vines."
Xie Liang analyzed: "The vines wrapped around you, perhaps because they don't want you to enter that passage. If that's the case, that passage might lead to the exit of the maze."
Li Dong got excited when he heard this: "Shit! As long as we find that entrance, can't we get out? Where is the entrance? Where is it?"
"That's it! I told you, this green wall will move! Those two bastards left me and ran in, I won't let them off later!" Having said that, Ji Ranzi kicked the sand angrily.
Xu He, who had been silent the whole time, asked, "How long ago did the fork in the road appear?"
"It should have been more than forty minutes ago. The entrance was right here." Ji Ranzi said as she walked to the green wall on one side and pointed with her scimitar, "It's right here."
After listening to this, Xu He didn't say anything, but looked at the wall she was talking about.
"This doesn't seem to be the direction of the center." Xie Liang said, taking out the notebook where he had drawn the terrain. "If we go this way, there will be a foggy area behind us."
"Maybe each door teleports to a different area. You can give it a try." Xu He said.
Xie Liang nodded and put the notebook away: "Anyway, we are in the outermost circle now. Maybe we can get to the inner circle if we try."
Li Dong looked at the corridor on the left, then at the entrance they had come in from, and asked, "What should we do next? Which way should we go?"
"No, I won't leave." Xu He said.
Ji Ranzi asked: "What do you mean by not leaving? Staying here forever?"
Xie Liang explained: "If nothing unexpected happens, the tunnel will reappear soon. We just need to wait here."
It was already past two in the afternoon, the sky was still gray, and there was a strong sense of moisture in the air.
The four of them sat on the ground and rested against the green wall.
Xie Liang took out an apple from his pocket and handed it to Ji Ranzi beside him: "Here, I just picked it up in the corridor. It should be edible."
Ji Ranzi took the apple and looked at Xie Liang in surprise: "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Ji Ranzi put the apple Xie Liang gave her into her bag. She was not hungry yet and planned to keep it for now.
Several people sat on the sand for about ten minutes, and fog began to gradually rise in the corridor.
"Hurry up and get up! The fog is coming! The fork in the road appeared after the fog!" Ji Ranzi quickly pulled Xie Liang who was standing beside her up.
At first, there were wisps of white mist like gauze, and then the mist became as thick as the thick white smoke after a fire was put out.
Unlike smoke, this fog is not choking, but it makes it difficult to see the surroundings. The eyes are blurry as if covered by white gauze.
"Let's hold hands and stay together. Don't get separated. Take out your weapons first." Xie Liang said.
The fog grew thicker and thicker. After an unknown amount of time, the green wall on one side suddenly began to move, but soon stopped. At this time, the fog in the corridor flowed in one direction.
"The fog is going over there! The fork is there!" Ji Ranzi shouted.
The four of them stood close together, moving step by step towards the direction where the fog was coming from.
Just when they were two or three meters away from the fork in the road, the vines on the green wall suddenly moved, swinging back and forth in the mist like whips.
"Don't get entangled by them, the door will disappear soon! Hurry!" Ji Ranzi shouted.
Xu He stood in front of the three people holding a black sword and swung it back and forth. The vines in the fog were cut off one after another and fell to the sand.
A few steps ahead is the entrance to the corridor, and you can vaguely see that the ground there is the same wet mud as before.
"You go in first." After saying that, Xu He put his arm around Xie Liang's waist and helped him into the corridor.
The green wall began to move again, and Xie Liang hurriedly shouted, "Come in quickly!"
Next came Li Dong, Ji Ranzi, and finally Xu He. The three of them came in one after another without any danger.
The entrance to the corridor began to close gradually, and the fog around it began to dissipate gradually.
There were 4 apples and two bottles of water on the floor of the corridor, just like the previous corridor.
Xie Liang gave one of the bottles of water to Ji Ranzi, and gave one of the four apples to each of them.
Li Dong was too lazy to ask Xie Liang to help him carry his two apples, but Xie Liang thought about it and refused.
"It's safer for you to take it. If we get separated unexpectedly, you might starve to death here, so you'd better take it yourself." Xie Liang said as he stuffed two apples and a bottle of water into his shirt pocket.
"Luckily it's winter outside and my coat pockets are big enough, otherwise I would have eaten these two fruits right there."
Ji Ranzi asked: "If we find the right path, will there be these things in the passage?"
"That should be the case. The apple I gave you appeared like this before." Xie Liang said.
"Those two bastards had already entered this passage. They must have seen the food on the ground. Why didn't they take it?"
Xie Liang: "Could it be that the corridor that appears every time is different, and the one we entered happened to be one that no one has ever entered before."
Ji Ranzi nodded and agreed with this statement: "This is more likely. There is no reason for them not to take the food."
As they chatted, they walked towards the front of the corridor. Xu He had made different marks in the corridor to prevent others from circling around without finding it, as they had done before.
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