The four of us didn't care about the humidity and heat in the alleyway, but we still put on chemical protective suits, and the fear of the unknown virus can still make people feel more at ease after wearing the mask. As for how long people can hold on to such high temperatures, only one step at a time is one step.

Following the signs of the formation map, we quickly advanced to the outermost circle of the eightfold roadway of the Five Directions Gathering Fire Array, chose the path on the left side at all the forks, and walked all the way.

To our surprise, in addition to affecting the flexibility of our body, the airtight chemical protective clothing did not cause us more discomfort, it is estimated that the temperature in the formation has already exceeded the body temperature, and the difference between wearing chemical protective clothing and not wearing chemical protective clothing is not large.

Soon, the Cao team found a finger-sized triangular scratch on the stone wall of the tunnel, as if it had been carved with a knife, and one would appear every few tens of meters.

"Chang, there are still scraps left by metal scratches on this trace, it shouldn't have been carved for a long time, it seems that Liu Xiaowu really touched here. Team Cao pointed to the mark and muttered to us, and the voice coming from the chemical protective suit was very dull.

I carefully observed the situation around me and told Cao Team in a loud voice, "Old Cao, this was originally a natural cave, not dug by the miners. Be careful inside, the road may not be easy. ”

Team Cao, who was walking in front, nodded, and when we were marching, we were worried that the flashlight would blow up again, only Team Cao turned on one, and now we can't care so much, Sun Ping and Xiao Duan have turned on the spare flashlight. Illuminated by several bright pillars of light, we found that there were still many anomalies in this natural cave.

Saying that it is a natural cave, it is clear that the cave is not very regular, the ground is rugged and there is no trace of artificial excavation. It can be said that it is naturally formed, and its cave walls are obviously too smooth, as if they have been carefully polished, but the miners do not do this useless work, and it looks more like it has been formed by thousands of years of flowing water.

Sun Ping stroked the smooth wall of the cave and said in surprise, "The terrain of this cave is very high, if the water is washed away, won't the water be poured into the fire gathering array in all directions? If there is an underground river down here, it is a taboo in mining, and the mine will never be dug here?" I can't answer Sun Ping's questions, and maybe the more I go inside, the more such questions will be.

After walking a few dozen meters away, Team Cao seemed to have discovered something, and shouted to us to extinguish the flashlight in our hands. But when the light pillar of the flashlight disappeared and the cave was dark again, we suddenly found that a faint golden light was faintly projected on the smooth walls of the cave, like countless stars twinkling in the sky, which was extremely spectacular. The most bizarre thing is that if we stand and stare for a moment, we will find that these lights seem to be moving slowly, moving in the direction we came in.

Sun Ping stroked the stone wall again, and seemed to feel the temperature inside, "Old Chang, this stone wall seems to be also coal essence jade, obediently, how big is this? Could it be that we are walking through a whole piece of coal essence jade now?"

"Old Sun, don't touch those stone walls, don't stare at them, have you forgotten what's behind the stone walls in the formation?" Team Cao roared anxiously, turned on the flashlight again, and walked forward faster.

The width of this cave is different, the wide place is no problem for three people to be parallel, and in the narrow place, one person can barely squeeze into it sideways, but the further you go inside, the clearer the light on the cave wall becomes, and we can see the path in the cave even without a flashlight. But then there was a strong sense of oppression, a slowing heartbeat, a slowing of blood flow, as if the body was adjusting itself to keep pace with the speed of the light spots on the cave wall. If it weren't for the Concentration Pill we took before, it is estimated that we would all be sitting under the stone wall at this moment, watching our lives pass so slowly. But the terrible thing is that this feeling of emptiness does not bring people any fear and discomfort, and the heart seems to be looking forward to the moment when everything comes to a standstill.

Team Cao's shouts have become intermittent, and it seems that this feeling is not unique to me. "Don't think about your own business, think about the case, think about getting Liu Xiaowu's madman out, and think about how to write the report of the case. Xiao Duan, at your speed, you still want to do it at the end of the year? What about dreaming? Old Sun, don't run to Beijing, it's useless, what can you do if you see Jiang Ju? I won't invite you to dinner when I come. Chang, it's a pity that your pills are not mass-produced, how about we go back and do it together? I have a relationship with a pharmaceutical company, so there must be a market. Don't stop, everyone, go ahead, it's almost there. ”

At this time, Team Cao's chatter seemed to turn into a natural sound, stimulating our nerves, tearing our minds, and making us unable to focus on the stone walls of the cave. I simply took out the soul bell from my bag, and cooperated with the Cao team's modulation, constantly shaking, beating the beat, and forming a ridiculous rap band.

In the words of Team Cao, this more than 100-meter cave road, he almost said his words for a month in one breath, and finally he really ran out of words, so he simply followed the rhythm of my soul bell, and chirped a few times. With his continuous efforts, although the four of us walked at a rapid pace, none of us were left behind, and none of us were fascinated by the stone wall.

By the time we had walked more than 100 meters, we could see why Dr. Chen's map only marked such a section of the road, and the road was broken in front. It's not that there is no tunnel ahead, it's not that the road is blocked by falling rocks, but we come to a huge cavity, which is a huge and magnificent space, and the strong light in our hands can barely shine on the distant cave wall, and then the light seems to be absorbed by the stone wall, and it is scattered and disappeared, and it is estimated that the distance is at least seven or eight hundred meters away.

The road under our feet stretched out for a few meters, and it was a completely endless abyss in all directions. At this moment, we all heard the shrieking wind coming from the abyss.

Team Cao was stunned for a moment, motioned for us to stop, and threw the flashlight in his hand into the abyss without hesitation. The flashlight made an arc in mid-air, and as if it was being pushed by something, it suddenly accelerated, and began to spin rapidly. Although we were a little dazzled by the light pillar of the flashlight, we did not see it fall to the bottom of the hole, nor did we hear any impact sound, only that the light column of the torch became smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared.

"Damn, is there really a bottomless pit? It's a dead end to get it for a long time. Sun Ping opened his mouth wide, and it took a long time to say a word.

"Uncle Chang, come and see, there's a steel drill here. Xiao Duan on one side was half-squatting and exclaimed.

We followed his finger and saw that in the crack between the road and the stone wall, there was a stainless steel drill with a safety buckle attached to the safety rope of the little finger, which stretched all the way down the cliff side along the road.

"It's Liu Xiaowu's equipment, Team Cao, I didn't watch him tinker with this all day long ago, this person is really bold, he dares to go down alone. Sun Ping squatted in front of the rope and looked at it carefully and told Team Cao.

Team Cao tugged the rope, and the rope seemed to be tied under something, and it didn't move. Xiao Duan lay on the ground and shouted loudly into the abyss, but there was no response.

"Everyone take out the rope in the bag, Liu Xiaowu brings a rope of more than 100 meters at most, and it can't go deep, I'll go down and take a look." Cao's tone was firm and irrefutable.

"Team Cao, we brought in too little equipment, aren't you waiting for ......?"

"Wait, wait, wait for the backup to come in, everyone is dead. Team Cao didn't wait for Xiao Duan to finish speaking, then cursed and began to pull the rope out of his backpack.

The ropes in our bags are seventy or eighty meters long, and one end of the rope is tied to the safety buckle of the steel drill, and the small section is not at ease, and it goes around around itself, and the Cao team then tied the other end to the body and carefully climbed down the cliff.

"Damn, these cliffs are all made of coal and jade, it's too slippery, you guys pull the rope tightly on it. Team Cao's voice came from below, and I knew that he had only gone down a few meters, but the voice seemed very far away.

Xiao Duan simply sat down next to the steel drill, grabbed the steel drill with both hands, and wrapped the rope around his arm twice, while Sun Ping and I grabbed the back end of the rope and stood beside Xiao Duan.

The rope began to slowly fall from the edge of the cliff, and this waiting made us on the cliff extremely anxious, and the downward pull of our hands also increased.

"Lao Chang, how can there be such a deep hole at the bottom of the mine? Why did that Taoist priest mark a symbol of Shengmen here back then? Obviously, he can't get out of here? And that Liu Xiaowu too, why do you have to go down to see it if you don't wait for a while?" Sun Ping turned his head and asked me while holding the rope.

Liu Xiaowu chose to go down, in fact, it is easy to understand, he is an expert in caving, and seeing a cave that he has never seen before, the temptation is enough to make him forget the danger. I only have one guess about the problem of Shengmen, either that Taoist priest went down back then and knew that there was a way out below, but this possibility is very small. There is also a possibility that the symbol of this Shengmen only corresponds to the things sealed by the Five Directions Gathering Fire Array, and only emphasizes the correspondence or causal relationship between the two, rather than referring to a path. ”

"As for where this hole came from and where it leads, who can say clearly? Human beings have only existed on the earth for hundreds of thousands of years, and the scientific and systematic study of the earth is only a matter of a few hundred years, and there are too many unknown things. There is a similar cave in the Andes Mountains of South America, which does not go down vertically like this one, but it also extends more than ten kilometers to the center of the earth, but I don't know why the Western expedition team gave up the plan for further investigation, and it is estimated that it has also encountered extremely dangerous conditions. There are also sea eye wells, which are found underground in many ancient cities, and no one knows how deep it is and where it leads. And those who have been in there have more or less physical problems of one kind or another. ”

(Many things seem to fall and go well, and many seem to go down.) Those who know that they are obedient and obedient can be turned into words. To the long anti-short, to the short anti-long, the way of heaven also. --"Lü's Spring and Autumn")