(Foreword)

The road ahead was thorny and bumpy, but there was no turning back.

(Text)

June 2, 2022 at 08:16 AM

My phone rang suddenly.

I picked up my phone and looked at it, it turned out to be Yan Xiaoxue's phone. I pressed the button to end the call, and now I don't have time to chat with Yan Xiaoxue, Li Ruina's safety is the most important thing.

But just after I hung up the phone, it didn't take long for the mobile phone to ring again, and I picked it up and saw that it was Yan Xiaoxue's phone again, and it seemed that she would never stop if she didn't get through the phone.

"Cheng Yin, when is it, you either listen to it or hang up, the ringtone of the mobile phone is easy to attract the attention of the other party." Zhao Yuyu reminded.

I reluctantly picked up the phone and said softly, "Hey, Yan Xiaoxue, I'm busy, do you have anything important?" ”

"Cheng Yin, I want to have time to participate with the two coupons you gave us at the bakery last time?" I didn't wait for Yan Xiaoxue to finish speaking, and then said perfunctorily: "Okay, okay, I will definitely participate when I have time, I'm really busy now." ”

"Really? That's great, we've got you covered. Yan Xiaoxue hung up the phone after speaking.

I put my phone on silent mode and put it in my pocket and said, "Okay, it's okay, let's get up quickly." ”

"Come here, everyone, the stairs are here." Cui Li shouted quietly.

So we followed the stairs to the second floor, and then through several halls and a corridor that was not too long to reach the staircase that led to the third floor.

"Cheng Yin, do you think it's strange? The layout of the building is very similar to that of the AEF Research Center, with each floor having to go through each floor to reach the staircase leading to the previous floor. "I also noticed what Lin Yun said.

The usual staircase is usually only located on one side of the building, and any floor can be reached through this staircase, as is the case with the U8 department store. This is not the case here, where stairs are staggered on each floor, and you have to go through the entire floor to get to the next staircase.

"Ah, let's leave it alone, hurry up and get it." Cui Li said indifferently.

But having said that, there are so many buildings in the world, and it's not surprising that there are two buildings that are structurally similar once in a while.

We cautiously walked up the stairs to the third floor. The layout of the three floors is very special, all the windows are tightly closed, there is no light at all, and not even a single lighting facility on the whole floor is pitch black.

"Be careful, everyone, I don't feel right here." I whispered in the darkness, but I couldn't see anyone.

"Cheng Yin, where are you? Why can't I see you? There's not even a light here, how do we get there? "Cui Li's voice came from behind me, and now I can only discern everyone's general orientation by the voice.

"Everyone, be quiet, now we can only pass the direction by sound, I will try to move forward as much as I can, you can tell where I am by sound, try to get as close to me as possible."

I tried to take a step forward, my hands outstretched, and there didn't seem to be any obstacle in front of me.

"I'm here, I'm trying to move forward now." I use my voice to send a signal to everyone.

"Cheng Yin, no, your room is very empty, and the voice you make will echo, and we have no way to determine your direction at all."

Echo? But my voice is very soft, it shouldn't have an echo at all, and there was no echo when Cui Li talked to me at the staircase just now, but why did there be an echo when I walked into this floor?

Just when I was puzzled, suddenly a bright light shone through, and I couldn't open my eyes for a while, and it was hard for me to get used to the light.

But where does the light come from?

I looked towards the place where the light was emitting, and saw Xia Cheng walking towards me with a flashlight in one hand and a backpack in the other, "Cheng Yin, it seems that this room is equipped with amplification equipment, it is obviously not feasible for you to rely on sound to distinguish the direction, it is better to make it simpler." Xia Cheng said as he took out another flashlight from his backpack and threw it at me, "It's better to use a flashlight." ”

I caught the flashlight that Xia Cheng threw over, turned it on and shone the surrounding situation, and sure enough, as Xia Cheng said, this floor is very empty, and there are amplification equipment on the walls, it seems that the echo just now is also the masterpiece of these amplification equipment.

"Don't be stunned, let's go. Remember not to make too loud noises. Xia Cheng walked ahead of me and commanded.

We walked along and finally found the next staircase.

"Xia Cheng, it's good that you're here, otherwise we really don't know how to get here." Lin Yun looked at Xia Cheng.

"I parked the car and put on the backpack I had prepared yesterday, and sure enough, these flashlights came in handy."

Xia Cheng walked upstairs, and we also came to the fourth floor with him. This floor is different from the third floor, the whole floor is very bright, and the sunlight shines through the glass windows in every corner of the floor.

I turned off my flashlight and watched my surroundings.

"There doesn't seem to be any mechanism on this floor, let's just walk over there." Cui Li took a few steps forward with a big grin.

But at this moment, several arrows suddenly shot out of the wall.

"Danger!" Xia Cheng immediately stepped forward and pushed Cui Li away, the arrow cut out of Xia Cheng's sleeve, and he fell to the ground in pain.

"Xia Cheng, are you alright? What do you think? Where did it hurt? Lin Yun stepped forward and asked with concern.

Xia Cheng held the arm of his right hand with his left hand and said, "It's okay, it's just a small injury." ”

Lin Yun took away Xia Cheng's left hand, "Such a deep wound is still said to be a small injury?" It must be dealt with urgently. Lin Yun said and took out some bandages and painkiller spray from his bag.

She skillfully sprayed the painkiller spray on Xia Cheng's wound, and then carefully bandaged it with a bandage, "How about Xia Cheng, does it still hurt?" ”

Xia Cheng tried to wave his right arm lightly and said, "It should be fine, let's continue to move forward." ”

After Xia Cheng finished speaking, he stood up, picked up his backpack, and carried it behind his back.

"Cui Li, it's all you, when can you stop being so reckless?" I blamed Cui Li for two sentences.

Cui Li looked at us apologetically, "It's all me, if Xia Cheng hadn't saved me, otherwise I'd ......"

"Forget it, it's nothing, let's keep walking. Everyone followed me. Xia Cheng looked carefully at the ground on this floor, there was an obvious depression in the place where Cui Li stepped on just now, it seemed that this was the button to start the switch. With every step Xia Cheng took, he would try to press the ground in front of him, and if he was a little loose, he would bypass it.

In this way, we carefully walked through this floor under the leadership of Xia Cheng.

"It was so terrifying just now, this bow and arrow flew over 'whizzing', it seems that it is not so simple to rescue Li Ruina." Zhao Yuyu said on the side.

"It's really not that easy to rescue Li Ruina, the person who kidnapped Li Ruina must have chosen here for his reasons, and these organs must be his barrier. All we have to do is pass through one barrier after another, find Li Ruina, and take her out safely. ”

And so we made it to the fifth floor. The fifth floor is clearly another style, full of animal models. Lions, elephants, and even giraffes can be seen everywhere. It was as if we were in the prairie, and this time we all walked very carefully, for fear of touching some mechanism.

"Cheng Yin, you said that these animals don't move suddenly, right?" Cui Li hid behind me and asked timidly.

"Cui Li, look at your guts, these are just models." I said and walked on.

Just when we thought we were safe, we suddenly heard the roar of a lion.

"Cheng Yin, didn't you say they wouldn't move? Where did that sound come from? Cui Li looked around in panic.

I saw a huge lion model moving and galloping towards us. Along the way, models of other animals were knocked to the ground.

"Run, everyone!" Xia Cheng roared loudly.

Everyone ran desperately towards the staircase in front of them. Xia Cheng stayed at the end, commanding everyone.

"Xia Cheng, you should go too! This lion is not a virtual image, and if it catches up, it will definitely die! I shouted.

"Cheng Yin, you leave me alone, hurry up and get everyone out of here! I've got to find a way to get it out of the way, or none of us can get away! After saying this, Xia Cheng ran towards the lion, and then he made a quick sharp turn, and the lion followed him closely. When he was about to catch up, Xia Cheng hid behind the giraffe.

Suddenly something strange happened, the lion stopped, looked around, and turned and ran towards us.

"Cheng Yin, why did the lion run towards us again?" Cui Li shouted.

This lion was originally led by Xia Cheng, but now it is chasing us in turn, why is this?

"Everyone, don't run yet! Hurry up and find a model to hide. "The voice of Xia Cheng came from behind the giraffe.

It turns out that the lion model must be equipped with infrared scanning, and once the chasing person hides behind the model, the lion cannot continue the chase and re-locks onto the object.

I immediately ducked behind my nearest rhinoceros model.

Everyone also quickly hid behind the models of other animals, and for a while the lion had no target and was forbidden there.

"The lion doesn't seem to be moving." Cui Li tried to get out of the model and ran in the direction of the stairs.

"Come back!! Cui Li!! Don't run!! I shouted.

But who knew that the forbidden lion suddenly ran in the direction of Cui Li, and was about to catch up with him.

Suddenly, Zhang Han, who was originally hiding behind the elephant model, pulled Cui Li, who was running, and hid behind the elephant model together.

"What to do? As soon as we stepped out of the model, the lion chased us. Zhao Haoyu, who was hiding behind the black bear, asked.

"I have a good idea! Everyone obeys my instructions, and they leave the model together and run towards the stairs, this lion will only lock on to one target at a time, and the locked person will immediately find a place to hide, so that the lion will pause for a while and then look for the target again, and then the person will hide again, and so on, we can run to the staircase. "Xia Cheng's approach was good, we could buy enough time to get to the top of the stairs.

"Okay, Xia Cheng, just do as you say!" Lin Yun agreed.

Everyone agrees with this approach.

"Okay, I'll count one, two, three, and everyone will run towards the stairs, and I will observe the lion's movements, and once I have determined the target, I will call his name, and the person will hide as fast as he can."

Xia Cheng confirmed again and again.

"Good! Let's go! ”

"Okay!"

……

"Everyone, get ready! Three! Two! One! Run!!! At Xia Cheng's order, we quickly left the model and ran in the direction of the stairs.

The lion moved and chased after us.

"Cui Li !!" Xia Cheng suddenly shouted.

As soon as Cui Li heard his name, he hurriedly hid behind the tiger model.

The lion paused briefly and moved again.

"Cheng Yin !!"

I also quickly ducked behind the model. At this time, Cui Li left the model again and continued to run.

"Zhao Haze Rain !!"

………

"Lin Yun !!"

………

After a few times like this, we got closer and closer to the stairs and were soon there.

I quickened my pace and rushed forward, and soon I came to the staircase safely, and I arrived with Cui Li, Zhang Han and Zhao Haoyu.

"What about Lin Yun and Xia Cheng?" I asked.

"They're there!" Zhao Yuyu pointed behind a small deer.

Xia Cheng and Lin Yun hid there.

"What to do, as long as one more person reaches the staircase safely, the other person will be in danger." Zhao Yuyu said.

"Why do you say that?" Cui Li asked suspiciously.

"You think, if Xia Cheng leaves the model, the lion will definitely chase him, so that Lin Yun will have time to arrive safely, but on the contrary, Xia Cheng's situation is dangerous, even if Xia Cheng finds a model to hide, no one can distract the lion anymore, as long as Xia Cheng leaves the model, the lion can easily catch him." I explained.

Xia Cheng was about to leave the model and lure the lion away, but was pulled by Lin Yun: "Xia Cheng, you are too dangerous like this." ”

"It's okay, I'll figure it out, trust me." Xia Cheng gently pushed Lin Yun's hands away. But Lin Yun still held on tightly: "No, you're lying!" If you go out like this now, you're going to die. Can't let you die. ”

"Lin Yun, if I don't go out, neither of us can leave." Xia Cheng said.

"I don't care, I can't watch you die, I can't ......" Lin Yun's eyes filled with tears.

But Xia Cheng had already made up his mind to pay attention: "Lin Yun, I have to go, you hurry up and leave here with everyone."

I looked at them and had to figure out a way as soon as possible.

(End of chapter)