Xinxiu and Shanquan approached the door. Shanquan shone his flashlight into the passage behind the door. Xinxiu couldn't see anything there. Shanquan gestured for Xinxiu to stop.

Oh! Dage wants to enter the passage alone!

Xinxiu didn't have time to argue because Shanquan had already stepped into the underground passage.

Shanquan paused for a moment. Xinxiu wasn't sure what was going through Shanquan's mind. Maybe the man had doubts. But it wasn't long. A moment later, Shanquan stepped forward a little so that his feet were already in the dark passage. Again, he shone on the walls on the right and left of the hall. From behind, still, Xinxiu couldn't see anything quite conspicuous.

Shanquan then turned his body. He rushed out of the hall. After standing by Yingyue's side, Shanquan grabbed the girl's hand. He gently led the girl back to the stone bench where they had sat before. Xinxiu followed behind them. After the three of them sat back down, Shanquan opened his mouth again.

"The light you just saw, flashing or moving?"

Yingyue looked at Shanquan. She raised her right hand. With a quick movement, the girl placed her right palm on her forehead. She looked like she was trying hard to remember something.

"It happened so fast. I can't remember for sure. At first, the light flashed, then suddenly disappeared."

"The light dimmed, then disappeared, or did it suddenly disappear?"

"All of a sudden, it disappeared!"

"The light disappeared before or after you shouted?"

"I saw a flash of light, after which I shouted. Then the light disappeared."

Hearing Yingyue's words, Xinxiu nodded. He glanced at Shanquan. Xinxiu was sure that Shanquan had the same conjecture as him.

Shanquan took a deep breath. "Xiudi, what do you think just happened?"

"I think we shouldn't talk too loud for now," Xinxiu whispered.

"Eh?" Yingyue called out slowly. The girl turned to Xinxiu.

"Right!" Shanquan also whispered. "I think there's someone in the hallway. What you saw earlier was probably that person's flashlight. After hearing your scream, he turned off the flashlight right away. I don't know if that person is still in the hallway or has run away."

"So, what should we do now?" Xinxiu felt a little panicked. But he tried to stay calm.

"You two, better go up there first. This situation is clearly hazardous. We don't know who the person wandering in the hallway was. I'll ask Yixiong and Zhengyi to come down here. Later, I will go into the passage to check the situation with them." Shanquan's tone was unyielding.

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Apparently, Shanquan wanted Zhengyi and Yixiong to go down into the basement to enter the passage where they had opened the door. Xinxiu could completely understand that.

Dage definitely doesn't want anything bad to happen to Miss Liuchiou. I hope this girl understands Dage's concern. Now is not the time to be stubborn!

Xinxiu was relieved that the girl straight away nodded without arguing in the slightest. Shanquan, Xinxiu, and Yingyue immediately walked towards the corner where the ladder going up to the surface was. Xinxiu pounded on the iron steps stuck in the cellar wall with a certain rhythm. Apart from reporting that two people would be going up, Xinxiu also requested that two people come down to replace them.

Xinxiu was nervous because he had to wait quite a long time for an answer from up there. Xinxiu wanted to get up there right away without the help of a harness. He felt the iron rods were very solid as a foothold. But Shanquan stopped him. The situation was not that serious at that time, so they had to prioritize the safety factor. If the problem had indeed reached an emergency stage, where time was precious, they could relax a bit of the safety factor. Even so, they still had to be careful.

Shanquan said maybe Zhengyi, who should always be on guard at the edge of the hole, was a little sleepy, so he didn't pay attention to the sound coming from below. It was only after Xinxiu pounded the iron rod again that there was a reply from above. Xinxiu could hear Shanquan heave a sigh of relief.

While waiting for the three people above to be ready to pull them up, Xinxiu and Shanquan tied ropes around Yingyue's body. The girl didn't utter any words. Xinxiu could not tell that the girl was scared or that she was simply reluctant to speak. Finished tying Yingyue's body with ropes, Shanquan helped Xinxiu wrap the safety rope around Xinxiu's body. Yingyue would go upstairs first, then Xinxiu would follow.

As Xinxiu and Yingyue were preparing to rise to the surface, the people above said that they were ready to grasp the ends of the ropes they were holding. Swiftly and dexterously, but still, with measured speed, Yingyue stepped on the iron rods one by one until she finally arrived at the top. That girl was very agile. What she had just witnessed didn't seem to affect her ability to move.

When it was Xinxiu's turn, he also tried hard to move much faster than before. Therefore, he had set foot on the ground in their backyard in a relatively short time.

Xinxiu repeated Shanquan's message about two people having to go down the pit. Zhengyi and Yixiong nodded. They said they were ready. Their faces, though they looked tired, were still very excited.

After that, Yiren and Xinxiu helped Zhengyi and Yixiong down into the hole. Zhengyi went down first. After that, they took down two Kerosene Pressure Lanterns. It turned out that Yixiong's previous words were true. Of the five lamps they had, only two still contained sufficient amounts of kerosene. Lowering the two lights took a little longer. Finally, it was Yixiong's turn to go down into the hole. He carried basic supplies such as drinking water and a first aid kit.

As they had agreed, Yiren stood guard at the side of the hole. Xinxiu went straight into the house. Immediately, Yingyue followed Xinxiu. They then sat in the dining room. The girl seemed to be unsure of what to do. Seeing the confused Yingyue, Xinxiu was also confused at first.

"You'd better get some more sleep," said Xinxiu.

I think Dage would say this too.

"It's already morning," Yingyue protested. "I definitely can't sleep anymore."

"Then how about you take a shower first? After that, you can help me make breakfast." Xinxiu smiled.

"Take a bath now?" Yingyue looked at Xinxiu with a strange look. It seemed the girl could hardly believe that Xinxiu had just suggested such a thing.