Shinnshiow and Shannchyuan approached the door. Shannchyuan shone his flashlight into the passage behind the door. Couldn't see anything there. Shannchyuan gestured for Shinnshiow to stop. Shannchyuan wanted to enter the passage alone. Shinnshiow didn't have time to argue because Shannchyuan had already stepped into the underground passage.
Shannchyuan paused for a moment. Shinnshiow wasn't sure what was going through Shannchyuan's mind. Maybe the man had doubts. But it wasn't long. A moment later, Shannchyuan 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, Shinnshiow couldn't see anything quite conspicuous.
Shannchyuan then turned his body. He rushed out of the hall. After standing by Yinqyueh's side, Shannchyuan grabbed the girl's hand. He gently led the girl back to the stone bench where they had sat before. Shinnshiow followed behind them. After the three of them sat back down, Shannchyuan opened his mouth again.
"The light you just saw, flashing or moving?"
Yinqyueh looked at Shannchyuan. 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 Yinqyueh's words, Shinnshiow nodded. He glanced at Shannchyuan. Shinnshiow was sure that Shannchyuan had the same conjecture as him.
Shannchyuan took a deep breath. "Shiowdi, what do you think just happened?"
"I think we shouldn't talk too loud for now," Shinnshiow whispered.
"Eh?" Yinqyueh called out slowly. The girl turned to Shinnshiow.
"Right!" Shannchyuan 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?" Shinnshiow 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 Yihshyong and Jenqyih to come down here. Later, I will go into the passage to check the situation with them." Shannchyuan's tone was unyielding.
Apparently, Shannchyuan wanted Jenqyih and Yihshyong to go down into the basement to enter the passage where they had opened the door. Shinnshiow could completely understand that.
<
Shinnshiow was relieved that the girl straight away nodded without arguing in the slightest. Shannchyuan, Shinnshiow, and Yinqyueh immediately walked towards the corner where the ladder going up to the surface was. Shinnshiow pounded on the iron steps stuck in the cellar wall with a certain rhythm. Apart from reporting that two people would be going up, Shinnshiow also requested that two people come down to replace them.
Shinnshiow was nervous because he had to wait quite a long time for an answer from up there. Shinnshiow 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 Shannchyuan 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 have to be careful.
Shannchyuan said maybe Jenqyih, 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 Shinnshiow pounded the iron rod again that there was a reply from above. Shinnshiow could hear Shannchyuan heave a sigh of relief.
While waiting for the three people above to be ready to pull them up, Shinnshiow and Shannchyuan tied ropes around Yinqyueh's body. The girl didn't utter any words. Shinnshiow could not tell that the girl was scared or that she was simply reluctant to speak. Finished tying Yinqyueh's body with ropes, Shannchyuan helped Shinnshiow wrap the safety rope around Shinnshiow's body. Yinqyueh would go upstairs first, then Shinnshiow would follow.
As Shinnshiow and Yinqyueh 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, Yinqyueh 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 Shinnshiow'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.
Shinnshiow repeated Shannchyuan's message about two people having to go down the pit. Jenqyih and Yihshyong nodded. They said they were ready. Their faces, though they looked tired, were still very excited.
After that, Iren and Shinnshiow helped Jenqyih and Yihshyong down into the hole. Jenqyih went down first. After that, they took down two Kerosene Pressure Lanterns. It turned out that Yihshyong'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 Yihshyong'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, Iren stood guard at the side of the hole. Shinnshiow went straight into the house. Immediately, Yinqyueh followed Shinnshiow. They then sat in the dining room. The girl seemed to be unsure of what to do. Seeing the confused Yinqyueh, Shinnshiow was also confused at first.
"You'd better get some more sleep," said Shinnshiow.
<>
"It's already morning," Yinqyueh protested. "I definitely can't sleep anymore."
"Then how about you take a shower first? After that, you can help me make breakfast." Shinnshiow smiled.
"Take a bath now?" Yinqyueh looked at Shinnshiow with a strange look. It seemed the girl could hardly believe that Shinnshiow had just suggested such a thing.
Even though it was morning, the sky was still dark. The people in the city had a habit of bathing only once a day. Even though some take a shower in the morning before they start their daily activities, most of them choose to take a shower when they return home. The customs were similar to those of the people in Tianjing and the surrounding areas. It's actually a strange phenomenon. The gigantic city where they live was on the equator. Apart from the air temperature being quite hot, the humidity was also relatively high. Bathing twice a day should make a lot more sense.