Su Xiao walked into the dark hole and noticed that the air smelt somewhat bloody.
The hole went down for quite a while and gradually led them to the underground.
After a long distance, the tunnel started to narrow, but it was still at least five meters high and seven or eight meters wide. He didn't want to think about how much time it must have taken the ghouls to dig a tunnel of this size.
After entering the tunnel, he noticed that although it was underground, it was not too dark to see his fingers.
At the roof of the tunnel, a plant with a gray branch had grown, it had dense roots and a held a strange flower.
The flowers hanging on the roof of the tunnel were emitting a faint white light, making it possible to see.
"Plop, plop."
Water was dripping from the roof, but Arima Kisho and Yuna stayed far away from it.
"Don't touch the liquid, it's released by the 'light flower' and is highly toxic."
Yuna immediately warned Su Xiao, who nodded.
"Don't be reckless, more than 50 Investigators died from the poison of 'light flowers' until now."
Noticing that Su Xiao hadn't really reacted, Yuna reminded again.
"Alright, thank you."
Although Yuna was somewhat nervous, she was a good teammate.
After walking down the tunnel for a few hundred meters, a metal door appeared in front of the three.
"We're here."
Arima Kisho put his hand into his shirt and pulled out a necklace with a golden key attached.
The key was inserted into the metal door, which opened with a grating sound.
"Every time I enter through this broken door, I always have the feeling that I won't get out of it. Which stupid guy built something like this, stupid bastard."
After Yuna whispered, she continued muttering insults under her breath.
This was a barrier that CCG built very early on, preventing the ghouls inside from leaving the 24th district. There were only two keys, one was in Arima Kisho's hand, and the other one was held by Washuu Matsuri.
The metal door opened and a disgusting smell enveloped them.
There were two paths after the metal door.
Inside and outside of the metal door were two different worlds.
The wall behind the metal door was no longer soil layer, but a dark red meat-like wall.
Su Xiao took out Dragon Flash and stabbed the meat wall with the tip. The meat wall pretty hard.
"Squelch."
After Dragon Flash was pierced into the meat wall, it began to lock, trying to trap the blade.
"Arima, which side will we go this time?"
Yuna and Arima Kisho were very familiar with each other, the two were long-time partners.
"You can decide."
Arima Kisho carried his Quinques in his hands, respectively, 'Narukami' and 'IXA'.
Yuna took out a coin and threw it into the air.
"Heads, let's go the right way."
Arima Kisho nodded.
Su Xiao looked at this scene doubtfully. Was there no regular route?
"Isn't this a weird way to choose the path?"
Yuna just smiled at Su Xiao.
"Don't you have a regular route?"
"No, no, no."
Yuna's words only confused Su Xiao.
"These walls are not fixed, they frequently change. Like the paths ahead of us, sometimes there's two, sometimes there's three, or even five.
This is also the reason why the 24th district can't be thoroughly explored, the entire region is 'alive'."
After listening to Yuna's explanation, Su Xiao frowned.
"How can we get out after going deep into the 24th district? In the current situation, it is not impossible to be trapped inside."
"Of course there is a way. As long as we have this thing, we will not have any problems to leave."
Yuna showed him a compass.
Arima Kisho, who was standing aside, spoke.
"The exploration time is set for two days. If we haven't found anything in two days, we will return to the temporary branch."
Arima Kisho thought for a while and then continued to say:
"First Class Byakuya, what are you best at?"
Arima Kisho wanted to know about Su Xiao's skillset.
"Close quarters fighting, perception and attacking."
"Good."
Arima Kisho adjusted his glasses.
"I will be in the lead. Yuna will be in the middle, you will take the rearguard."
Su Xiao had no opinion on this formation, but Yuna pouted.
"I am not a newbie, so why am I in the center? This is stupid."
Yuna looked at Su Xiao, but thinking that she was not Su Xiao's opponent after all, she could only accept her role.
The three-person team began to move into the 24th district.
"Roar!"
They had not gone far when they heard a roar coming from in front of them.
"God, don't let us be this unfortunate!"
Yuna whispered and turned around to run.
Arima Kisho did the same, he did not hesitate to turn and run back.
"Withdraw quickly, something is coming."
He did not need for Arima Kisho to say that, as soon as Su Xiao saw the two run, he also turned and ran, his body kept even with Yuna.
"What is that?"
During the running, Su Xiao took the time to ask Yuna.
"That's a 'monster'. The 24th district and 14th district are different. There are not only ghouls here."
Soon, the three ran back to the crossroad at the entrance.
Although the terrain of the 24thdistrict would change, the change was cyclical. Generally, it would change significantly every seven to eight days, and there were only minor changes in the meanwhile.
"So much for the right side, the blood eye is there."
Yuna gasped out quickly, she looked at the tunnel to the right with horror.
Su Xiao couldn't help but frown. What kind of monster could make Arima Kisho run away?
"The blood eye is active. Do you want to give up and return?"
Yuna asked aloud.
"No, the range of blood eye is not very wide. We'll explore the left path."
Arima Kisho took the lead, and the three entered the left channel.
He hadn't seen any ghouls yet, but the 24th district had already given Su Xiao quite a shock.
There was poison dripping down from above and there was a monster, so powerful that Arima Kisho had to escape.
The three people went through the 24th district very smoothly after the initial hickup. After a few hours of travel, there had been no problem. No ghoul had appeared. This caused some doubts for Su Xiao. Weren't there supposed to be many ghouls in the 24th district?
"Boom."
A loud sound echoed, there was a shockwave traveling along the passageway, and dust fell down.
"The blood eye is starting to go crazy again."
Yuna's face became a bit ugly, she seemed to be afraid of whatever it was that they called 'blood eye'.
"It has entered the molting period, and I fought against it last week."
Arima Kisho's words were surprising. He had fought against the unknown monster? And it was still alive?
After an hour of travel in the 24th district, Su Xiao had gotten completely lost.
No wonder this place was called a maze. They had come across dozens of crossroads already.
A corner appeared again in front.
"Wait."
Su Xiao suddenly muttered, causing Yuna and Arima Kisho to glance at him.
"What is it"
Yuna's body was tense.
"There is the smell of blood around the corner, and it's very fresh."
Yuna looked at Su Xiao suspiciously, but she still carefully approached the corner with light steps.
Yuna turned towards them and nodded at the two.
Arima Kisho stared at Su Xiao, and the two were slowly approaching the corner.
After Su Xiao glanced around the corner, he saw that two ghouls were eating a body just past the turn.
Judging from the red eyes of the body, it had also been a ghoul.
These were the first ghouls Su Xiao saw in the 24th district. The ghouls here looked very different from the ghouls outside.
No, they didn't really look different, but they wore different things.
The two ghouls were surprisingly wearing grass skirts, and one of ghouls was wearing a tooth necklace.
Su Xiao was stunned. Did he just meet a primitive ghoul?