They slowly get deeper and deeper into the cave.
"Hey what is that?" Xiaoyi points over to a small wooden structure barely outside of the fires light to show what it really is.
When they get closer they notice that it is a large piece of wood with something engraved into it. They first started wiping it however the wood was rough and gave them both multiple splinters.
After taking a couple minutes to take out the splinters they blew on the table to clear the dust away.
Below all the dust there was a map carved into it. It was standing with 6 long planks attached to the bottom with bent, rusty nails. There was also a wheel of a wagon prepped up against it.
"Looks like someone must have fallen in just like us." Weiyuan said while pointing out that all of this looks like it could make a carriage or wagon of sorts.
The map had a big circle in the middle with a triangle carved into it. Going out from the circle was 11 paths, however she noticed that 4 of the paths had a big "X" at the start of it.
"I think this is where we are. Like you said, someone else must have tried those paths and it didn't work out." Xiaoyi pointed to each "X" to make sure that Weiyuan noticed them.
She continued to look at the table. With what they can tell one of the 7 paths either lead them to an exit or their death.
After walking around the cavern with the torch they were able to orient the paths to where the table was. There were in fact 11 paths. There was no other marking on which one was which so they would have to make sure they got to the right one from the table.
The person or people before them did not go in the tunnels side by side so they don't have a 50/50 chance to see which one was the exit or death.
*click clack click*
The table started to wobble a little bit, soon Xiaoyi and Weiyuan also felt the ground below them shake. The first thought that popped into their mind was that this was an earthquake. It grew more and more violent resulting in stalactites falling from the ceiling of the cave.
Weiyuan quickly threw off the bag and hid under the table where Xiaoyi also made her way.
The ground started to rumble and crack around them. They both held onto the table to make sure it stayed above them in case anything fell it would have a chance at not hitting them.
A deafening screech could be heard throughout the cave as a line of spikes could be seen from one side of the cave slicing through the ground as if it was butter.
The shaking faded just as quickly as it had started leaving a mess in the cave. The ground was torn up from the spikes or from the falling stalactites. Cracks deeper and wider than the crack they lost their coin in was all throughout the cavern.
"Maybe he didn't escape but that's what got him." Weiyuan whispered to Xiaoyi.
She knew that anything could be in this world, however something that can go through rocks so easily should not exist. Why was she so weak compared to the monsters of these worlds?
The two of them got out from under the table after waiting a considerably long time to make sure the coast was clear. Neither of them wanted to take the chance that the monster would come back.
"Let's cross off the direction that it came from and went." Xiaoyi did not want to run tinto that thing or others like it.
"I agree."
They pushed the rocks off of the map to decide on where they wanted to go. They decided to go in the tunnel on the left of where the monster came from, only because two of their other options are now blocked off. The monster must have caused a couple cave-ins with its incredible power.
"Well I guess this was our 3rd pick. We better hurry before the fire goes out." Weiyuan said as they continued down the long tunnel.
An hour of walking finally had light shining through a light down the tunnel.
"We are almost there!"
Xiaoyi quickened her pace followed by Weiyuan. They did not hesitate to go towards the light. The light clearly means one of two things. One, there is an exit of some sort letting light in. Two, there is something causing light which would still be interesting and worth it to look at.
As they get closer they notice that there is a hole in the roof along with a wagon destroyed on a pile of rocks.
"This must have been where he fell in. Do you think he checked this path already?"
Weiyuan looked at the rubble and moved some of the wood to see if there was anything useful. Unfortunately he did not find anything except for broken wood and rocks.
"It is a possibility but this is our choice. We must see this to the end." Xiaoyi was not going to give up easily.
She did not give up when she was in the cave alone. She kept going. So she would clearly do the same here. They continued to walk for a while until they got to a part where the path opened up and a long gaping line cut through the ground in front of them. From the other side they could see light shining at the end of the tunnel.
"I want you to throw me over the gap."
Xiaoyi knew how strong he was and knew that there was a good chance she would make it. She got behind Weiyuan and started rummaging through the bag. She pulled out the shirt rope makeshift thing and wrapped it around her body with none sticking out.
"Once you throw me across I'll find something to tie this around and hopefully it will help you get across. First throw the bag. It probably weighs more than me so if that can make it across I can."
"If we lose all of our supplies I'm blaming you."
"Okay! Just throw it really hard."
Weiyuan took off the back pack and held it by the straps.
"You will want to back up for this."
Weiyuan started to spin in circles with the bag outstretched from his arms. After 5 spins he lets go of it and does one final spin to get rid of the momentum. When the dizziness faded and he was able to look at the bag he saw it had made it to the other side by quite a bit.
"My turn! Please don't spin me though."
Xiaoyi lays down on the floor in a plank position waiting for Weiyuan to pick her up.
He picked her up from the back with her leg and her waist. She was stiff and in as much of a spear shape as someone could get.
She turned her head up so she could slightly see Weiyuan, and he could see how serious she was.
"If you throw me into a wall and break my legs I will be mad at you. It would be better to fall down the pit than to have my legs broken."
"Don't worry, I don't plan to."
Weiyuan takes a few steps back looking at the obstacle in front of him. Luckily for them the other side had a bit of a ledge, so even if he didn't throw her perfectly in the tunnel she could still land on the ledge if she hit a wall.
He let out a few deep breaths before getting ready to run.
*thump thump thump*
His footsteps echoed in the cave as he ran to the ravine. Once he lifted her by the hip up above his shoulder. When there were 3 more steps before the drop he brought his arm back and chucked her.
*BANG*