"It seems that we have found a breakthrough." Dai Shiya smiled and took out a black stone from her bag. "But..." She paused and turned to look at Wei Qing, "We need more things..."
Wei Qing understood and immediately started searching in her backpack. In addition to the usual equipment, they also brought some items passed down from the Dai family's ancestors, just in case. Dai Shiya took the compass and a few small flags from Wei Qing and observed the changes in the compass needle with a focused look. In the room, the lights flickered, the temperature changed, and the compass needle spun wildly, as if a powerful force was interfering with its direction.
"Now!" Dai Shiya shouted, and threw the black stone in her hand fiercely to the center of the room, and at the same time stuck several small flags into the ground in specific positions. After the black stone landed, a circle of black mist quickly spread around, the temperature in the room dropped sharply, the lights went out completely, and the whole room fell into darkness.
Wei Qing clenched her fists nervously. With the faint light from her phone, she saw Dai Shiya concentrating on controlling something and muttering something. Under Dai Shiya's control, the black mist gradually formed a translucent protective shield, covering the room where Professor Qin was.
"Huh..." Dai Shiya let out a long sigh, with beads of sweat on her forehead. The protective shield was set up, and the strange phenomena in the room gradually subsided. The lights returned to normal, and the temperature began to rise. Only the shocking blood words on the wall reminded them that the danger was not completely eliminated.
Professor Qin's emotions gradually stabilized. He looked at Dai Shiya with gratitude and hope in his eyes: "Miss Dai, do you really have a way to protect me?"
Dai Shiya walked up to Professor Qin and said firmly, "Professor Qin, please believe me. I will find out the truth and protect your safety."
Professor Qin looked at Dai Shiya's determined eyes, as if he saw hope. He took a deep breath and said slowly: "Okay, I believe you. In fact, I know something about..."
Before Professor Qin finished speaking, there was a sharp sound of electricity in the room, and the protective shield flashed violently several times, as if it had been greatly impacted. Dai Shiya's face changed, and she looked up at the ceiling with a cold light in her eyes, "Not good! There are other forces..."
Professor Qin stopped talking, he covered his chest in pain, his face was pale, and his breathing was rapid. Dai Shiya immediately stepped forward to support him, "Professor Qin, what's wrong with you?"
Professor Qin's lips trembled as he spoke incoherently, "It's...it's them...they are coming..."
Dai Shiya's heart suddenly sank. She knew who Professor Qin was referring to as "they" - the mysterious organization that controlled the book. She quickly asked, "Who are they? What do they want to do?"
Professor Qin endured the pain and tried to stay awake. "I... I don't know much... I only know... they are a very powerful organization... They can control people's fate... They can let people travel through different worlds..."
"Traveling through different worlds?" Dai Shiya repeated this sentence, her heart filled with shock and confusion. She had always thought that traveling through a book was just an accident, could it be that someone was behind this?
Professor Qin continued, "They...they choose some people...let them go through books...complete some tasks...if the tasks fail...they will be wiped out..."
"Eliminate?" Dai Shiya's face became even uglier. She finally understood why the original owner had ended up like that. She clenched her fists tightly, her heart filled with anger and unwillingness. She would never let others manipulate her. She wanted to control her own destiny!
"Why...why are they doing this?" Dai Shiya tried to keep herself calm and continued to ask.
Professor Qin shook his head painfully, "I... I don't know... I only know... they are very powerful... we... we can't beat them..."
Dai Shiya wanted to continue asking questions, but the sound of electricity in the room became more and more piercing, and the protective shield flickered more violently, as if it would break at any time. She felt a strong sense of oppression that made her almost breathless.
Suddenly, the protective shield made a crisp shattering sound, and a powerful force broke through the protective shield and rushed straight towards Professor Qin. The force carried a destructive aura, as if it was going to devour Professor Qin.
Dai Shiya's face changed drastically. She instinctively wanted to protect Professor Qin, but she couldn't move, as if she was imprisoned by an invisible force.
At this critical moment, Wei Qing suddenly rushed out and stood in front of Professor Qin. She opened her arms, protected Professor Qin behind her, and used her body to resist the powerful force.
"Wei Qing!" Dai Shiya exclaimed, but she was powerless to do anything.
Wei Qing's body was shaking violently, but she didn't utter a single groan. She clenched her teeth and used all her strength to resist the impact of that force.
The lights in the room flickered more violently, and the sound of electricity became more piercing, as if the whole world was collapsing.
Dai Shiya watched Wei Qing being hit by that force. Her body was blown away by a powerful force and hit the wall heavily.
"Wei Qing!" Dai Shiya screamed heartbreakingly. She finally broke free from the invisible restraints. She staggered to Wei Qing and helped her up.
Wei Qing's face was as pale as paper, with a trace of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, but she still protected Professor Qin tightly.
"How...how are you?" Dai Shiya asked anxiously.
Wei Qing smiled weakly, "I... I'm fine..."
Before she finished her words, the lights in the room suddenly went out, and the whole room fell into darkness. Dai Shiya felt a cold breath approaching, and she looked up suddenly and saw a pair of scarlet eyes flashing in the darkness... "Who is it..."
In the darkness, the scarlet eyes approached, as if staring from the abyss, with a bone-chilling chill. Dai Shiya protected Wei Qing behind her, her voice trembling slightly because of nervousness, "Who is there?!"
Silence, suffocating silence, only the rapid breathing of the two echoed in the darkness. The scarlet eyes moved slowly, and finally stopped on Professor Qin, like a beast locking onto its prey.
Dai Shiya's heart was filled with alarm. She knew she couldn't just sit there and wait for death. She quickly helped the weak Wei Qing up and said, "Let's go!"
She half dragged and half carried Wei Qing, stumbling to the other side of the room, trying to avoid the gaze of those eyes. In the darkness, they couldn't see the direction clearly, and could only grope forward by feeling.
"Bang--"
With a loud bang, a big hole suddenly appeared on the wall, rubble flew everywhere, and dust filled the air. Dai Shiya was startled. The mysterious force was still chasing her!
She didn't care about anything else and pulled Wei Qing forward. They ran through the corridor and up the stairs. The sound of their heartbeats and rapid breathing intertwined together, like a sonata of escape.
"This way!" Wei Qing suddenly pointed to a half-open door in front, which was the entrance to the basement.
Without any hesitation, they entered the basement and quickly closed the heavy wooden door. The darkness swallowed them again. Dai Shiya leaned against the door, breathing heavily, and cold sweat soaked her clothes.
"We can't stay here," Wei Qing's voice sounded in the darkness, with a hint of worry, "It's not safe here."
Dai Shiya certainly understood, but now they had no choice. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down, "I know, but now we have to hide first and wait until dawn."
They fumbled for the light in the basement. The dim light dispelled some of the darkness, but also exposed the mess and coldness of the basement. Dai Shiya looked around. There were all kinds of sundries piled up here, emitting a musty smell. It was obvious that no one had been here for a long time.
"Be careful!" Wei Qing suddenly shouted and pulled Dai Shiya behind her.
Before Dai Shiya could react, she heard a "crack" and the floor beneath her feet suddenly collapsed, revealing a dark hole. She broke out in a cold sweat. If Wei Qing hadn't reacted quickly, she would have fallen in now.
Dai Shiya looked down at the bottomless hole, and a chill ran straight from the soles of her feet to her heart. This was clearly a trap set by someone to prevent them from escaping!
"It seems that we have underestimated their determination," Wei Qing's voice was particularly clear in the silent basement, "They will not let us go easily."
Dai Shiya clenched her fists, a hint of determination flashed in her eyes, "Then let them come, I want to see what they want to do!"
She supported Wei Qing, carefully bypassed the trap, and continued to look for a way out in the basement. They knew that this was just a small obstacle on the road to the truth, and greater challenges were still to come. On the wall, a mechanism that Wei Qing accidentally touched slowly moved and made a slight sound...
The wall slowly moved, revealing a dark hole that did not lead to another room, but a passage extending downwards.
There was no light entering, and it was bottomless inside, like an abyss that swallowed everything.
"This is..." Dai Shiya held her breath and felt an inexplicable sense of oppression.
Wei Qing narrowed her eyes and carefully observed the traces around the cave entrance. "It looks like a secret passage. It's very old, so no one has used it for a long time."
"Let's go down and take a look?" Dai Shiya suggested, with a hint of excitement for adventure in her tone, mixed with fear of the unknown.
Wei Qing did not answer immediately. She took out a flashlight from her backpack, turned it on and shone it deep into the cave. The light beam flickered in the darkness but could not reach the bottom. "It's too dangerous. We know nothing about what's down there."
"But staying here is not an option," Dai Shiya pointed at the traps scattered in the basement, "Since they have set up these traps, they won't let us leave easily. Rather than sitting and waiting for death, it's better to take the initiative."
Wei Qing understood what Dai Shiya meant. They were trapped like a turtle in a jar and had to find a way out. She took a deep breath and nodded, "Okay, let's go down. But be careful and stay alert at all times."
The two of them walked down the crude steps at the edge of the cave entrance. The flashlight beam flickered in the narrow passage, illuminating the damp walls and mottled marks. The air was filled with a musty and dusty smell, making it difficult to breathe.
After walking for about ten minutes, the passage finally came to an end. In front of them was a rusty iron door with a heavy lock on it.
Dai Shiya tried to pull the door handle, but it didn't move. "It seems like we have to find a way to open this door."
Wei Qing took out a small tool box from her backpack and began to fiddle with the lock. She moved skillfully and focused, like an experienced locksmith. Time passed by minute by minute, and the basement was so quiet that only their breathing and the subtle sound of Wei Qing's tools colliding could be heard.
Finally, with a "click", the lock opened.
Dai Shiya pushed open the iron door, and a cold wind blew in her face, mixed with a faint smell of disinfectant. They entered a spacious room. Under the dim light, they could vaguely recognize that this was once a laboratory. There were various instruments and equipment in the room, most of which were dilapidated and covered with thick dust. There were some charts and formulas on the wall, as well as some strange symbols that were incomprehensible.
"Where...is this place?" Dai Shiya looked around, her heart full of doubts.
Wei Qing walked to a table, picked up a torn document, and read it carefully under the light of a flashlight. After a moment, she raised her head with a serious expression, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be an abandoned research institute."
Dai Shiya's heart was shocked. She remembered the clues she had obtained before, the "secret experiment" mentioned by the insider... Could this be the truth he wanted to tell her?
Suddenly, the flashlight in Wei Qing's hand flickered a few times, then went out completely, and the room fell into darkness again.
"Damn it!" Wei Qing cursed.
"Don't be afraid, I have more here," Dai Shisu took out a mobile phone from her bag, turned on the flashlight function, and the faint light illuminated a small area around her.
Just then, they heard a faint sound of footsteps approaching slowly from the other side of the room...
"Someone!" Dai Shiya whispered, tightly gripping the phone in her hand as if she was holding a weapon.
The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and they were particularly clear in the silent room. Dai Shiya and Wei Qing huddled together, watching the movement in the darkness vigilantly.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice sounded in the darkness: "Who... are you?"