Chapter 2 Under the Ruins

"Hey, is it getting dark again?" A listless whisper came from the darkness. The voice was silent for a while, and suddenly said angrily: "The smog is so fierce. It should be fifteen, even the moon There’s no trace.”

"Is there anyone? Is there anyone? Where are you?" A young girl's excited voice came from the darkness, with a cry in her voice, just like a traveler who was about to die of thirst crying with joy in front of the oasis.

"It turns out you're not on the bed in the dormitory. No wonder your waist is so tight." The man's voice sounded again.

"Are you the classmate who just came to print?" the girl asked anxiously.

"Um..., yes, I have already gotten up to print the paper. So I am in the print shop." The man seemed to be a little awake: "Little sister, do you want to hide and seek after turning off the lights?"

"Yes, it was an earthquake."

"Hey, then why didn't I feel the vibration?"

"After you asked me to print the paper, you lay on the table and snored. Then there was an earthquake and the door collapsed. I called you desperately but you didn't respond. I thought you... you were buried." A glimmer of light shone in the darkness, and the girl turned on the flashlight of her mobile phone and shined it in the direction of the man. A figure sitting on the ground was vaguely revealed.

"Hey, my sleep quality has always been good, and so has my luck." The figure stood up from the ground, and the dust on his body fell to the ground with a rustling sound.

"Why don't you be in a hurry? We are trapped here and can't get out. We will be buried in the earthquake and people will die."

The man didn't say anything, but the girl seemed to be grinning when she saw him through the light of her mobile phone. Then he also took out his mobile phone from his pocket and took pictures everywhere. He carefully looked at the roof, walls and piles of stones blocking the door of this small space, and then said in a comforting voice: "It's okay, it's okay, you can't die." Man, we'll be saved. You're not hurt."

"No, can you really be saved?" The girl cheered up.

"Really, the small shop here was renovated from the air-raid shelter under the dormitory building. It is already very strong. I just looked at it and there are no big cracks in the ceiling and walls, so I judge that the dormitory building above should not have collapsed. It may have collapsed. It's just an extra part of the store. Yes, illegal construction kills people." The man took pictures with his mobile phone while analyzing, "Although we can't get out for the time being, it shouldn't be of use to the rescue workers. How long will it take to dig here?”

"But we don't have anything to eat. I wonder how long we have to wait?"

"Isn't there a drinking fountain there? With this little water, we can hold on for a long time. Usually when an earthquake occurs, the school is the focus of disaster relief, and the dormitory area is of course the top priority. So I guess if I am right, we will be there soon. Someone will come."

"Great." The girl said with relief, "Then what should we do now?"

"Well, it's all in the dark, a man and a woman...what do you think?"

"Huh? Huh? What do you want to do?!"

"Hey, in that case..." The tall and thin man came over and sat down opposite the girl before she had time to react, "... Why don't you introduce yourself. My name is Xiao Chen. "

Under the dim light of the mobile phone screen, the girl saw a somewhat thin but well-defined face. Xiao Chen has long eyes, a straight nose, energetic short hair, and a reassuring smile. He doesn't look like a bad guy at first glance.

"Oh, me, my name is Zhou He." The girl said, blocking the light of the other person's mobile phone with her hand, not daring to let the other person see her feverish cheek.

Xiao Chen was very good at dealing with people. After a few minutes, Zhou He let down her guard, but she was still worried about the rescue. Her innocent little face was always tense, and she would ask again and again: "Tell me, why haven't they come yet?"

Xiao Chen soon became bored with the timid girl's questions. He was about to tell a few jokes to distract her when he heard a low hum from not far away.

"There's someone else!" Xiao Chen turned on the flashlight on his phone and moved towards the place where the noise was coming from. It was a partition wall between the print shop and the shop next door. Because it was blocked by a cabinet, neither of them noticed that a big hole had collapsed in the wall before.

"Is there anyone there?" He asked as he looked next door and saw a woman wearing a white shirt and suit pants struggling to lift herself up from the ground. The woman's head was broken, half of her face was covered in blood, and the collar of her clothes was stained red.

Xiao Chen quickly got through the hole, supported the woman from behind, let her lean on his arms, and checked the wound on her head.

"Is it an earthquake?" Although the woman was injured and had just woken up, her voice was very calm. She opened her eyes and looked at Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen found that her eyes were big and beautiful, with a sense of tenacity. Even with her blood-stained and dusty face, it still made his heart skip a beat.

"How's the injury on my head?" she asked again.

"Fortunately, the blood is not flowing much anymore. It must be a flesh wound." Xiao Chen looked around. It should be a small supermarket. There were collapsed shelves and goods scattered on the floor. "I guess you were knocked over. The shelf was knocked unconscious. The wound is not deep. Try moving your hands and feet to see if there are any other injuries."

The woman tried to move her limbs and felt nothing serious, so she motioned to Xiao Chen to help her sit up. Xiao Chen did not dare to move her forcefully, but just helped her turn slightly and let her lean on a pillar.

At this time, Zhou He also came over from the next door. Xiao Chen asked her to open a bottle of mineral water and help the injured woman wash the wound. He found a towel from the shelf and bandaged the woman's forehead.

The woman's name is Luo Ling, and she is a new teacher at Huaxia University. After Xiao Chen finished bandaging, she scrubbed her face with water.

Xiao Chen found that the well-groomed Luo Ling had gained a bit more color. She looked young, had a delicate appearance, and had the unique softness of a girl from the south of the Yangtze River.

Luo Ling thanked the two people generously and asked about the current situation.

"The bad news is that we are all trapped underground. The good news is that it is ventilated and there is no shortage of food and drink. We should be fine waiting for rescue." Xiao Chen replied.

The three of them sat and rested for a while, slowly regaining their composure. Although Luo Ling suffered a bloody head injury, she was not seriously injured. After a while, she was able to stand up with Zhou He's help. She held on to the wall and began to walk around the room, trying to move her body. But after walking a few steps, she suddenly pointed to a corner on the right and said, "I felt the wind blowing in when I walked here."

Xiao Chen stepped forward and moved a few boxes away, and sure enough he found a crack more than one meter wide on the ground. He took a picture with his mobile phone and found that the gap was big enough for someone to pass through. As he approached the entrance of the cave, there was a stream of air blowing towards his face. What was even stranger was that it was not the gloomy and humid underground air, but dry and fresh air.

Xiao Chen lay down at the entrance of the cave, stretched his mobile phone down, and found that there was a two-meter-wide passage below. The ground and walls were made of stone, and some parts collapsed slightly. This passage looks nothing like anything in school, but more like an ancient tomb that I have visited before. Xiao Chen's position was less than two meters away from the ground of the passage. He estimated that he could jump down and climb up again on the rocks.

"How is it?" Xiao Chen looked up and saw Zhou He kneeling beside the cave, looking at him nervously.

"There's a ghost!"

"Ah!!!" Zhou He screamed in fright.

"Don't scare that little girl." Luo Ling said a little dissatisfied.

"I mean, there is a tunnel under the basement, but we never knew there was something wrong with it." Xiao Chen chuckled, "I don't know if there are old ghosts, little ghosts, or female ghosts."

"Ah!" Zhou He exclaimed again. Under the light of the mobile phone screen, Xiao Chen's face was pale, and his smile was a little evil, as if Bai Wuchang crawled out of the ground. Zhou He was so frightened that she sat down on the ground and even dropped her cell phone. The room suddenly became dark and she immediately screamed loudly.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid!" Xiao Chen didn't expect that a small joke would lead to big trouble, and he hurriedly tried to comfort her, but the touch in the dark immediately ushered in Zhou He's counterattack, and Xiao Chen was in a hurry Fortunately, he was much taller than Zhou He. After several efforts, he finally grabbed her hands. At this time, Luo Ling also hugged Zhou He from behind and whispered in her ear for a long time. , and Zhou He slowly calmed down.

Xiao Chen let go of Zhou He, gently rubbed his eyes with one hand, and said with a grin: "Oh, it hurts! Miss Zhou, your boxing skills are really powerful. With your skills, there is no need to be afraid." Ghost."

"You deserve it!" the two women said in unison.

Although Xiao Chen couldn't see clearly, he knew that he would definitely get two pairs of eyes.

But at this moment, a voice came from the tunnel, "Is there anyone up there?" The voice was a little far away, a little ethereal, and had an echo.

When Zhou He heard this, he let out a soft cry and hugged Luo Ling's arm tightly. Xiao Chen and Luo Ling looked at each other and noticed each other's nervousness.

"Who are you? Where is the place below?" Xiao Chen shouted down. But he called several times, but there was no reply.

Luo Ling helped him shout, but the voice disappeared into thin air like a ghost that came and went without a trace. After the two people shouted more than a dozen times, Xiao Chen said: "You guys wait here, I'll go down and investigate. Look for that person and see if I can get out of this passage."

"No, no. It's so dark down there, it's too scary." Zhou He grabbed Xiao Chen.

"Don't worry, I'm not afraid of ghosts, why should I be afraid of the dark?" Xiao Chen patted the back of the other person's hand.

"I think it's best for us to go together. In this environment, it's important to take care of each other." Luo Ling joined in, "And we should get some food from the supermarket."

"Yes, if you want to go, go together. How could you leave us two girls in such a dark room."

Xiao Chen agreed. Although he was not timid, it was better to have someone accompany him on the adventure than to go alone. At least he would feel more at ease.

The three of them collected some mineral water, biscuits and ham sausages, put them in their schoolbags and bags, and climbed down from the hole one after another.

After entering the stone path, Xiao Chen used the flashlight of his mobile phone to look around the entrance of the cave. "There is a dead end on the left. You can reach the end after walking four or five steps. The road on the right is very long and deep, so we have to go this way."

So, Xiao Chen took the lead, Luo Ling came to the rear, and timid Zhou He walked in the middle. The three of them slowly walked towards the depths of the stone path.