socalfunplaces Chapter 26 Someone
Chapter 26 Someone
Along the way, the two carefully avoided the alienated prisoners and guards outside. After going around in circles and spending a lot of effort, they finally returned to District 3.
Fortunately, none of the doors were completely closed when the anomaly occurred; otherwise, let alone getting in now, it's questionable whether they could have escaped at all.
Upon entering, the hall was empty; Edwin was nowhere to be seen.
Su Zixu walked a little further inside and saw that Lao Zeng wanted to pull the door open, so he stopped him.
The situation is still unclear, and acting rashly could lead to serious problems.
After being stopped, Lao Zeng calmed down a bit. He had been so anxious that he had acted recklessly.
"Did you hear a sound? It's that kind of... 'sha sha' sound." Su Zixu gestured with his hand, thought for a moment, then closed his eyes again and tilted his head to listen carefully.
He was searching for the source of the sound, which was very faint, but he felt that it did not come from a single point, but rather from a range of sounds.
He crouched down slightly, then knelt on the ground. After a while, Su Zixu lowered his body further: "Underground..."
Thinking of this, he took off his coat and wiped the ground, then bent down and lay on the ground.
With his ear pressed against the ground, Su Zixu's eyes lit up. The voice was coming from underground. "This location is the basement level," Su Zixu said to Old Zeng as he slowly stood up.
Upon hearing this, Old Zeng followed Su Zixu's example and lay down on the ground to listen for a while. His tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed: "Indeed, Brother Su's ears are truly sharp."
Su Zixu smiled sheepishly, then carefully took out the watch face.
Following Ron's instructions, after removing the dial, I started turning the knob on the back, and time went back to yesterday afternoon.
The two saw Liu Runyu, who was sitting by the wall, suddenly get up as if he had made up his mind, and quietly slip away to the door of the third district.
But just as he tried to open the door, the slight sound of turning the handle seemed to wake up the sleeping blond guy.
Huang Mao changed his position, trying to fall asleep again, but the continuous noise made him toss and turn, unable to sleep no matter what he did. In a fit of anger, he suddenly stood up and ran quickly towards Liu Runyu.
And so, to the astonishment of Lao Zeng and Su Zixu, the two of them fell into the interior of Zone Three.
Why did this door suddenly open?
Puzzled, the two stepped forward and began turning the handle, trying to push it in and pull it out, but to no avail. They then reviewed the footage again and imitated the actions Liu Runyu and Huang Mao had taken before entering the door.
First, Su Zixu turned the handle, then turned around and faced away from the door. Old Zeng stood in front of Su Zixu, and Su Zixu used his back to push the door open with all his might.
After this series of actions, Su Zixu understood that this door had to be entered backwards.
After sharing her thoughts with Lao Zeng, out of caution, Lao Zeng walked in backwards even though the door was already open.
The two tried opening the cell doors on both sides of the corridor. "No, they're all locked. I don't know if we can find the keys." Old Zeng stood with his hands on his hips, looking somewhat anxious.
"Let's put this aside for now. The priority is to solve the mold problem." After saying that, Su Zixu patted Lao Zeng on the shoulder to comfort him and tell him not to worry.
"I almost forgot to check yesterday's events." Thinking of this, Su Zixu turned back the time to yesterday, and after finding nothing noteworthy, he put the watch face away.
Although there were no new discoveries, what surprised the two of them the most was actually Liu Runyu.
"I always thought he was an easy target, but I didn't expect him to have his moments of strength. It seems he has grown up."
Yesterday's replay gave Lao Zeng a new understanding of Liu Runyu. "Sigh...it's a pity, otherwise I felt he was a very promising kid."
After exchanging a few words of reflection, the two discussed their plan of action.
Old Zeng will go down to the first basement level to see what the source of the sound is, then go down to the second basement level, and then we'll meet back here.
If the other party doesn't show up after about half an hour, or if it's no longer safe here, then go out first.
Su Zixu was responsible for first checking Liu Runyu's traces, avoiding any landmines that Liu Runyu had already traversed.
Then search for clues from top to bottom, doing your best. If you are able, search as much as possible while ensuring your own safety. After searching every two floors, return to the first floor.
The reason is simple: they have no means of communication and can only find out if the other is still alive by meeting on the first floor.
The reason they started by searching upstairs was because they believed that it was impossible for a person to completely change themselves in an instant.
Given Liu Runyu's timid nature, he is a conservative and is unlikely to go directly to the top, because it would be difficult for him to escape.
However, Lao Zeng knew that in the world of the mind, opportunities are often accompanied by risks, and the greater the risk, the greater the reward. This principle is true, at least in most cases.
With the plan finalized, the operation commenced immediately. However, just as the two arrived at the elevator, Su Zixu's hand, which was about to press the button, froze in mid-air.
He saw that the displayed numbers on the screen above the buttons showed that the elevator was now stopped on the basement level.
"There are other people on the basement level... There are others here too." Old Zeng also looked at the display screen, his face tightening.
Just as the two realized the problem, the numbers on the screen suddenly started to slide, and an upward arrow made the two, who already felt something was wrong, even more panicked.
As the elevator was about to stop on the first floor, the two turned their heads to look at the unavoidable first floor. In the instant their eyes met, they both saw terror in each other's eyes.
"Ding—" With a crisp announcement, the elevator doors slowly opened, and a man's curse came through: "Damn it, where did that son of a bitch Edwin go? He's caused me so much trouble."
"Damn it, if I catch him, I'll kill him right away, you son of a bitch."
The man cursed and smoked, clearly intending to walk out.
He'd only taken a few steps, half his body already out of the elevator, when he stopped: "Damn it, I was so angry I forgot to return the keys! Those bastards, a bunch of good-for-nothings..."
While cursing, the man retreated back into the elevator.
As the elevator continued its journey, the two breathed a sigh of relief. But they didn't dare to completely relax, because the man would come down again.
Just a second before the elevator doors opened, Su Zixu, in a moment of quick thinking, pressed himself tightly against the wall next to the elevator doors, holding the watch face high in his hand. It seemed he intended to smash the person inside the elevator to death once they came out.
"As expected of you." Old Zeng couldn't help but praise him, then he followed Su Zixu's example and stood close to the wall. He then drew the dagger from his waist, ready to slit the throat of the person in the elevator.
Only after the elevator had completely ascended did the two dare to make any move. Su Zixu, standing on Lao Zeng's shoulders, clumsily removed the baffle from the ventilation vent above their heads.
"I should have brought a pickaxe. This knife is really hard to use. It's much more comfortable to tighten it by hand." Su Zixu was already sweating profusely from tightening the screws.
While supporting Su Zixu on his shoulders, Lao Zeng kept his eyes on the elevator display screen: "Hurry up, he's coming down." The elevator stopped on the eleventh floor for a while, and now the downward arrow appeared on the display screen.
"It will be soon."
"Ding—", the announcement sounded again.
The two crawled inside the ventilation duct, where the environment was worse than they had imagined.
Even with breathing apparatus made from larvae on their faces, the two were still coughing from the foul air as soon as they entered the passage.
The elevator doors opened, and the two pressed their faces close to the gap in the partition, finally seeing the person's appearance clearly—it was Quaid.
Quaid looked like he had been cursing the whole way, and he was still swearing constantly.
However, it is worth noting that from the moment the elevator doors opened, the two realized that he was walking backwards out of the elevator, and he remained facing away from the doors until he left.
This must be the rule for entering and exiting Zone 3. Neither of them bothered to figure out the reason for doing so. They only knew that they had to do this to get out, and that was enough.