Voice headsets are excellent team communication devices.
Normally, everyone speaks without disturbing each other; only when a finger is lightly pressed on the earpiece will the voice be transmitted to the whole team. The two teams operate separately, and unless there is an emergency, they do not need to frequently call each other to communicate.
After splitting up, Xiao Lou and his six friends headed towards the left fork in the road.
Tang Ci was in a wheelchair and had difficulty moving around. Liu Qiao wanted to help him push the wheelchair, but before her hand could even touch it, Tang Ci calmly refused: "No need to trouble yourself. My wheelchair is electric. I can walk by myself."
Lu Jiuchuan chuckled upon hearing this and looked at Liu Qiao, saying, "Little girl, don't worry. He made this wheelchair himself. It has control buttons on the armrests, so it can walk in a straight line and turn corners. It's almost as good as an intelligent robot. Of course, if it encounters stairs or steps, there's nothing we can do. We'll help you if the wheelchair can't go up those."
Liu Qiao withdrew her hand, nodded slightly, and said, "I have a Lightness Skill Card here. If Mr. Tang needs it, he can use the Lightness Skill Card to fly up the stairs."
Tang Ci glanced at her, his expression still indifferent, but his gaze softened slightly: "I'm sorry about your sister. The Intelligence Bureau can no longer find any information about her. I think you understand what that means. Don't think too much about it. Let's clear the Weekly Routine and the S-level secret chamber first."
Liu Qiao lowered her head and remained silent, gently clenching her fist at her side.
Lu Jiuchuan asked in confusion, "Sister?"
Yu Hanjiang glanced at him, and he immediately understood, so he didn't ask any more questions.
Just then, a set of steps leading down appeared in front of them.
Even with the light of the luminous pearl, the end was nowhere in sight, and the steps led nowhere. The deep black hole was like a beast with its jaws wide open, ready to swallow everyone whole.
Old Mo said, "A downward staircase? Could this be a three-dimensional maze...?"
Two-dimensional mazes are naturally much simpler than three-dimensional mazes. Three-dimensional mazes require attention not only to changes in direction but also to spatial interweaving, and it's impossible to know exactly how many layers the maze has.
There was only one road ahead. The group exchanged glances, and Yu Hanjiang decisively said, "Let's go down and take a look."
At the same time, Old Gui's voice came through the six people's earpieces: "We've discovered a set of steps leading to a deeper underground area."
Xiao Lou replied, "We are too, please be careful, senior."
After exchanging information, the twelve people slowly descended the steps.
The steps were very narrow, each only wide enough for half an adult's foot. Moreover, the bricks were wet from who-knows-where, making them very slippery. Tang Ci's wheelchair was obviously not able to move easily on such steps. Liu Qiao wanted to give Tang Ci the card with the inscription "[ Light as a Swallow ]", but Tang Ci refused, saying, "I appreciate the offer, but keep it for yourself. I have a way."
He then summoned two mechanical ants, each about 20cm long. Although they were enormous compared to normal ants, their shapes were remarkably lifelike. Each ant had two camera-like structures on its antennae, allowing it to constantly report its surroundings—perfect for navigation.
Under Tang Ci's command, the two mechanical ants quickly climbed down the stairs.
Immediately afterwards, an iron chain suddenly flew out from the armrest of Tang Ci's wheelchair. The barbed end of the iron chain firmly stuck to the stone bricks on the wall. The wheelchair seemed to have found a track and slid down the iron chain into the dark hole below the steps, even faster than Liu Qiao's Lightness Skill.
Liu Qiao stared at him blankly.
Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, and Lao Mo exchanged bewildered glances.
Lu Jiuchuan's eyes darkened, and his voice became slightly hoarse: "I've never seen his wheelchair have so many functions. Xiao Tang... he made a lot of preparations to come with us to the S-level secret chamber."
Naturally, he also endured more pain than people can imagine.
Developing such a complex wheelchair won't be a matter of a day or two. Will he suffer injuries during the experiments? Nobody knows.
Tang Ci spent six months alone in an underground factory researching machinery. To avoid revealing his identity, he rarely interacted with the outside world. After losing his legs, he did not give up on himself, nor did he show much sadness or grief. Instead, he relied on his real-world experience in developing intelligent robots to diligently study and create this intelligent wheelchair by hand.
Xiao Lou admired and felt sorry for this man's strength.
Even though he has lost both legs and is now in a wheelchair, he has never been a weakling and does not need the protection of his teammates.
He will protect himself.
Lu Jiuchuan took a deep breath, enduring the sharp pain in his heart, and quickly followed.
Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou, and the others quickly descended the steps. Liu Qiao and Lao Mo walked last, carrying the kongming lantern. The handkerchief that came with the card was handed to Uncle Mo, who said softly, " Uncle Mo, you can draw directly on this handkerchief with your finger."
She just wanted to help in a little way.
Mo Xuemin smiled, remembering that his daughter was only a few years younger than Liu Qiao. He patted the girl's shoulder and said, "Okay, you can have this handkerchief from now on. It will be convenient for me to draw anytime."
Tang Ci's wheelchair stopped on a flat surface.
His mechanic ant scouted ahead and gave him feedback—there were no touch or stepping mechanisms on the downward steps. At a depth of about 10 meters, a relatively wide platform appeared, which is why Tang Ci dared to hook the iron chain onto the wall and let the wheelchair slide down.
At this moment, Tang Ci and his mechanical ant remained on the platform.
There is a door on each side of the platform, and there are still lights on the left and right sides of the doors, but these lights are off.
The beeswax had not burned out, and it was unclear why the two lamps had gone out.
With the help of the light from the luminous pearl, Xiao Lou quickly saw the pattern on the door—similar to the stone door leading into the ancient tomb, it also depicted scenes of ancient priests, with men and women dancing. Based on the dancing movements, Xiao Lou deduced how to open the mechanism.
"The left-side ever-burning light goes around twice clockwise, and the right-side light goes around once counter-clockwise."
Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan quickly went over and opened the stone door.
This was a closed stone chamber of about 4 square meters. The entire room was empty, except for a compass hanging on the wall. Tang Ci sent the mechanical ant into the room to scout the way. After confirming that there were no traps, Xiao Lou followed and carefully examined the compass.
The compass has many talisman-like things on it. Ignoring the messy patterns, you can see the marks for east, south, west, and north. Xiao Lou said, "This is an ancient compass for finding directions, which is an ancient version of a compass."
Old Mo said excitedly, "Great! With Compass, we can pinpoint the exact location underground, and it also makes it easier for me to draw a map of the maze, so I won't get lost halfway through."
Xiao Lou took the compass.
Strangely, when he held the compass in his hand and turned it left and right, the pointer on it did not move at all.
Yu Hanjiang asked in confusion, "Could it be broken?"
Xiao Lou thought for a moment and said, "Let's open the stone door on the other side and take a look."
Everyone retreated back to the platform, and Xiao Lou continued to analyze how to open the mechanism based on the patterns on the door.
Inside the stone chamber on the other side was a wooden box, which was unlocked.
Upon opening it, he found some tattered clothes and a bronze mirror inside. Xiao Lou picked up the mirror, and his reflection showed a strange, distorted face, resembling a ghost, which startled him.
In the pitch-black, enclosed room, suddenly seeing one's own face distorted and deformed is truly chilling.
Yu Hanjiang immediately put his arm around his shoulder, took the mirror from his hand with his other hand, and looked at himself in the mirror.
The same applies to facial distortion and deformity.
Lu Jiuchuan leaned closer and asked, "A demon-revealing mirror?"
"..." Yu Hanjiang frowned and looked at his brother: "What do you mean by that? Do you mean Xiao Lou and I have become monsters?"
Lu Jiuchuan laughed: "Let's lighten the mood, otherwise it'll be a bit creepy."
Xiao Lou: "..."
Xiao Lou had previously thought Lu Jiuchuan was handsome and manly, but after getting to know him, she discovered that his personality was completely different from Yu Hanjiang's. Yu Hanjiang never joked and appeared serious and aloof, but was actually very caring. Lu Jiuchuan, on the other hand, loved to joke and tease, and no matter what trouble he encountered, even if his arm was slashed open with a knife, he would still put on a very relaxed appearance.
The only thing they had in common was their inherent courage; neither of them was afraid of death, and both were very persistent in pursuing their goals.
Xiao Lou took the bronze mirror back from Yu Hanjiang, looked at his strangely shaped reflection, and said seriously, "This should be... a yin-yang mirror."