Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  "What's wrong with you?"

  In the darkness, Shen Shi held his breath and called out softly, but there was only silence around him, except for the sound of water droplets falling into the water somewhere, making a "drip" sound, and even the chirping of insects was absent.

  A person, in this strange and dark place, feels a special kind of loneliness. Shen Shi's heart is inexplicably panicked, worried about his own uncertain fate, and also concerned about the safety of Zhong Qingzhu. He still remembers the scene before he fainted, being swept away by that terrifying torrent, and now he can't believe he's still alive, it feels like a stroke of luck even to himself.

  But will Zhong Qingzhu's luck be that good too? At the beginning, when they first met on the stone steps of Bai Xian Rock, Shen Shi still remembered Sun You saying that this girl was said to be a jinxed person, um, wasn't it something like that, anyway, her luck was pretty bad.

  Shen Shi's mind was in a mess as he began to grope around further away from his body, calling out for Zhong Qingzhu's name every now and then, hoping to find her.

  Because things were too sudden and hasty before, Shen Shi didn't even get a good look at the entrance of the cave, only vaguely remembering that it seemed not to be very big. But unexpectedly, under the impact of the huge waves, the water brought them rushing into the cave for a long distance without seeing the bottom, until he fainted.

  He carefully felt his way around in the darkness, suddenly falling into a state like that of a blind man, which made him very uncomfortable. However, after feeling around, he vaguely sensed that he was still somewhere inside a cave. The water puddles were not far away, and he could touch the hard stone wall nearby. The cave wasn't high or large, only about half a person's height, and he couldn't even stand up straight, having to crouch down in the water to crawl around and feel his way. Additionally, perhaps due to the rushing water washing over it, the stone wall of this dark cave was very damp, with water droplets constantly falling, which was where the sound of dripping came from that he had heard earlier.

  But Zhong Qingzhu still did not respond.

  Shen Shi couldn't help but feel a growing sense of anxiety in his heart, although he had roughly figured out the situation around him. However, it was clear that knowing he was in a cave was not going to be of any use. With Zhong Qingzhu's fate unknown, Shen Shi couldn't shake off the worry for her safety, and at the same time, he also felt an inexplicable fear for his own future. Was he destined to die mysteriously in this dark and desolate place?

  A sudden sense of irritation rose in his mind, and Shen Shi couldn't help but grit his teeth and curse: "Zhong Qingzhu, where the hell did you go?"

  As soon as the words left his mouth, Shen Shi felt a few regrets in his heart and shook his head with a bitter smile in the darkness. He thought to himself that he still lacked composure, and in this situation, he had lost his temper so easily. After letting out a soft sigh, he was about to gather his spirits and continue to grope forward when he suddenly heard a faint voice coming from not far ahead:

  "I... I am here..."

  Shen Shi's body shook slightly, almost disbelieving his own ears, but the voice, although weak, was particularly clear in this darkness. How could he have misheard? In that instant, Shen Shi's first reaction was extreme joy, and his second reaction was to unconsciously roll his eyes in the direction of the darkness, thinking: "You finally responded after I called out for so long without a response, and you even...".

  But anyway, with this response, Shen Shi was suddenly invigorated. Perhaps people are like this, no matter how desolate and cold the darkness around them is, as long as they feel that there is a companion by their side, they will subconsciously feel warmth and safety. Shen Shi immediately adjusted his direction, facing the direction where Zhong Qingzhu's voice came from in the darkness, and shouted: "Don't move, I'm coming to find you now."

  "Hmm..." Zhong Qingzhu's voice sounded a bit timid, with a slight tremble, and it was unclear whether it was due to fear or the injury from the recent strong current.

  The sound of water gradually grew louder, and it was Shen Shi who was feeling his way forward in the puddle. After the initial exploration earlier, he couldn't see clearly around him, but he had a general impression in his mind. At the same time, every time he moved forward a certain distance, he would call out to Zhong Qingzhu, and when she responded, he would slowly approach her by locating her voice in the darkness.

  The sound was getting closer and closer, the surroundings were still pitch black, the water sound was echoing under his feet and hands, and the ticking sound was suddenly far and near. After a moment, his hand, which was feeling forward, suddenly touched a soft body, and at the same time, Zhong Qingzhu's voice sounded in front of him, about a foot away, with a tone that seemed to be filled with joy and excitement, saying:

  "Shen Ge?"

  Shen Shi was taken aback for a moment, then smiled wryly in the darkness and said, "It's me, don't worry, there are no ghosts here."

  Qing's body suddenly shook, and she grabbed his arm with a sudden movement. Although he couldn't see her face clearly, Shen Shi could sense that she seemed to be extremely frightened all of a sudden.

  "Uh... I was wrong." Shen Shi felt that Zhong Qingzhu's fingernails had already pierced into the flesh on his hand, and he smiled wryly in the darkness, saying in a low voice, "It's my fault for speaking carelessly."

  Qingzhong bamboo seemed to gasp a few times in the darkness, then slowly calmed down, and soon discovered that his hands were not right, hurriedly let go, saying: "Ah... sorry Shen brother, I, I was just afraid, didn't mean to grab you..."

  "Just call me Shen Shi." Shen Shi interrupted her somewhat disordered words and said, "I'm not much older than you."

  Zhong Qing's eyes calmed down a bit, and after a while, he said in a low voice: "Okay."

  Although they met and exchanged a few words, the atmosphere was not as comforting and joyful as expected, but instead became inexplicably awkward. However, Shen Shi still felt more at ease, after all, there was someone by his side talking to him, even though the surroundings were dark, deep, and icy cold, he felt like he wasn't as lonely and scared as before.

  "Where is this?" Qing Zhu asked softly after a moment.

  Shen Shi shook his head and said, "I don't know either, but it should be in some underground cave deep within the mountain cave we were just in. Ah, right!" He suddenly became excited and said, "This mountain cave wasn't discovered by you, was it? You must know the situation inside, how do we get out?"

  Qingzhong's voice suddenly fell silent, and after a while, her voice was heard with caution and apology, saying in a low voice: "I... I just happened to see this cave when I picked up the shell before, and I didn't come in."

  "Ah?" Shen Shi was stunned for a moment, and suddenly lost his energy. All the hope in his heart turned into a bubble, and he couldn't say anything for a while. The one with the green bamboo hair also fell silent, seemingly unsure of what to say either.

  After a while, Shen Shi suddenly came back to his senses. Anyway, he couldn't just sit here and wait for death. He shook his head, lifted his spirits, and said, "Alright, let's go find out if there's a way out."

  Qingzhong bamboo in the dark, softly responded with a voice, then the sound of water rose, she seemed to be turning over and crawling out of the puddle as well. Only after a moment, I heard her humming softly, as if she had sucked in a breath of cool air.

  Shen Shi's body stiffened for a moment, and he asked, "What's wrong, where are you hurt?"

  Zhong Qing hesitated for a moment and said: "I don't know either. Many places on my body hurt, but this place on my left hand seems to be especially painful and I can't exert any strength."

  Shen Shi furrowed his brow, but didn't feel too surprised. Earlier when he woke up, there were at least a dozen places on his body that hurt, fortunately they all seemed to be superficial wounds of varying sizes, and none of them appeared to be life-threatening injuries like sprains or fractures. However, looking at it now, Zhong Qingzhu was indeed more unlucky than him, with worse luck...

  "Let me take a look for you, hopefully it's not broken," Shen Shi said as he reached out to feel around and grabbed Zhong Qingzhu's arm.

  In the darkness, Qing Zhu's body moved slightly, and she seemed to say two words, but it was unclear whether she was shy or something else, her voice sounded a bit muffled. Shen Shi furrowed his brow: "What did you say? Was I wrong? Did I press the wrong spot? Hmm, does this hurt...?"

  As he spoke, his fingers lightly pressed several joints on Zhong Qingzhu's arm and wrist. After a moment of silence, Zhong Qingzhu said in a low voice: "It doesn't hurt."

  Shen Shi let out a sigh of relief and said, "That's good, it doesn't seem to be a fracture. It looks like just a superficial wound, nothing serious."

  Zhong Qing Zhu was silent for a moment, then whispered: "I... I mean you're holding the wrong hand, this is my right hand, it's my left hand that hurts..."

  His hand stiffened for a moment, then slowly relaxed its grip on Zhong Qingzhu's arm. He was speechless for a long time, and finally could only mutter in a low voice:

  "Why didn't you say so earlier..."

  In the darkness, the sound of water echoed clearly. Shen Shi was half-kneeling in the water, feeling his way forward slowly, while behind him, the sound of water also rose softly and rhythmically, that was Zhong Qingzhu following behind.

  After groping in the dark, Zhong Qingzhu's left arm was indeed still quite unlucky and broken, perhaps it was injured when he was swept away by the torrent and hit a hard stone wall earlier, but now there is no good solution.

  Shen Shi finally had no choice but to hastily tear off some strips of cloth from her body, and roughly tied them around her arm, letting it hang limply in front of her neck and chest, no longer flailing about. She would think of a way to treat it after they escaped this dangerous situation.

  As for groping to find the direction of the way out, it's actually because they are in a cave, vaguely with two directions ahead and behind, but all around is dark, and neither of them can figure out which road is the exit.

  Logically, the best approach would be for them to split up and search in different directions. However, before they started searching, Zhong Qing followed silently behind Shen Shi without a word, and Shen Shi himself didn't say anything either.

  Between two people, there seems to be a tacit understanding that has developed silently. In this deep, dark and oppressive underground cave, the road ahead is uncertain and life and death are unpredictable. However, having someone by your side makes you feel more at ease.

  They had been crawling forward for a long time, and they didn't know if this direction was right or not. But in the feelings of the two people, this deep and narrow cave seemed to be bottomless, with darkness stretching endlessly ahead, as if it would never come to an end.

  It was unclear when it started, but suddenly the two people stopped talking, and the surroundings fell silent. The only sound was the water droplets falling from the stone wall, echoing quietly in the darkness.

  "Sink like a stone."

  Suddenly, a voice came from behind, sounding a bit tired. It was Zhong Qingzhu's voice.

  "What's wrong?" Shen Shi stopped in his tracks and turned around, although he couldn't see anything in the darkness, he could still vaguely sense her presence.

  Qing quietly said after a moment of silence: "You say, will we die here?"