Mysterious journey

"Damn it! Such strong firepower! How many people did they get here?" Cynthia's cheek was scratched by a fragment of blood, and blood slowly oozed out. "Hide well and don't come out!!"

She jumped out suddenly, rolled over, and three consecutive bullets hit the ground behind her, splashing up a large amount of dust. Cynthia got up and shot.

boom. There was an exclamation outside the door, and a black figure was hit and arrived in response. The gunfire just happened to slow down and stop.

Sheriff Rio roared angrily, reached out and fired several blind shots.

Three more muffled groans were heard outside the door, and it was obvious that someone had been hit again.

Gallon hid behind the sculpture and listened to the gunshots gradually becoming sparse. Cynthia and Sheriff Rio fought back while covering each other and cooperating, gradually suppressing the gunfire outside.

I don't know how long it took, ten minutes, or fifteen minutes. The gunfire finally stopped.

"Is it over?" He quietly poked his head out and took a look.

The hall was a mess. The Rio police chief and his men were all injured. There were originally more than ten policemen, but now only two were still alive, and the lives of the rest were unknown. The sergeant himself had been shot in the shoulder, his coat had been pulled off, and the white shirt underneath was half stained red. He was sitting on the ground beside the door, panting heavily.

Seeing Garen looking over, the police chief turned away in shame.

Black Panther was taking care of the gunshot wound on his left arm, holding a white bandage in his mouth to bandage himself. Cynthia and the remaining two subordinates gathered together and arranged the equipment without saying a word.

"Is Latin still alive?" Cynthia asked lightly.

"I don't know! Maybe." A subordinate took a knife and gently dug out the bullet in his thigh. His forehead was covered with cold sweat and blue veins. There was no answer in his mouth.

"The losses were heavy this time, but those boys should find ways to hide on their own." Cynthia quickly loaded the pistol with bullets, then took out a black shotgun from the backpack on one side, and fired it with a click. The bullet slid into the barrel of the gun.

"It's up to us now."

Garen withdrew his gaze, hunched over and moved quietly toward the study. Grace wanted to follow, but he held her down and stayed in place.

"I can go alone, just stay where you are and don't move!"

"Um."

He was not afraid of bullets that were troublesome for others. Even if the tenth golden ring blocked him and fired yesterday, it did not cause much damage. What he mainly finds troublesome is the ninth golden ring. He was sure that the real reason why the other party had an absolute advantage but had not rushed in directly until now was probably because they were afraid of him.

He quietly walked towards the study room close to the corner, passed through the corridor, and entered the dark study room. Only then did Garen straighten up and stand up.

There were several new footprints at the underground entrance to the study, and it was obvious that someone had followed in later.

Bang bang!

A gunfight broke out again in the lobby outside.

Garen gently pressed the bullet hole in his lower abdomen, and it still hurt a little. While the injury has not completely healed, he can only play at 80% of his strength now. Facing the stronger Ninth Golden Ring, he didn't want to confront him head-on.

"Now the Antique of Doom is only secondary. We must find a way to get out of here! I didn't expect Jin Huan to actually have the courage to confront the police brigade." He regretted coming to Yinsha Castle to explore. He is different from Tali Mercury and others. He only came here for the antiques of bad luck, not to find out the facts of the case.

"We have to find a way to get out of here safely."

boom! !

Suddenly there was a muffled sound from outside, and a violent explosion shook the entire castle.

"Go to hell! Damn you bastard!" Cynthia's fierce voice came from the hall. Explosives apparently planted by her people went off.

Garen felt a little more relaxed. With the threat of explosives, people outside should not dare to approach easily for the time being. After all, they didn't know how many explosives were buried around the castle.

"Wait a little longer, wait for the detectives to come out, and then leave together. Maybe there will be unexpected gains." Since we can't leave now, it's better to guard the entrance and wait for the detectives and others from the tower to come out. Maybe we can get the antique of doom, and then we can leave safely. Not too late.

Garen is confident that if he wants to retreat, neither the masters of firearms nor golden rings can stop him!

Walking to the entrance, Garen was about to sit down and rest when he suddenly felt a bit chilly near the entrance.

"Could it be?" His expression suddenly became serious. "Is it windy?"

He stretched out his hand to feel at the entrance carefully.

You can vaguely feel the slightest breeze coming out of the entrance on your palms.

"It sure is windy! There must be other exits from this entrance!"

Garen's expression was shocked, and his face suddenly showed joy. He was about to stand up and head back down the hall to inform the others.

When he turned around, he saw a dark figure blocking the door of the study, looking at him quietly.

The shadow is wearing a black cloak and has a large gold ring on his left ear with the number 9 engraved on it. Judging from his body shape, he was a strong and well-proportioned man. He was covered with a black mask, revealing only a pair of clear blue eyes, like the sapphire phoenix eyes of a beautiful woman.

"Is this the underground entrance?" the man asked in a low voice, his voice was very low, and his accent was very standard Federal dialect. "As expected of the detective in the tower, we couldn't find it after searching for so long, but he found it as soon as he came. It's really great."

Garen turned around and listened carefully to the sounds on the other side of the hall. There was still a gun battle over there. It was obvious that this person had sneaked in on his own.

Before he could speak, the man continued to speak.

"Kelly, I heard that you are an expert in identifying doomed antiques. That's good. Come down with me to have a look. If you can really prove your talent, I won't kill you."

Garen's eyes were stunned. Not long after he told the detective in the tower, the people in Jinhuan knew about it.

The man seemed to think he didn't believe it, so he reached out and pressed against the left wall.

Click!

A tiny crack suddenly appeared on the wall, like glass about to break.

"If you don't agree, this will be your fate."

Garen glanced at the wall. He could do that level of cracking. The walls of the castle here were already in disrepair and the stone bricks were extremely fragile. What surprised him was that this ninth golden ring didn't treat him as a martial arts master at all, but thought he was just an ordinary expert who was just stronger.

Using that move on the wall can scare ordinary people, but it has no deterrent effect on experts. Not to mention a warrior like him who is famous for his strength.

"Doesn't he know that I injured the tenth golden ring?" This speculation flashed through Garen's mind. But the mouth answered. "A master from the Golden Ring? As long as you guarantee my safety, I'll have no problem." He originally wanted to go down and have a look.

"You have good courage." Seeing that he was not afraid, the man's eyes flashed with appreciation. He nodded, walked to the entrance first, and walked down the stairs step by step. "Come with me. No tricks. Even if you have some martial arts training, I can kill you in seconds."

Garen nodded.

"Don't worry. I'm well aware of the situation." He followed the man down the stairs to the underground entrance.

Ta-ta-ta.

The two of them walked down the stone stairs and soon entered the entire underground space.

The space is cylindrical, with a circle of black stone stairs attached to the wall, and a circle of white metal handrails on the edge of the ladder. Garen looked down through the armrest.

Below are circles of stairs extending infinitely into the darkness, like threads on the inner wall of a cylinder, with a small black hole in the center that cannot be seen to the bottom.

Looking up, the entrance was just a small hole.

The entire spiral staircase rotates clockwise, round and round. What's strange is that these stairs, handrails, and surrounding walls are all very exquisitely decorated. The walls are carved with fine vine patterns, as are the handrails. The foot of the stone staircase is extremely smooth and thick, as if it were built from whole stones put together.

The two of them walked one behind the other, with the man in the black cloak walking in front. The hem of his cloak lifted back from time to time, releasing a faint hint of elegant fragrance.

Garen followed behind, and after smelling the fragrance, he felt refreshed.

"Here, if you don't pay attention to the scent of tea branches and vines, no matter how many people come in, they will only die." The man walked in front and whispered, "Don't leave me too far, otherwise I won't be able to take care of you."

"Okay." Garen nodded.

The two of them walked down in circles, and the surroundings remained unchanged. If Garen hadn't occasionally looked up at the increasingly smaller entrance, he might have thought that he hadn't gone very far at all and was just spinning in circles.

I don’t know how long I walked, maybe more than half an hour.

Garen raised his head and looked up again. The entrance was completely invisible, and it was pitch black above. The only light source around is a small torch held by the ninth golden ring in front.

The orange fire light illuminates one or two circles above and below.

The temperature in the stairwell was getting lower and lower, and Garen saw that his breath was filled with white mist.

"How long do we have to go? It's already very cold here. No wonder you are wearing such thick clothes." Anyway, there are detectives and others exploring the way, so it is difficult to encounter danger. Now there is the Ninth Golden Ring walking in front. He is It doesn't matter at all. Just treat him as if he's here for exploration. After all, he doesn't know the level of this person. In his current state, if he can avoid a direct conflict, it's better to hide him.

"This staircase can never be finished." The cloaked man replied in a low voice, "This is an endless staircase originating from ancient Yinduo. Legend has it that it is a stone staircase leading to the world of the dead."

"Do you believe it's really impossible to finish the journey?" Garen asked.

The man stopped talking.

The two people continued to move forward in silence. The walls were black, the stone steps on the ground were also black, only the handrails were white, and there was a hint of ominous paleness under the firelight.

It was extremely quiet up and down the stairwell. The detectives who came in from the front didn't know what was going on, but there was no movement at all.

I walked down silently. I don't know how long it took, but the monotonous stairs in front finally appeared in a different place.

A stone table appeared on the left side of the wall, with a square fish tank placed on it.

The fish tank is sealed and half filled with water. You can vaguely see fish in it.

The cloaked man put down the torch and leaned over to take a look.

The water in the fish tank was already dark green, like very viscous fecal water. The three or four dead goldfish inside were no longer golden red, but black and green. They had been floating on the water for who knows how long.

"I didn't expect there to be goldfish here," Garen said in confusion, "It's such a deep place."

"There are many places you can't think of." Ninth Golden Ring said calmly. Hold up the torch and keep walking.

Garen passed by the fish tank and couldn't help but take a second look before following closely.

"Since it's a fish tank, something used to raise goldfish. Why should it be sealed?"

"This is a simple ritual in ancient times. Seal the life and let it slowly die inside until it completely rots and merges with the other materials inside. Even the soul is integrated. Wait until this time Then open the seal and eat everything inside, including the flesh, blood and soul of the creatures inside. It is said that this is a ritual method that can lead to immortality." The man explained calmly.

"How disgusting." Garen was speechless.