The strongest soldier

The water flow in the deep underground river is gentle and the air is humid. It is difficult to see your fingers when you reach out. Water droplets fall from the wet cave wall, and it feels like rain when it falls on the river. The cave wall is made of hard reddish-brown rocks, and the water droplets fall down. The rock wall slid down, and the water drops looked like red tears, which looked particularly charming under the light.

Huang Can held his backpack with one hand and let the current carry him deeper into the cave. With his head above the water, he looked around vigilantly. With the other hand, he shone a flashlight everywhere to make sure that the surrounding soil was solid and there was no danger of collapse. He breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know how deep the underground river was. Huang Can tried it a little but didn't find the bottom, so he didn't bother to try again.

Swimming was not difficult for Huang Canlai at all. He kept treading the water with his feet to ensure that his body floated. With the support of his backpack, his body drifted forward very smoothly, but it was cold and uncomfortable. Fortunately, the air was still circulating and he walked a certain distance. , a fork in the cave appeared in front of him, Huang Can quickly grabbed a protruding stone on the surrounding cave wall, stopped, and looked back at the brothers who were following him.

"What's wrong?" The brother behind, who was still a few meters away and didn't see the fork in the hole, asked curiously.

"There is a fork here. In order to avoid getting lost, you have to leave a mark. The place you walked through is marked with a word 1. If it is blocked, take a fork in the road and mark it with a word 2 after you return. Do you remember it?" Huang Can warned, and waited for the other party to nod. He pulled out his military dagger and made many vertical marks on the stone wall, then put the knife away and continued walking forward.

After walking forward for a while, we once again encountered forks of different sizes. Some were dead holes. You can see the lower end by shining a tactical flashlight into them. There were also many narrow gaps into which water flowed rapidly, apparently leading to unknown places. Where, Huang Can decisively chose the largest passage and walked inside.

The two of them kept drifting forward, not knowing how far they had gone. The visibility in front was getting lower and lower. The flashlight could only shine one or two meters away. The silence around them was even more suffocating. The river was flowing slowly, except for the sound of breathing. , the two of them could not hear any sound, not even the water droplets above their heads. The dark distance was like the door to hell, with a strange atmosphere.

After swimming for a certain distance, Huang Can couldn't help but panic. He found a place to stop and whispered to the brother behind him: "Something is wrong. We have been swimming for almost an hour, right? Based on the time and speed, we have already It’s five kilometers away, and the entrance to the canyon is less than five kilometers away from the ruins.”

"You mean we went the wrong way?" Another brother said in surprise. Seeing Huang Can nod, he frowned and thought for a while, and said doubtfully: "The caves along the way are winding, not a straight line, the time It’s normal if it’s longer, so I suggest you continue walking a little further inside to take a look.”

Huang Can thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, then let's walk a little further and have a look."

After the two reached an agreement, they continued to walk inside. Half an hour later, there was still nothing suspicious in front of them. If everyone took the right route, there would definitely be a hole dug by the people on the top of the cave. If they went wrong, they would bypass it. If you go to the ruins and go further, you should also find debris on the water surface. Since the people inside the ruins discharged their excrement into the underground river and took it away, clues can definitely be seen on the water surface.

The two of them shined flashlights on the water. The water was clear and nothing suspicious could be seen. Huang Can looked around in surprise and said in a deep voice: "Brother, we must have taken the wrong road. We must go back the same way. While we still have strength, If you can hold on, let’s go, there’s no need to delay.”

The other brother thought it was reasonable and did not insist anymore. The two swam back quickly. Fortunately, the forks along the way were marked, otherwise they would have been lost. It takes a lot of physical strength to go upstream. Fortunately, the current was not strong. It was urgent, and the two of them were pushed by the water when they came in, so their physical strength was not very high.

More than an hour later, the two came out of the cave and saw the sun outside. As if they were in another world, a voice sounded above their heads: "Why did you come out? What's the situation?"

Huang Can looked back and saw that it was the brother who was left behind. He couldn't help but smile bitterly and said: "It's like a maze inside. I won't be able to find the right route for a while, so go back first."

"They are all here, right on the cliff." The brother said in a deep voice. He suddenly covered his ears and listened for a while, and then said to Huang Can, "I want you to turn on the signal immediately to talk."

"Understood." Huang Can agreed, took out the signal transmitter from his backpack, turned it on, put it on his waist, put on the invisible headset, and said immediately after the satellite connection was successful: "It's me."

Soon, Luo Zheng's voice came from the headset: "Are you okay? What did you find?"

It took the two of them about three hours to get in and out. The people outside had been waiting impatiently. If they had not trusted the two of them very much, they would have gone in to look for them. Huang Can felt warm in his heart when he heard Luo Zheng's heartfelt concern. , smiled bitterly: "There are many holes in it, it's hard to find. We didn't find any clues."

"Chadong? Wait a moment." Luo Zheng on the cliff was shocked and turned to look at Cao Xi.

Cao Xi was also wearing a headset, so he naturally heard Huang Can's words. Seeing Luo Zheng look over, he nodded knowingly, turned around and looked at the location of the site, took out a simple compass from his backpack, compared it for a while, and said thoughtfully. : "Let me try, maybe I can find the direction."

"Okay, I'll go down with you, and two other people will come with us. The others will be stationed here." Luo Zheng looked at everyone and warned in a deep voice. He took off his backpack, took out the tactical flashlight, and put the weapon on it. He stayed with his backpack and only took a military dagger to defend himself. He grabbed the rope and went down.

Cao Xi also put down his weapons and backpack, grabbed the rope and went down. The two brothers followed him down, and the rest continued to stick around in case of accidents. Luo Zheng quickly went down to the bottom, found a place to stop, and looked at Huang Can said: "What's going on inside?"

"It's damp and cold, but the cave wall is solid, there are no signs of collapse, and we haven't encountered other weird creatures. It's quite safe. The places we passed are marked with a "1", and there's nothing else." Huang Can said quickly.

"Thank you for your hard work, you two go up and rest for a while." Luo Zheng said in a deep voice, motioning Huang Can and the others to untie the rope, and took it to tie around his waist. He handed the other end to Cao Xi who was sliding down, and Cao Xi accepted it knowingly. He went over and tied it around his waist, and nodded to Luo Zheng. Luo Zheng glanced at the two brothers who were following behind him and warned: "Follow closely, and take action immediately if you find any suspicious problems."

"Understood." The two nodded and said in a deep voice.

"Is your injury okay?" Cao Xi asked worriedly.

"The problem is not big, but it is of great importance. I have to go down and check it out personally." Luo Zheng said seriously, his face was deep and his eyes were full of determination.