The long spiral staircase was winding and winding. As he stepped on the stone steps, he slowly went down, making a "click-click" sound with every step.
He suddenly stopped and the girl behind him was caught off guard and bumped into his back. She instantly lost her balance and stumbled to the side without a guardrail.
Fortunately, Rolf reached out and hugged Karin's waist in time and pulled her back. The girl's feet went weak and she fell down on the stone steps. She took a few big breaths and said in shock:
"Why did you stop suddenly?"
"There's movement." Rolf whispered.
Karin calmed down her rapid breathing and listened carefully, and sure enough she heard a slight "crunching" sound in the distance.
The girl raised the lamp above her head, and the flickering fireflies illuminated a wider area. She tried her best to look into the darkness, and saw a small manticore appearing.
Then another one!
Soon, a large group of small manticores shining in dark green followed closely behind, densely covering the entire wall and crawling down quickly.
Karin was overcome by trypophobia when she saw those bugs crawling around. She felt like there were thousands of bugs crawling all over her body, and she couldn't help but scream in surprise.
The group of manticores heard the exclamation and crawled along the stone wall towards Luo Fu and Karin.
The girl wanted to run away and find a place to hide, but Luofu grabbed her arm and comforted her softly:
"Don't be afraid, keep the fireflies in your hands, they won't attack you."
Karin obeyed the boy's words and stood there obediently, but still because of fear, she hugged the boy's elbow tightly, as if this could give her some courage.
As expected, the group of small manticores stopped half a meter away from the two of them. After looking at them for a while, they continued to climb down.
Karin breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and asked curiously:
"Where are they crawling to?"
"There is a deep pit at the bottom of this prison. There lives a huge manticore. These little manticores are all its children."
Karin looked down, but it was dark below. She didn't see the pit, nor did she see the manticore.
"How did you know?" The girl looked at Rolf in surprise again. He was an Englishman and seemed to know this place well, as if he had been here before.
"I heard what my grandfather said." Rolf explained: "My great-grandfather was once imprisoned in Uxta Prison. My grandfather came here to rob the prison."
"..."
Karin secretly thought, this family is an ancestral criminal, right?
"Okay, let's continue." Luo Fei raised his legs and walked down again.
They soon reached the lowest level of the prison and walked down a corridor that surrounded a large circular pit on one side and rows of small, damp, and smelly cells on the other side.
The walkways reeked of rotting food, crawlers were everywhere, and Karin almost stepped on a mouse.
Seeing someone coming down, many criminals stood up and tried to look out.
Some prisoners were talking, asking Rolf and Karin to come closer; some prisoners were asking loudly what year it was; and some prisoners looked like they were crazy, banging against the fence crazily, refusing to stop, and finally dying with both hands. He clung to the fence and cursed the German Ministry of Magic.
There were even more wizards who swore an oath and were willing to be slaves, just asking them to rescue him.
Luofu paid no attention. He walked and talked, his words echoing softly in the darkness.
"Karin, you must not get close to them. Once these prisoners step out of the cell, they will be attacked by the manticore under the pit.
It was only safe with a firefly light, so they were eager to take it from us. "
Karin nodded thoughtfully.
Along the way, Luofu finally came to a cell. He looked through the iron bars and saw a man lying curled up.
He noticed Luo Fu and Karin, still pretending not to know, but his cold and wandering eyes were watching them quietly.
"Wait for me here, I'll be out in a moment." Luo Fe said.
Karin looked at the closed cell door and asked, "Do you have the key to the cell?"
"No." Luofu shook his head and said, "You don't need that thing."
"..."
Rolf handed the firefly lamp to Karin, and then his body suddenly shrank like a bird and snake, and slipped in through the gap in the iron fence.
Karin stared at the scene dumbfounded.
After Luo Fe entered the cell, his figure changed again, and he gently covered his nose.
The smell here is as bad as the toilet. Straw that has not been changed for a long time is scattered on the floor, rustling when you step on it. There is a bucket filled with overflowing feces at the foot of one wall, and on the other side there is a wizard huddled in a ball.
Luofu walked towards the prisoner lying on the ground and was about to check whether he was alive. The prisoner suddenly stood up and rushed towards the young man.
Luofu had already sensed the danger and turned sideways in advance to avoid the insidious pounce. He also raised his foot and kicked towards the prisoner.
The man fell to the ground and knocked over the dung bucket. The dirty and smelly brown mud spread to the ground and was absorbed by the straw.
Rolf looked at the man. He must have been locked up for a long time. He was as thin as a scarecrow, with a mouse face covered by a fluffy beard. His unwashed hair was tangled and hanging down his shoulders. His clothes were in tatters and his face was pale. Withered grass.
The man staggered around and cursed loudly, his eyes burning with anger as he said, "Hand over the firefly lamp!"
Luofu ignored him at all and just looked at the wall, looking for something. Seeing that the boy was distracted, the man rushed over again.
Only then did Luofu raise his arms. The man was horrified to find that the iron chains cuffing his hands made a squeaking sound, and then strangled him uncontrollably towards his neck.
The chain wrapped around the man's throat and pulled him back. He fell to his knees and tried to suck in air, but he only coughed out a horrifyingly thin hiss.
The iron chain dragged the man and slammed him against the wall. Blood gushed out from his head and he passed out on the spot.
Luofu finally found what he wanted. He walked to the corner, leaned over to examine it, and saw the symbol of the Deathly Hallows engraved on a dark brick.
Luofu recited the incantation softly, and then made a cut with his finger. Blood flowed on the symbol, as if hot iron touched cold water and made a hissing sound.
The floor tiles began to move and were pushed aside, revealing a passage the size of a person, empty and dark, like a stone well in a bottomless abyss.
Luo Fe jumped down and soon arrived at a smaller room. He stood in the dark, but suddenly he stood on his head with chills and felt something staring at him.
He snapped his fingers, and a ball of flame floated in front of him.
With the faint light of the fire, Luofu looked straight into the deepest part of the room, and was frightened by the sight in front of him and took a step back.
All he saw was a pale, ghostly face, staring directly at him with lifeless empty eye sockets.
That's a... skull.
…
…
(Thanks to "Earth, Fire, Wood, Gold" and "Er Fool Guy" for their rewards)
