The corridor is long and quiet, and there are traces of manual excavation on the four walls, but these traces are different from the mine above.
The excavation marks in the mine above are dense and complicated, and there are also many small knife marks, as if something was used to dig them out slowly, bit by bit.
The walls of the corridor below were scrawled with knife marks, which looked like they had been excavated in a hurry. In some places, there were deep and shallow black marks.
Han Changmu stepped forward to examine it carefully, and picked up some powder with his hands, thinking: "It is also iron ore, but it doesn't look as good as the one above, and it is sparsely distributed, very little."
Wang Xian looked around for a long time: "No, the digging is so wasteful. It seems that these people don't care about this bit of iron ore." He paused slightly and said puzzledly: "Since they don't care about this bit of iron ore, why bother? Why dig such a mine tunnel, and who dug it?"
Han Changmu pursed his lips and said nothing, patted his dust-stained hands, and walked forward with his hands behind his back.
There was a slight breeze blowing in the corridor, and the peculiar smell became stronger and stronger, as if something had been buried underground for a long time, and suddenly it was exposed to the sun, and the rotten and moist smell suddenly surged. And out.
Wang Xian twitched the tip of his nose, frowned and murmured to himself: "What kind of place is this? Why is it so smelly?"
Han Changmu's brows furrowed more and more tightly, and he looked around with feeling.
The knife marks on the stone wall are messy, and thick branches and leaves lie across it. It seems that the person who excavated this place was in a panic, and the excavation was also extremely urgent.
And on the messy knife marks, there are still faint traces of finger digging, some deep and some shallow, which looks very strange.
Wang Xian walked in front, becoming more and more frightened as he walked. There was a sudden clang, and he stumbled, almost falling to the ground.
He was startled, and when he looked down, he saw a white bone lying under his feet. He couldn't help but scream in panic: "My lord, my lord, there are dead people! There are dead people!"
"Why are you panicking? Have you seen many dead people?" Han Changmu walked over with his hands behind his back and an indifferent expression.
"No, sir, there are quite a lot of people dead here." Wang Xian pointed forward and murmured in horror.
Han Changmu raised the lamp and looked in the direction of Wang Xian's finger. The scene in front of him was so shocking that it was difficult for him to maintain the indifferent expression on his face.
Under the graceful shadow of the lamp, deep in the dark corridor, there were countless people lying in various places, with rags and rags covering their bones. The lamp flickered by, and the cold light was particularly dazzling.
Han Changmu gasped, gritted his teeth and uttered two words: "Beast." Then he walked forward quickly.
Wang Xian also recovered from the shock, followed Han Changmu quickly, and asked: "Sir, these people may have been dead for a long time, and only their bones are left. Who do you think they are?"
Han Changmu pursed his lips, squatted among the messy bones, picked up a piece of clothing that was still intact and could still see the color, and examined it carefully.
The clothes were made of the cheapest coarse cloth, dyed in a stain-resistant indigo blue. However, over time, the clothes had faded, and were covered with dust and caked with dry mud.
After peeling off the tattered sleeves, pieces of finger bones were exposed in front of the eyes. The bones were white and white, with no skin or flesh attached to them. These people had obviously been dead for many years. After a moment, he said coldly: "The clothes of these people are crude, and the joints of their fingers and arms are thicker than ordinary people. If my prediction is correct, these people should be miners, the miners who excavate the iron ore here. "
"Miners! Why did they die here? Who killed them?" Wang Xian screamed.
Han Changmu gritted his teeth: "I think it was Li Sheng and the others who killed these miners to silence them so that the news wouldn't leak out."
He stood up with his knees up and patrolled the stone wall. The traces dug by his fingers on the stone wall became more densely packed, and there were blood stains that had dried and turned black and purple embedded in the gaps, which was particularly shocking.
He punched the stone wall hard, feeling that every incident since entering Beijing had overturned his previous beliefs.
Wang Xian also felt a chill in his heart. Looking at the densely packed corpses lying on the ground, he asked in a cold voice: "Sir, how did these people die?"
Han Changmu opened a piece of clothing, revealing a complete white skeleton. He saw that the bones were intact, with no defects, no knife marks, and no artificial breaks.
He pointed at the bones and said: "Look, these corpses are all complete. There are no signs of poisoning or injury before death. I think they must have been starved to death."
Hearing this, Wang Xian's heart skipped a beat. People who committed the most heinous crimes were given a full meal before going to the execution ground. These miners were so innocent that they had to die in such a cruel and tortured way.
He couldn't bear it, and suddenly thought of an ominous result, he couldn't help trembling his lips: "Sir, they drove these innocent absentees here to starve to death. Does that mean there is a dead end ahead and there is no way out?"
Han Changmu raised his eyes and looked at the endless corridor. The flame of the lamp in his hand was still shaking. He said firmly: "They were not driven in, they walked in on their own."
"I, who walked in, are they crazy?" Wang Xian asked suspiciously.
Han Changmu pointed to the hastily carved knife marks on the stone wall and said calmly: "These miners must have learned about Li Sheng's people's plans. They knew that after they finished mining the iron ore here, they would be killed and silenced. They wanted to escape. Shengtian, they tried to hide such a secret tunnel from others. Unexpectedly, before the secret tunnel was dug, Li Sheng and others wanted to kill the miners in advance. In panic, they ran here to hide. I think they had originally They wanted to escape from here after a few days, when the inspection on the mountain was no longer so strict. It may be that the entrance was blocked after they entered, or it may be that the inspection in the mountain was always very strict, and they did not find a chance to escape. If I go, I will be trapped alive and starve to death in this place.”
Wang Xian nodded in agreement: "In other words, the entrance may have been discovered to be blocked, or it may have never been discovered."
Han Changmu said calmly: "Looking at Li Shengfang's confident appearance, I think the entrance to this place has not been discovered yet, or this secret passage has never been discovered."
These words were like a beam of light shining on Wang Xian's heart, making his dark heart suddenly brighten and see hope.
"Then, sir, let's get out quickly." He couldn't wait to move forward. He couldn't bear to look at the tragic situation in front of him anymore.
Han Changmu nodded: "Let's go."
Wang Xian was still leading the way. He walked carefully past the corpse, trying not to touch any bones or any piece of clothing.
Every time he passed a corpse, he whispered: "Go in peace, I will seek justice for you."
When Han Changmu heard this, he raised his eyebrows slightly. He didn't expect that Wang Xianchang had a rough and rough appearance, but he had a soft and compassionate heart.
The two of them carefully walked through the corridor where the remains were gathered. After seeing scattered remains of the same appearance in front of them, they turned a corner and finally reached a quiet place.
"You've finally come out." Wang Xian took a long breath, his clothes already soaked with cold sweat.
Han Changmu breathed a subtle sigh. Although he didn't reveal any clues, the tense nerves along the way slowly relaxed.
The two of them walked forward quickly, one behind the other. There was no daylight and no time in the middle of the mountain. Both of them were a little anxious. They had already wasted enough time here, too much. They didn't know what changes had taken place in the cottage. The cottage Are the people inside still safe?
In the long corridor, there were only the rustling footsteps of two people, light and fast.
After turning another corner, the originally fine wind in the corridor suddenly became stronger, blowing the flames and almost extinguishing them.
Han Changmu quickly closed his hands and whispered: "If you are gentler, you may be close to the exit."
Wang Xian nodded silently, and the two deliberately slowed down their steps, but their speed did not slow down at all. As they walked quickly, a little light seemed to enter the dark corridor in front of them.
With a "pop" sound, Han Changmu quickly blew out the lights and walked towards the light.
The pale moonlight shone down, and the vines hanging down from top to bottom were like a handful of green waterfalls, covering most of the narrow entrance.
The grass on the ground, as tall as a person, grew extremely lush, intertwined with vines, like a natural barrier, covering the entrance of the cave extremely secretly.
Han Changmu and Wang Xian did not go out rashly, but lay at the entrance of the cave and listened to the situation outside the cave.
The entrance of the cave and the corridor are not flush. Instead, the entrance of the cave is slightly higher and the corridor is lower. It is not very convenient to climb in and out, but it is more suitable for hiding the entrance of the cave.
Han Changmu sighed silently in his heart, it's a pity, the person who dug this secret passage is an expert.
There was no movement outside the cave. In the silence, even the slightest sound of wind was like thunder.
Wang Xian turned his head and looked at Han Changmu, and moved his lips silently: "Sir, there is no one outside, why don't you go out and take a look first?"
Han Changmu thought for a moment and said silently: "Go ahead and be careful about everything."
Wang Xian nodded and slowly pulled out the short knife from his boot. The tip of the knife pointed out. He held it with one hand and put it into his sleeve. Then he leaned forward and climbed out of the hole carefully.
After a rustling sound, Wang Xian climbed out of the cave smoothly.
After he climbed out, he did not stand up directly. Instead, he lay down in the dense grass. His small eyes were particularly bright at this time, and his gaze was like a torch, and he looked around cautiously.
After a while, he stood up close to the entrance of the cave, covering his body with grass, and looked up to the heights. After confirming that there was no third person here, even the sky was clearer and empty than at the bottom of the mountain. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he was indeed escaping. He was born today, and there was an imperceptible joy in his low voice: "Sir, there is no one."
