The tile was meant to be a locked trap plate, yet Jing Shu pried it up bit by bit with brute force. Whoever designed the mechanism probably never imagined that, aside from the switch, someone would simply rip it open.
Beneath it was a standard sliding controller with a visible seam. Jing Shu drove the steel bit along the seam, hammering again and again until the gap widened.
The exertion pushed her deeper into hypoxia. Her thoughts blurred, but she did not stop. Every pore begged for fresh air. Her chest heaved like a bellows. The sensation of death from her previous life crept over her again, and she struck harder. In that moment, she sensed something strange in the Rubik's Cube Space.
She had no time to think about it.
With both bodyguards joining in and pounding hard, there was a heavy bang. The panel tore free and dropped.
The passage below opened.
Jing Shu gulped air as if it were nectar. Her whole body felt as if it were floating, light and blissful, yet her head still spun, the world tilting under her feet.
If she had to describe it, it was like running a fever of forty degrees. Her steps felt weightless, voices around her distant and dreamlike.
"Jing Shu? Jing Shu?"
"Come on, we are going down. Wang Chuang and Da Mao are already through. Jing Shu, are you unwell? Don't scare me." Su Mali shook her gently. After a nap, she felt fine. Only Jing Shu, who had strained herself in a low-oxygen room, suffered hallucinations and auditory distortions.
"Okay," Jing Shu answered. Everything felt unreal, as if inside a dream. She did not even remember how she climbed down. She vaguely recalled Su Mali shouting at her to grab the rope, so she grabbed the rope.
She knew this could not go on. She had to save herself. She took half a drop of undiluted Spirit Spring.
The ravenous hunger did not hit. Her head still swam. The Spirit Spring must have been working somewhere else. Her life mattered most now, so she steeled herself and took another full drop.
"We have to find an exit fast," Wang Chuang said. "We are walking in the shaft without the elevator car. If the car moves and slams into us, we are finished."
Two steel cables ran along the passage. Fei Zhuzai had likely "ridden the elevator" down. Jing Shu was still dazed. If she were clear-headed, she would have been shocked by how many branch points there were. The underground space was vast. No one knew where it led.
She had essentially forced open an elevator door to a shaft with no car. The group descended along the suspension cables. Maybe it would be the third level. Maybe the second.
"My worry is another door at the end that needs brute forcing," Wang Chuang said. "Either way, we must find a way out. Da Mao, once we find the exit, contact Mr. Su first. If anything happens, I will cover the rear."
"Brother."
"You still have Er Mao and San Mao to raise. Your family depends on you."
The passage stretched long. The first sections had two or three forks and turns. Each ended at a control plate and a heavy door that would not open. The two men tried everything and failed. They had no choice but to keep moving.
Usually at the end of a shaft, the top or bottom framework lets you climb out, since it is only a metal rig.
Jing Shu's mind did not clear. If anything, she felt worse. It was like a dream she could not wake from. She realized something terrifying. She could barely feel pain.
She pinched herself hard, then could not remember if she had done it. Had she pinched or not?
She took another drop of Spirit Spring. What was happening to her body? Why did the cure-all fail to work? She had always wondered how a coma patient's mind felt. Now she knew. The mind seemed awake, but when told to move, the body would not respond.
Moments ago she had been strong as an ox. Now she leaned on Su Mali to walk.
"Jing Shu, hold on. Once we get out, I will find a doctor right away," Su Mali urged. At first she had thought it was simple hypoxia. Rest would fix it. Even Wang Chuang had said these were the symptoms. They had already poured a bottle of mineral water into Jing Shu, yet she only worsened.
"Jing Shu… Shu… Shu…"
Jing Shu heard someone call her, each word stretched and fading, like an echo down a long tunnel. Was she getting worse?
"Almost there. That is the elevator frame. Climb down beneath it and we reach the exit," Wang Chuang called, excited.
Then a creaking rose behind them. The two cables snapped into motion. They could not see the car, but the cables were moving. That meant something was racing down the shaft toward them.
"Run!"
"Run!"
Wang Chuang shouted. Su Mali hauled Jing Shu toward the bottom. Da Mao and Wang Chuang followed close behind.
"One hundred meters more. Then jump across."
Jing Shu ran on instinct. Her speed surged past Su Mali's, so she took the lead and pulled her along.
But four people crammed in a narrow shaft could not run fast. One hundred meters sounded short, yet felt like a lifetime at the edge of death.
Did ordinary elevators move this fast? It felt like a free fall, not a steady descent.
Worse, the twin cables whipped with brutal speed. Death itself was on their heels.
There.
A patch of light marked the exit.
Jump.
Jing Shu leaped first. Su Mali followed right after. In that instant, the elevator assembly plummeted from above.
How fast does a falling mass hit from height?
By the time you notice it, it is already there. In less than two seconds, it crashed down with a thunderous impact.
Da Mao sprang through after them. A deafening boom shook the shaft. It happened so fast a blink was too slow.
===
Hypoxia is a medical condition where the body or a specific region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply at the tissue level. It can range from mild to severe and can be life-threatening if not addressed promptly.