SFTD -Chapter 393 White Spots Reappear (Part 34)

“Clang—!”

A heavy crashing sound echoed through the area, kicking up a cloud of dust as Xu Biao slammed hard onto the ground.

Hu Nan grabbed Zhou Hai, while Xiao Liang and Zhang Wenqi, hearing the noise from not far away, hurried over. Zhou Hai quickly crouched beside Xu Biao and patted his face.

“Can you move?”

Xu Biao lay face-down with both arms and legs raised awkwardly, like a skydiver in midair. It seemed his belt had struck something, causing that loud metallic noise.

He blinked repeatedly, his face twisted in pain.

“Ow, my stomach… ah! It hurts like hell!”

Seeing Zhou Hai reaching toward him, Xu Biao waved him off.

“You two can’t pull me up. Get Xiao Liang and Zhang Wenqi over here!”

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Wenqi and Xiao Liang had already rushed over.

Hu Nan stepped backward to make room, but her foot suddenly caught on something like a chain. Instantly, she lost balance and fell backward, the back of her head smashing hard against a tree trunk.

That sound was no quieter than Xu Biao’s fall.

Zhou Hai hurried over immediately. Hu Nan had only come to help—if something happened to her, it would be difficult to explain.

“You alright?”

He pulled her up. Hu Nan looked dazed for a moment, rubbing the back of her head before smiling awkwardly at Zhou Hai.

She removed a hair clip that had been holding up part of her hair. Sure enough, the metal clip and the rhinestone decoration beside it had been completely crushed flat, with several tiny leaf ornaments and beads missing.

Hu Nan inhaled sharply and stuck out her tongue.

“Good thing I tied part of my hair up for convenience while working. The sound just now was probably the clip hitting something.”

The two of them seemed to realize something at the same time and turned around together.

Following her gaze, Zhou Hai finally noticed that on the tree trunk behind Hu Nan was an iron ring with a thin rust-covered chain attached to it.

If one didn’t look carefully, it was nearly impossible to notice—the rusted color almost blended perfectly with the bark.

Remembering how she had tripped just now, Hu Nan lifted her foot and kicked aside the dead leaves and shallow dirt layer. A chain was immediately exposed, lifted from beneath the soil while dirt and debris continued to fall from it.

Ignoring how filthy it was, Hu Nan grabbed the chain and gave it a slight tug.

Sure enough, it connected directly to the section attached to the tree trunk.

Even Zhou Hai froze for a moment.

This location was extremely hidden. If Xu Biao hadn’t fallen onto the manhole cover, Hu Nan would never have stepped backward into the narrow gap beneath the vine-covered corridor.

Though technically part of the garden courtyard, this area was effectively a blind spot.

Looking up, Zhou Hai noticed the locust tree was astonishingly thick. He couldn’t even wrap his arms around it alone. A tree with a trunk over eighty centimeters in diameter had to be at least a century old.

Behind them, Xu Biao had finally been hauled up by Xiao Liang and Zhang Wenqi. Though uninjured, his stomach area was covered entirely in reddish-brown rust stains and dust.

Hu Nan tapped Zhou Hai’s arm and tilted her chin toward Xu Biao.

“Those are rust stains on him too?”

Of course Zhou Hai had noticed.

Supporting Hu Nan, he jumped down through the tangled roots beneath the corridor and walked over to Xu Biao.

The distance between this spot and where Hu Nan had fallen was only about two meters in a straight line, but the massive roots split the path, making it difficult to cross.

Looking at the manhole cover slightly elevated above the ground, Xiao Liang asked in confusion: “Why’s there a sewer cover here? What kind of design is this?”

Zhou Hai walked over and kicked around the edge of the cover several times. Soon, his foot struck something with a crisp clattering sound.

Hu Nan immediately crouched down, following the chain they had just discovered with her eyes until she reached Zhou Hai’s feet. At the same moment, both of them grabbed another section of the chain.

The soil here was more compact and much thicker, so it took more force.

Seeing the chain, Xu Biao and the others also became interested and came over to help pull.

The chain tightened straight. Debris scattered everywhere.

Then suddenly—

“Click!”

Zhou Hai’s gaze instantly shot toward the spot where Xu Biao had fallen earlier.

The sound had clearly come from inside the manhole, like the turning of a lock.

Though Xu Biao and the others reacted more slowly, they had heard it too. Everyone gathered around the manhole cover.

Remembering the incident in the archives room, Xu Biao didn’t dare act rashly this time. He looked up at Zhou Hai.

“Hai-zi, let’s call Captain Huang and the others over.”

Zhou Hai shook his head slightly and lay flat against the manhole cover. From his pocket, he pulled out a slim high-powered flashlight and shined it carefully through the two small holes in the cover.

After looking for quite a while, his eyesight still only caught darkness and a few metal beams below. Nothing else was visible.

He quickly stood up, and Xu Biao immediately moved in.

“I’ll take a look.”

Zhou Hai stepped aside.

Xu Biao lay over the cover. Though the flashlight was powerful, its beam reached only a limited area. He still couldn’t see clearly and didn’t dare make any reckless moves.

After all, Yang Duxiu was capable of installing bombs. If he had rigged something down there and they went in carelessly, the entire Third Hospital could be blown sky-high.

Thinking of this, Xu Biao waved toward Zhang Wenqi.

“Come hold the flashlight.”

Zhang Wenqi hurried over and crouched down.

This time, Xu Biao didn’t immediately look inside. Instead, he grabbed the backpack tossed nearby, found a notebook, tore out a page, and rolled it into a cone-shaped megaphone. He pressed the wide end against his mouth and aimed the narrow end at one of the manhole holes.

Then he shouted loudly downward.

Zhang Wenqi had already dropped the flashlight and pressed his ear against the other hole.

Almost instantly, he heard waves of echoing reverberations, along with a faint moldy stench blowing upward toward his face through the opening.

He froze.

At first he thought it was Xu Biao’s breath and instinctively recoiled in disgust, but he quickly realized something was different.

The temperature.

It was colder down there.

He immediately looked up at Zhou Hai and Hu Nan.

“There seems to be airflow underneath, and damp, moldy cold air is coming up. When Brother Xu shouted just now, there was an echo.”

Xu Biao nodded.

After shouting, he had immediately pressed his ear against the cover as well, so he had heard it clearly too. There really was an echo.

Zhou Hai glanced at Hu Nan, then pulled out his phone and called Huang Zhongsheng.

He briefly explained the situation, only mentioning that they had discovered an unusual well in the courtyard that appeared to connect to some underground structure, and asked him to bring professional equipment.

If it was a long-sealed underground chamber, there could easily be methane or toxic gases below. Going down carelessly could cost someone their life.

Xu Biao stood up and grabbed the chain they had all pulled together earlier, tugging it forcefully again.

“Clack-clack-clack…”

The sound resembled the spring-loaded latch of a door lock repeatedly snapping back and forth.

Xu Biao raised the flashlight again and carefully examined the area around the manhole one more time.

This time he inspected it extremely carefully.

There were no signs of bombs, not even a single wire.

Grinding his teeth, Xu Biao finally said:

“Zhang Wenqi, go get Old Wang. He has iron hooks in his vehicle.”

Zhang Wenqi immediately sprinted toward the parked cars in the courtyard.

Old Wang was already standing beside the vehicle watching the commotion. Seeing Zhang Wenqi running over, he immediately knew they needed something.

“Inspector Zhang, what do you need?”

“Master Wang, Brother Xu wants the iron hooks. He said you’ve got some!”

Old Wang quickly rummaged through the toolbox and pulled out two modified iron hooks—solid S-shaped hooks reinforced for heavy use.

“Come on, I’ll go take a look too.”