Xiao Ge’s plan was to walk two more squares before turning back — but none of them expected that after advancing just one square, the road simply ended.

More precisely — the square itself had ended.

Ahead of them lay an enormous collapsed pit!

At least a kilometer across! With perfectly straight, square edges, as though a single square had been excavated from a densely filled chessboard!

Perhaps because the sight was so staggering, none of them spoke for a long moment, staring in mute amazement.

“How is this possible…” Xiao Ge gazed into the massive pit. “What kind of place is this…”

Yangzi was equally stunned, and asked: “Could it be… the exit?”

Lu Yuwen appeared to have been so shocked by what he was seeing that his legs gave out and he crumpled to the ground, trembling all over.

Zhang Ke hauled him back to his feet. “Hey, clever one — what is this place?”

“I… I don’t know…” Lu Yuwen adjusted his glasses with difficulty. “This is the only spot without… any arrows at all. There might be some kind of clue. I’m not certain — we’d need to go down and take a look…”

“From this height?! How are we supposed to get down?!” Yangzi immediately objected. “And who knows if there’s anything dangerous down there!”

Zhang Ke and Xiao Ge exchanged a glance — both uncertain.

Xiao Ge stood at the edge and looked down —

The pit’s floor was roughly four or five stories below ground level. The bottom was clearly visible: flat bare earth, no buildings, no trees, completely empty and unobstructed.

No visible dangers whatsoever.

“If we want to get down… it wouldn’t be impossible. Rope would do it,” Xiao Ge said, scowling. “We’ve come all this way — even if we turned back now, we’d eventually have to come back and go down anyway.”

“If we’re going down, send him first!” Yangzi pointed at Lu Yuwen.

Lu Yuwen startled.

Xiao Ge frowned: “And how is he supposed to get down on those legs? He can barely walk. Besides, once he’s down there, you’d have to haul him back up — more trouble than it’s worth. We go down fast, take a look around, come back up — scout it out first.”

Yangzi: “And if he runs?!”

Zhang Ke reached down, picked up a brick from the side of the road, and slammed it against Lu Yuwen’s knee!

Lu Yuwen screamed in agony and collapsed to the ground clutching his leg!

Zhang Ke tossed the brick aside and smiled with cold amusement: “There — now you don’t have to worry about him running.”

Yangzi looked at Lu Yuwen, curled his lip slightly, and said nothing.

“All right, everyone get ready — figure out how to get down.” Xiao Ge looked around and noticed several residential buildings. “Come with me — we’re getting mattresses and pillows. If someone slips on the way down, at least they won’t get killed.”

Both men followed him.

Lu Yuwen couldn’t even stand now, so they had no concern about him fleeing — didn’t even glance back as they left.

The moment they were all inside the residential building, Su Man emerged from the shadows and rushed over, supporting Lu Yuwen as he sat up, furious and frantic: “They’re gone — quickly, let me get you out of here!”

Lu Yuwen was drenched in cold sweat, his face deathly pale. That blow from Zhang Ke had nearly cracked his teeth, it hurt so much!

“Can’t — if we just leave, the rope still can’t be undone!” He gasped and shook his head. “Listen to me — when they go down, you flip the arrows! Turn them toward this side!”

Then, not quite reassured, he asked Su Man: “Do you know where the arrows are?”

“I do.” Su Man nodded. “Right around the corner, five hundred meters back. I’ve got it memorized — the moment they go down, I’ll flip the arrows!”

Lu Yuwen nodded and urged her: “Go — they’re coming out.”

Su Man glanced toward the residential building, bit her lip, and quickly retreated, slipping back into hiding.

—