After midnight

The soft and tough branches broke the iron chain, and Zhou Chen gently took it off and pushed open the door. Behind the door, rows of iron shelves were filled with all kinds of food, and across the half-meter aisle, several pots with a diameter of one meter were set up on the connected stoves.

"It's the kitchen," Song Xinjun said. The map was correct, and they walked past it quickly.

Outside the kitchen, there was a cold and silent hall with four mud pillars standing high. Apart from that, there was nothing else.

Song Xinjun and Zhou Chen bent down and sneaked through them, successfully reaching the stairs. The stairs stretched upwards, with no end in sight. Their primary goal this time was the fifth and sixth floors of this prison, because those who were imprisoned there were still children who had not yet been successfully nurtured.

Song Xinjun touched the rock walls on both sides of the stairs. The smooth and delicate touch made his hair stand on end. Suddenly, the two people who were moving forward stopped at the same time. They looked at each other, turned sideways and began to intensively feel the same place.

After a while, Song Xinjun stopped. Knowing that he had found it, Zhou Chen handed over a knife from his arms. Song Xinjun took it, and Zhou Chen stepped back a few steps.

"Be careful." Zhou Chen said. Song Xinjun nodded, and with a push of his finger, the button on the secret door sank in with a creak.

The secret door opened, and the process of opening it was slow, low and heavy, but the secret door stopped making any sound after it was only halfway open. Song Xinjun estimated with his naked eyes that the 20-centimeter gap was just enough for a person to squeeze through sideways.

"Be careful." Zhou Chen said again.

Song Xinjun nodded again and squeezed in to clear the way. He held his breath and moved forward slowly along the rock wall. Suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps came, and Song Xinjun waved back to signal Zhou Chen to hide.

Listening to the sound, it was the footsteps of an adult male. He was probably attracted by the noise just now. Song Xinjun grasped the dagger, guarded at the corner, and then waited for the right moment to cut the throat with one knife.

"Let's go," he said. Passing the man's body, the rock walls on both sides of the road were still high and impenetrable. They had not yet seen any open rooms.

"Xinjun, map." After turning around, he returned to the secret door he had just opened. Surprised, Zhou Chen reminded him.

Song Xinjun opened the map, but before he could study it carefully, vibrations and buzzing sounds suddenly came from above his head. Song Xinjun and Zhou Chen immediately became alert, but after the buzzing sound disappeared, nothing appeared and nothing happened.

"It must be Yin or Anyan. We have to speed up." Song Xinjun said. He frowned and scanned the map carefully, and then suddenly realized something. He rushed to the other side, fumbled for a while, and pressed a button at a certain point.

"There is a thin line in the middle. The plane structure here is circular. The children are trapped in a claustrophobic space with nowhere to escape." The second secret door opened, and the square room was filled with instruments and hoses. No one knew what they were used for.

"Hurry." The two walked straight through and opened the door. Behind them, the secret door was open.

After opening the door this time, the world was completely different. There were countless rows of locked rooms from left to right. Song Xinjun and Zhou Chen tacitly took one side each and started to check from the beginning.

Song Xinjun stood in front of the door, using the knife in his hand and his ability to pry open the door locks one by one. Laboratory, a laboratory without anyone. Song Xinjun pushed the door open again, and it was still a laboratory. He went inside and looked around, but found nothing. Just as he was about to open the door next to him, he heard Zhou Chen calling his name loudly.

"Xinjun! Song Xinjun!" The voice coming out of his throat was extremely uncalm, accompanied by anger and horror.

Song Xinjun ran over quickly. In the dim room, there were twenty or even thirty children, only three or four years old, lying side by side. Most of them were boys, but there were also girls. They were all sleeping with expressionless faces, and nothing could be seen.

"Wake up, wake up!" After Song Xinjun was shocked, he immediately rushed in and shook the children around. But none of them responded, and this happened to several of them in a row.

Song Xinjun punched the rough, mud-pasted wall. They knew that the experiment was still going on, they knew that no one could do anything about it before this, they knew that they came here today to destroy this place and save these children, even if it cost them their lives. However, after witnessing everything, Song Xinjun still couldn't help but hate and be angry. His blood was surging, containing infinite heartache and guilt.

Song Hongtian! His second uncle, how many innocent lives and blood were stained by the dynasty he built!

"Xinjun, these children are in a coma and you can't wake them up," Zhou Chen said.

"I know. I leave this to you. Take all these children out safely without leaving any behind."

"No problem!" Zhou Chen assured him, but then he looked worried. "Can you do it yourself?"

"Don't worry." Song Xinjun patted him and walked out. He took a deep breath, and the entire sixth underground floor was chilly and cold.

This kind of silence made Song Xinjun very uneasy. He and Zhou Chen showed up with such a big fanfare and destroyed every locked room so wantonly, but there was not even a sound. He waited quietly for a while and found that there was indeed no sound at all. It was too quiet here, so quiet that it made people feel cold all over.

"Xinjun." Zhou Chen came out holding a child, surprised that he was still here.

"It's okay, I'll leave now." It seems that nothing really happened here. After Zhou Chen disappeared with the child in his arms, Song Xinjun began to look for the stairs to the upper floor.

According to the map, once you enter the sixth floor, there is a special internal staircase. The staircase from the sixth floor to the fifth floor should be hidden behind a locked door. Two minutes later, Song Xinjun found it and quickly went up.

In less than a minute, the stairs reached the end. When he opened the heavy door above his head, Song Xinjun saw some strange instruments. However, this time, there was also a stranger wearing a white coat sitting behind a transparent barrel. The liquid in the transparent barrel was boiling, and Song Xinjun moved the knife in his hand.

"There's no need to use weapons against me. I don't have the slightest ability to resist." The man raised his hands tremblingly, looking a little old.

"Who are you?" Despite this, Song Xinjun still did not put down his weapon. This person's words were not to be trusted.

"I am a person who has been trapped here for twenty years. Who are you? I have never seen an outsider."

"Where are the others?" Song Xinjun asked.

"Everyone is asleep. I'm on guard. This room is guarded every day."

"What about the people down there?"

"I heard there's a man down there who's in charge of the entrance and exit. He doesn't let anyone in, let alone out. I can't get out, and I won't survive if I get out."

It seemed that what this person said was somewhat credible. Song Xinjun walked a few steps closer, pointed the bloody knife at him and continued to ask: "What about the child down there? What's going on?"

"The ones down there? They're asleep, aren't they?"

"Yes! That's them."

"They have been abandoned and will soon die."

"What did you say?" Song Xinjun was surprised and angry.

"I'm telling the truth. If no one takes care of them, they will soon die on their own. Few of the children here can survive. If they don't die on the lower floors, they will die on this floor. Even if they reach the upper floors, they will die."

"Do you want to leave here?" Song Xinjun put away the knife.

"What? What did you say?"

"I'm asking you, do you want to leave here?"

"No, I don't want to, I don't dare to think about it."

“Well, I’ll give you a chance to leave, as long as you tell me where the surviving children on this floor are.”

"Is this true?"

"Seriously, do you know what's behind me?"

"What is it?"

"A way, a way that will let you go and allow you to live without any obstacles."

The man lowered his raised hands, looked at the tiny light flashing in from the stairwell and said, "The boy is in 501, and the girl is in 509. They are all under special supervision. But I suggest you go to 505 first, which is the room opposite. There are people like me living there, and maybe they can help you. Master Xinjun."

"Do you know me?" Song Xinjun widened his eyes in horror.

"Just now, I recognized the mole on your left ear. When you were a child, I took care of you for a while in Xindu, but I guess you don't remember it."

“I don’t remember.”

"It's alright. Master Xinjun, we can all survive, right?"

"Yes, we can all survive. What's your name?"

"Song Yuan." Song Yuan lowered his head and said.

"I was born in Xindu, and my father had already left the Song family. Since you are a retainer of the Song family and have taken care of me for a period of time, you must be someone my father trusts. In that case, I would like to ask you to do me a favor."

"Please speak." Song Yuan lowered his head again.

"Those kids downstairs, help me save them. It will also help me pay for the sins of the Song family."

"Of course. Master Xinjun, please be careful. But you must not go any higher."

"Those guys are up there, right?"

"Yes."

Damn it, Yin had guessed it. Yin couldn't stay alone with them for so long, he had to hurry. "Song Yuan, go quickly."

"Okay, Master Xinjun, take care."

After Song Yuan went down the stairs, Song Xinjun pushed open the door and entered the fifth floor.

"Lu Li, how long have they been in there?"

"Twenty minutes."

Twenty minutes ago, Zhou Chen and Song Xinjun entered the secret passage from the bottom of the valley at West Mountain. Lu Li, Lin Nuan and Shangguan Can were guarding not far away. Zhou Chen and Song Xinjun entered first, and half an hour later, two more of them entered. This was agreed long ago.

The reason why they broke up the arrangement was to ensure that the children were rescued 100%. They had to ensure that when the war started, even if the enemy realized their purpose, they would not be able to easily withdraw. Therefore, An Yan and Su Ziling dealt with Zhang Yang outside, and Yin attracted Song Yu and Song Nan from above. Zhou Chen and Song Xinjun went in first to open the situation, and Shangguan Can and Lin Nuan were responsible for cooperating with them to advance upwards layer by layer until all the children were rescued. Then there was another person, Lu Li, who had to guard the only safe passage tightly, because this was the last retreat for all of them.

As for the most terrifying replicas, they could only infer based on the few words left by Qiqi. They were not sure about the actions of those people, and therefore, they could not formulate the most perfect plan. Therefore, they could only minimize the risk for everyone.

However, in the face of any risk, there is one thing that must not be missed.

That is, they must rescue all the children who are trapped in the abyss.

So, Lu Li thought anxiously, we must not encounter the worst situation, like Yin thought.

With a loud rumble, Lu Li shuddered. Amidst the lightning and thunder, Lu Li looked up at the sky. Large patches of dark clouds and thunder arrays had gathered in the night sky of Xishan. The battle on An Yan's side had already begun.

"Lu Li, I don't plan to wait any longer. Shangguan Can and I will go in, you just be careful here."

No one can change Lin Nuan's decision except her parents and An Yan. Lu Li knew this very well, so he nodded and said, "You must be extremely careful when you go in."

"Okay, don't worry, I will definitely come back." Lin Nuan said solemnly, turned around and walked out of the birch forest with Shangguan Can, heading towards the rock wall opposite with a gap.

Watching the backs of Lin Nuan and Shangguan Can moving away from him little by little until they completely disappeared at the entrance of the cave, Lu Li felt unprecedented tension. In an instant, as if he had a premonition, he looked up at the sky again. At the moment he looked up, thunder struck.

There was a loud cry above the birch forest, and the branches and dead wood creaked.

Anyan, please quickly defeat your fate. Lin Nuan needs you, and every one of us needs you.