Some things are better left unspoken. The moment mutated creatures were mentioned, everyone's hair stood on end. Even the strongest ability user could not fight freely in a narrow tunnel without risking the people beside them.
Xi Yu said dryly, "Pei Xin, maybe close your mouth for now."
Pei Xin gave an awkward little laugh. "It's not like I want to meet them. I'm just saying better safe than sorry."
They talked as they walked. Right after Pei Xin spoke, a faint rustling came to their ears. Most of them heard it. Instinctively, they stopped where they stood and listened.
The rustling did not come again.
Precisely because it stopped, everyone's guard went up another notch.
Pei Xin had no idea what was happening. The way everyone moved startled her, and she whispered, "What is it? What happened?"
No one answered. Pei Xin tugged on Xi Yu's sleeve, hoping for a reply, but Xi Yu was just as uncertain. Xi Yu said, "Don't talk."
That did it. Pei Xin finally went quiet.
The sound did not return, so they could only continue forward.
Huang Jinghe, who brought up the rear, said, "Maybe we misheard. If there were something, it should have reached us by now."
Captain Zhang said, "If we misheard, did all of us mishear? No more chatting. Stay sharp."
Lan Jin suddenly said, "I have a question."
Shen Zhiyan sighed. "If you have a question, ask it. Why announce that you have one every time?"
"I just want to know if this villa is really this big. It feels like we've been walking forever, but we still haven't reached the end."
Even being cautious, their pace was not that slow. They should not have walked this long without finding a wall or a door.
Captain Zhang halted and said, "They probably dug it out. Like the 'top floor' at our base. The negative levels were expanded the same way."
"Then how big is it down here?" someone in the group asked. "How long do we have to walk?"
Huang Jinghe, still at the back, answered with a trembling voice, "However long this road is, the way back is gone."
They turned in confusion. Captain Zhang swung the high-powered light toward Huang Jinghe.
One sweep of the beam showed them what had been shadowing them in silence. A press of mutants filled the corridor behind them. The bright light startled the creatures. They stirred as one.
Under the glare, beast heads and human faces alike squeezed their eyes shut. Mouths on fur and mouths on skin opened wide and began spitting curses and howls into the dark air.
By that same light, the team could see the passage clearly. The mutants packed the space so tightly that not a finger could slip through.
Captain Zhang stepped forward and used the flashlight like a shield, trying to hold them back. "When did they get behind us? When did you notice? How did I not hear a thing?"
Lao Shi rubbed his forehead. In a mess like this, he had no plan either. "Xiao Huang, how did you spot them following us?"
Huang Jinghe inched forward, trying to open the distance, but answered honestly, "I was walking in back like normal. Then I heard something again, so I looked around for a while. By the time I realized what it was, they had already formed a wall."
The worst part was that they did not know where the creatures had poured in from, or how many more might be massed behind that wall, cutting off the route to the surface.
They were trapped between advance and retreat.
Lan Jin did not care to hesitate. The tighter those bodies packed, the better. She loosed a bolt of lightning straight down the center. Thunder roared through the line. The mutants convulsed where they stood. They were pressed so close that the shock chained through them. After a chorus of strangled cries, those bright, furious eyes went dull, and the bodies stayed where they were.
Shen Zhiyu breathed out. "Powers are good. Strong powers are even better."
Seeing the line go down, Captain Zhang's coiled nerves eased. He coughed to mask the tension, then circled back to the front. "If we are clear, we keep moving."
Pei Xin muttered, "So now we really don't even have a chance to turn back."
There was no blame in her tone. Without Lan Jin, they would likely all die here. Still, "How long is this road? I feel like I have walked forever. Why isn't there an end? Are we just going to walk straight down the mountain like this?"
Captain Zhang said, "Going down a mountain is not that easy. Just follow. We have no retreat anyway."
They walked a while longer behind Captain Zhang. Just when everyone wondered if they would simply keep walking until they reached the mountain's foot, a stairway appeared ahead. The wailing below was clearer than on level negative one, and far more eerie.
They froze at the landing.
Shen Zhiyan said, "To be honest, downstairs feels like hell."
Shen Zhiyu snorted. "You say that like you have been to hell."
"I have not," Shen Zhiyan argued, "but I have seen movies. It feels like that."
Movies are not reality. But with the apocalypse here, what was the difference between hell and the end of the world?
Everyone lived in fire and water. Many had thought more than once that it might be cleaner to go straight to hell than to keep grinding through this life.
Even so, no matter how hard it got, as long as there was breath, people clung on.
They steadied themselves at the top step. After checking that nothing else crept up behind, Captain Zhang led them down again.