In the dim underground culvert[1] of the Karez system, Qing Wani reached out to catch the dust that gently fell from above due to the vibrations. The unstable structure made everyone feel uneasy.
Qing Wani tried to calm Li Huowang, who was hysterically banging his head against the wall. “Li Huowang, you’d better stop. We don’t know how old this Karez system is. If you copse this culvert, we’ll all get buried here.”
Li Huowang suddenly froze in ce like a statue. It wasn’t because of Qing Wani’s words. It was because Zhao Shuangdian pressed a finger to her lips.
Zhao Shuangdian hushed him, and the noise gradually died down.
She seemed to have noticed something. His heart started to race as he became confident that she had unearthed something beyond his hallucinations.
Ba Nanxu saw Zhao Shuangdian crouch down silently and immediately threw herself over. She kneeled on the ground and used her back and hips to support the rifle.
Zhao Shuangdian stared into the pitch-ck culvert ahead for a long time before suddenly pulling the trigger.
<em>Bang!</em> Blood appeared to seep out from the distant darkness.
<em>Was I right? Could it be that what happened earlier wasn’t entirely my hallucination?</em>Li Huowang felt a surge of joy at the possibility, motivating him to charge forward. The gunfire behind him didn’t slow him down—it spurred him to move even faster.
When he emerged from the darkness again, he grabbed a terrified ck man with both hands. “Can you all see him? Can you see him now? Is this man real or just another of my hallucinations?”
Everyone nodded, acknowledging that they could see the man. Li Huowang burst intoughter before raising his knife and stabbing it into the man’s neck.
As Li Huowang yanked the knife out of the man’s neck, a chunk of his trachea still clinging to it, a powerful force suddenly struck him from behind and sent him flying.
The force was so strong that Li Huowang wasunched into the air. He saw the uneven ground below and knew that if he hit the ground, he would sustain serious injuries.
Li Huowang didn’t want to get injured right after finding the enemy. He used all his strength to position the corpse beneath him as he fell.
<em>Thud!</em> Li Huowangnded heavily on the corpse, its face and skin grinding onto the rough ground below.
Li Huowang panted as he stood back up and returned to the side of hisrades. Everyone focused ahead, and more people began to emerge from the darkness.
They were human and primarily ck people. They all held various firearms, though many of them were injured, likely from the earlier confrontation.
At the forefront was a towering ck man. He looked at the body of his fallenrade with a hint of restrained anger. Instead ofshing out, he furrowed his brow and looked at Li Huowang. “Nafurahi kukuona[2].”
Qing Wani stepped forward past Li Huowang, smiling as he replied, “Jumbo na gomvi maridhawa[3].”
The man’s expression softened slightly since Qing Wani couldmunicate. He stepped closer and continued, “Rafiki, mungu wetu na mfalme wetu[4].”
The next moment, Qing Wani raised his hand and shot the man in the head. The element of surprise had allowed him to get rid of their leader.
“Nye[5]!” Furious shouts erupted as the enemy raised their weapons.
Without hesitation, Qing Wani turned and hid behind Li Huowang, pushing him forward with both hands.
“Get out of the way!” Li Huowang kicked backward, using the momentum to charge forward with his knife.
Li Huowang’s sharp de sliced through flesh. Sensing the vibration of the de, he slid it to the joint and cut off the enemy’s arm with a resounding crack.
As he saw a heavy weapon aimed at him from afar, he roared and used his knives to impale the man. Li Huowang used him as a shield and advanced on the others.
Gunfire erupted, and Li Huowang’s human shield was quickly torn into shreds. He had crouched just in time to dodge the attack.
Li Huowang gripped his knife and hurled it at the shooter, hitting them with pinpoint uracy.
It wasn’t over yet. He couldn’t let that weapon fall into enemy hands. His bulletproof vest wouldn’t stop that kind of firepower.
As Li Huowang was about to charge forward and clear a path, a dark object rolled to his feet.
<em>A grenade?!</em> Li Huowang lifted his right foot and kicked it away.
Before it could get far, a massive explosion shook the ground.
Li Huowang bore the brunt of the st since he was the closest to it. If it weren’t for his equipment, he might have died.
Even so, when the dust settled, he found himself buried in debris, with only one hand exposed.
In the darkness, he felt someone pat his hand to signal him to stay calm. After a while, his surroundings lit up as he was rescued from beneath the rubble. He finally felt a sense of camaraderie as he watched hispanions work together to clear the debris from him.
“Are you okay? Can you hear me? Li Huowang, how many fingers am I holding up?” Wu Qi’s face swayed before him while his head buzzed.
Li Huowang turned around and looked at the copsed culvert, now filled with rubble. There were no more enemies in sight.
The buzzing in Li Huowang’s head subsided a bit, and he could hear Qing Wani’s voice nearby.
Qing Wani said, “They intentionally did this to block our way and prevent us from getting closer.”
He took out apass from his pocket and shook it briefly. “But it’s fine. This will only dy us. Karez systems are long, with ess points at various intervals. If we follow this direction, we’ll find another entrance.
“Alright, let’s not waste any more time. Judging by their reaction, we’ve found the right ce.”
Li Huowang, lying on the ground, suddenly reached out and grabbed Qing Wani’s ankle tightly. “Three Pure Ones! I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while. Howe you speak theirnguage? Are you close to them?”
1. A structure to channel water past obstacles. ?
2. Swahili: I’m d to see you. ?
3. Swahili: Great and wonderful friends. ?
4. Swahili: Friend, our God, and our king. ?
5. Swahili: No ?