The entrance was dark and deep, completely bottomless, but there was a small wooden staircase that made it accessible.

Tang Mianmian shivered uncontrollably, “But we don’t know where this secret passage leads to…”

“We’ll know when we get there.” Duan Hongzhen objected, appearing eager to enter.

The two women looked at each other, and at Shen Yuan who was sitting on the bench who was still resting.

Moments later, Shen Yuan opened his eyes, “Let’s go down.”

Lu Si’er was obviously a little scared. “But… what if this secret passage leads to another dead end… Or if there’s another flood once we go down… Then aren’t we bound for death?”

Duan Hongzhen smiled and said, “You can choose to stay here alone.”

Lu Si’er’s face turned ashen. She looked like she wanted to say something else but Tang Mianmian suddenly took a sniff and asked, “Do you smell something?”

“What smell?” Xiao Tangqiu followed with a sniff and as expected smelled something strange. “Like something is burning…”

“Yes! The smell of something burning!” Tang Mianmian clapped his thigh.

Xiao Tangqiu burst out, “Wait! Why would there be the smell of something burning here?”

Everyone turned around, faces turning ugly at the same time. The church had started burning God knows when, and the flames were surging in their direction, the air filled with smoke that choked them at once.

“Fire!” Xiao Tangqiu reacted immediately. “After drowning is burning at the stake…”

“Fuck! You’re right!” Tang Mianmian responded, “They suspected Lily Marlene was a witch, so they first tried to drown her, then set her on fire…”

Shen Yuan was the first to go down, followed by two women, then Duan Hongzhen. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, who insisted on the principle of giving priority to women and children, let Lu Si’er and the little boy go down first before they finally retreated to the bottom.

Xiao Tangqiu went second last with Tang Mianmian jumped down right behind him.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch! The fire is burning my ass! Hurry up!”

Xiao Tangqiu was in a hurry and didn’t have any time to waste. He had directly jumped into the secret passage. Tang Mianmian didn’t bother with the stairs as well and rolled down to the bottom.

Tang Mianmian had reached the bottom when the fire spread to the entrance of the secret passage but the flames seemed to be unable to leave the church and stopped at the entrance of the church and the secret passage.

However, before Tang Mianmian and Xiao Tangqiu could breathe a sigh of relief, the fire suddenly acted like it had self-consciousness, condensed into the shape of a hand and swept at Xiao Tangqiu.

Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously rolled on the spot, the flames sweeping over his head instead. He suddenly felt his scalp grow hot and smelled his hair burning. However, at this point, he had already neglected his hair. What’s the use of having any hair if he were dead?

He rolled around several times, narrowly escaping the flames. Countless holes were burnt through his clothes. Naturally, Tang Mianmian, who was at the back with him, was not much better off. The two behave like they’re jumping through rings of fire, bouncing up and down, rolling left and right on the ground. They had a hard time catching up with Shen yuan and others who were ahead of them.

Before the two could catch their breath, they looked back and felt almost powerless. The flames, which seemed to be self-conscious, was burning even more fiercely as if in retaliation for not being able to catch up with anyone. With a whoosh, it angrily crossing the border of the church and the secret passage, and quickly making its way in as it swallowed up everything in sight.

Now, they didn’t even need a flashlight because the originally pitch black secret passage was lit up by the flames.

“Run!” Tang Mianmian issued a loud roar, dragging Xiao Tangqiu with him as he started running.

Xiao Tangqiu didn’t even have the opportunity to catch his breath before he was made to run with Tang Mianmian.

The flames were chasing after them, so they could only run for their lives frantically. They looked at the bright blaze in the entrance of the secret passage. Although they were afraid of the unknown and the flames got rid of the unending darkness, it also blocked their retreat. If they met a dead end in front, they were finished!

The secret passage was spacious and also quite long. They ran desperately for a long time without seeing the exit of the secret passage. The worst thing was that the fire was still chasing after them. They had no time to stop and rest. If they stopped for even a second, they would be mercilessly mercilessly by the hungry flames.

Xiao Tangqiu’s lungs felt like they were about to burst from all the running. His body wasn’t good to begin with and his physical stamina was just average at best. Now, all this running had already exceeded his physical limit  but he could only strengthen his resolve and keep moving. He knew that he couldn’t stop because even the slightest pause and he would be engulfed by the flames.

Towards the end, his strength was sustained by willpower alone and his consciousness had begun to blur. If Tang Mianmian hadn’t been dragging him along, he might have fallen unconscious.

Lu Si’er and the little boy also ran very hard. They were out of breath but were pushed beyond their physical limits by flames.

Xiao Tangqiu looked at the endless path ahead and despaired. Right then, Lu Si’er suddenly stumbled over something and fell to the ground screaming.

She subconsciously held out her hand to Xiao Tangqiu, who was closest to her and yelled, “Help me!”

Seeing her eyes fill up with fear, Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but pause. However, in the next moment, Shen Yuan pulled him forwards and said coldly, “You can’t save her, just go!”

Indeed, as expected, the flames shot out relentlessly, quickly swallowing Lu Si’er into that sea of fire. She barely had any time to struggle before her body completely disappeared into the fire, leaving only echoes of her screams.

If Xiao Tangqiu had turned to save her, even if just to stretch out a hand to pull her, he most likely would’ve also been caught in the flames. He couldn’t help but feel heart palpitating from the horror. If Shen Yuan hadn’t held him back, maybe he would’ve died in the fire with Lu Si’er.

Before Xiao Tangqiu’s heart could start beating normally again, Shen Yuan grabbed his arm and ran forward.

Xiao Tangqiu was dragged by Shen Yuan and Tang Mianmian, one on the left, the other on the right. Although his lungs were burning with pain, it was much easier than before.

Moments later, he finally saw a glimmer of hope. A faint light appeared in the distance, immediately lifting their spirits.

They made a determined effort to run towards the light and finally arrived at the place where the light was coming from before the fire could set their bottoms ablaze. It was a wooden door!

Xiao Tangqiu was delighted. They had finally found the exit of the secret passage.

However, his heart sank again. They obviously didn’t have any time to open the door. Once they stop, they would be devoured by the fire. What could they do? !

Just as Xao Tangqiu was struggling with how to open the door, they had already reached it. The aloof rushed to the front. Xiao Tangqiu saw Tang sword in her hand slice heavily at the wooden door. Under that powerful blow, a loud noise broke the door.

As soon as the door was broken, they rushed in, including Xiao Tangqiu who was still being dragged by Shen Yuan and Tang Mianmian. Upon entering the door, Xiao Tangqiu was so tired that he wanted to throw himself to the floor. He could no longer move his legs. Fortunately, when he looked back, he found that the fire had stopped chasing them.

The fire seemed to be stuck in the secret passage as if it were blocked by an invisible door. Soon, the fire gradually got smaller until it disappeared completely and the secret passage was once again plunged into darkness.

Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t believe that they had successfully escaped the fire. He fell to the ground, gasping for air. His head was a blank sheet. It wasn’t until Tang Mianmian hugged him and cried loudly that the reality of them surviving finally set in.

“Wuwuwu, Qiuqiu! We actually made it!”

“We survived!”

~~~

P.S. Sorry for missing last night’s updates. I had so much work I stayed up till 4am just to finish up everything. I realize that releases aren’t as punctual, and while I try to stick to a certain time, I can’t say for sure on which days I might be delayed. Anyways, there’ll be another update tonight. ❤