King Solomon's Treasure

Chapter 30 9 Dead 1 Life

Chapter 30 Nine Dead Lives

The horror we experienced the following night is indescribable.Despite being in such a situation, physical exhaustion sometimes overcomes fear.We slept a little, but very restlessly.On the one hand, the thought of the tragic fate that lies ahead weighs even the bravest of men, and I never claimed to be a brave man.The Chamber of Secrets, on the other hand, was unbearably quiet.Dear readers, you may also have been unable to sleep at night, surrounded by an oppressive silence.But I'm sure you can't even imagine what is total, palpable silence.There are always some sounds and movements on the surface of the earth. Although they are not easy to detect, they also break the absolute silence.But we are buried in the huge mountain peaks, and although fresh air blows through thousands of feet of peaks, not a single sound can be heard in the secret room.A long tunnel and five-foot-thick stone gate separated us from the place where the king's body was kept.Even if the cannons all over the world fired at the same time, no sound would reach our living graves.We are isolated from the world, as if we are no longer in the world.

The scene in front of me is really a great irony.There are enough treasures around us to pay off the debts of a medium-sized country, enough to build an armored fleet.Yet at this moment, we are more than willing to trade for even the slimmest chance of escape.No doubt we would be willing to exchange a little food, or a glass of water.In the end, we are even willing to give up all our treasures, just to end the pain as soon as possible.

The night passed slowly.

"Good," Sir Henry's voice sounded, sounding a little scary in the silence, "how many matches do you have?"

"Eight, Curtis."

"Strike one and let's see the time." In the absolutely dark secret room, the light of the match was extraordinarily bright, which made us feel a little dazzling.I looked at my watch, it was five o'clock.At this moment, the beautiful morning sun is reflecting the snow-capped peaks above our heads, and the breeze is blowing away the night fog in the valley.

"Let's eat something to keep up our strength," I said.

"What can you do if you eat it?" Goode replied, "Early death and early liberation."

"There is hope in life," said Sir Henry.

We ate some food and drank some water.After a while, we felt that shouting loudly against the stone gate might be heard by people outside.Because Gude had lived at sea for a long time, his voice was loud and penetrating, so he groped his way to the stone gate and began to shout.I have to say, he shouted loudly, I have never heard such a deafening shout.However, the sound of people outside is probably similar to the buzzing of mosquitoes.

After shouting for a while, he ran back to drink water with dry mouth.Then we gave up because it was a waste of water.

We sat down again, backed by useless diamonds, doing nothing to get through the worst of times.I have lost all hope.I laid my head on Sir Henry's broad shoulders, and tears welled up in my eyes.I heard Goode on the other side also choked up, scolding himself hoarsely for doing such a stupid thing.

How great and how brave Sir Henry is now compared with us!If Goode and I were frightened children, he was our protector.He seemed to forget that he himself was in a desperate situation, and he did his best to comfort us when we were almost broken, telling us stories of others who had miraculously escaped from death.When we were still depressed after hearing these stories, he told us that we are mortal and that dying from exhaustion is actually a kinder way to die (of course, we didn't die).Later, he said that we should give ourselves to God and obey God's arrangements.

He was such a perfect guy, calm and strong-willed.

The day passed, as did the night.In fact, for us in the dark, there is no difference between day and night.I struck a match and it was seven o'clock.

We ate some more.Suddenly I had an idea.

"What's the matter?" I said, "Why is the air here so fresh? It's a bit dull, but it's really fresh."

"God!" Goode jumped up suddenly, "Why didn't I think of it? The air can't come from outside the stone door. It's tightly closed and airtight. It must be somewhere else. If there is no circulating air, we would have been in the It was suffocated when we first came in. Let's look around."

This little discovery ignited the fire of hope in our hearts.Reinvigorated, we knelt on the ground and groped our hands back and forth, trying to detect even the slightest draft.My hand touched something cold, and it was poor Fratta's face.

We groped and searched, banging our heads on ivory, boxes, and walls.After more than an hour, the bruised Sir Henry and I finally gave up in disappointment, but Goode persisted.He said that doing something is better than doing nothing.

"Hey, guys," Goode said happily after a while, "come and see."

We immediately crawled over to him.

"Quitman, put your hand next to mine. How's it going? What do you feel?"

"I felt a draft rising."

"Listen," Goode stood up and stamped his feet in this place, the flame of hope ignited in his heart again.The place sounds empty.

With trembling hands, I struck another match, and there were only three left.By the dim light of the match, we took a closer look.This is a corner deep in the Chamber of Secrets.We hadn't noticed this hollow panel during previous inspections.It turned out that there was a seam in the hard rock floor.God!There is also a stone ring embedded in the floor.We were so excited that we couldn't speak a word, our hearts were beating violently because of the ignited hope.Good took out a knife with a hook on the back for removing small stones from horseshoes.He opened the knife, cleaned up the dirt around the stone ring, then put the hook under the stone ring, and picked it up carefully, for fear of breaking the hook.The stone ring began to loosen a little.Although it has passed through several centuries, because it is made of stone, it will not rust inside like iron.Soon the stone ring was picked up, Gude stretched out his hand to grab the stone ring, and pulled it up vigorously, but the stone ring remained motionless.

"I'll try it." I said eagerly.The stone ring is just around the corner, and there is no room for two people to pull it at the same time.I grabbed the stone ring and tried my best, but it was useless.

Sir Henry tried too, but it didn't work either.

Good took out the hook again, and scraped along the stone slab where the stone ring was, and we felt air come through the gap.

"Now, Curtis," he said, "you grab the stone ring and pull as hard as you can. You can hold both of us. No, wait," he said, taking out a sturdy black silk scarf and wrapping It is worn on a stone ring.He's really fastidious, and he's still carrying this thing at this juncture. "Quitman, hold Curtis's waist tightly, listen to my password, and pull hard together. Start!"

Sir Henry did his best, and Goode and I did the same.

"It's moving! It's moving! It's moving!" panted Sir Henry.I could hear the bones in his back rattling.Suddenly, something seemed to be pulled up, and then a gust of air was blowing head-on, and we all fell on our backs to the ground.The large stone slab that had just been uprooted was on top of us.Sir Henry was really strong.

"Strike a match, Quitman," said Sir Henry as we got up. "Be careful, everybody."

I struck a match.Thank God!In front of us is a stone staircase.

"What now?" Goode asked.

"Of course I walked along the stone ladder. Trust in God's arrangement."

"Wait," said Sir Henry, "Quittman, take the rest of the dried meat and water."

So I crawled back to where I came from to get some food and water, and just as I was about to return, a thought flashed through my mind.In the last 24 hours, we rarely thought about diamonds anymore.We've been through a lot, got into trouble a few times, and almost died in a back room, all thanks to diamonds.Therefore, when we think of diamonds, we hate them.But on second thought, it wouldn't hurt to take some diamonds with me in case I could escape from this terrible place.So I reached into the first case, filled all the pockets of my hunting jacket that I could fit, and grabbed handfuls of larger diamonds from the third case.

"I mean you two," I cried, "don't you get some diamonds? I've got my pockets full."

"Oh, to hell with those diamonds!" said Sir Henry. "I don't want to see diamonds again."

Goode didn't answer.I think he is saying his last goodbye to the poor girl who loved him dearly.Readers, if you are sitting comfortably at home at this moment, you must be wondering why we gave up this huge wealth?I dare say that if you were to stay in this ghost place with no food or drink for 28 hours, and faced with the hope of escape, you would only regard the priceless diamonds as a burden, and you would not want to take it into the world. Unknown underground world.But I have already developed the habit of never throwing away anything of value until the last moment.Keep some diamonds with you, it won't cause me much trouble.

"Quick, Quitman," said Sir Henry, who was already on the steps, "quick, I'm going."

"Pay attention to your feet, maybe there is a terrible abyss below." I said.

"I think it's more likely to be a room." Sir Henry walked slowly down, counting the steps.

When he reached the No.15 step, he stopped. "It's down to the bottom," he said. "Thank God! I think it's a passage. Come down."

Goode followed, and I was last.Near the bottom, I struck one of the two remaining matches.By the light of the fire we found ourselves in a narrow tunnel at right angles to the stone staircase we had just passed.The tunnel extends to the left and right.Before we could take a closer look, the match caught my finger and burned out.At this moment, the question before us is whether to go left or right?We have no idea what kind of tunnel it is, or where it leads.Maybe one road leads to safety and the other leads to death.Just as we were hesitating and in a dilemma, Goode suddenly remembered that when I struck a match just now, the flame was blown to the left by the airflow in the aisle.

"Let's go against the draft," he said. "The air flows from the outside to the inside."

We agreed with him, and walked forward step by step while leaning on the stone wall, leaving the secret room that almost killed us.If anyone else came in—and I think that was unlikely—he would surely find our traces: the open chest, the empty lamp, poor Fratta's bones.

After groping for about 15 minutes, the tunnel turned suddenly. We continued to walk along the tunnel, and there was another turn.I walked like this for several hours, as if walking into an endless maze.Exactly what these tunnels were used for, I'm not sure, but we guess they were shafts dug by ancient miners.This is the only plausible explanation we can think of.

We walked forward step by step, our hopes in our hearts were dashed little by little, and finally we couldn't move anymore. We stopped and ate the little food and drank the last drop of water, but our throat was still uncomfortable.We, who had just escaped from the dark secret room, fell into the claws of death again at this moment.We stood silently in the dark tunnel, once again feeling utter despair.Suddenly I seemed to hear something, so I quickly asked the other two to listen.The sound was very faint, and very far away, but there was indeed a sound, a faint, low sound.They both heard it too.It is indescribable the blissful feeling of hearing a voice suddenly after a long and dreadful period of absolute silence.

"My God! It's the sound of running water." Goode exclaimed, "Hurry up."

We leaned on the stone wall and walked in the direction of the faint voice.The sound became clearer and clearer. In the silence, the sound of the water was particularly loud, and even the sound of the swirling rushing water could be clearly heard.But in this deep underground, how can there be water flow?As we got closer to the water, Goode, who was walking ahead, said he could smell the water.

"Slow down, Goode," said Sir Henry, "we must be near the water's edge." As soon as the words fell, there was only a splash, and then Goode's loud cry.

He fell into the water.

"Good, Good, where are you?" we shouted anxiously.

"It's all right. I grabbed a rock. Light a match and let me see where you are." We were relieved to hear his muffled reply.

I quickly struck the last match.With the help of the faint light, we found that there was a big black river at our feet. We couldn't tell how wide the river was, but we could vaguely see that Goode was hugging a protruding rock tightly.

"Stay close so you can catch me," Goode yelled, "I'm just going to swim."

Then there was only the sound of splashing waves and loud splashes. A minute later Good caught Sir Henry's outstretched hand and we lifted him up and dragged him into the tunnel.

"My God!" gasped Goode. "It's so overhanging. If I didn't hold on to that rock, or couldn't swim, I'd be screwed. The current was strong and deep, and I didn't even touch it." to the bottom of the river."

It seems that walking along the river bank will not work.Goode rested for a while, we drank the sweet underground water, and washed our faces that had not been washed for a long time, feeling refreshed.Then, return along the original route of the African Styx.Goode walked in front with his whole body wet.Finally we came to a tunnel that turned right.

"We might as well try this way," said Sir Henry wearily. "Every way is the same, so whichever one you take is the one you take."

So we dragged our feet and walked along the new tunnel.This time Sir Henry was ahead.

Suddenly he stopped, and Goode and I accidentally bumped into him.

"Look!" he whispered, "Am I just dizzy, or is there really a light over there?"

We opened our eyes and looked, and in the distance ahead, there was a bright or dark spot of light, about the size of a pane.The dots of light are so faint that perhaps only those of us who have been in the dark for days on end can perceive them.

Hope is ignited again, and we hurry forward. After 5 minutes, we no longer had any doubts that it was indeed a faint light.After walking for another minute, a burst of fresh air rushed towards me.As we continued on, the tunnel suddenly narrowed.Sir Henry had to kneel down and crawl.The tunnel became narrower and narrower until it was only the size of a fox hole.And there are no rocks here, it's all dirt.

The three of us struggled to get out.Looking up, the sky is full of stars.Take a deep breath, that's the smell of sweet air.Suddenly our feet slipped, and we rolled and rolled, rolled over the grass, over the bushes, over the soft and wet soil.

Finally I grabbed something and stopped.I yelled loudly after sitting up.A response came from below.A high ground just blocked the fast rolling Sir Henry.I crawled over to him, and although he was out of breath, he wasn't hurt.Then we looked around for Goode.After a while we found him stuck in a forked tree root.Although he was hit badly, he woke up quickly.

We sat on the grass, unable to recover for a while.We almost died in the secret room, and finally escaped.Somewhere, there must be a benevolent God guiding us to crawl out of this jackal hole.Look, the sun is slowly rising, and the morning light dyes the mountains red.We thought we would never see the rising sun again.

Soon the gray light illuminated the entire hillside.We found ourselves at the bottom of a large pit in front of the cave entrance.At this moment, we can vaguely see the outlines of the three stone statues.Apparently, the tunnel we walked through all night turned out to be connected to the mine.As for where the underground river in the mountain comes from and where it goes, only God knows.I'm not interested anyway.

It was getting brighter.We can see each other clearly.I saw the three of us with haggard faces, sunken eye sockets, mud and dust all over our bodies, scratches and bloodstains all over our bodies, and expressions of undecided shock.Such a distressed appearance is really rare in a hundred years.If someone saw our "respect" in broad daylight, they would definitely be shocked.I noticed that Goode's monocle was still firmly attached to his eye.I suspect he never took it off at all.Whether in the dark, falling into an underground river, or rolling down a hill, he and the monocle never parted.

We stood up quickly, afraid that if we sat down again, our limbs would become stiff.We endured the pain, clung to the weeds on the wall of the pit, and climbed up step by step with difficulty.

After climbing for more than an hour, we finally climbed out of the pit and stood on Solomon Avenue opposite the stone statue.

More than 100 yards from the roadside, there were several huts with a fire burning in front of the house and several people around the fire.We walked over each other supporting each other, stopping every few steps to rest.Soon someone found us, slumped on the ground in fright, and shouted.

"Inverdus, Inverdus! It's us, we are your friends."

He just stood up and ran towards us, staring in disbelief, trembling with fright.

"Oh, gods, it's really you, you really escaped from death!"

The old general fell before us, hugging Sir Henry's knees, weeping and weeping.

(End of this chapter)

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