I gazed at the three deep, winding passages before me, resembling the wide-open, blood-stained jaws of a giant beast, poised to devour anyone who entered. The damp air was heavy with a faint, musty odor mixed with an indescribable smell of decay, sending a chill down my spine. "Gate of Life... Gate of Death..." I muttered the ancient characters carved into the wall over and over, my anxiety growing with every second. This labyrinth was far more dangerous than I had imagined.
Zhou Wan stood beside me, her slender fingers tightly clutching my sleeve, and I could feel her trembling slightly. I knew she was just as nervous as I was, yet her face maintained that same cold, aloof calm, like a piece of ice that had frozen for ten thousand years.
Behind us, Captain Li's nauseating, fake chuckle echoed again. "What, are the two of you still hesitating? Could it be that you're scared?" Beside him, Song Xiaomei covered her mouth and giggled, the mockery in her eyes completely undisguised. Young Master Qin stood off to the side with an expression of utter disdain and arrogance, looking as though victory were already in his grasp.
Chapter 44