Wu Xie
He punched the stone block as a first reaction to his desperation, then try his best to push the heavy thing with all the strength in his body, but with no use, as it was simply too heavy for him to make any difference.
"Pangzi!! Help me!!!" Wu Xie yelled, although it wasn't really necessary for him to ask his best friend for help, because Pangzi was already trying his best to trigger the mechanism with his own fingers, in hope that the thing will open and bring Xiaoge back, but with no better luck than Wu Xie's futile tries.
However, seen that there was no use in trying Xiaoge's way, he joined Wu Xie in trying to push back the block and so did Xiu Xiu, Lao Guo and a few more others. With their combined strength, they tried their best to push the thing as hard as they could and after a minute or two of forcing it, they hear the mechanism work and the block started to move.
Immediately, they let go of the block and waited for the bed to be pushed up to them and what they see over the cold ice jade bed, make Wu Xie's blood freeze over even more so than his body was. Instead of Xiaoge, what they were looking at with their jaws dropped was the can of meat that they had use for testing and it was now buried inside a thick cocoon of amber.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, nooooooo!! Xiaoge!!! We have to get him out of there right now, or he will be cover in amber too and suffocate to death!" Wu Xie said as he once again try to push the now the once again closed block and this time, all of them joined forces with him to try free Zhang Qiling from his deadly prison.
They pushed the block with all their might, but at the end, it proved to be a fools errand, as the thing didn't move even a single inch. It was then, when there was no way to get Xiaoge back from their side that Wu Xie was hit hard by a sense of deep loss. The last time he had felt something similar had been in Tamutuo, after Xiaoge lose his memories and was very sick. That despair had been bad enough, but no matter how badly it looked, at least Xiaoge was still alive and in reach.
Now, Xiaoge was in a place none of them could enter, designed only for the Zhang members and for the dead to add at that, so how was he supposed to save him? How was he supposed to have him back if they lacked the ability to pull him out? Wu Xie felt as his stomach wanted to spill up the little food he had eat in the last few hours, his chest was heavy with an intense pressure building up inside it that was forcing tears on his eyes.
Wu Xie let himself fall to his knees in the cold ground and gasped for the air that he seems to be short of, while his body tremble like crazy. Pangzi was by his side in a heartbeat and hug him tight, but Wu Xie seems to be now numb, completely disconnected of the world surrounding him that was nothing else but muffle to his senses and enter a world of void. He was aware that Pangzi was talking to him and so was Xiu Xiu, but their words didn't really reached his blank mind and he could do nothing but to stare at empty space.
He remained like that for who knows how long, until Wu Xie's dormant senses pick up the sound of the mechanism of the room, activating again, bringing back Xiaoge inside a huge amber cocoon. Then Wu Xie sprinted back to life, escaping Pangzi's hold on him and reached for the thing that was trapping his lover.
The others help him with the heavy cocoon to put it on the ground and Wu Xie took out his knife to try take him out of it. He strike the amber like a manic, one time after another without stopping. Determination only driving him to push himself to his limit, just like the last time he had pull the same stunt to get them out of that Zhang's cave. As long as he could free Xiaoge from his amber coffin, it didn't matter if his hand suffer the strain of the blows or if it even started bleeding.
Fully concentrate in his task, he failed to hear the others as he worked, he failed to hear Pangzi told him something and only reacted when Pangzi push him to the side, so he could strike at the side of the cocoon instead of the top and it worked.
Just with a few strikes from the side from Pangzi and the cocoon breakup into hundreds of pieces, finally setting Xiaoge free. However, he was not breathing once Wu Xie could get a hold of him and he panic. Of course, he have some basic medical knowledge and in a heartbeat, he was trying to revive Xiaoge as he had learned a long time ago, pushing over his heart and giving him air in quick intervals.
It took him several tries, but at the end, he manage to make Xiaoge breath again and with intense release, he hugged his man for dear life. Pangzi joined them soon after and the three of them hugged for a moment, only releasing Xiaoge, when they hear the stone door open to finally show the next riddle to get out.
"Xiu Xiu, quickly take the picture and tell Xiao Hua to hurry... we are freezing." Pangzi told her, as he let go of both Xiaoge and Wu Xie.
"Don't ever do that again Xiaoge..." Wu Xie whisper to Qiling before he hug him once more and burry his face on his chest, just to calm himself and Xiaoge hug him back with a faint of a smile while slightly rubbing his back.
He was sorry to scare Wu Xie like that, but he had no other choice but to try it himself, because no one else could had pull it off and survive. Still, as he felt Wu Xie shudder on his arms, he felt guilty, so he kissed the crown of his head in peace offering.
Xiu Xiu took the picture and quickly sent it to Xiao Hua's team and sighed for a second, glad that the ordeal have been only a strong fright and not an actually demise.
Xiao Hua
The last room was a bit more tricky than the others and everything seems to scream at them that it was a well-planned trap, but without been one hundred percent sure it really was, they still move forward and try it out. Of course, shortly after Panzi started to pull the chains, the room begin to shake and they have no other choice but to get out before the stones fall over the pots and release whatever was inside them.
At the end it turned out to be a swarm of King Shibie, red and deadly that immediately flew around in search of their prey, which were none other than them. With not much room to hide, Xiao Hua consider for a moment to go back to the top level and try again after the threat was gone somewhere else. However, in the picture that Xiu Xiu had send them, she had said to hurry because they were trapped in a freezing room that almost got kill Zhang Qiling.
"We can't back out." Panzi told him, as they try to hide from the deadly insects.
"I know and we won't... but we can't just barge in and die before getting the code for them." Xiao Hua conceded, as he was not going to let Wu Xie and the others die that easily, but their lives were also at risk. Thus he looked around after a moment of consideration to their possibilities and found strange that the King Shibie swarm had change positions suddenly.
Originally they had gather at the entrance of the room they have left in haste, but now they seems to had fly into the entrance of another, which was good news for them, believe it or not.
"Let's grave this small chance and go!" Xiao Hua said as he ran as fast as he could and enter the room from before. Yet, when he look at it from the border of the pots, there were no King Shibi in sight, nor were the pots in front of them broken and no sing of the rope they had already tie to the other side.
"Did we enter the wrong chamber?" Panzi asked in surprise.
"We shouldn't have, we run back the same way we went away."
"Then how is this one completely restored to its original state? Even the stone blocks from above are in the same place, none had fallen."
"I don't know... but we really don't have much time to consider possibilities." Xiao Hua said and in a hurry he crossed to the other side, using a desperate method he had seen on western movies and used a rope to hook it on the wooden pillars from above and after carefully testing it for a pull or two, he went ahead and jumped, using the rope to impulse himself to the other side.
Since it had miraculously worked, he pass the rope he had tied to himself to Panzi so he too could cross to his side and worked on the next challenge as soon as possible, since they were still in great danger in both teams. As soon as the two of them were safely crossed they have a look to the room, noticing that it looked untouched.
"Master Hua... it really looks like we have come across another room. In the last one, we already try a few numbers... it shouldn't have reset like this." Panzi said as he pointed at the chained ball.
"There were original only three tunnels... but maybe there were others in hiding that we dint notice..." Xiao Hua said as he ponder on his own words, suddenly noticing a shadow coming from the tunnel.
"Be careful, there is a thing coming from behind!" Xiao Hua warned Panzi and both of them turned with knifes in hands to be face to face with... a displeased Hei Xiazi.
"Master Hua, don't be so heartless, since when I become a thing?" The man complained and Xiao Hua sighed in relief as he moved closer and gave his man a tight hug.
"What take you so long?" Xiao Hua asked on Xiazi's ear.
"This whole place is huge and there are many things moving around bellow, I almost lost my way."
"So the levels move with the gears?"
"Yep and it makes it a dark labyrinth bellow. Each entrance have three additional passage replicas that are nothing else but traps... you two were lucky to get two in a row right."
"So you notice?"
"Yeah, I saw the gears move the right way, but then I also watch as the last one moved the wrong one, so I came back."
"I am not a damsel in distress." Xiao Hua sighed as he let go of his lover.
"Of course not, but King Shibie are damn hard to deal with."
"That's true, I give you that... so this one is the real one or it's another trap?" Xiao Hua asked.
"I can't tell until the chains are pulled." Xiazi answer.
"Then we got a fifty-fifty percent with this one." Panzi said as he looked at the huge bronze ball.
"Indeed, but it's not like we will not try it anyway, right?" Xiazi asked and both Xiao Hua and Panzi assented.
"No, we can't fail Wu Xie now, they are freezing to death right now."
"Well, Wu Xie can always warm himself with Yaba Zhang's... warmth." Xiazi teased.
"That's indecent, let's skip the nonsense, we have no time for that." Xiao Hua said as he moved closer to the sphere.
"Yeah, yeah... let's work hard." Xiazi said as he give his lover a thumb up. Nevertheless, as they pulled the first chain, Xiazi could hear the King Shibie flying back their way.
"They are coming..." He warned them.
"But since this room is not shaking, then it's the real deal." Xiao Hua said.
"It may be the real one, but the danger is the same as in a trap. I will deal with our red flying guest... you two hurry for the code. I will not be able to hold them for long, I don't have the Zhang's blood." Xiazi warned his lover.
"I know, be careful... we will de-code this in record time, I promise." Xiao Hua said as Xiazi suddenly pulled him closer and give him a short kiss.
"No kidding, de-code it fast..." Xiazi whisper as he turn and went to the entrance, taking of his jacket to use it to repel as much Shibie as he could.
He have a hint of immunity to tomb things, but it was something closer to Wu Xie's level. Sometimes it worked wonders, while on others it was completely useless. This time it looked to be something in between, so he at least could hold the things for a while before he was in real danger, but he was quite aware that the King Shibie was not the only thing kept chained bellow. There were the men that were completely controlled by the hyphae and turned into guardians of the place instead, but even so they could not stop now, so he keep up repelling the insects until Xiao Hua finally called him out.
"Xiazi!! We did it!!"
"Ah, my Pink Prince, you really work hard!"
"We are getting out!" Panzi called as they crossed back to the entrance of the tunnel.
"Let's go!!" Xiao Hua order as they run toward the gears, but finding that hairy thing on their path.
"Come on, we really have not time for this!" Xiazi shouted as he kicked the thing into the hole at the center of the room, but as the thing go down, it manage to grab Xiazi's foot, making him lose his balance and start to fall.
"Xiazi!!!" Xiao Hua yelled as he manage to grab Xiazi before he disappeared down along with the hairy thing.
"Let go!! You can't take both of our weight, it will dislocate your shoulder!" Xiazi yelled back as he looked into Xiao Hua's desperate face, trying to conceal the pain on his arm.
"I won't let go!"
"I can handle myself down! Let go!"
"NO!!!"
"Xiao Hua! You will only hurt yourself!"
"I don't care!!"
"Don't be a fool, the Shibie will get you next!!"
"I won't!!!"
"Panzi!!! Grab him back!"
"He won't dare! The Wu's will not let a man fall behind!" Xiao Hua pressed and Panzi, who was taking the job of repelling the insects from Xiazi only assented in agreement. Giving up his task for a few seconds, he took his knife out and throw it to the thing that still clinging to Xiazi's leg.
The knife cut the thing on its shoulder, making it release Xiazi, but not before the claws cut into his leg, injuring him before it fall into the darkness. After been released, Panzi helped Xiao Hua to pull up Xiazi and they run again toward the iron plate and close it behind them, to finally throwing themselves into the floor after.
Xiao Hua pretty much drag himself to Xiazi and hold him close to kiss, ignoring the pain of his shoulder and Panzi, who really didn't want to be the third wheel, took the task upon himself and took the last picture to send it to Banai, then he cross back to the main entrance to call for help for the two injured lovers that were now trying to devour each other.
Ah, such was the fate of working under desperate lovers, either called Pingxie or... Heihua? Panzi ponder as he sat at the border in wait for the medical staff.
AN: Ah, well, a bit different from the drama ending, but it will be easier that way, since I haven't read all the novel and have no idea of how Xiazi got out and reunited with Xiao Hua. I hope you guys like it. Until next time, please take care.