Traps [3]

Chapter - 14

Meanwhile, in the labyrinth's central tunnel, Li Mingzhi's group encountered a different peril. After treading cautiously for about ten minutes, the ground beneath them suddenly trembled violently, and the walls on either side began to close in with a menacing grind.

The Immortals, who had just begun to let their guard down, felt a surge of terror as the stone walls crept closer, threatening to crush them.

"Run!" Li Mingzhi's shout echoed through the narrowing tunnel, his voice carrying the weight of their predicament.

They sprinted desperately, the tunnel's walls closing in with every heartbeat. The deafening noise of the grinding stone was like the lament of ancient mountains under unbearable strain.

In the chaos, Li Mingzhi stumbled, his foot caught on a loose stone. Feng Jun, with lightning reflexes, grabbed him and pulled him up. "Come on, we have to keep going!" Feng Jun's voice was laced with desperation and determination.

"Keep moving!" Feng Jun commanded with urgency, grasping Li Mingzhi's arm and hauling him to his feet. "We can't afford to stop now."

They pushed forward with all their might, but the walls continued their relentless approach, inching closer with cruel precision. In a bid to halt their advance, Shui Jian channeled his Immortal Qi, his fists glowing with ethereal light as he struck the walls with all his strength.

"Damn it!" Shui Jian roared, his frustration palpable as his fists pounded against the unyielding stone. "These walls... They would not budge!"

Li Mingzhi and Feng Jun joined in the assault, their combined attacks powerful yet ineffective. The walls seemed to absorb their blows like water, showing no signs of damage or slowing.

"Forget it!" Li Mingzhi called out, his voice thick with frustration and urgency, "We cannot break through. We have to escape!"

The group turned to flee, their hearts pounding as they raced against the inexorable closing of the stone walls. Panic surged through their ranks as the space grew tighter with every passing moment.

Except for Li Mingzhi, Feng Jun and Shui Jian, the other Immortals slowly began to lag behind. They watched in despair as the three of them began to increase the distance between them.

And suddenly one of the immortals tripped over a jagged tree root that jutted from the floor. He struggled to rise, his ankle twisted painfully. The bulging root was so strongly attached to the cave that even an Immortals kick couldn't smash it.

"Help! My leg!" The Immortal cried out, his voice filled with desperation and fear.

The Immortals skidded to a halt for a breath, their eyes wide with alarm as they looked back.

"We can't leave him!" One of the Immortals shouted, the urgency in his voice cutting through the chaos like a blade through silk.

But the stone walls were closing in too quickly, an implacable and grinding menace. Feng Jun, recognizing the hopelessness of their plight, shouted, "We can't save him! We have to go now, or we all perish!"

The Immortal's face twisted with anguish as he looked one last time at his friend of hundreds of years, his voice breaking with grief, "I am sorry!" he yelled, his voice breaking, tears streaming down his face as he turned and fled.

The abandoned Immortal's face contorted in terror, his eyes wide with desperation as the stone walls inched closer. He watched as the other Immortals made a desperate dash for their lives, his heart pounding with a mix of fear and betrayal. He quickly scrambled to his feet, trying his best to escape the treacherous tunnel.

"Help me," He cried out for help, his voice echoing in the cave, begging the others to take him along, but none of them stopped. In any other place, he could have easily escaped with his formidable powers.

But this cursed cave sapped their strength, rendering them shadows of their true selves. Their strengths were significantly diminished. They couldn't even muster the simplest of their abilities, not even the basic art of flying to get out of the cave, reduced to mere mortals within these confines.

"Don't leave me behind!" the Immortal cried, his voice a wail of despair growing more frantic as he struggled to catch up with the others. But his pleas fell on deaf ears.

The walls continued to close in, and the despair among the group began to intensify, an oppressive weight of the fear on their hearts.

"Please, I will give you everything I have! All my wealth, my treasured artifacts, my everything! Please save me!" The Immortal screamed, his voice echoing with desperation in a last, futile bid to save his life. His offers becoming more frantic. But even these enticing offers, the promise of unimaginable riches could not sway the other Immortals to turn back.

Suddenly, his screams were cut short, abruptly silenced, replaced by a sickening crunch as the walls crushed him. The gruesome sound reverberated through the tunnel, sending a chill down the spines of the other Immortals who heard the sickening sound.

The remaining group barely escaped the narrowing tunnel, gasping for breath as they stumbled into a wider cave.The tunnel closing behind them with a thud.

They collapsed to the ground, their bodies trembling with exhaustion and the heavy weight of their loss pressing down upon them like a mountain. The atmosphere was thick with fear and grief.

"Chen Haoyu is pulling out all the stops," Shen Jui muttered, his voice hoarse, sweat dripping from his forehead. "We need to be smarter if we are to survive his deadly cave."

Li Mingzhi nodded, his face ashen with grief and determination. "We can't afford any more mistakes," he said, his voice steady despite the turmoil within him. "We stick together, stay vigilant, and think like him. Only then can we hope to outwit his traps and make it out of here alive."

Feng Jun, nursing a bruised hand from his futile attempts to break the walls, looked around the cavern. "Now what next? Another trap waiting to spring on us?"

Li Mingzhi shook his head. "We move forward. But this time, we anticipate his moves. Chen Haoyu may be clever, but we are not beaten yet."

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