The tunnel was narrow and low. Xiong Gang walked in front, his head barely a foot from the ceiling.
He could touch it just by raising his hand.
Judging by the construction marks, it seemed to have been built fairly recently, and the workmanship was far from neat.
Not only did it twist and turn, but straw, felt, or similar materials had been placed at every corner.
They could not tell whether it was meant to keep out moisture or prevent fires.
After they had walked on like this for about ten minutes, Xiong Gang stopped.
He turned back and whispered, "There's a fork ahead!"
As he spoke, Xiong Gang moved aside. A few yards ahead of him,
two tunnel entrances came into view.
They were roughly the same height and width.
One branched off to the left ahead of them, the other to the right.
Both were pitch-black, full of unknowns.
"Should we... split up and try them?" Xiong Gang asked, looking back at Chen Liang.
Chen Liang shook his head. "No! We still don't know what's happening with the boss and the others. We need to conserve our strength. Splitting up is too risky!"
Song Ning nodded. "Right! We can't separate!"
She studied the two entrances carefully but could find no clues.
Then she took a deep breath. There seemed to be enough oxygen in the tunnel, and she detected no obvious unusual odors.
"Does either of you have a lighter or matches?" she asked.
Xiong Gang immediately pulled out a lighter.
"I swiped it from the boss earlier! He said he was quitting smoking!"
Song Ning took it. It felt quite heavy in her hand, and she guessed it had not been cheap.
She walked a few yards into the left passage and flicked it on.
She