Chapter 451: I Can Like Them All!

After a bout of dizziness, the two landed somewhere soft.

"Tuan Tuan! Where are you?" Xiao Ningyuan sprang to his feet; all around was pitch black, he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

Damn it! I remembered to have them prepare dry food and water, but forgot to bring a fire striker!

"Big brother! I'm here! I'm fine!"

Xiao Ningyuan instantly thought: "Be good, don't be scared, talk to big brother, don't stop, only then can big brother find you."

"All right! Big brother, are you hungry?"

Xiao Ningyuan stumbled, "Tuan Tuan, you're still thinking about food at a time like this?"

"Big brother isn't hungry, how about you? Are you hungry?"

"I'm a bit hungry; I haven't eaten anything this morning!"

Xiao Ningyuan followed the direction of the voice, walking with uneven steps to his sister's side.

He reached down and felt: "Big brother's here."

In the darkness, their hands met; he grabbed her hand, crouched, and pulled Tuan Tuan into his arms, his heart still pounding: "I was scared to death, finally found you."

Tuan Tuan clung to his neck: "Big brother, it's so dark, I can't see anything, how can I find things?"

Xiao Ningyuan sat on the ground, placing his sister on his lap: "It's dark because it's too bright outside; we haven't adjusted yet."

"Come, close your eyes, chat with big brother awhile, then open them and it won't seem so dark."

"All right!" Tuan Tuan closed her eyes.

Xiao Ningyuan also closed his eyes, gently patting her back: "Little Tuan Tuan, tell big brother, among the three older brothers, who do you like most—is it me?"

Tuan Tuan rolled her eyes: "I like them all!"

"You can only pick one."

"Well..." Tuan Tuan hesitated.

"Come on, tell the truth, big brother won't get angry and won't tell them."

"Then just combine them! I can like them all that way!"

"Hahaha..." Xiao Ningyuan burst out laughing, "You little clever devil!"

The brother and sister chatted intermittently for a while, then "Big brother, can I open my eyes now?"

"Sure!"

They opened their eyes together, and indeed they could faintly make out the surroundings' outlines.

"This is a passage!" Xiao Ningyuan rose to his feet, gripping his sister's hand tightly, and looked around.

The passage was wide and empty.

"Big brother, look up!"

"Huh?" Xiao Ningyuan looked up; the ceiling wasn't flat but arched.

He thought: "Come, sit on big brother's shoulder; we'll walk with our hands on the wall—you feel above, I feel below—if there's any mechanism we won't miss it."

"Okay!"

Xiao Ningyuan led her slowly to the wall, squatted, let his sister sit on his shoulder, and, holding the wall, slowly rose to his feet.

"Big brother's moving now, hold on tight."

"Mm-hmm!"

Xiao Ningyuan held the wall, feeling his way forward slowly.

A moment later, "Big brother! I felt something!"

Xiao Ningyuan stopped: "What is it?"

Tuan Tuan reached out her little hand and felt carefully: "Round, cool, and big!"

Xiao Ningyuan: "..."

"It can still move!" Tuan Tuan happily fiddled with it.

Suddenly, the whole passage lit up instantly, dazzling them so they had to shut their eyes.

Xiao Ningyuan quickly crouched, lowered his head, set his sister on the ground, then scooped her into his arms, lay on the ground, using his body to shield her: "Be good, don't move."

Tuan Tuan coughed twice from the dust on the ground: "Mm, I know."

After a while, with no sound around, they slowly opened their eyes.

"Wow! Big brother, this place is beautiful!"

Xiao Ningyuan's face showed shock; he saw the whole passage as if countless candles had been lit—though not as bright as daylight, everything was clearly visible.

The passage was long and winding; they happened to be at a curved stretch.

Along the wall at intervals were glazed mirrors, and the light came from these mirrors.

"Big brother, look! This is what I felt!" Tuan Tuan pointed at the wall.

Xiao Ningyuan looked up and saw it too—a glazed mirror with a raised, arched surface, just positioned lower than the others.

That mirror wasn't set into the wall but hung from a small bronze bracket.

Dust on the mirror's surface was covered with Tuan Tuan's tiny handprints, and some spiderwebs hung there.

A patch of wall dust was missing—clearly the mirror's original spot, which the sister had moved aside.

He followed the mirror's angle, then glanced at the wall beside him, and suddenly realized: "Ah, that's how it works!"

He laughed, scooping up his sister: "Tuan Tuan, look—where the arched ceiling meets the lower wall, there's a layer of glowing little stones."

Tuan Tuan nodded: "Yeah!"

"Those are called firefly stones."

Those wall mirrors all face them; if any one mirror's angle is right, light flows among the glazed mirrors and the place lights up.

Seeing his sister still somewhat puzzled, Xiao Ningyuan took hold of the mirror's edge: "Want to see big brother do a trick?"

Tuan Tuan clapped her little hands: "Alright! Alright!"

He rotated the mirror's angle, moved the mirror back to its original spot on the wall, and the light in the passage vanished instantly.

"Ah! Big brother, no! I want it bright!"

"Okay, bright, here it comes!" Xiao Ningyuan turned the mirror smugly, trying to pull it out, only to find it wouldn't budge; he strained a few more times, but it remained the same.

"Um… Tuan Tuan, this mirror, I can't move it; would you like to give it a try?"

Tuan Tuan: "…"

"Alright, you squat down, and I'll sit on your shoulders."

Xiao Ningyuan hurriedly hoisted his sister onto his shoulders again; Tuan Tuan extended her little hand, groped, and with a gentle pinch the mirror's angle shifted, and the passage lit up once more.

Xiao Ningyuan, somewhat embarrassed, said: "Hehe, Tuan Tuan is awesome! Big brother just can't do it."

Tuan Tuan exclaimed at the mirror, "Whoa!"

Xiao Ningyuan jumped in surprise: "What's wrong, Tuan Tuan? Did you see something?"

Tuan Tuan pouted: "My face! It's all covered in dirt! All smeared!"

Xiao Ningyuan: "…"

Truly a girl! Always worrying about looking good.

He pulled a cloth from his chest and handed it to his sister: "It's okay, just wipe it clean."

Tuan Tuan took it, faced the mirror, wiped her little face clean, and only then was satisfied.

Xiao Ningyuan turned his head toward the way they had come and saw that there, a broad hollow had been dug down, lined with straw and felt; it was not only thick but rose only about an inch above the ground, so it made sense they weren't hurt when they fell—how considerate!

"But, aren't the stone steps you repaired enough?"

Tuan Tuan looked toward the deep part of the passage, raised a finger and said: "Big brother! Look quickly! Over there! There's a river!"