Zhong Zifan heard Huo Sining’s shout but didn’t slow down, explaining while chasing the mouse:
"Of course we need to get out, but to leave, we have to rely on this mouse!"
Huo Sining was slightly startled and had not yet understood the reason when Zhong Zifan had already caught up to the mouse, swiftly reaching out and grabbing it.
In the blink of an eye, the cunning mountain mouse was held by the tail and lifted upside down, squirming and squeaking in Zhong Zifan’s hand, struggling incessantly.
Huo Sining watched him catch the mouse with flowing ease and couldn’t help but take a second look, guessing inwardly that he must have had his fair share of catching mice and stealing bird eggs in the past; otherwise, how could his movements be so nimble?
"You just said the mouse is useful, could it actually lead us out?"
Huo Sining’s perplexity grew. Although she had grown up in the countryside and didn’t absolutely loathe mice, she still found them distasteful. So seeing Zhong Zifan holding a mouse made her feel a bit squeamish.
"This is a black iron mine, indicating that there’s rock all around us. Even if this mountain mouse is an adept tunneler, it couldn’t possibly burrow through such hard rock. Therefore, I’m certain that this fellow must have accidentally found its way in from outside while foraging in the mountain."
Huo Sining listened and half-understood, "So what? It might be lost in here now."
Zhong Zifan couldn’t help but laugh, "Have you ever seen a mouse get lost? They’re natural navigators with a strong sense of direction. In these tunnels, I doubt there’s anyone more sensitive than they are."
Zhong Zifan’s words rang true. In the natural world, many animals possess their own methods of determining direction, an innate instinct they are born with.
In fact, humans also had such an instinct at first, but through the evolutionary process, as people discovered other ways to determine direction, this keen sense of orientation began to wane and gradually devolve.
Just like when humans discovered fire and started to use it for warmth, slowly the hair on our bodies began to disappear, the ability to stay warm deteriorated, and eventually, we could only rely on clothes for warmth—same principle.
Huo Sining and Liao Song suddenly realized.
While explaining, Zhong Zifan had Liao Song help shear some scraps of cloth from their clothing, tied them into thin ropes, and fastened the rope to the mountain mouse’s hind legs,
"Follow it!" Zhong Zifan gently tossed the mountain mouse into the tunnel; the mouse immediately scurried forward upon touching ground, seemingly desperate to escape the clutches of these two.
The mouse kept running ahead, but could not shake off the three people closely following behind.
Although it had never directly encountered humans, it clearly understood the danger presented by these three large creatures behind it and thus dashed relentlessly through the mountain tunnel.
After following the mouse for a while, the temperature inside the tunnel seemed to gradually stop being as cool as before and started to become somewhat hot and dry.
Zhong Zifan saw a flickering brightness ahead and spoke while walking, "Do you feel that? There’s a breeze coming in; the exit should be ahead!"
A gleam appeared on Huo Sining’s face as well; she exchanged looks with Liao Song, both seeing the excitement in each other’s eyes.
A few minutes passed, and just when the trio thought they were about to find the exit, the tunnel ahead unexpectedly came to an end.
The mouse stopped in its tracks, sniffing and burrowing its body. Soon after, it appeared to find something, excitedly climbing toward the stone wall ahead.
Huo Sining was puzzled. The road ahead was blocked. What did this rat mean by leading them here?
Zhong Zifan, seeing how excited the rat was, had a bad feeling.
Indeed, at that moment, the crafty rat reached a narrow crack in the stone wall, barely three fingers wide, and in just a moment, it had wriggled its way through it.
Not only were Zhong Zifan and Liao Song shocked by this scene, but Huo Sining was also left agape.
It turned out this creature had indeed come in from the outside, but with such a small crack, how were the three of them, alive and kicking, supposed to squeeze through it?
Zhong Zifan, who always considered himself unflappable, was utterly beside himself with rage. He prided himself on his composed and careful way of doing things, as if everything was under his control, but now he had been tricked by such a creature. How could he remain calm?
"Damn it! Dare to play me! Just wait until we get out, I’ll feed you to a cat!"
Zhong Zifan yanked the thin rope in his hand, and the unfortunate, fleeing rat was dragged back. He was furious and grabbed the rat, staring angrily into its beady eyes.
"Hahaha, is this what you call an animal’s sense of direction? Sure, it’s a navigator all right, but, as it turns out, this navigator isn’t much use to us, is it?"
Huo Sining couldn’t help but burst into laughter at Zhong Zifan’s frustration.
They hadn’t eaten all afternoon and were starving. After wandering around in the cave, they were quite exhausted from all the running around.
Huo Sining, still laughing, waved his hand dismissively, forgoing any sense of decorum, and just sat down on the ground to rest.
"The wind is blowing in from this crack. It seems that the mining stopped here, and I guess the other side of the mountain is just outside this crack. What bad luck, we’ve made it to the very end. How did those miners skimp on their work so much? Just a few more digs, and they could’ve made an exit. Then we could’ve gotten out."
Huo Sining was frustrated, seeing the exit just outside but unable to get through.
Liao Song looked at his wristwatch and his brow furrowed: "The battery probably won’t last much longer."
"Let’s take another walk and try again. I refuse to believe such bad luck!" Zhong Zifan stubbornly said.
As he spoke, he threw the rat on the ground. The rat tried desperately to climb through the crack, but each attempt was thwarted by Zhong Zifan pulling it back.
After being pulled back several times, the rat seemed to understand Zhong Zifan’s intent, knowing he wouldn’t let it go easily, so it began to change tactics, heading back the way it had come.
Zhong Zifan sighed in relief, seeing the rat finally willing to cooperate, and his sallow face seemed to brighten a bit. Turning his head, he pulled Huo Sining and Liao Song, ready to follow the rodent, "Let’s go!"
Huo Sining didn’t notice in time and stumbled as he was pulled along, quickly reaching out to steady himself on the stone wall to the right.
As he did so, Huo Sining quickly steadied himself, his expression froze, and he stared in disbelief at the stone wall before him.
Zhong Zifan was still pulling her, and Huo Sining suddenly became anxious, shouting loudly, "Wait!"