“
Thank you for saving Xiaohua, I shall reward you, what would you like?”
“
May we ask you a question instead?” I asked
“
Of course”
I explained to Xiaohua’s grandpa about what happened.
He nodded slowly.
He handed us a piece of paper and a book.
“
This shall guide you to your first clue. The book will help you with the details.”
“
Thank you, sir,” I replied
I grabbed Sophia’s hand and we waved goodbye.
5:
The Clue
“
Of what you seek, on floors or on walls, is on the great first step,” Sophia read aloud, “what does that
mean?”
“
Wait, I got it. Walls and floors, the great first step…… The first step of Great Wall China!!”
I knelt down and brushed off some dust on the right side of the step and I found an engraving.
I carefully examined it “This is an engraving of the great wall, it must be a map!”
Sophia grabbed her camera and took a picture.
“
What are those twisted lines beneath the Great Wall?” I asked.
“
It looks like a maze!” Sophia replied
“
Wait, it is a maze! I remembered that the title of the book was, THE UNDERGROUND MAZE”
“
That must have been where Mr. Thomson disappeared to!” Sophia answered
“
It says here in the book that on the Empire Qin Shi Huang made his servants build that underground maze
to hide all his treasures when he dies, legend says whoever takes the treasure hidden in the maze would be
cursed for eternity,” I explained
We raced up the stairs and rushed to where the map said the maze would be.
6:
The Underground Maze
“
The maze should be right here! Well, under here,” Sophia said
“
Maybe there is some kind of trap door,” I wondered.
Suddenly Sophia tripped over a rock and fell to the side. She stepped on a brick that looked much older than
the other ones. Then I saw a trapdoor slowly open.
We took turns jumping into the trapdoor.
There was mud everywhere and it was as dark as midnight.
“
HELLO? Is anyone here?” I yelled.
Then I heard a faint voice.
There were tones of twists and turns and definitely a lot of bumps but the voice seemed to get closer and
closer.
“
Scarlett I just remembered I had a flashlight in my bag!”
Sophia turned on her flashlight and we saw a man covered in mud right in front of us.
“
Mr. Thomson!!!!” I and Sophia shouted in relief.
“
I missed you girls,” Mr. Thomson cried “but luckily I had some company,”
Mr. Thomson moved to his left and Miss Claire appeared beside him.
“
We were really worried about you guys but I know the way out, follow me!”
* * *