Chapter 97 Chapter Ninety-Six

Like a recurring theme in a magical symphony, the surroundings once again fell into suffocating darkness. There is no light, no wind, and no exit here. Trapped in the overturned coffin, Langdon lay feeling his brain slip into a dangerous coma.He was trying to get his mind off the coffin and on to something else, trying to think about something logical...mathematics, music, anything of that sort.But it still couldn't calm him down.I can't move!I was literally suffocating. As the coffin fell, fortunately the sleeves of his tightly-fitted coat undid, and now his arms could move freely.Even so, when he pushed upwards on the coffin lid that was buckled on his body, he found that the top lid hadn't moved at all.Strange to say, he should have wished that the sleeves of his coat were still under the coffin.

At least that way there would be a gap through which the wind could get in. Langdon struggled to push the top cover, the sleeves of his clothes fell down, and the old friend glowed faintly. It was the glow of Mickey's watch.Mickey Mouse's pale green cartoon face seemed mocking now. Langdon tried to find other light in this darkness, but the coffin was firmly fastened to the floor. Damn Italian perfectionists, he swore, putting him at risk with their fine art, the very things he used to teach his students to honor... Flawless edges, perfect parallel lines, of course, only with Seamless and resilient Carrara marble.

Things that are too delicate can sometimes be suffocating. "Turn the damn thing up," he yelled, lifting the coffin lid even harder amidst the tangle of bones.The coffin moved slightly.His jaw sank, and he pushed hard again. While the coffin felt like a monolith, it was raised a quarter of an inch this time.Suddenly a faint light flashed around, and then only a bang was heard, and the coffin fell down heavily again.Langdon lay panting in the darkness.He tried to push up the lid with his legs as he had done the previous time, but since the coffin was completely buckled to the floor, there was no room for him to stretch his legs.

Affected by claustrophobia, Langdon fell into a panic, and all he could think about was that the coffins on all sides were slowly pushing towards him.He was tortured to the point of insanity, and he used the bits and pieces of logical knowledge he had learned to drive the illusion away. "Sarcophagus," he said aloud, as pedantically as he could.But his erudition seemed to be doing him a disservice at the moment. Sarcopbagus (sarcophagus) comes from the greek word "sarx" meaning "flesh" and "phagein" means "gnawing" I got stuck in a box that was meant to "gnaw on flesh" .

Langdon was grimly reminded of the vision of the flesh being eaten from the bones, buried in the remains.He resented the thought and shuddered.But it also gave him an idea. Langdon's hand fumbled for a piece of bone inside the coffin.A rib, maybe?It doesn't matter what it is, he just wants to find a wedge.If he could lift the coffin, even if it was a crack, and then put the bone under it, there might be enough air... He stretched out one hand to the other side of his body, inserted the pointy end of the bone into the gap between the coffin and the floor, and lifted the coffin upwards with the other hand.The coffin remained motionless.He tried again, and for a moment the coffin seemed to shake, but that was all.

Weakened by the lack of oxygen and the stench from the coffin, Langdon realized he had to try again.He also knew that both arms had to be used together to lift the coffin. Langdon made a new adjustment, first placing the pointed end of the bone in the gap, then moving his body, pushing the bone into the gap with his shoulders and holding it there.He was careful not to touch the bones, and raised his hands.The airtight coffin began to make him feel stuffy, and he felt more and more panicked. This is the second time today that he has been trapped in an airtight place.With a yell, Langdon burst out with strength and lifted the coffin.The coffin was lifted unsteadily off the ground for a moment, and that was enough for him to push the bone against his shoulder into the widening gap.The coffin fell down again, and the bones were crushed with a "crash".But this time Langdon could see that the coffin was raised.A narrow ray of light came in from a gap in the side of the coffin.

Exhausted, Langdon collapsed to the ground.He waited, hoping to get some air in his throat.However, as time went on, he felt more pain in his throat.No matter how much wind blows in through such a narrow gap, it will become too weak to be noticed.Langdon wondered if this little air was enough to keep him alive.If enough, how long can it last?And if he had gone like this, who would have known he was here?With his arm as heavy as lead, Langdon looked at his watch: 10:12 at night.Controlling his uncontrollably trembling fingers, he fiddled with his watch, making a last-ditch effort.He turned one of the little dials and pressed a button.

Langdon was on the verge of losing consciousness. The boards on both sides seemed to be slowly pushing towards him, and the previous fear returned to him.As he had tried many times before, he tried to imagine himself standing in a clearing.But no matter what he thought, it was useless, the nightmare that had haunted him since he was a boy broke into his heart suddenly... The flowers here are as beautiful as they are in the pictures, thought the child.Laughing and running on the grass.It would be nice if his parents could play with him, but they were too busy setting up the tent. "Don't go too far." His mother had told him long ago.

He pretended not to hear, and jumped into the woods. As he was walking up and down this beautiful land in this way, he accidentally found a pile of loose stones. He knew that someone must have lived here before, so he didn't need to go there to confirm.Besides, something else had drawn his attention earlier--like ladies' dancing shoes made only of fine wheat--a flower so rare in New Hampshire, and so beautiful.He has only seen it in books. The child suddenly became excited and ran towards the flower.He knelt down, the ground under his knees felt very loose, and the ground seemed to be empty.He realized that the flower had found another fertile ground.

It feeds off a rotting piece of wood and grows. At the thought of taking this wonderful flower home, the child excitedly stretched out his hand... and dug his fingers into the root of the flower. He will never get to the root of the flower. There was only a creepy click, and the ground cracked. For three terribly frightening seconds of going in, the child knows he is doomed.In the vertical fall, he was ready to be smashed to pieces.But when he landed, he didn't feel any pain, just felt very soft. Also felt a bit cold. He first hit the surface of the water, then plunged headlong into the narrow, dark depths.After rolling a few times.Dazed, he groped his way to the steep walls around him.Somehow, seemingly instinctively, he popped to the surface.

There was a light there, the light was very faint, just above his head, it seemed that there was a drop of several miles from him, and he dragged his arms in the water, groping the wall to find a place to hold his hand, but found only smooth stone .It turned out that he stepped on an abandoned well cover and fell into the well. The child screamed for help, but only heard the shout echoing in the sealed shaft, and he shouted loudly over and over again.Overhead, the dilapidated well faded into obscurity. it's dark. In the darkness, the time seems to be out of date. He stepped on the water in the deep well, kept calling for help, and gradually lost consciousness.The idea that the walls around him were going to cave in and bury him alive was a constant torment.His arms ached with fatigue.There were times when he thought he heard noises and yelled, but his voice was already hoarse...it was like a dream. As the night darkened, the shaft seemed to grow deeper.The surrounding walls seemed to be moving inward quietly. The boy stretched out his arms, struggling against the wall and trying to push it away. The exhausted Tuo no longer had any hope of surviving.But he felt the water lift him up, and the extreme fear in his heart gradually disappeared, and finally he lost consciousness completely. When rescue teams arrived, they found the child delirious.He had been treading water for five hours.Two days later, the Boston Globe ran a front-page story -- "Amazing Little Swimmer."