We ran through the darkness, following the flashlights of the few people in front of us. When we reached an area where our fires couldn't illuminate, our speed slowed down drastically. We had to rely on the flashlights to guide us and jump from stone to stone to continue forward.
This is not easy to jump, humans are not kangaroos, and each jump is very risky. Sometimes if your foot is a little slow, you will slip under the rock. I can only do my best to keep up.
In the distance, the gunfire was still going on. I quickly saw the trace of the bullet, which was probably about 600 meters away. Pei Qing and the others had already left for quite a long time, considering that they were moving at a fast pace.
I lost my energy when I was halfway through the chase. Running like this consumes too much energy. I stopped and felt like my lungs were about to explode. But after a few seconds, I realized something was wrong. It was pitch dark around me, and the soldiers ahead were still running fast. I watched as they got farther and farther away from me. The scattered sacks and exposed skeletons made my scalp tingle. I had no choice but to grit my teeth and continue to follow them.
When I got there, the gunfire had already stopped. I saw Pei Qing holding a gun, but the warrior who was with him was nowhere to be seen. The sergeant's face turned pale and he ran back with another warrior. When I asked what happened, they ignored me and ran straight past me back.
"I had to crawl up to Pei Qing and ask him what's going on. His face turned pale and he didn't say a word. A soldier next to him tried to explain to me, but stuttered and gestured clumsily. It took me a long time to understand what had happened – someone had fallen and the deputy platoon leader had gone back to get a rope."
At this moment, I could already hear the sound of rushing water. As I approached for a closer look, I realized that I had arrived at the location where the terrain suddenly dropped, creating a fault in the riverbed. The dark water of the underground river rushed down from here, forming a waterfall. Although not very high, at most twenty meters, the flashlight revealed that there were rocks at the bottom. Suddenly, I saw the soldier who had set out with Pei Qing trapped between two rocks, with blood all over his face. I didn't know whether he was dead or alive, but it was obvious that he had fallen down by accident.
"My head buzzed and this was already a major accident. I hurriedly asked Pei Qing for details about what happened. Pei Qing said that originally they had planned to go back when they arrived here. However, he saw that the waterfall wasn't very high and thought that since they had come this far, it would be a pity not to explore further. The soldier said that the squad leader asked him to protect Pei Qing and since it was such a dangerous task, he went down himself after giving the gun to the soldier. I'm not sure what happened, but the soldier had only taken a few steps when he suddenly fell. He immediately called for help, but we didn't respond for a long time until we put down our guns and got the message."
"I have experienced this kind of thing. Losing footing is the most common danger faced by geological exploration team members. I quickly instructed the two soldiers who didn't go back to shout the name of the soldier who fell under the waterfall. If he was still conscious, we couldn't let him fall asleep. However, the two soldiers shouted for a long time, calling someone named Zhong Hu Zi. It should be the nickname of the little soldier who lost his footing, but there was no response at all. My heart sank, and it looked like the situation was grim."
"Wang Sichuan and his group arrived later than me and were also very tired, but as soon as he heard someone had fallen, he immediately tried to go down and save them. However, myself and another soldier desperately held him back."
"In the end, after waiting anxiously on the side for twenty minutes, the rope was finally brought over. The deputy leader descended and carried the young soldier up on his back. When he came up, his hands were covered in blood. At first, I thought it was from the young soldier, but later I realized it was all from the deputy leader. In the waterfall, there was a wire mesh that was invisible under the water, and it was probably this that caused the young soldier to slip."
"When I checked, I closed my eyes and he had already sacrificed himself, and I never had the chance to know the name of this warrior. At that moment, we were all speechless, and several people crouched down and began to wipe away tears."
Because I wore a helmet, I never carefully examined these engineering soldiers. Now it seems that this warrior is at most nineteen years old. At this age, he still knows nothing and recklessly tramples on his youth. At that time, he didn't leave any last words, and perhaps died without even experiencing love.
The deputy squad leader had been to the battlefield before, but at the moment he was just smoking. Several soldiers were crying, and Wang Sichuan was also crying. He grabbed Pei Qing and said that he was just a kid, how could you let him do such a dangerous thing. Pei Qing didn't say anything, nor did he resist, but his face was not good-looking. I wanted to persuade those soldiers, but the deputy squad leader stopped me and said to let them cry for twenty minutes, only twenty minutes.
"This incident has dealt a heavy blow to me. In the past, we were very aware of the dangers of exploration activities. Although it seemed that we were all relaxed, when it came to critical issues, we were all very cautious. Unfortunately, our long-standing habits have made us accustomed to taking care of ourselves and not thinking about others. This time, we did not consider that those construction soldiers had no geological exploration experience. Other than physical qualities, these soldiers had the same qualities as ordinary people. It can be said that our negligence has caused the death of this little warrior."
"This feeling is very uncomfortable because it is the truth that cannot be avoided. I wonder if I would have reminded him of something if I had brought him here? Probably not. We are both very skilled in our profession, but in other aspects, we are really lazy, and it's no wonder Pei Qing criticized us. Thinking about it makes me feel incredibly guilty."
That night, we carried the body back to the camp and laid it on a sleeping bag. The body could not be transported back, but the mission had to be completed. We would have to deal with it when we returned. The deputy squad leader told us to rest early, but no one could calm down. Everyone spent the night sleepless.
The next day, it didn't really matter if it was morning or evening. After we each got up and packed our things, we paid our respects to the body of the little warrior before continuing on.
"In 1962, the country was of utmost importance. At that time, we never had the idea of taking a break and coming back later. We only thought of completing the mission. However, in modern exploration missions, if such a situation were to occur, it would undoubtedly have already been cancelled."
We had our lunch under the waterfall. The number of corpses bags here was already low. The stones behind were relatively smaller and closer together, making it easier to walk. At that time, Wang Sichuan proposed to explore the path, but we stopped him without any other reason, as it didn't feel appropriate.
After finishing lunch and during a twenty-minute break, something happened that caught me off guard. When I reached into my pocket to grab a cigarette, I felt a crumpled piece of paper. I was puzzled, as I had never put it there before. When I unfolded it, I saw that it was a note torn from a labor insurance record with a few words written on it: "Be careful of Pei Qing!"