Many people may find it confusing at this point. In fact, I was also confused at the time. The difference between a novel and non-fiction is that a novel emphasizes the coherence between the beginning and the end, while non-fiction deals with facts. Meeting Yuan Xile was a fact, and I never expected to meet her here. Nonetheless, she did appear at that time.
"I didn't believe it at first, but upon closer inspection, it really was her. I was startled and wondered how she ended up here."
Yuan Xile is also engaged in exploration. Although she is about the same age as us, her qualifications are older than us because she was one of the batch of people who returned from studying in the Soviet Union and received special treatment. I have been in the same exploration team with her more than once, and she was the deputy team leader at that time. She was nicknamed the Soviet witch and was particularly serious in her work. Because I am careless, I often get criticized, but this woman is very generous in private and we get along well. She often leads teams to various places, and Pei Qing knows her, apparently for similar reasons.
The 24 of us who came together were obviously all men, and her appearance was shocking. Judging from the wounds on her face and body, it was obvious that the situation was not good, and it was unclear what had happened.
Yuan Xile's body temperature was very low. We didn't have time to discuss why she appeared there, so several people drew straws. Finally, Wang Sichuan took off her clothes.
She had large areas of abrasions on her body, with bruises and internal bleeding everywhere, which looked very frightening. Her knees and palms were in a mess, and if it weren't for the rocks and barbed wire here, one would certainly think she had escaped from torture. But none of these were fatal, the most serious problem was her body temperature. Her clothes were wet before Wang Sichuan threw her into the water, and her body must have been cold for a long time, with lips turning purple.
Wang Sichuan trembled as he dried her body and put her into the sleeping bag. He boiled water for her to drink and used fire to warm her face, working until late at night. Her body temperature finally rose, but her consciousness was still unclear and she couldn't be awakened. Nevertheless, we breathed a sigh of relief as we saw her peacefully sleeping. Pei Qing muttered to himself, "How could she be here?"
"My mind is already in a mess, and I keep thinking about what the old cat said to me before I left, feeling worse and worse. 'Something is not right about this.' I told them, 'We can't go any further.'"
"What's wrong?" Wang Sichuan asked.
"I don't think we are the first group of people here," I said, "there must be something going on and that Colonel didn't tell us the truth."
"At that time, my mind was in chaos and my thoughts were not clear. However, the situation was obvious. Pei Qing immediately nodded, apparently realizing this, and frowned."
Judging from Yuan Xile's attire, it is evident that she is part of this geological survey mission's team. However, she is not among the four teams that we came in with, which means that she belongs to a fifth team that we are not aware of.
"Moreover, according to common sense and geographical estimation, this fifth team should have entered before our four teams entered the cave. We have only been here for a little more than a day. If they entered after us, it is impossible for them to catch up with us so quickly."
In other words, there should have been a prior exploration activity before we entered the cave. The details are unknown, but this proposition holds true. Yuan Xile is the concrete evidence.
"This matter has become a bit chaotic, and it may lead to many troubles at once. For example, how long ago did they come in and why didn't the colonel tell us about it? As a female explorer, she cannot be allowed to enter the cave alone. What about the others?"
"The deputy squad leader and a few soldiers sat quietly on the side without saying anything. I asked them, how much do you know about this matter?"
"The deputy squad leader shook his head and said, "We have even less than you. We entered together in the same batch, but while you had meetings, we didn't even have one. Our superiors ordered us to work together with you without questioning, without hearing, and without doubt, and only to accomplish the mission."
"Several people fell silent, unexpected of such a situation."
Wang Sichuan said, "How about asking her when she wakes up?"
I shook my head. Yuan Xile's situation just now wasn't very good. What was most frightening was that she didn't have a flashlight, which meant that this poor woman had no idea how long she had been in this pitch-black cave. If you can imagine such a scene, you will find it to be a terrifying thing - endless darkness, a cold cave, and all sorts of strange noises. After experiencing these things, a person's mental state is sure to be a bit problematic.
Pei Qing thought about another aspect, but we had the same end in mind. He said, "It's no use. Even if she wakes up, I'm sure she won't reveal too much to us. That's their professional ethics at that level. And she's at a higher level than us, so we might have to listen to her."
"What do we do now?" Wang Sichuan thought for a moment and then cursed, "Damn it, what the hell is the organization thinking? We never had so much trouble before. Just dig a hole and be done with it. What is so special about the things in this hole that they're making such a big deal about it?"
"When you got on the car, you should have realized that the situation this time is very different from what we have experienced before," Pei Qing said without looking at him, but instead looked towards the direction we were heading. I saw a hint of anticipation in his eyes."
"I said this kid's character is really weird. He doesn't seem to care about this kind of thing. I remembered the note again, but then I thought that I was also curious. What exactly is at the end of this underground river? Why is the situation becoming more and more difficult to grasp?"
"Eh, let's not talk about it. It's not good if the engineering troops hear us and think that we doubt the decision of the organization. It won't be good if it spreads." Chen Luohu whispered on the side, "We have no choice but to continue marching even if we are hungry."
"Wang Sichuan gave him a stare, and I stopped him. This time Chen Luohu was not wrong. The thinking of the engineering troops is different from ours. We should not say too much in front of them to shake their confidence. I thought for a moment and said, 'But no matter what, we still have to wait for her to wake up and ask her some questions. We need to know some information. At least we should give an explanation.'"