This type of iron cage is called a water prison. It is often seen in some Japanese buildings in the three eastern provinces. The upper part of the water prison is tightly attached to the water surface. People imprisoned in the water prison can only put their faces against the top screen of the cage and breathe with their noses sticking out. In the cold underground river water, they can only maintain this posture for several days and nights, otherwise they will suffocate.
In this section of the dark river, it is filled with iron cages like this, a black and dense mass that is hard to notice without careful observation. If you shine a flashlight on it, you may find some vague shadows floating in some of the cages. It is unknown what they are, but it sends shivers down one's spine.
Wang Sichuan said he had heard from an elderly person before that when Japanese soldiers captured people, they would usually sink them in underwater prisons. They wouldn't just let you soak in water for free, and there were definitely leeches or other things in the water. We have to be careful and not jump in recklessly.
"When we heard it, our hearts were suspended. The deputy squad leader said, 'It's so cold here, there won't be leeches, right?' Wang Sichuan said it's not related to the cold. There are mountain leeches on the grassland. They usually hide on the back of leaves, and come out when it rains."
We who often travel outdoors know the harm of this thing. Leeches are not deadly, but they make people feel disgusted. Being bitten by them can sometimes transmit diseases such as fever and colds. It is one of the main precautions for geological exploration in the wilderness.
After being told by Wang Sichuan, we all felt that we couldn't ignore it. So we tightened our pants, tied our shoes, and because leeches are very small when they are not sucking blood, the small gaps cannot stop them. So we also put gauze in the gaps of our pants.
"Everything was ready, and after checking with each other, we gradually went into the water. The deputy squad leader led the way, carrying some items over his head. We were like surrendered soldiers, walking towards the depths of the water."
The stones underfoot were rugged and uneven. When we reached the deepest point, the water rose up to our chests, extremely cold and penetrating into our clothes, taking away all our body heat. Teeth chattering, we continued forward, urged on by Wang Sichuan who was freezing in the rear.
However, this way of moving forward is not fast, even when we want to. The cold temperature combined with the resistance of water makes it difficult for us to move. We can only try our best to take bigger steps with every stride.
"Several combat engineers had better cold resistance than us. They walked while shining their flashlights around us, and soon we walked into the middle of those iron cages. It was closer than from the shore, and it was much clearer when looked from the water surface. The rusty iron fence made people feel more scared. The most terrifying thing was that many iron cages had clusters of hair and shadows floating in them, which could be confirmed as human corpses."
"The more we look, the more our hearts feel cold. Wang Sicuan spoke through his teeth, saying, "It's too tragic. We just drowned here and even in death, we won't find peace."
Pei Qing said, "There is actually a water prison set up here. This is a trick that the Japanese use to intimidate Chinese laborers. The presence of the remains of laborers and the water prison indicates that the Japanese stayed here for a considerable amount of time, and there may be a permanent base inside."
"We were all silent. Wang Sichuan muttered, 'Whatever the Japanese like, it must not be a good thing.'"
"We continued to move forward in silence, surrounded only by the sound of water and the sound of people breathing ahead and behind us."
This section of the underground river wasn't very long, and soon we reached the middle section. I was so cold that I couldn't feel my feet and my mind was a bit confused. The shaking of the flashlights in front and behind me looked like blurred flowers. I simply relied on reflexes to continue forward and didn't care about any leeches.
At this moment, I heard some distinctive sounds of water, as if someone had stopped.
I squinted my eyes and looked ahead, realizing that the deputy squad leader who was walking in front had stopped. He was using a flashlight to shine on the ground and was looking for something.
"We asked him what happened. He looked up, with a pale face, and said to us, 'Just now it seemed like something grabbed my foot.'"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Wang Sichuan's face changed too. It's really dangerous to say such things in this place.
Several people were originally very cold and listless. But after hearing this, they became alert and energized. The deputy squad leader urgently said, "It's true, there really is something under the water."
We looked at his expression and felt that it was indeed impossible for him to deceive us. This headmaster looked serious and sincere, without any hint of joking. Immediately, everyone pointed their flashlights towards the water.
"Could it be blind fish?" Pei Qing asked. "The underground river here has been flowing under those stone slabs. There are gaps between the stones, and in such a large underground river, there must be fish swimming around."
"If you find it, then I'll believe you," said Wang Sichuan. Before the end of his sentence, we all saw a long shadow flash under the intense beams of our flashlights.
Everyone was stunned, then Wang Sichuan panicked and climbed onto the iron cage on one side. Upon seeing this, everyone immediately followed suit and climbed onto the cage. The deputy squad leader led the way by raising his gun, and there was a sound of rounds being loaded.
Several people were all soaked through, and after coming out of the water, their bodies couldn't adjust to the weight. Pei Qing was the smallest in stature and didn't stand steadily. He sat down on the cage with a pale face, staring fixedly at the water surface.
Several people wanted to use flashlights to shine into the water again, but couldn't see anything. The water's surface was full of ripples we had caused. Suddenly, no one knew if the shadow we had seen earlier was just our own imagination or something else. However, it was certain that no one dared to go into the water again.
After a moment of tension, Wang Sichuan said "Stop taking photos, let's run to the shore first!" He stepped on the iron cages and ran to one side. When we saw that he had run away, we felt a sense of panic and didn't think much before chasing after him.
The iron cages are tightly arranged and only one finger's distance from the water surface. Running on them feels like running on flat ground. I was just wondering how the Japanese imprisoned people in water cells, but now I see that there is such a way to walk on water. I thought to myself, I never expected this. If I had known earlier, we wouldn't have had to wade through the water. It's true that our brains don't work in critical situations.
Several people ran very quickly, all afraid of being the last one. Soon, they saw the opposite bank. The closest section of the bank did not have a fence. Wang Sichuan quickly jumped into the water, struggled to get up, and took a few steps to get to the other side.
Later people hastily followed, among them the second runner Pei Qing was about to make it, but suddenly his whole body sank and he disappeared into the water.
"I just followed him and as soon as I looked, I thought to myself 'this is bad'. I rushed over with a few quick steps and saw that Pei Qing had been dragged under the water. The water was churning violently, and I didn't know what was happening."
Without the original text, the translation would be: "In a moment of panic, I didn't hesitate and jumped into the water. I dove under and groped my way towards the turbulent spot."
Underwater was full of bubbles, visibility was very blurry, as if two giant objects were fighting, my nerves were highly tense and I pulled out a knife, while moving the flashlight to see what was going on.
However, to my surprise, once I adjusted to the underwater lighting, I realized that there was no monster ahead of me. Instead, I found a ridiculous and hilarious scene.
Pei Qing found himself locked in an iron cage with no idea how he got there. He wasn't good with water and couldn't open his eyes underwater. He struggled desperately in the cage, but due to extreme nervousness, his efforts were in vain, only creating countless bubbles in the water.
"I understood immediately. It turned out that there was a rusty iron cage here. After Wang Sichuan stepped on it and Pei Qing gave it a kick, the fence broke. He was thin and fell into the iron cage. When he came down, he panicked and it was difficult for him to get out of the hole. His vision was also poor, so he could only blindly stumble."
"This matter can be big or small. People who understand water know that even in a bathhouse, those who are afraid of water can drown. Hurriedly, I swam over and reached into the cage to calm him down."
"I didn't expect that as soon as my hand grabbed his, he exploded like a bomb, even more scared, his legs kicked and he slammed into the fence on one side."
"I looked at the situation and realized it was not good. I quickly went up to the surface and climbed up to the top of the iron cage. I reached out through the hole and tried to pull him out. At this moment, the deputy squad leader and Wang Sichuan who had landed rushed over. We hurriedly tried to break open the iron cage and pull out the half-dead Pei Qing."
"This guy is really tough. He started vomiting as soon as he came up, kept coughing, and his whole body was heavy and limp like mud. We tried our best to pull his upper body out of the water, but couldn't get his feet out no matter how much effort we put in."
"Wang Sichuan pulled a few times and said that it might be caught by something and someone needs to go down to solve it. Everyone looked at me all of a sudden because I was the only one completely wet. I cursed silently and had to jump back into the water to take a look."
Without Pei Qing's struggle, the water became much clearer. I approached the cage to take a closer look and found that the cages were actually intertwined with wire mesh to prevent strong labor from carrying the iron cages and escaping. Pei Qing's trouser leg was caught in the wire mesh.
"This is really troublesome. I held my breath and dove underwater to reach into the cage and pull with all my strength. It took a lot of effort, but I finally tore his trouser cuff. The people on the surface kept pulling while I loosened my grip, and he was immediately pulled up."
"I took a deep breath and withdrew my hand from the cage. Just as I was about to kick up and float, the flashlight suddenly flashed and I saw a hideous face emerging from the water to my left."