Chereads / The Final Exploration / Chapter 19 - Chapter 18

Chapter 19 - Chapter 18

"That stone is only five meters high. According to the speed the water is rising, we can only hold out for ten minutes at most, but I really doubt if our nerves can last that long. Watching the water level rise and the surface getting closer and closer, that feeling of heart-pounding acceleration and helplessness is like being tormented in an inferno."

"The deputy leader is the calmest person here, and now he has given up, sitting on a rock smoking. Unfortunately, the cigarette butt is already wet and cannot be lit. Wang Sichuan, who is the least superstitious, shone his flashlight on one side of the rock wall, shouting for me to shine the flashlight on the water-eroded line so that we can determine the final height of the water level and prepare ourselves. We followed him in a flurry, and in the end found it far above our heads."

"This is the lowest point of the entire dark river, and I feel like that height is already giving me respect."

"A young warrior later cried out. These soldiers are too young. It is useless to reason with them. All I feel is restless and resigned to death."

This uneasiness didn't last long as water began to flood below our feet. Fear struck and everyone held their breath, waiting for the moment when the last person would fall into the water, their faces pale.

"At this moment, Wang Sichuan, who had never given up, suddenly shouted and pointed towards a protruding stone waterfall on the side. We turned our heads to look and found out that there was a piece of protruding rock on the wall."

"Wang Sichuan said that if we can swim there, we can climb up these stone waterfalls and at least live a little longer. With that, he told us to take pictures of him and jumped into the rapids without hesitation, resurfacing after a few ups and downs, and swimming towards the stone waterfalls."

The speed of the water flow combined with the short distance, he quickly climbed up to the rocky waterfall. Then he signaled us by flashing his flashlight, prompting us to hurry over.

"The deputy squad leader took the lead and jumped down with a little warrior. They soon arrived successfully, and it didn't seem very difficult. I was immediately excited and slapped Pei Qing, saying that we could do it. I was about to jump down."

"I didn't expect Pei Qing to turn pale and grab my hand, saying to me: 'We can't go down!'"

"I was surprised and asked anxiously, 'Why?'"

"He pointed to the rapids beneath our feet and said, 'Look! There's something in the water!'"

I shone my flashlight over and saw a floating black shadow on one side of the rock we were on. It had appeared in the water at some point without us noticing, and sat there quietly without moving.

The situation at this moment is so chaotic that it's hard to put into words. On one side, there is a dark river with raging currents up to our necks. On the other side is Wang Sichuan, shouting loudly. Meanwhile, there's Pei Qing tightly holding onto my hand, and mysterious black shadows in the water.

"I was already extremely confused, and with this situation, I had no other energy to consider issues. Anyway, staying here would only result in being washed away by the water, so I shouted at him, 'Why are you still hesitating? Even if there are sharks in the water, you have to get in!'"

"Pei Qing stubbornly surprised me, holding onto me tightly, while rolling up his trouser legs and shouting, 'See for yourself!'"

"I looked down and saw a deep black mark on his shin, as if it was a scratch from something. He said coldly to me, 'When I crossed the water prison earlier, I didn't fall into the iron cage. I was pulled down by something inside the cage. There must be something wrong with the water!'"

"I said nonsense in my heart, but when I thought about what I saw underwater in an instant, I was stuck and couldn't speak."

"Wang Sichuan is still shouting loudly, even losing his voice. Obviously, he doesn't understand what we are doing and is furious."

However, I hesitated for only a second and realized that it didn't make any difference whether we went in or not. We were already in the water, and even if we insisted on not going in now, the water would still rise above our waists in half a minute. So without any hesitation, I dragged Pei Qing and jumped into the water, regardless of whether he was willing or not.

We were suddenly swept into the rapids and I spun several times before finding my balance. Underwater, I could only see the direction of Wang Sichuan's flashlight, but it was enough. I used all my strength to take a deep breath and then swam over with my arms spread open.

"That was a swimming without a destination or purpose. I just desperately swam towards the light, not knowing how long I had been in the water. My mind was blank and I couldn't hear anything until Wang Sichuan and the others grabbed my hand and pulled me up. Slowly I regained my senses and the sound rushed back into my ears."

"The rock waterfall on this side is just a bit higher than the rocks on the other side. I wiped away the damp hair in front of my eyes and looked for Pei Qing. I saw him coming towards us much slower than me, like an old man, but it didn't seem to be a big problem."

"At this moment, I remembered the black shadow. I searched for it again but couldn't find it. I wondered if it was just an illusion or a coincidence of light and shadow."

At this thought, I breathed a sigh of relief. Pei Qingan was also pulled up unscathed and leaned against the stone waterfall, panting heavily, clearly exhausted.

"I blamed myself for my idealistic thoughts just now, and found it ridiculous that I believed Pei Qing's words."

"Wang Sichuan saw all of us coming over and asked me what happened. I was panting and asked him to wait for me to catch my breath before answering. He patted us and asked us to continue climbing up to see if we could climb to the top of the water erosion line. The water was rising rapidly and this area would soon be destroyed."

We nodded, and the deputy squad leader, who had regained his spirits, took the lead and climbed up. Then, one by one, we followed. I was not very strong and fell behind at the end. Pei Qing was worse than me. I patted him to let him go up first, so that no one would be left behind in case of a fall.

"Pei Qing looked at the water and seemed to still be scared. She patted me, glanced at me, grinned and smiled at me, then turned around and climbed up."

"I looked at his smile and suddenly felt something strange. He had never smiled before. Why was he smiling so strangely now? And why was he laughing at this moment? Was it because of what happened earlier? Then Wang Sichuan yelled at us from above, saying that we were always the slowest. I had to jog to catch up with him."

The formation of stone waterfalls is mostly due to the larger fissures in the rock layers above the cave, as well as the abundant water flow that washes against the limestone walls. In addition to the stone waterfalls, there are also stalactites and stalagmites, which serve as the stepping stones for our climbing.

However, the rocks on the cave walls here are not very hard. Many of the protruding areas started to crack and sway dangerously when stepped on, putting everyone at risk. Finally reaching the highest point that could be reached, looking down, it wasn't much higher than what was seen just a moment ago.

The sense of crisis eased a little, and people's thinking became active. We each found a relatively stable standing point and started shining our flashlights on the opposite rock wall, searching for the next possible spot to take shelter from the water.

Unfortunately, it seems the good luck didn't continue. The opposite rock wall was bare and the only place to possibly rest was upstream of the water flow. With the water rushing so rapidly, we couldn't swim there at all.

"It was a deeper despair after seeing hope. We fell back into desperation again. This time, even Wang Sichuan gave up. Several people looked silently at the rushing water below."

Just as the water was about to reach our ankles again, suddenly, Wang Sichuan burst into song:

"It is the wind in the valley that has stirred our red flag."

It was the fierce rain that washed away our tent.

"We have a fiery passion that conquers all fatigue and coldness."

We carried our luggage on our backs and climbed up layer after layer of mountains.

"We are full of infinite hope, searching for rich mineral resources for our country."

"It is the star in the sky that lit up a bright lamp for us."

"It is the bird in the forest that announces the dawn to us."

We have a fiery passion that overcomes all fatigue and coldness.

We carried our luggage on our backs and climbed up layer upon layer of mountain peaks.

"We have boundless hope and are searching for rich mineral resources for our motherland."

"It is the river that merges into the vast ocean of waves."

"Devote our infinite wisdom to the people of the motherland."

We have a fiery passion that conquers all fatigue and cold.

We carried our luggage on our backs and climbed up layer by layer of the mountains.

We are full of endless hope, searching for rich mineral resources for our country.

"This is "The Song of the Exploration Team Members". It was through the romantic imagination in this song and in "The Younger Generation" that I made the resolute decision to embark on the geological exploration path. After years of mundane exploration work, my enthusiasm had been worn down. I never imagined that at this moment, Wang Sichuan would sing this song again."

The scene of facing death didn't originally make me feel any excitement, but when Wang Sichuan sang with his drum-like voice, it really gave me a sense of romanticism. We couldn't help but sing along to this familiar song, and as we sang, the rapids seemed to quickly become less terrifying.

However, the reality is cruel. No matter how well I sing, and how bad Wang Sichuan sings, the water still quickly rises to our shins. We both close our eyes and sing with all our might.

"When facing a life or death situation, Buddhists and Christians both have texts prepared by God where they can pray to ease the fear of death. As atheists, we only have our passion from years gone by to drive away death. It's really helpless."

We held onto the rock wall tightly, waiting for the final moment. The water rose to our knees, then our waists and bellies, and finally to our chests. At that point, the water pressure was so strong that we couldn't even sing.

At that moment, I heard Wang Sichuan, whose throat had already gone hoarse, shouting loudly. I couldn't hear what he was shouting, but I also saw something strange. I saw a very dazzling light from a boat's headlamp in the distance, and then I saw four skin rafts appear in our field of vision.

At first, I thought it was a hallucination. But the rafts quickly approached, and soon I saw the old cat crouched on the bow of the frontmost raft, holding a cigarette and watching us with a half-smile.