When the deputy squad leader uttered those words, he exuded a heroic spirit with the flair of Zhang Zhijian from a movie. Unfortunately, I was not able to react with excitement because he suddenly fell down, catching me off guard. Instinctively, I reached out my hand to grab him, but it was too late. He slid down the almost vertical dam.
"I was shocked and panicked, almost sliding down with him. Luckily, the dam had a slight incline, and he slid only a couple of meters before grabbing hold of a section of iron wire ladder below. This saved him from falling to his death, but the force of the impact was so strong that the ladder was pulled out from the concrete on one side, making it difficult to grip and causing his hands to slip down."
"I shouted to him not to panic and that I would go and pull him up. As I leaned forward, I realized that I could not reach him even halfway, and as I tried to stretch farther, my upper body was hanging out and I almost slipped down. It was still a considerable distance away."
It's fortunate that the deputy squad leader is a soldier, with different reactions and strength than others. When I reached out my hand to make a daring move, he stepped on the dam with his foot and used the explosive force to quickly climb up, just in time to grab my hand.
"I grabbed him tightly and held my breath immediately. With force, I tried to pull him, but I miscalculated my own strength and posture. At that moment, I had already leaned out of the dam significantly. At first, it was fine, but when all his weight was pressing down on my arm, I realized that I couldn't hold on and both of us slid down together."
I panicked and searched everywhere, but even if I caught that pose, I couldn't exert any strength. Eventually, inevitably, I was dragged down by the deputy leader in just one second of astonishment.
"I looked at the vice squad leader. His expression was complicated at the time, and I can honestly say my mind went blank because everything happened so quickly."
After I fell down, my chin immediately rubbed against the rough concrete, and then I somersaulted and rolled downwards. My head hit a metal ladder, causing a sharp pain.
In an instant, I reached out to grab the iron wire ladder, but I missed it as soon as I blinked. The two people fell down the dam, sticking to it for dozens of meters until they reached the spotlight. In a flash, I saw a square window on the dam emitting bright light, too much for my eyes. In less than a second, I fell down.
"God bless, at that moment, I suddenly felt a jolt and my shoulder tightened. The momentum stopped abruptly as if something had caught me. Shaking my dizzy head, I looked up and saw the exposed tips of steel bars every other span on the concrete outer wall here. During construction, they were probably bent into hooks for safety reasons. And the strap of the water bottle I had just scavenged happened to be caught on one of them, yanking me back."
The deputy squad leader was nowhere to be found. The only flashlight and torch I had brought were both dropped, and as I looked up and down, all I could see was pitch black darkness. Luckily, the scattering light from the searchlight here saved me; otherwise, it would have been over for me. I don't know if the squad leader stopped like me or if he had already met with disaster.
"I gathered my focus, started climbing up using the strap of the water bucket. The hooks made of steel bars were quite sturdy, I stepped on them with my toes and climbed up till the window where the searchlight was shining. While trying to grab the window, I suddenly felt weak in my hands and couldn't muster any strength."
"That feeling was very familiar to me, and I immediately knew it might be a fracture. Just when I was despairing, a hand suddenly emerged from the window and grabbed me, and then I was dragged inside."
"I fell to the ground and felt extremely dizzy. I didn't know how I looked up, but I saw someone pulling me. All I saw was a shadow hiding behind a flashlight. At that moment, I realized that this person was very thin, definitely not Wang Sichuan."
"I always thought it was Wang Sichuan who turned on the searchlight, but in that moment, I saw that I was wrong. Suddenly, a black figure emerged from the darkness of the searchlight's tail. I saw a person wearing an old-fashioned gas mask. He looked at me and came over to help me up."
"I wondered who this person was in my heart. Could he be a leftover Japanese person? I wanted to avoid him in my thoughts. He called out to me, but I couldn't hear him clearly through my gas mask. He called out a few times and I kept shaking my head. He scratched his head and had to remove his gas mask. When I had a look, I was surprised and opened my mouth wide. This person turned out to be the soldier who was left behind by the deputy team leader to take care of Chen Luohu and Yuan Xile."
After being surprised, I suddenly felt happy and wanted to give him a hug. Unfortunately, I had no strength in my hands, so I asked him about the other two people. But he looked nervous and said to me, "Quick, come with me!" He put on a gas mask and helped me up, then pulled me into the room.
I told him that the deputy squad leader might still be outside, and I didn't know if he had fallen down or was hanging there like me. He nodded and said he would go and check.
"I was assisted into the room and inside was a dim red emergency light. This should be the technical level of the machine room, with a floor made of wire mesh and concrete. From the wire mesh part, you could see the flowing water and large, old machinery below. They looked like huge iron blocks pouring together with the concrete. People who have not been inside a hydroelectric power station cannot imagine how large these machines are. Bundles of rusted iron cables and pipes extend from below and intersect in this room. At the end of the room, I saw a wall made entirely of cast iron, with a circular airtight iron door on it."
This is airtight and watertight door. It's so rusty that it looks like a twisted doughnut. The soldier turned the dial-type latch and it was apparent that there was a booster inside the latch. He effortlessly opened the door and helped me inside.
Inside is a preparation channel. I saw Japanese-style three-proof uniforms hanging on the walls. After he closed the door, the entire room began to ventilate. Then he ran to the end of the preparation room where there was also a three-proof door, which he also turned open.
Inside is a sealed room that emits the smell of rust. Everything is made of iron, with iron desks and chairs that are very messy. Maps and some Japanese slogans are hanging on the walls, and two emergency lights are shining. The soldier told me not to leave here and then immediately left.
"I spotted Yuan Xile crouching in the corner of the room at first glance, almost coiled up in a ball, while Chen Luohu sat on a chair, nervously standing up as he saw me. His eyes were bloodshot, his mouth twitching without knowing what to say."
"I don't know what to say, seeing them here is really beyond my expectations. Even though we parted less than a day ago, so much has happened that it feels like a lifetime has passed."
I asked Chen Lu Hu how he came here, and he said that when he noticed the rising water, the soldiers came to rescue them. They blew up the rubber raft and went downstream. However, the water rose too fast, and there were more than one fork in the top of the underground river. When they explored, they did not find it. When the water rose, they could not control it and were swept into a fork, which led them here.
"I realized that we had been walking at the bottom all along without paying attention to the situation above. As the water level continued to rise, those side tunnels were certainly flooded and became underwater culverts. The old cats didn't notice when they came over."
Afterwards, Chen Luohu's response lacked logic. His mental state must have been approaching its limit by this point. Not to mention him, even if I hadn't been scared out of my wits when I fell into the water, I don't know how I would have reacted when I saw "Shen Shan".
After a moment of silence, he asked me about the others, whether someone would be sent to take us back.
"I don't know how he explained what I went through, but I told him briefly. His face changed when he heard the old cat come down, but then he relaxed again. I wonder, if this is our destination, then where did that strange telegram lead them underground?"
While we were speaking, the three-defense door opened again, and a soldier carrying the deputy platoon leader rushed in, holding his nose and panting heavily. He shouted at us, "Quickly close the door!"
Before I could react, Chen Luohu had already jumped up and closed the door. Then, we twisted the roulette latch together for over ten rounds until we heard a clicking sound from inside, and then we stopped.
Looking through the glass peephole on the door, I saw that the airtight door outside the preparation room was not closed. A gray mist was slowly spreading in from the doorway.