The three of us looked at each other in silence, feeling suddenly inspired. I sat down and forced myself to think calmly. With the convergence of various clues through this metal box, I gradually began to understand some things.
"Is it true that things are like this?"
We know how they discovered this place, perhaps while exploring for oil and coal, they stumbled upon this vast space. Or maybe out of curiosity, they discovered the immense void at the end of this underground river. Whatever their motivation, it doesn't matter. Clearly, they were determined to find out what lies beneath this Chinese land, in the dark abyss that seems to stretch like the universe.
To achieve their goal, they chose to use deep mountain bombers. They certainly couldn't record the observation results with their naked eyes. The deep mountain bombers were equipped with aerial photography equipment used for reconnaissance, including possibly the most advanced aerial cameras at the time.
However, after the plane took off, the entire base was abandoned for some reason. When flying back over the mountains to the dam, the plane crashed into an underground river due to lack of navigation. The river was filled with buffer bags made of Chinese bodies, so the plane was not completely destroyed. Some people may have been injured, but only one pilot died, the strange corpse we saw in the wreckage. The others may have survived.
"We found that roll of tape in the body from the ice layer, so it's possible that the body in the ice layer belonged to the crew members at that time. They survived after the forced landing, took the tape, but then for some unknown reason died frozen in the ice."
Did something happen after the plane crashed? These pilots did not leave, but instead went to the bottom of the dam, where they stacked warheads near the radar. In the end, they were frozen to death there due to some accident.
And the shape formed by the radar and warhead, as Wang Sichuan said, is very much like a trap, a snare.
What could be the reason? Is it because they saw something in the abyss, or do they think that there is something in the depths that attracts them to the mountains?
As soon as I thought of this, I felt a chill down my spine and a slight goosebumps.
The rest is simple. After these people were frozen for decades, our geological exploration team discovered this cave. So, we came.
"We don't know what happened to the first exploration team. Assuming everything was caused by the spy from Japan who knew about everything below and that the Chinese had discovered this place, he infiltrated the first exploration team and killed the team members, thus sabotaging the mission."
From the traces he left here, it seems likely that he was searching for something, probably the film canister. However, he didn't know the film was frozen in the ice, so he didn't find it even after we came in. To buy time, he lowered us into the ice cellar and tried to freeze us to death, but unfortunately, he didn't anticipate that someone from the first exploratory team survived and set up a distress signal using the phone line, which allowed Old Tang and the others to obtain the fortress map and find the ice cellar.
It's almost a straight line, the three of us, including my speculation and Wang Sichuan's, are thinking almost the same thing.
"So it seems that this enemy is cunning and very formidable. He has manipulated so many of us in the palm of his hand," said Wang Sichuan. "After he trapped us in the ice cellar, he even wanted to kill you, the lone survivor. But the first exploration team that went missing was a woman, so why did you feel like it was a man trying to kill you?"
"I bit my lip and said, "There are two possibilities. One is that I made a mistake, or that person is a man disguised as a woman. Japanese people are not tall, so it's not impossible. The other possibility is that this person entered our team." At this point, I thought of those several notes again."
"This person wanted to bury me alive in the ice cellar and it was also him who closed the iron door of the cable channel to trap us here."
"I asked Wang Sichuan, 'Who do you think this person is?'"
"He shook his head, we don't understand these construction soldiers. To be honest, anyone could be responsible."
"If you ask me, it's either Chen Luhu or Pei Qing who are the most suspicious," he said. "I reckon it's probably Pei Qing."
"Wang Sichuan does have some emotional connection with Pei Qing, but now I also have some doubts about Pei Qing in my heart, I just don't want to say it out loud."
After a moment of silence, Ma Zaihai asked, "So what do we do now? The enemy is hidden, and we are exposed."
"I have no experience of anti-spying. The three of us have all been trapped before, so obviously we are innocent. We may not have much chance of winning if we continue to deal with them now. Since we know that their goal is the roll of film, we should find it first and then leave here. Then we can go to the ground and let the organization decide our next move with caution."
"This proposal, looking back now, was immediately unanimously approved because our personal interests, organizational interests, and even national interests were highly aligned at the time."
Wang Sichuan said, "However, if it is really as we thought, with so few people in the warehouse now, it is very likely that the guy has already succeeded and the film has been taken."
"I agree that this possibility exists, but we cannot rely on speculation to determine the truth. In any case, we must find a way to return to the warehouse."
"Besides, Lao Tang and the others must also be looking for a way back to the warehouse. It is our obligation to leave information at the warehouse to let them know our whereabouts and the situation with the enemy. Otherwise, they may still look for us and create more complications. If this leads to more casualties, our guilt will be even greater."
"The most appropriate approach would be for one of us to stay behind while the other two take the tapes and leave. The person who stays behind would be responsible for passing on the information, but it's a sensitive issue as to who would stay behind, so I didn't say anything right away."
Anyway, the warehouse is the first stop and we have to go back there first.
"There are three forks in total, and we already know two of them are wrong, so the last one must be the way out."
"The next thing was very boring. This area should be the core of the dam, where the members' dormitories, canteen, and weapon depot are located on this floor, including countless control rooms, small offices, and toilets. We walked for more than two hours and took countless turns until we finally found a staircase."
"This is an emergency staircase, which should be used for evacuation in case the sinking box cannot be used. It is extremely narrow. After climbing up twenty levels, we heard the sound of wind, and we walked another ten levels before pushing open a wire gate. Finally, we returned to the top of the dam."
Coming out, the strong wind blew straight into my nose and mouth. The solitary searchlight was still there, while the other side was boundless and tranquil. Having gone through so much, seeing this vast expanse again brought about even more complicated feelings.
Meanwhile, the water level has dropped and everything that was submerged under the water has been exposed. We saw body bags as high as small hills and huge mountains of debris, as well as clear traces of the plane crash. At the same time, more underwater buildings have appeared, with even lights shining in some places. It seems that when Ma turned on the searchlight on the sea, he also turned on these lights.
The underground river has not completely dried up. The water level has dropped very low and the sound of flowing water can be heard. The gates of the dam have been closed and water is now being stored. Soon, these water flows will cause the water level to rise again.
"Horse pointed in a direction towards a pitch-black area where nothing could be seen clearly and said, "That's the filtration gate, and our ship should be anchored there, hopefully still there."
"If we make it out on this ship, then your wish to be the captain will certainly come true," I said, thinking to myself that even if we didn't have a ship, I would still try to swim out, even if it was almost like signing my own death warrant.
"There's no time to focus too much on this. We discussed how to find the warehouse and thought about climbing down along the outer edge of the dam. Let's look around the area where we just turned."
"About to take action, Ma yelled suddenly: 'Quick, look at the sea!'"
"I turned my head and saw that he was looking towards the inside of the dam. I quickly went over to him and asked, "What's up?"
"Somebody!"
Following the direction of his finger, a flashlight was rapidly moving in the darkness on the inside of the dam, and someone was attempting to walk on those wire fences.
"Who is it?" Wang Sichuan asked.
The horse looked out to the sea with a worried expression, saying "I'm not sure, but he went towards the place where I tie my raft."
"Oh no," three people suddenly realized that something was not right. They only had one flashlight, and someone was alone. Could it be the spy they were looking for? He ran in the direction of the raft. Did the spy get what he wanted and was preparing to leave quietly?
At this moment, we couldn't think carefully. Whether this person is friend or foe, we must capture him. Before I could say anything, Ma Zaihai and Wang Sichuan had already rushed out and started climbing the wire ladder.
On the other side of the huge dam, there was no strong wind and there was not bottomless abyss underneath. We climbed quickly. If we couldn't make it to the front, we might not be able to get out.
Luckily, we quickly climbed down the dam and entered a network of underground passages built with wire mesh. However, our visibility was limited and for a time we couldn't see in which direction that person had gone.
Hesitating, Wang Sichuan saw a flashlight ahead, about five or six hundred meters away from us.
"Chase!" I shouted. But he immediately stopped me: "We don't have guns. If it's an enemy agent carrying an automatic rifle, we won't stand a chance no matter what we say."
"What should we do?" I exclaimed urgently.
"We need to strike the enemy in one blow," Wang Sichuan spoke calmly. "Listen, this is no joke. The other side is a ruthless spy. You are a technician, and Xiao Ma is an engineer. Neither of you have been in a serious battle before, so we must not act recklessly."
"I angrily said, 'Have you ever fought in a war?!'"
"Although I have never been in a war, I have been riding horses with my father since I was five years old and I was able to go hunting in the mountains with friends at the age of fifteen. Children of our Mongolian ethnicity are always playing with all their might and are stronger than you. " He looked at the flashlight beam and said, "Now we are almost like hunting, the only advantage we have is that there are more of us. The three of us must divide our tasks, one person will distract his attention, another person will disarm him, and someone will restrain him during that moment. I will take care of disarming him, Lao Wu, you have the thinnest body, so you will distract his attention, Xiao Ma, you will attack him in that moment."
I said, "But you don't have a gun, so how can you knock his gun down?"
"Wang Sicuan searched everywhere, looking for a handy tool. But here, the pathway was made of wire mesh and there was nothing piled up. In the end, he reached out and pulled a thigh bone out of his sack, saying, "Even on the grasslands, the Mongolians have nothing. But as long as our skills are superb, anything can become a weapon in our hands."
"I saw his posture of holding the leg bone and understood that he was preparing to throw it at Blue. I asked, 'Why don't you just hit him on the head and knock him down?'"
Wang Sichuan said, "This is impossible, you can see for yourself."
"I looked over there and understood his meaning. The lighting was insufficient here, and the person could only see part of it with a flashlight, while the other parts were faint with his movements. If he put the flashlight on the boat, I couldn't even see his upper body, so you must let him fire the gun for me to know the location of the gun."
"I usually have confidence in his skills, but at such a critical moment, I cannot tolerate any mistakes. I said, 'No, I can't just rely on your blow to win. What if you miss?'"
Wang Sichuan said, "Why are you talking so much? If we hesitate any longer, this guy will run away and we may have to stay here for the rest of our lives."
"I looked up and saw that the light had already stopped, and I didn't know what it was doing. Wang Sichuan's words sent shivers down my spine, and I realized that I had to take a gamble at this point, so I nodded."
The three people turned off their flashlights and continued forward cautiously, using various objects as cover, rapidly approaching the flashlight. The person ahead also came into clear view.
"In the end, there was probably only ten metres between him and us. We saw a person wearing Japanese military uniform, who was moving things onto the raft, looking around vigilantly from time to time. Then, we saw the roll of adhesive tape had already been moved onto the raft."
"I was huddled behind several sacks, with only half of my head visible for observation, and that person was wearing a gas mask."
"Damn it, it's already come to this and you still won't show your true colors."
"Wang Sichuan gave me a wink and made a few hand signals for me to attract the attention of the other party. Ma Zaihai was diving and he was ready to throw the blue cloth."
"Once I make a move, the other party will immediately be alert and shoot. When his attention is on me, I will throw Bluedart to disarm him. Then the horse will suddenly emerge from the sea and drag the other party into the water, and the three of us will rush in together."
"I thought through the process and there was no problem, so I nodded. Just as Wang Sichuan was about to take action, suddenly, the person across from us stopped their movement and looked around warily, as if sensing something."
"We immediately pulled our heads back with Wang Sichuan, thinking to ourselves that he was really alert, and indeed a professional spy. After waiting for a long time, we peeked out again, and the other party accelerated their speed in their hands, apparently afraid."
Wang Sichuan no longer consulted with me, but gave a signal. Ma Zaihai remained very calm and immediately dived into the water. I strained my eyes to watch as he descended below the raft, preparing for what was to come.
"Wang Sichuan nodded at me. I took a deep breath and whispered 'Amitabha' to myself. Then, I suddenly ran forward and shouted loudly: 'Don't move!'"
"The flashlight quickly shone towards me, and after running two steps, the other person fired a shot. The bullet whizzed past me from behind my head."
"I felt uneasy because the bullet was too close to the back of my head. The shooter was obviously very skilled and might not have even seen me, but could roughly determine my position from the sound, and shot very quickly. Almost instinctively, I rolled over. Afterwards, I saw two flashes of light cross where I had just been standing. If I had been a second later, I would have been killed."
Fortunately, Wang Sichuan was not slow either. After I fell down, I heard the unique sound of the sound barrier being broken by Bru, which must be the most vicious throwing technique used by Wang Sichuan to knock down wild buffaloes, followed by a series of violent movements and water splashes.
"I knew we had succeeded, so I immediately jumped up and ran towards the direction of the sound of water."
"Wang Sichuan is faster than me. I saw the water splashing in the water, and I was about to jump in, but I saw the black iron tape reel on the raft."
"I went up and hugged it, picking up the rifle that had fallen on the other side, aiming at the water."
"Two against one, and one of them is Wang Sichuan. I don't think I need to do it, so it's more reliable for me to prioritize protecting important data."
The water churned for half a moment. First, the horse poked its head out of the sea before sinking back down again. I picked up my gun and aimed into the water, but everyone was so tangled up that I couldn't distinguish anyone from anyone else. I didn't dare shoot recklessly either.
"I almost hit him with the butt of my gun, but stopped when I saw that it was him. I asked him what happened, but he couldn't speak and was gasping for air. He wasn't even able to accept my hand when I tried to help him up."
A few seconds later, Wang Sichuan also emerged from the water. He had a large lung capacity and wasn't as out of breath, he looked around while swimming in the water.
The surrounding sleep was very calm, I swept it with a flashlight and couldn't see any anomalies.
"Damn it, he ran away!" Wang Sichuan cursed, "Did you get the thing?"
"I lifted the iron box and he shook his head, climbed onto the leather raft, pulled the horse and headed out to sea, saying, 'All our efforts have gone to waste. We were supposed to achieve first-class success.' With that, he climbed up."
"I looked at the pitch-black water and knew that there was definitely a pair of eyes watching us. When I looked at the expression of the horse in the sea, it was evident that he wanted to leave. He asked, 'What should we do now? Go straight on the road?'"
"To be honest, when I saw this raft, all I had left was the urge to leave immediately. I hardly had time to think before nodding and saying, 'Never mind, for the safety of the film, I think we should leave right away.'"
The horse was very pleased in the sea, started to untie the ropes, and I looked at Wang Sichuan, thinking that he definitely agreed with my idea.
"I didn't expect him to not move."
My heart skipped a beat as I looked at him and asked, "What are you doing? Are you still waiting for Lao Tang to appear? The situation has changed, so we should be more flexible now."
"At the time, I knew that leaving like that was irresponsible to Old Tang and his colleagues. However, having a huge excuse in my hand, I couldn't do much about it. Wang Sichuan had a strong sense of justice, and I was afraid he would nitpick at this moment."
"He looked at me with a strange expression, hesitated for a moment, and then said, 'No, I think we should go back to the screening room first.' 'The screening room?' Ma Hai was also surprised. 'What do we need to go back there for?'"
"Wang Sichuan tapped the metal box and said, "If we just hand over this thing like this, we may never know what's inside for the rest of our lives.""
"He looked at me, I looked at him, and we immediately understood."
"You say, after thirty or forty years, will we regret not delaying a few hours at that time? Perhaps, a few hours later, we will witness the most unbelievable thing in human history?"
Epilogue
"At that moment in that year, I nodded in agreement to Wang Sichuan's idea."
We returned to the screening room two hours later. With the help of Ma Zai Hai, we activated the projector. As the film reel turned, images began to appear on the screen.
In fact, until now, I don't know if that decision was right. All I know is that years later, when I think back to what I saw then, I still feel a shiver down my spine.