chapter 43 – the fifth man in the cremation room

Although this chimney is large, but also relatively speaking, in fact, far more than the kind of crematorium chimney is much smaller, overhead hazy starlight, see the skylight-like chimney mouth, I added a few points of confidence, with the sheath of the knife scraping the inner wall of the flue, quickly cleaned off a circle of soot and oily paste, and then stirrups in the top to try the friction, this is a very narrow inside the flue, if you use the waist and back to support the gradual scuffing up not much of a problem.

But some things seem easy to do up difficult, just scraped a layer of oil sludge, the flue has been choked to open the eyes, although masked nose or a kind of severe lack of oxygen dizziness, and the inner wall of the flue is a rubbing a slippery, here in the edge of the strength can not make out, while supporting the body to prevent the fall, while the sheath of the knife to scrape the oil, is really too difficult, I just climbed up to less than half a step, I already feel the arms and legs are trembling.

I guess I can’t hold on, had to be ready to give up, finally looked up to look up, I intend to go down, unexpectedly a lift of the eyes, is to see the mouth of the flue at some point in the emergence of a cloud of dark red light, I thought it was a blurred vision, closed his eyes and vigorously shook his head and then opened his eyes to see, but see there is a light such as a torch, dark and light, shaped like a ghost fire, floating in the upper hanging.

Seeing this situation, I suddenly remembered often heard the old man said, in the dark night, if there is no light, but suddenly appeared a lone light, absolutely is a ghost fire rather than light, that is: “the moon is not alone, the lonely light is not a person.” This idea just flashed, the chimney on the top of the ghost fire floated towards the bottom, I panicked in my heart, this can be really fucking heaven under the knife hand pinch two blood, how what evil things are there? The hands and feet supporting the body slipped, lost the center of gravity to maintain balance, and fell down the flue of the incinerator.

This glance is unexpected, like a thunderbolt in the air, looking at the ghostly fire-like light from top to bottom will move over, I stomped on the inner wall of the flue of the feet slip, the body lost support immediately fell, I am very clear in my mind into the bottom of the flue within the hearth will certainly not be fortunate, even if it is not be instantly fell to his death, will also fall to the tendons and bones broken, but I did not expect, incinerator chimneys in the air flow of a long time to build up, and flue is extremely narrow, so the speed of the body fell will be very fast, so the speed of the body will be very fast. So the body falling speed will be extremely slow, as if in the clouds.

Fatty just guarded the second floor flue mouth, waiting for me to go up after the signal, although the flue inside the black goo, but he listened to the sound and knew that I missed, and hurriedly put his hand into the flue to grab, my back to him, was he grabbed the collar and pulled back.

The second floor of the flue vent is more narrow, in the iron cover outside the brick mud and ash, my head hit the corner of the wall, in the confusion did not feel the pain, I’m not the kind of fat man, the tiger chased to the heel, and still have the heart to see if it is a male or female, I know that it is not good, and did not delay for a second, coupled with the fat man’s dragging, crawling backwards back to the flue vent, and backhandedly closed the iron cover, the darkness of the flue, I heard a hammer like a thing hard hit the cover. something slammed hard against the lid, making a buzzing echo.

It sounds as if there is something at the top of the flue, was surprised by the sound of me scraping the soot with the knife sheath, and even drilled into the interior of the flue, that thing in the flue vent outside the bump a few, it is silent, I and the rest of the three people’s hearts are hanging in our throats, just now if it is not the fat man who saw the opportunity to be quick, once I fell into the incinerator, even if I didn’t fall and hurt myself, I am also now being taken by the flue of the thing in the flue, the ghostly fire-like thing exactly What is it?

Ding Sishen wanted to see if I was injured, and struck a match, I saw the light of the fire, and hurriedly blew out the match in one breath: “I rubbed all over the soot and ointment, do you want to light me up the lantern of heaven ah?” Saying that I feel sticky and greasy on my face, probably because my head was broken and bleeding, I used my hand to wipe a hand, and asked Ding Sishen to find a handkerchief to bandage me up first.

The old sheepskin said to me: “do not tell you wa to climb that black hole, you wa to climb that black hole, thanks to your wa life, you wa this is ah.”

The fat man said to the old sheepskin: “What is the fate? Just now if not I quickly dragged him back, from now on in the revolutionary team, there is no such a character as his Hu Bayi.”

I said, “Comrades, what time is it now? Let’s not fall back on old accounts and eat old money, although death does not belong to the working class, but the things in the flue, I estimate that it is not a good master, from the flue out is certainly no hope, but we resolutely can not be discouraged and depressed, according to my view of a plan does not work, let’s try another plan, only to go into the basement in the dark, the situation is not clear below, we can only take one step at a time to respond to the changes of all changes, whatever happens next, we must do a good job in advance of the car, horse and gun, and then we will be able to get a good job, we will be able to get a good job. No matter what happens next, we have to do a good job in advance of the car and horse artillery at the door, crippled people climbing the mountain step by step difficult to prepare for the mind.

Pitch black in the hallway, no lights and candles are really difficult to walk, but we can not use the rest of the matches in any case, then everyone is poor, not until the last resort will not burn clothes lighting, because no one knows when we will be able to see the light of the outside again, good thing that the building is inside, touching the walls and staircase railing to the basement is still quite feasible.

Four people step by step rubbed to the end of the stairs, there is no longer down the stairway, I just let Ding Si-Shiang scratch a match to see the terrain, the underground of this building, really is the incineration room, right in front of us there are a few push the dead body of the skidding car, a few used to place disinfection and deodorization supplies of the cabinet, the cabinet side of the wall of the white ghastly, hanging two sets of equipment similar to the chemical protection suit, may be worn by the body burners here, the wall is the huge Furnace chamber, two cold cast iron chamber door closed tightly, the bottom of the space is very large, just to the incinerator, a match has been burned to ashes, we did not even have time to look at the incinerator room there are no undestroyed remains of the victims.

Incineration room in both quiet and cold, the air seems to be frozen, in this kind of eerie cold environment, our hearts are seven up and down, Ding Sishen tugged on my sleeve and asked: “Listen to my uncle said before in Shanxi to fight the devils, the devils killed the people either do not bury, or buried into the pit, but you thought about it, why the Japanese devils here, after the killing of the people have to use the furnace to burn the body into ashes. Burn the bodies to ashes?”

I was asked by her, thinking that women are curious, no matter what to get to the bottom of it, and casually replied: “This still need to ask, the ghosts certainly want to destroy the body, your uncle in Shanxi as a Bailu ah? This thing did not hear you mention.” But on second thought, no, always did not think of this layer, I heard that the brats are the most stingy, eating can not afford to use a big bowl, spending manpower and resources in the middle of nowhere to build a secret incinerator does not seem to have any need, if you do not need to destroy the body, why incinerate the body? Unless there are some corpses ……

I think it is very likely that something fatal has happened in this “Hundred Eyes Cave”, is it bubonic plague? Not really. The murals that summoned the souls of the dead for thousands of years, the ancient bronze boxes from the Hinggan Ridge, and the secret incinerator built by some water supply unit of the Japanese army, what is the connection behind all these unbelievable events? Also where did all the people here go? Did they surrender in defeat? Wiped out by the Soviets? Or did they disappear like the cattle and geese? And what is this invisible, shadowless thing that devours the living? Is it the same as the black shadow of the dragon in the crypt murals? What is the purpose of the stones buried in the crypt? Did the Japanese dig up the body of the woman in the mural? And who’s out there closing the iron gate of the building’s door, trying to trap us here? The room closed with bricks, the gate that can only be opened from the outside? There were just too many questions, but these things were completely guessable by imagination alone.

I know the theory that it is better to hear the sound than to see it for yourself, and to observe the scene than to inspect the shape, maybe there will be some clues in this underground incinerator room, but the first priority to do now is to bring the group out of this building first, two of these companions are my most important comrades in arms, and there is another one who is a poor peasant that we are supposed to go and bond with, and they have unconditional trust in me, and I will try my best to not let any accidents happen to them.

I was thinking, while touching to push the body with the trolley in front of, above some white cloth sheet, perhaps is the incineration of the body wrapped with, just can use it “on the bright son”, I first head and face rubbed into the ointment really wiped, changed into a set of mask with the chemical suit to wear on the body, and then led the other three people to the shroud into a one by one, and also with a knife to open the disinfectant cabinet, and the other two are the most important comrades. And with a knife will disinfectant cabinet into a number of wooden strips, after some busy, finally made a dozen simple torch, and one of them will be lit, is a temporary relief of our blind riding blind horse difficult situation.

The lighting range of the torch can be more than matches, all feel bright, only to see the walls have emergency lights and a variety of pipelines are complete, unlike upstairs in addition to bricks is reinforced concrete, but these facilities have long lost power can not be used, the basement although eerie and cold, but the air is smooth and even better than the ground building, I think there is a special construction of filtering and ventilation.

We just lit a torch, is trying to carefully inspect the terrain, in order to find a way out, behind the huge incinerator in a sudden jolt, inside there seems to be a huge thing to break out of the furnace, I know that may be in the flue in the thing, but I do not know what it is a good thing in the furnace are on the bolt, any it is a big force can not be knocked open, although it is only hear its voice, did not see its shape, but also feel that the momentum of the horrifying, is really Although I only heard the sound and did not see the shape, I also felt that the sound was horrifying, and it was really extraordinary, and I could not help worrying that the solid stove door would be broken.

I held a torch and looked around, there is no extra portal in the incineration room, there is only a straight passage, then greeted the crowd: “Although we have beaten the bears in the east mountain, the west mountain has slaughtered donkeys, but the enemy into my retreat, the good man but not the loss beforehand, first withdrew.” Said took the lead into the passage, the floor of the passage is a concrete slope, may be designed to facilitate the use of a skidder to push the body, and at the end of a completely closed and locked heavy iron gate, there is no internal switch that can be opened.

We pushed the iron gate at the passage, like a dragonfly shaking a pillar, it did not move, Fatty and I cursed furiously, “Who designed this damn place? Even all the switches to open the portal are located outside!”

This underground layer, three floors above ground building, is simply a reinforced concrete and iron plate composition of the tank, the only no obstruction of the chimney mouth can not go out, and then can not find the exit can be trapped here, the people have no choice but to return to the incineration room to continue to look for the exit, but the four walls of the exceptionally strong, take the cannon bombardment are not seen to be able to penetrate the building’s walls, not to mention that in our hands only a The old hunting gun in our hands.

At this time the sound in the incinerator has been gone, I lightly walked to the front of the furnace, ear attached to the door of the furnace to listen to, there seems to be a giant wriggling inside the sound of friction furnace wall, I made a gesture to the rest of the people to prohibit the sound of the hand, leading the people to the corner of the wall to discuss in a low voice.

Although the situation is worrying, but there is no immediate danger, we still have enough time to discuss how to leave this haunted building, I told my three companions and others: “There is indeed something in the hearth, it seems to be some kind of beast, I estimate that it may be a one-eyed boa constrictor, maybe when I climbed out of the flue, was startled by me, intending to come down to hurt people, but the result is also trapped inside the furnace can not go back, the furnace wall is full of soot and grease, the furnace wall is a big thing, the furnace wall is a big thing. The walls of the furnace are covered with soot and grease, so even if you have three heads and six arms, you won’t be able to get up there without a little scraping.”

Dinsitian’s parents were both assigned to work in the nature museum after they retired from the army, and she knew a lot about the habits of living creatures, and when she heard me say that the python in the incinerator might be a giant python, she shook her head and said, “It shouldn’t be, because of the limitations of the environment, there won’t be any python living in the wilderness between the prairie and the desert.”

The old sheepskin interjected: “I said earlier, but you just don’t put me to letter, that is the Dragon King ah, we this time to break into a big trouble, not only ate the water of the dragon’s children and grandchildren, but also the Dragon King was trapped inside, afraid of this iron shell shell is also difficult to put it to block …… ”

I thought to the old sheepskin this number of awareness is too low poor peasants, say what all useless, it is simply to the donkey donkey singing song, purely blind delay effort, he is too cognizant of the dead, I really lazy to explain to him again, the situation can be said to be sitting in a city of worry, have to do the worst intentions, and then upstairs and downstairs tossing, and may not be able to find a way out, but can not just wait here dry, can be simmered down to what time! I can’t just sit here and wait.

I thought of this heart a little anxious, then impatiently said to the old sheepskin: “Where will there be what dragon king horse king? You don’t even know how to read a flat stretcher on the ground, why do you believe in these legends?”

Ding Sishen persuaded me to say: “eighty-one you do not always say that the old sheepskin grandfather is not good, he is not superstitious but is a simple class feelings, we know that the youth in the army are to the poor peasants re-education, not to educate the poor peasants, my father once said that the history of China, the most bitter is the peasants, they are exploited all their lives, face to the yellow soil back to the sky, the old cow exhausted the death of a knife, can be the greatest and most enduring of China’s history, but the most powerful, the most powerful and the most enduring of the peasants. The greatest and most enduring people in China are the peasants, without them there would be no history of China.”

I was Ding Sistern said, immediately calmed down, also feel that although did not say anything over the top, but really should not be on the old sheepskin this attitude, as the saying goes, a good word three winters warm, half a sentence of bad words through the bone cold, but in front of the face of Ding Sistern is not too good to admit fault, had to be a sloppy, to the crowd, said: “these two days did not carry out the criticism and self-criticism, go back to make up for it. ”

Fatty took the opportunity to sarcasm next to me and said: “After going back, you also have to take the lead to do self-check, seriously study the documents, keep up with the situation, criticize the rightist ideology in your own heart, consciously transform your bourgeois worldview, and to explain clearly your historical problems, the problem of origin, as well as how to produce the ideology of fame and fortune to get out of the revolutionary team, and thus embarked on the path of the White Monopoly, you! Don’t think you don’t account for the organization is not clear, the organization of your situation that is completely mastered, and now is to give you an opportunity to let you account for yourself, is to save you to you leniency, you’d better hang on to your horse, do not cut yourself off from the people, the experience of history tells us that …… ”

I interrupted him and said: “you a fat man to not go to be a reactionary organization of the black pen pole, really a waste of your body fat meat, we are locked in this sunless concrete coffin, you even have the mood to bullshit? What the fuck did I say that I’d cut myself off from the people?”

The fat man said: “When we can live happily, we can live happily, when we can get cheap, we can get cheap, what’s the use of worrying, we can’t get out of here, right? In my opinion, let’s prepare for a prolonged war, I think in a couple days that old Ni will see that we are still not back to the pasture, he should send someone to look for us, right? When they find us here, we will be able to get out.”

Ting Sitian said, “I’m afraid that he wants to hide his responsibility for the old sheepskin, and wants to buy us a few days as much time as possible, in that case, we don’t have any food or water, how long can we support here? How long will it take for them to find this place?”

I heard dingshitian talking about no food and no drink, suddenly a bright idea, came up with an idea, said to the fat man and dingshitian: “I have a bad trick, do you remember we roasted piglets in the brick kiln to relieve the slandering thing, why don’t we throw down the fire from the second floor, to the incinerator to a re-lighting of the fire, no matter what’s inside the closure of the things, but also a fire to it turned into greasy smoke. ”

This statement, the crowd said good, visible parties fan, has not thought of this approach, as long as the incinerator managed to ignite again, not only can burn things in the furnace, but also can use the flame to remove the ointment in the flue, so that can be climbed out of the flue, as long as you can climb out of a person, can be opened from the outside of the building closed the iron gates.

The group just to start action, the fat man in the hands of the torch is burned out, in order to save as much as possible light source, although we prepared a dozen torches, but only one almost burned out before lighting the next one, think of ways to get out of the overly excited, but also forgot to renew the torch, ding sishen rushed to take out the matchbox want to light a fire, but just at this time, suddenly listen to the darkness of the sound of the sound of the sound, as if some people walking, the place that makes a sound seems to The place where the sound was made seemed to be at the door of the incinerator.

In addition to the four living people in this building, where are the other people? Here even did not see a rat, I thought it was the old sheepskin go to that side in the dark, and hurriedly used his hand to shoot around, the old sheepskin, fat, Ding Sisiang, a no less are around, how suddenly in the darkness there is more a person? Or one more …… ghost?