Volume 5 Chapter 14 Entering the tunnel

We stayed at the entrance for a long time, discussing the possibilities of this cave. During this time, Chen Pi A Si suddenly froze for a while and then miraculously recovered. We were puzzled, but Chen Pi A Si didn’t seem to want to mention what had just happened. There was no way, so we had to shift our attention to this strange ice cave.

We gathered around the edge of the hole and discussed the specific problems of the cave. Although we had all experienced many cave explorations, they were all in the plains and mountains, which were very different from here and required long-term planning.

This cave initially sloped down at about 40 degrees, and it was very deep and not easy to walk. If the fat man and the others fell, it would be very dangerous if they couldn’t control their posture. They might roll in the cave and if they fell to the bottom of their heads, they might be flattened.

Pan Zi threw down a fluorescent stick. The yellow light rolled down quickly, bounced a few times in the distance, and disappeared.

If Hua’s monk is right, and recalling the trend between the two snow-capped mountains, this cave must be a “V” shaped route that goes down and then up. Since the two snow-capped mountains belong to the same mountain range, the altitude of the canyon between the peaks is also very high. The distance of this “V” shaped route should not exceed 5 kilometers.

Of course, if the craftsman at the time liked to dig in a zigzag pattern, there was nothing we could do about it, but we shouldn’t consider such things outside the realm of reason.

Since it was an artificially excavated tunnel, there was no need to worry about oxygen. After we had discussed it, we decided that Pan Zi would explore the cave first. This time, we had our weapons ready, and in case the corpse was still inside, we would deal with it on the spot.

Pan Zi had just dragged it in, and he was very embarrassed. He spat on his hand and took out the climbing rope. He tied the rope around the fat man’s waist and threw it down the hole, then climbed down first. It took him a while to call out to us to follow.

We followed him down the hole. The tunnel was very roughly hewn, and the rocks were uneven, so it was very slippery and my butt was cut to pieces. I kept looking at the rocks as I climbed. These are basalt rocks that were ejected during a volcanic eruption. There are a lot of air bubbles in them. The density of these rocks is very unstable. Some are as hard as iron, while others are as soft as tofu. I wonder what it was like when they were excavated.

We went down one by one, with Fatty coming last. All of a sudden, a bunch of people were crowded at the end of the stone path, panting heavily. We saw a lot of black liquid here, which must be the body fluid of the corpse, but we didn’t see the corpse, probably going deeper into the cave.

The narrow tunnel under the ice sloped down, and at the turn below, it became vertical and narrow. Further in, the height of the cave seemed to continue to increase, and suddenly it was bright and spacious, but it was pitch black and the flashlight couldn’t shine in.

At first I thought that they had deliberately dug a wider tunnel when they were digging the tunnel. This is also a point of attention when we open a tunnel. It is called the pigeon room. This place is used to store air and place “soil.” Of course, the pigeon room is complicated. You dig such a large space in the ground that two people can turn around without turning over a little bit of dirt from the tunnel.

But when we shone our flashlights, we were stunned to see that the tunnel had reached its end here, and then rapidly narrowed in front of us. In the end, there was only a stone crevice in front of us that could only be entered sideways by one person, like an irregular sword scar that penetrated deeply into the mountain rock.

Pan Zi asked, “Didn’t you say that this was a secret escape tunnel for the craftsmen? It’s become a slit for people to pass through? Can we still get through this?”

The monk thought for a moment, then suddenly made a look of enlightenment and said, “I think this tunnel may have used a natural volcanic cave. Volcanic caves are very common in the rock formations of volcanic areas, and they are very extensive. The longest volcanic caves can reach thousands of kilometers in length, like a spider web covering the ground. Perhaps this volcanic gap can lead all the way to the opposite Sansheng Mountain. Because of this, they were able to dig such a long secret tunnel. It turns out that they used a pre-existing passage created by nature.”

The fat man said, “Then we have to go into this crack? You guys are okay, but I’m in pretty bad shape.” The fat man had been talking about losing weight in the underwater tomb, but so far he hadn’t seen any results. Looking at his figure, it was really bad enough.

The monk said, “You don’t have to worry about that. These volcanic caves are all branched structures, and these holes should all lead to larger gaps. In geology, this is called an underground corridor. Some underground corridors are very large, and they even form their own unique ecosystems. I believe that the gap will definitely widen soon because this kind of geological damage always starts from the inside.

Hua said this with conviction, but I didn’t quite believe him. However, there was no reason to refute him at this point, so everyone took a break, straightened up their equipment, and the fat man took the lead, continuing to climb into the crevice.

It was pitch black inside the crevice, and the flashlights were useless because the darkness was all-encompassing. In Europe, people believe that all such crevices are passages to hell, and the Tibetans also believe that caves are the devil’s territory and never enter them. Although I have had many such experiences, the moment I entered the crevice, my heart began to beat uneasily.

One by one, we entered the crevice with our bellies tucked in, and then we walked sideways like crabs. The walls of this place had no traces of human intervention, and it was almost impossible to turn around inside. Looking ahead, I saw traces of glass flowers everywhere, with a large number of variously colored karstic drips covering all the rocks, and they were covered with crystal clear frost, like condensed water columns arranged evenly.

I had studied a little geology when I was studying architecture, and I had a vague memory in my mind that what I saw in front of me should be volcanic rock, the same as the volcanic gap we entered for shelter when we encountered a snowstorm. The formation of this landform is different from that of common volcanic caves. This gap was formed in the moment of volcanic eruption, and then the pyroclastic flow rushed out at a very high speed. It is characterized by the formation of extremely long volcanic gaps, but the tunnels are single and do not form a maze of caves like volcanic caves.

The beginning of the gap was very narrow, and we had to learn breakdancing moves to move. After fifteen minutes, we were exhausted and sore, thinking about the craftsmen who had escaped in those years, and it wasn’t easy to climb out. However, as Hua said, the gap gradually became wider, and we were finally able to turn around and move forward.

It was pitch black inside the crevice, but the surrounding glass and melted mica reflected the light from our flashlights, creating a magical effect. The large areas of volcanic debris covered with lava spines, stringy lava and lava stalactites were very beautiful.

As we walked, we gradually discovered signs of human activity. For example, the abandoned rusty tools and traces of campfires were very old.

We didn’t encounter anything strange along the way. The crevices were very clean, and after walking for nearly six hours, we had reached the underground corridor-scale tunnel that Hua said was very wide.

Here, I found a lot of signs of human construction. On one side of the crevice wall, there were many crude steps that had been carved out, leading up. These steps were actually just some protruding rocks. If you have big feet like a fat person, you might faint after a few steps.

We stopped to rest. I did some calculations, and found that the distance we had traveled and the slope we had descended meant that we were now below the snow line, probably in the valley between the two peaks. If we had been walking on the surface, even if we had been walking in a straight line, it would have taken at least eight hours. Now, by walking underground, we had saved a lot of time. If the border defense forces above knew about this underground corridor, they would surely be shocked.

If we continue to walk at the bottom of the crevice, we may end up at the center of the earth. These crude steps probably indicate that the tunnel has entered the second stage. At the end of the steps, there may be the mysterious palace of the heavenly palace.

After a short rest, we couldn’t contain our excitement and set off again. However, this time, the road was not so smooth.

We all tied ourselves together with climbing ropes, then clung to the side of the cliff as much as possible, stepping on the “stone stairs” like a joke, and slowly climbing up. At first it was okay, but once we reached a certain height, we immediately felt like rock climbers, but we didn’t have any rock climbing experience, so this feeling was more than panic.

The fat guy’s feet were big, so he felt like he was walking on stilts. After a few steps, his feet started to tremble, and I saw him chanting Amitabha.

Fortunately, we walked carefully all the way, almost like a woman doing needlework, climbing up little by little. Soon, the abyss below was already pitch black, and it was impossible to estimate the height. Looking at it made me dizzy. If we hadn’t just come up from below, I would have really thought that it was hell down there.

In the following hours, we climbed higher and higher, and in the end, we couldn’t tell where we were or what time it was. Several people entered a state of confusion. But no one suggested taking a break. I don’t know if it was the tomb raiders’ innate greed or because the environment here was really impossible to rest in. You can imagine that you have one foot on a palm-sized stone and one foot dangling in the air, with a bottomless cliff below. How can you rest?

As we walked, we suddenly heard the sound of water all around us. When we turned on our flashlights, we saw that there were actually several springs and waterfalls on the cliff on one side, flowing down the cliff in various sizes. Seeing the steam above, it looked like a hot spring. We didn’t know where the hot spring water came from, but the sound of the water was very loud, as if there was underground water activity nearby.

The fat guy asked us to climb over and wash our faces to feel better. The nearest hot spring was only a hand’s distance away from him. In fact, we had been very tired all the way, and coupled with the memory of resting by the hot spring last time, several of us wanted to stop here, but Junko shook her head and said, “No!” She pointed to the rocks by the hot spring. We looked at it, and at first glance we didn’t see anything, but when we looked closely, we almost shivered.

We saw that there were many very strange patterns on the rocks by the hot spring. At first glance, I thought they were volcanic patterns, but when I looked closely, I was almost shivering. It turned out that these patterns were not on the rocks, but were actually centipedes as thick as an arm, crawling on them. The color of these centipedes was exactly the same as the glazed volcanic stone on the edge, and you couldn’t tell the difference without looking closely.

We looked around and found that the stones here were almost covered with these things, motionless, as if they were all dead.

Suddenly we all became quiet. The fat man whispered, “What’s going on? How did we get into the bug nest?”

Shunzi whispered, “The creatures on the snow-capped mountains are generally concentrated around the hot springs, so don’t think that you can go down and relax as soon as you see a hot spring. But it’s still cold, so these things are half-dead here. They won’t wake up without a strong stimulus. Let’s hurry up and get past this section and we’ll be fine.”

The group immediately started moving. The fat guy stood on tiptoe and asked, ‘What do you mean by a strong stimulus?’

Before he finished speaking, Shunzi suddenly waved his hand and told us all to stop moving.

We didn’t know what was going on, so we stopped immediately and stayed there like wooden men, all staring at Shunzi, but Shunzi was staring at the dark cliff.

After a moment of silence, we gradually heard a creepy “squeaking” sound, as if countless feet were rubbing against the rocks of the cliff and coming closer to us.

“Turn off the flashlight,” Shunzi whispered.

We immediately turned off the flashlight and turned around. Holy shit, the entire cliff was covered in green light points of all sizes, as far as the eye could see. The number of light points was so great that it was like a sea of stars. In this darkness, the billions of light points were like magic, and we were like being in the universe of stars. The spectacle was so magnificent that it could not be expressed in words.

However, when I looked down, I suddenly realized that the scene around me was nothing. I saw a green galaxy winding through the void and blackness at the bottom of the abyss, like a magnificent jade tassel on a deep black curtain, passing through the endless darkness, from one end of the sky to the other.

I opened my mouth wide, unable to believe what I was seeing. The number of worms at the bottom must be counted in the billions.

Just as we were stunned by this spectacular scene, which could almost be described as a fairyland, a few huge red lights suddenly flashed from the light points below. The lights twisted and moved among the stars, disappearing into the darkness again. It was obvious that some of the worms below were not too small…