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墨書 Inktalez
Jack's words conveyed two pieces of information to me. One was that AE was an organization with official backing from the American Chinese Government. I couldn't believe the notion that the Chinese Government would invest without interfering in its research direction.
The other was that RBSN ALN was the instigator of our trip to Lop Nur and the Beipan River. His presence complicated matters further; he had conducted investigations at Lop Nur and had suffered immense trauma and painful memories there. Most importantly, he possessed firsthand information that I could not access. Had he ever entered the Underground Passage?
I couldn't help but question this in my mind.
While I pondered, Jack remained silent. I had to remind him, “Go on, continue with what you were saying.”
Jack shrugged. “That’s all.”
My frustration flared up instantly. “Are you messing with me? You swore and promised so much, yet you haven’t provided any valuable information. At the very least, tell me where you got the biological samples and what they actually are.”
I turned to glare at Jack, noticing a hint of embarrassment on his face. However, his thick skin allowed him to recover quickly.
“Acquiring biological samples is the responsibility of another department; I haven’t seen the actual specimens myself. That’s all I can provide. If you want to know more, I suggest you visit AE headquarters. I’m sure Mr. RBSN ALN would be interested in talking to you; perhaps he can offer you more information.”
“Yes,” I replied angrily, “I will meet Mr. RBSN ALN if I make it out alive.”
This statement was sincere; I genuinely wanted to meet this man who had investigated Lop Nur decades ago and see what he knew. Of course, if I could find him alive, he would likely be quite old by now, nearing the end of his days.
I felt disappointed by Jack's refusal to divulge anything, but I still wanted to keep the conversation going.
“If I don’t make it out of here, I ask that you provide this information to Fatty. I hope it can help him find Xiao Guolin. Can you promise me that?”
Jack's expression turned serious as he stared at me and asked, “Zhang, do you no longer have hope of getting out of here?”
I didn’t want Jack to misinterpret my feelings, so I could only express my true sentiments.
“Yes. At least I don’t believe we can all make it out alive. We must prepare ourselves mentally for that possibility. For me, this seems like fate; I've been ready for it. But I will do everything in my power to ensure everyone’s safety, though it won’t be easy. I believe there will be unknown dangers ahead. I don’t know if we can handle them. If…”
"I promise you," Jack interrupted me.
Maybe I was being too sentimental? I thought Jack would say something encouraging, like that I wouldn't get hurt, but instead, he was so straightforward, as if he believed I was doomed.
"If I die..." Jack pulled out a glass bottle from his backpack, his eyes fixed ahead. "Carve these words on my tombstone: Fearless Explorer Jack. It’s best to use English."
Hearing him say it so casually made me feel even more sentimental. But I smiled.
"Alright, I'll write it in both Chinese and English. This place is in China; it wouldn’t be right without Chinese."
Jack chuckled and handed me a cigarette.
When Jack and I returned to the campfire, we didn’t disturb anyone; the Vietnamese and Lao people were all fast asleep. I took a careful look at A San, who seemed to be in a deep slumber.
As we walked down the Underground River, neither A San nor I felt too burdened; we weren’t very tired. However, we hadn’t rested for a long time, especially not had any sleep. After sitting by the warm campfire for a while, I unconsciously drifted off into a deep sleep.
I woke up naturally, if you could call waking up due to hunger that. When I opened my eyes, the campfire was still burning, but it was clearly rekindled. A San and Fumi were sitting by the fire, carefully eating from a pack of food.
Perhaps they had also woken up from hunger, or more likely from the cold; without the campfire for warmth, it was hard to sleep in this place. When I woke up, my body was still curled up, indicating that the fire had been out for some time.
My food was also packed in my pocket—too little to bother putting in my backpack. I reached into my pocket and felt three packs of food left. Taking them out, I saw two packs of compressed biscuits and one pack of dehydrated beef. I tore open a pack of biscuits and began to eat carefully like the other two, ensuring not a single crumb fell.
The sound of crunching on the compressed biscuits was quite loud, especially in such a quiet place where all three of us were focused on our food. Soon enough, the "crunch crunch" of chewing biscuits woke the other two up. They immediately joined in on chewing their food.
If this pack of compressed biscuits had been during normal times, I would have finished it in just two bites. But this time I chewed for ten minutes, making sure there were no remnants left in the bag and that my teeth were clean before clapping my hands together. "Let’s set off."
While organizing my backpack, I noticed Jack checking his watch. I didn’t ask him what time it was; frankly, I had lost interest in the passage of time.
As we continued downstream, the space along the Underground River expanded further; the pavement and riverbank height difference kept decreasing. The riverbank was no longer steep due to erosion but gradually became smooth, blurring the strict boundary between water and land. In some places, the river could overflow onto the bank, and walking close to the edge would wet our shoes.
The river's flow had slowed considerably, and a large amount of wood debris was pushed onto the riverbank, forming a long dam of wood chips. The pavement gradually widened, and at one moment, the light from the One-Eyed Beast Flashlight could no longer reach the opposite shore.
The ground rose up while stalactite columns hung down from the ceiling, and there were still many of them. However, as we moved further downstream, the massive stalactite columns that connected to the ceiling became increasingly rare. The ground was uneven, filled with large stalactites and stone pillars, along with cracks that could trap our feet, forcing us to be cautious.
However, there was too much wood debris near the riverbank, obstructing our view and compelling us to leave the banks of the Underground River and continue downstream in a safer area. Fortunately, a long dam of wood chips along the riverbank helped us understand the direction of the Underground River while keeping a safe distance from it.
My first glow stick had already been discarded after it ran out of power, and Jack's glow stick had also lost its light. We both switched to new glow sticks for illumination.
As the temperature continued to drop, we had to stop frequently to warm ourselves by the fire. By our third time warming up, we faced a situation where we had no food left. Everyone put on as many layers as they could, even wrapping climbing ropes around themselves to retain body heat.
I was somewhat surprised that there were no creatures in the river or on the ground. Had I misjudged the situation?
The answer was certainly no.
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