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墨書 Inktalez
I constantly reminded myself to stay on course, even when marking our path; I dared not move my feet or change my body's orientation. This focus made me lose all sense of fatigue, my attention so concentrated that it bordered on exhilaration. It wasn't until American Guy called out to me that I realized we had been walking for nearly ten hours.
After a brief rest, the other three took the opportunity to catch some sleep. I, however, felt no inclination to doze off and instead checked my backpack. The battery was running low, we could only last another day with the food we had, and if I conserved water, it might stretch for a while longer.
If we couldn't find a way out soon, even with water available, we wouldn't have the strength to search for an escape. We would simply have to wait here to die. I envied Fatty, who, fully aware of our dwindling time, was sleeping soundly, his snores echoing like thunder in the silence.
Before we set off again, I divided the remaining food among everyone. "Manage your portions; this is all we have left."
Fatty nodded and quickly shoved a piece of roasted meat into his mouth, chewing a few times before swallowing. "Better to keep it in my stomach than to increase the burden."
I swallowed hard. Analyzing everyone's fat reserves, Fatty should be able to last the longest. If this experiment failed, we might have to split up to find a way out. I intended to save my piece of roasted meat for Fatty, hoping he could hold on until we found an escape.
Jack had initially tucked away the piece of roasted meat I gave him, but upon seeing Fatty's greedy gaze, he cursed under his breath. He pulled the meat from his pocket and began eating it instead. It seemed he understood the deeper meaning behind Fatty's words: better to keep it in his stomach than risk going hungry.
As we continued on the path, the formation gradually spread out. To maintain my sense of direction, I dared not change speed or turn back, only pausing to wait for those behind me when marking our way. Jack and Tang Yumo were struggling to keep up.
Fatty, trailing behind them, was of no help no matter how much he urged them on.
Of course, I didn’t blame Jack and Tang Yumo; it was a lot for a girl to bear nearly half the weight of a group of men. It was a miracle they hadn’t collapsed yet. Eventually, Fatty grew weary of urging them and limped along behind them.
It seemed we all understood this would be our final stretch. No matter where we stopped to rest, it would be difficult to muster the strength and courage to stand up again. I didn’t hear Jack calling for a stop behind me; all I could hear was the sound of dragging footsteps.
It was tough for them; I was already exhausted, my legs stiff and numb. The two behind me, especially Tang Yumo, it was a miracle they hadn’t fallen down.
Just as my physical and mental strength teetered on the edge of collapse, something appeared in the dim light of my flashlight.
This time, as we set off again, I focused on clearly identifying our direction and searching for markers. Last time, I hadn’t realized I would walk back to the Starting Point; I hadn’t kept my eyes on the Ground at all.
That’s why I missed seeing that marker. Fortunately, Jack had been paying attention and spotted it.
This time, even though it was still far away, I saw it—a marker on the Ground that we had designed ourselves.
I slowly walked over; the flashlight's battery was running low. The light reflecting off the Ground was no longer blinding. Inside the circle of the marker, I saw the number 18, indicating that this was our 18th marker. The direction of the arrow matched my current path forward.
Jack and Fatty quickly stood beside me.
"We did it!" Jack exclaimed, a mix of excitement and relief in his voice.
"I can't believe we actually succeeded!" Fatty's voice was filled with excitement, but also tinged with a hint of jealousy.
"Throw a Flare. We should be close enough; I want to see what the hell it is," I said, ignoring their emotions as I pulled out a Flare and handed it to Fatty.
"Wait a moment. Let me confirm the direction first. This circle is already quite large, and I can calculate its diameter. I'm confident I can draw an accurate tangent line."
As Jack squinted and calculated in his mind, Fatty couldn't hold back any longer and threw the Flare.
"Bang!"
In an instant, the blinding light forced me to shut my eyes.
I heard Jack curse angrily, "Damn it, couldn't you wait a second? My tangent line is in that direction."
"We don't need a tangent line anymore, damn it! Where's that cursed door?"
After hearing Fatty's even angrier shout, I forced myself to open my eyes despite the glaring white light.
Yes, we didn't need a tangent line anymore. Although Jack's indicated direction was slightly off from the Protrusion's direction, we truly didn't need any tangent lines because the Protrusion was right in front of us.
It wasn't a door; what lay before us was a massive, flat-topped pyramid-like structure.
Of course, it wasn't within arm's reach, at least not within the beam of my One-Eyed Beast Flashlight. But it was already quite close.
This massive structure, carved from raw stone, stood over thirty meters tall and appeared to be circular, at least from my angle. It resembled a temple in Beijing but was far grander and lacked the upper structures of a traditional altar. From where I stood, the flat-topped building had no upper levels—just a bare stone platform that looked like an altar.
Facing the altar, there was a wide, straight staircase leading directly to the top platform.
"Where's the door?" Fatty's tone grew increasingly angry, tinged with frustration.
I understood Fatty's feelings at that moment. He had come here to find that door and blow it up. But looking at this structure, even if he had brought his former comrades fully armed, they would only be left staring in despair.
Blowing up that door would at least give us a way back. According to the clues provided by Tang Yumo, Heimanluo was a symbiotic entity of the Eternal Gate; destroying the Eternal Gate would cause Heimanluo to vanish or perish.
Even though we couldn't leave this place the same way we came, it would at least increase our chances of survival.
There was food at that Fork in the Road; I didn't believe that Big Black Pig was there by chance. It wasn't a random occurrence. There were also two other branches; while they might not lead to an exit, they would certainly have food. I leaned towards believing that the way out lay here—I trusted Cao Mingzhe.
"Maybe it's up there?" I cautiously reassured Fatty.
"The door? It's right in front of you. Why does the Eternal Gate have to be a door? I think we've already found it; it's just unfortunate that we have no way to blow it up."
Jack teased Fatty with a mocking tone while casting a fleeting glance at Tang Yumo, as if reminding her that we lacked the means to destroy the sacred ground of the Hakka People.
Fatty shot a glare at Jack and then glanced at Tang Yumo. "I'm going up to take a look."
I grabbed Fatty by the arm. "Brother Gang, don't be impulsive. I want to see what's up there too. But after all we've been through, do you think you can just walk past this thing? I really don't want to lose you right now."
Fatty glared at me. "So what should we do? Just stare at it?"
I pulled out the only bundle of climbing rope from my backpack. "This rope is nearly two hundred meters long. You hold onto this end and move forward. When the rope runs out, stop. We'll decide our next move based on what we see and feel."
"Alright."
"Brother Gang, please don't act rashly or make decisions on your own. We need to discuss everything before taking action."
"Stop nagging."
(To Be Continued)
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