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墨書 Inktalez
I didn't walk over; I just stood there silently observing him. His face was numb, devoid of expression, not the calmness of a normal state, but a facade. His eyes betrayed him, flickering and unable to meet my gaze. Even so, I could see the unease in his eyes.
"Zhao Squad Leader" didn't wait for us to finish celebrating and ordered, "We've found water; we can go back now. Our comrades are waiting for our water."
The celebration abruptly halted, and everyone looked at him in confusion. "Cao Mingzhe" seemed to wake up from a dream and muttered, perhaps startled by "Zhao Squad Leader's" words, "This water isn't enough."
This water isn't enough! Even someone in a poor mental state could see the problem; how could "Zhao Squad Leader" not notice?
My first reaction was that he had seen or discovered "Song Guilong's" whereabouts.
From various signs, it was clear he wasn't keen on searching for "Song Guilong." He was more concerned with finding a way out and leading us to safety; that was his primary concern. Anything contrary to this principle would be dismissed. Searching for "Song Guilong" fell into that category.
Clearly, my guess was shared by others. Shortly after "Zhao Squad Leader's" statement, "Liu Squad Leader" raised a question: "Have you found 'Song Guilong'?!"
"Zhao Squad Leader's" face suddenly became expressive. I was reminded of the Sichuan opera's face-changing act; his features shifted through various expressions. I knew he wasn't one to hide his feelings; they were always written all over his face. But the range of emotions displayed was too rich—what complexity of feelings could lead to such intricate expressions?
"We saw a boat," "Xu Xinming" suddenly blurted out, nearly causing me to fall over.
I thought about it—how much water must there be? More importantly, this information indicated that there were people in this underground space. It was overwhelming. I felt my own expression become unnatural as I quickly understood "Zhao Squad Leader's" feelings.
I noticed "Zhao Squad Leader" shot a fierce glare at "Xu Xinming." It seemed he had given orders to keep quiet before returning, but the soldier had forgotten in his excitement. "Xu Xinming" shrank back in fear and plopped down on the ground, his military water bottle clattering loudly.
The atmosphere grew even more silent under "Xu Xinming's" flustered demeanor—a deathly silence. Everyone was processing this information or struggling to think at all, unable to grasp anything.
My mind was in chaos, unable to think coherently. Various thoughts flashed through my brain, disordered and chaotic, like a slideshow that wouldn't stop.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Guolin was the first to speak up: "We should go take a look."
Yes, I realized. Zhao Squad Leader and the others had spotted a boat, but they managed to safely retrieve water and return without incident, which suggested that danger might not be imminent. Moreover, not going over to clarify the situation didn’t mean that any potential danger would stay away from us. Currently, the water brought back by Zhao Squad Leader and Xu Xinming could only serve as a temporary relief for our group of ten; it was hardly enough. Sooner or later, we would have to go over there; we could evade danger for a moment, but not forever.
Having thought this through, I no longer hesitated. "Yes, we need to understand the situation. Even if there is danger, we must know what kind of danger it is; otherwise, we won't know how to defend ourselves."
Once Xiao Guolin and I expressed our stance, Liu Squad Leader immediately supported us. Although Cao Mingzhe was still somewhat confused, he definitely backed Xiao Guolin's viewpoint. I felt that if Xiao Guolin told him to jump off a cliff right now, he wouldn’t object.
Zhao Squad Leader looked pained, almost on the verge of tears. In this matter, he had more foresight than Xu Xinming and a much higher awareness of potential dangers. Xu Xinming had merely acted out of excitement and defied Zhao Squad Leader's orders; Zhao Squad Leader was clearly terrified of returning to the water source they had discovered.
However, the majority's attitude forced him to consider it further, especially since Xiao Guolin's opinion carried more authority.
Seeing Zhao Squad Leader standing there hesitating, I knew someone needed to help him make a decision. Xiao Guolin's statement had already defined the situation; it just needed one person to push it forward, a role I wasn't suited for. But I knew who was appropriate for it. I subtly signaled Liu Squad Leader with my eyes; it was too dark for him to notice. I thought about it—throwing stones in this darkness was more feasible than trying to get his attention when he couldn’t see my face.
Realizing this approach wouldn’t work, I cleared my throat to break the silence: "Liu Squad Leader, why don’t you discuss an action plan with Zhao Squad Leader? Captain Xiao isn’t really experienced in this."
In the end, I became that catalyst. Liu Squad Leader immediately took the opportunity to approach Zhao Squad Leader humbly: "Zhao Squad Leader is an elder of the Guard Company; I'll follow your arrangements. How about Brother Qiang and I lead the way?"
Hearing this made me wonder if he was really deferring to someone else’s orders. However, I had no objections about being at the front; it would allow me to spot Song Guilong’s trail first-hand, which was also my wish. As long as Liu Squad Leader went somewhere, I would definitely stay close by; his gun was in my hands after all—I had to put on a show so that Zhao Squad Leader wouldn’t find an excuse to take it back.
Zhao Squad Leader, feeling lost and indecisive, quickly compromised in front of the more assertive Liu Squad Leader. Before long, our six-person group split into two teams and set off toward the water source.
I, along with Liu Squad Leader and Xu Xinming, led the first group forward, with the Powerful Flashlight strapped to Xu Xinming's back. Zhao Squad Leader, Xiao Guolin, and Cao Mingzhe followed about ten meters behind, using a penlight to keep track of us. To be safe, the Powerful Flashlight was set to a narrow beam and dimmed, just enough for the rear team to see us.
Under the illumination of the Powerful Flashlight, I began to make out our surroundings. The space seemed even larger; the ground sloped slightly downward as we walked. Zhao Squad Leader and Xu Xinming had not left any marks during their first trip to find water since they had walked along one side of this space, which was on our left.
The ground was smooth as a mirror, clearly shaped by flowing water. The cave walls were rough, showing no signs of human alteration—just a natural cave. After walking for over ten minutes, we noticed signs of human modification on the ground; about two meters from the cave wall, it no longer sloped downward, creating a contrast with the downward sloping ground as if a two-meter-wide path had been carved along the cave wall.
I tapped Xu Xinming and gestured about which way to go. He pointed at the gently sloping smooth ground and mouthed that there was a boat below.
The ground in the cave was very smooth and free of dust. In fact, since we descended into the crevice, we had lost track of Song Guilong. At this point, we could only assess our situation here before deciding on our next move.
Continuing along the gently sloping ground for a while longer, the path along the cave wall was now above us. At this moment, Xu Xinming stopped and signaled to me that we had arrived.
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