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墨書 Inktalez
I could sense it even without him; it was too obvious. The rumbling noise sounded like a thousand heavy machinery vehicles passing by, and the mountain wall vibrated noticeably. I pressed myself against the rock face, too afraid to move, feeling as if an earthquake was occurring.
Jack didn’t mock me; his expression was equally grim. He mouthed to me, “We should be able to see clearly here. We can’t get to the middle; why don’t you turn on the flashlight?”
The stalactites on the mountain wall were of all shapes and sizes. I found a spot where I could stand firm and turn around easily, half-sitting on a rock, and pulled out the One-Eyed Beast Flashlight. The stone beneath me trembled slightly, and sitting on it felt like I was shaking a sieve. If my footing wasn’t stable, I could easily fall into the Underground River amidst the vibrations.
As soon as the flashlight lit up, a massive outlet appeared before my eyes. Water cascaded down from here, forming a river—the very Underground River we had traveled upstream. The outlet had about a three-meter drop to the river surface, and the current was so swift that it poured down in torrents. The water gushed out from the several-meter-wide outlet, shooting forward seven or eight meters and creating a thick curtain of water. When it hit the river below, it stirred up large white foams and splashes.
Jack and the others must have entered the river channel from here. I glanced at the upper pavement and noticed several spots where one could climb up to the cave wall, possibly using the irregular stalactites to navigate downstream. As for why Jack and his group hadn’t chosen to go ashore but instead flowed downstream, I didn’t ask. I was captivated by an even more spectacular scene, forgetting everything else.
The upper pavement of the river channel was vast; the light from the One-Eyed Beast couldn’t reach the opposite bank. What caught my eye immediately was a central water column. The dozens of meters high water column seemed to descend from above, with such a volume of water that it remained intact as it poured into this underground lake.
The diameter of the water column was at least five meters wide, creating a splash in the lake that sent up a pit of water, turning much of the Lake Center white with foamy waves and bubbles. Outside this white expanse floated a layer of finely shattered wood chips on the pavement.
The immense height and the colossal water column crashing onto the lake's surface should have produced a tremendous sound. Yet, I could hear nothing. All that filled my ears was the thunderous noise of construction machinery. This overwhelming sound drowned out everything else.
The flashlight illuminated the top, revealing that above the underground lake was a dome, though this was merely an assumption based on what I could see from this side. The light from the One-Eyed Beast reached its limit where the water column descended into the dome. Beyond that point, my vision failed me.
I slowly moved the flashlight from the dome to the water column. This water column was likely our passage into this place, the very center of the Pit Vortex we had seen. I stared at it in silence for a while.
It was hard to imagine that we had fallen in from here, not only surviving but with very few injuries. It seemed like a miracle. However, this thought filled me with dread, causing cold sweat to break out on my back.
Finally, I fixed both the flashlight and my gaze on the dome above. There were stalactites hanging down, but they were far fewer than those clinging to the stone walls. It resembled how body hair grows more densely in some areas while being sparse in others; the dome belonged to a region where our body hair was less developed. Of course, I meant us Asians. Jack, being an under-evolved type, didn't fall into this category. He barely had any hair visible, and what he did have grew like that of a golden monkey—definitely a case of atavism.
I could now confirm that the enormous sounds and vibrations came from above. I felt as if we were inside a drum, where all sounds and vibrations could not escape; anyone trapped within would be tortured to death by this cacophony. My heartbeat was already erratic, and the blood within me boiled along with the relentless rumbling; I felt on the brink of collapse and madness.
At that moment, Jack tapped me and mouthed, "Do you see clearly now?"
I struggled to respond, "Like a drum."
Jack nodded. "That's very vivid."
Then he tilted his head slightly, signaling for us to return. I turned off the flashlight and followed Jack back.
After gaining a general understanding of the environment here, I felt a deep sense of oppression. At least I was certain of one thing: we could not return the way we came to Ground. Even without water, we could not escape through the passage that connected above and below, which was the black hole at the center of the Pit Vortex. We lacked the ability to enter that passage.
As for Jack's assertion that there would be no living creatures here, I still held onto a glimmer of hope. I could only confirm that the underground lake we had just observed contained no life; the resonating sound that made my blood boil indeed rendered all living beings unable to survive. But what about outside that underground lake? The Underground River was swift and deep, fully capable of supporting life, especially fish. Any fish that entered here could potentially thrive.
When we observed the underground lake earlier, we had already exited the channel of the Underground River and entered the area of the Embankment surrounding the lake. The sounds and vibrations had become noticeably more intense at that moment. Similarly, once we entered the river's domain, the noise shifted from the rumble of construction vehicles to the dominant roar of rushing water, with the rumble of machinery and vibrations significantly diminishing.
It seemed as if there was a watershed in sound. The further we walked back, the weaker that blood-boiling sound became, as if we had escaped from a great drum.
"Let's take a break." When I could hear voices without needing to read lips, I called for Jack to stop, utterly exhausted.
Jack nodded in agreement with my suggestion and immediately found a flat, protruding stalactite column to sit on. He looked equally worn out.
I felt drained too—mentally exhausted.
Although we hadn't spent much time observing within the underground lake's vicinity, that brief period had taken a toll on our stamina; my heart felt very uncomfortable. I still experienced dizziness and nausea. If it weren't for our extreme lack of food, I would have wanted to find a way to vomit; it would have provided some relief.
The stalactites here were bizarrely shaped. For instance, the one beneath Jack resembled a covered cup; he sat on its handle while above him was a larger platform, round like a cup lid.
I struggled to climb up onto that platform, letting my legs dangle below as I gasped for air—not from exhaustion but to let fresh air suppress the rising urge to vomit.
Perhaps hearing my abnormal breathing, Jack raised the Glow Stick high, casting its light on my face.
He looked up at me and said, "You look pale. Move a bit over there, and don't throw up on me."
"I'm not that extravagant."
What I meant was that I couldn't bear to part with the little food in my stomach. But saying it made me feel even more nauseous. I heard Jack gag slightly and then spit. It seemed he felt the same way.
"You've seen the situation over there clearly, right?" Jack's words seemed more like a distraction.
"Yeah." I continued to gasp for air. "There definitely can't be any life over there. But there should be in the Underground River; you all have the chance to enter the waterway, and the fish in it have the same opportunity."
"It seems you haven't seen it all clearly," Jack's tone turned cold. (To Be Continued...)
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