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Wang Yongfu's question brought a brief silence.
In fact, I was also confused and puzzled for a moment. I knew very little about the children in the mine, and the only reference I could make was my own situation.
The physical fatigue was constant, the pain and weakness showed no sign of letting up. Even so, I did seem to be "alive" in some way.
Is it true that the so-called goddess is immortal?
Why did we, the people in the mine, show up, and what happened to the children who died? What is the difference between me, the other children, and the goddess?
This series of questions made me a little confused. Thinking of the little girl's dim eyes, I felt that there was something wrong with the statement that the goddess could come back to life.
It's funny to say that Wang Ping was stunned for a long time. He was actually much more firm than I was in materialism. He shook his head and trembled:
"Brother Yongfu, if you ask me, I have no idea how these dead kids appeared. I'm afraid someone must have killed them and thrown them out to play tricks. Don't be fooled!"
Wang Yongfu sneered: "If there are dead children every now and then, wouldn't all the people in the mine have died long ago?"
He paused and said gloomily, "You mean, the number and frequency of people appearing in the mine may be much higher than what we have counted?"
This was a simple sentence, but as soon as it came out, my heart skipped a beat and I almost broke into a sweat.
Wang Ping seemed unaware of the shocking possibility he had brought up, and said in a confused manner:
"Yeah, Brother Yongfu, look, even today there are still people who dare to kick and hit the goddess right under your nose. Who knows what will happen in normal times."
“If you ask me, if there are originally ten children born in the mine every day, they only need to report eight. Wouldn’t that leave two “non-existent” numbers? If something goes wrong in the mining and people die, it will not be counted in the reported number.
I'll find a chance to slowly dispose of them later. Maybe some of them were taken out and buried directly. Brother Yongfu, you may not even know about this."
As soon as he finished talking, he seemed to suddenly realize what he had said, and I felt the mine cart carrying me shake. It was because his legs went weak and he could hardly stand while holding on to the mine cart.
I have to admit that his conjecture is indeed more reasonable than the real and imaginary ghosts and gods. It's just too inhumane and much more terrifying than seeing ghosts.
I was shocked and immediately thought of another problem. Not only was I sweating, I felt dizzy and almost trembling with anxiety.
"——Then tell me, what happened to the goddess? I didn't take care of those miners, but I came to check on the goddess every once in a while. There were many times when I checked on her the day before and she was dead, but when I checked on her the next day, she was still alive. I saw it with my own eyes."
Wang Yongfu's tone was already a little abnormal, and it was obvious that he was completely unwilling to accept the possibility of being "ordinary".
I can understand his sudden gloominess and resistance.
Because in his original description, miners appeared regularly, some of them were born dead, and their intestines looked like they were hollowed out;
Putting these together, there is a certain sense that the miners are dying for the goddess one after another and blocking some invisible and terrifying monster.
Most of the so-called longevity stories and anecdotes throughout history have been fond of this narrative technique of taking away people's lifespans. As for death, it is described as some kind of primitive, savage and extremely bloody monster, hiding in the dark and ready to rob people at any time.
But Wang Ping's guess was that there was nothing unusual in the mine except that new miners appeared from time to time, which in disguise denied the greatest value of the mine. He was completely trying to put the blame on man-made disasters and pointed out that this was most likely a trick on Wang Yongfu by his subordinates.
For someone like Wang Yongfu, it is absolutely impossible to accept this kind of thinking.
Wang Ping also suddenly came to his senses. If he said any more, the consequences would be dire. He shut up and dared not speak. I could hear his breathing becoming faster and slower. He was extremely nervous.
Fortunately, Wang Yongfu seemed to have some tolerance for this distant relative. He just said impatiently and coldly:
"I know you're afraid, and because you're afraid you want to find reasons to think about things in a 'scientific' way, but don't make this mistake again in the future. If it weren't for Uncle and Sixth Aunt..."
The topic reached a deadlock here. No one spoke anymore and they took the last two steps in a weird and stiff atmosphere. There was a heavy and sour creaking sound, and the wooden door, which had only been opened a little, was pushed open forcefully.
According to my previous observation, this is still a very enclosed space, because there are no densely packed honeycomb-like passages and exits, nor are there those blue-black knife edges. At this moment, the entire spherical space is more like half of a huge hollow eggshell.
The wooden door and the dug-out entrance and exit are roughly at the waist level of the eggshell.
I heard footsteps going out of the wooden door one by one. There seemed to be some wooden plank or floor plank outside. The creaking sound when stepping on it became particularly loud and abrupt.
After about two or three minutes, the second group of people who were preparing to go out should be the last few mountain people responsible for pushing the mine cart. They started pushing the mine cart loaded with me forward.
With just this push, the mine cart shook as if it had hit something, and Wang Ping said in panic:
"I can't get through. Is the door too narrow?"
My eyelids twitched and I thought something was wrong. Even though I didn't open my eyes now, I could clearly hear the noise of others pushing the door just now. I even heard the dull thud of the wooden door hitting the wall when it opened as wide as possible.
Since they dug a hole and left a door, and there were usually push-and-pusher mine carts coming in and out, the most basic unobstructed traffic was definitely possible.
At this point, it would be funny if the mine cart couldn't pass through the fully open wooden door.
Wang Yongfu obviously had the same idea and was a little annoyed: "Get out of the way, I'll do it."
At this moment, a villager who was also pushing a cart and waiting to go out hesitated and said:
"No, our wooden door seems to have become narrower. It didn't make such a loud noise when I pushed it open before. It seems... the color seems to have become darker, too."
The speaker didn't mean it, but everyone else fell silent for a moment, and Wang Yongfu didn't say anything either.
Within ten seconds, I heard footsteps coming out one after another, and I could hear that these people walked very quickly and awkwardly, as if they had abandoned the mine carts.
Only Wang Ping, although he didn't understand the situation, thought it was very important for him to get rid of the mine cart and me in advance. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief, slid the mine cart outward, and followed the last footsteps.
I was still thinking about the life and death of the miners. Although I felt a little sorry that I couldn't get out, it wasn't a bad thing to stay with the miners. I also had a lot of important things that I was eager to confirm with the girl.
I pricked up my ears, suppressed my emotions and waited for the footsteps to fade away completely.
But surprisingly, I waited for at least ten minutes, during which time the footsteps did indeed move away conspicuously on the wooden planks outside, but a certain sense of abnormality became stronger and stronger, making me very uncomfortable, and I didn't even open my eyes for a while.
I noticed that there seemed to be some sound missing.
...Why was there no sound of the wooden door closing?
This thing made such a loud noise when it was pushed open just now. If they had closed it when they went out, I would have definitely heard it.
No matter what the reason was for them to leave immediately at this point, there was only one exit in the mine. No matter how hurried they were, they should have closed the wooden door. Otherwise, weren't they afraid that the children would escape?
After a while of inexplicable hesitation, another light sound of footsteps came from the depths of the mine.
A pair of slightly cold little hands gently covered my eyes.
I was startled and immediately realized that it was the little girl who came.
She tapped my forehead, signaling me not to speak, and slowly opened my eyes. I subconsciously held my breath, and I felt that her movements were a little unnatural, as if she was squeezed in something and barely reached me.
Given her height and figure, although she is thin, the mine cart is only about 70 to 80 centimeters high at most, so it is not that difficult for her.
I was mentally prepared for some bad things, so I took a long, deep breath and then opened my eyes.
The light from the wooden door was still shining on me. When I opened my eyes, my pupils suddenly felt a little stingy. I blinked several times almost unconsciously. She waited patiently for me to adapt before moving her hand away. At the same time, my vision swept over it, and I almost screamed out in shock.
Just outside my small mine cart, I don’t know when it started, but the few mine carts that had not been pushed out were all neatly lined up side by side around me.
What I couldn’t understand or accept was that a circle of little people sat up on the mine cart. They were covered in yellow rashes, leaning forward, stretching their necks as far as they could, and looking straight at me.
The little face closest to me had its neck tilted in a twisted state, almost touching my nose, and its face was covered with purple spots.
My whole body was stiff and I couldn't move at all. I was so confused and frightened that I stayed in the mine car and couldn't figure out what was going on for a long time.
The little girl was squeezed in this circle of strange little people, holding on to the handrail of the mine cart with difficulty.
"squeak--"
The wooden door seemed to be pulled by something and was about to close.
Amidst the creepy noise, the little girl used all her strength to push the mine cart I was in out of the wooden door.
But the mine carts surrounding me were so dense and heavy that we could hardly move. I was very anxious and wanted to get up to help, but there were too many heavy objects on my body and I couldn't get up even with all my strength.
She shook her head firmly, signaling me not to take any action.
Looking at the little people on the mine carts, she gritted her teeth as if to cheer herself up, and began to push the mine carts with all her strength.
I am an adult, and even though I am in the body of a strange child, I still feel extremely timid when I am completely protected by a little child and have to obey her commands.
I thought of that conjecture again, and suddenly felt infinite sadness.
I actually had a vague answer to the question that Wang Yongfu interrupted me with, but this answer was too cruel, and it was as hard for me to accept it as Wang Yongfu, and I was even unwilling to think about it any further.
But now, I realize that I must face this possibility, because if it is true, I am afraid that we will not have much time to spend together.
Wang Ping speculated that there were more children who appeared regularly in the mines, and those who were concealed as "non-existent" would appear in another weird state after something happened. The living environment here is extremely poor, and it can be said that it is inevitable that the miners will get into trouble. But Wang Yongfu may not be willing to accept this inevitability.
Given the viciousness and vulgarity of these mountain people and Wang Yongfu's high pressure, it is indeed very likely that they will habitually conceal the truth in advance so that they can falsify information later to evade accountability, or even fabricate artificial abnormalities to please Wang Yongfu.
The mine is too dry at the moment. If one really wants to preserve something like a corpse, it might not be discovered in a day or two if handled properly.
As for the place where the bodies were hidden, there were many mine carts here. When I first woke up, I saw a few abandoned ones in the corner, which were placed there for use after the sundries were thrown away.
I myself have just experienced the feeling of being covered in clutter. Now my body is still covered with a mess of tools, gravel, and plastic film, with only my face exposed.
I can feel that the person who threw me into the mine cart probably just did so for convenience. It may be a habit that has been cultivated over a long period of time.
But this habit is actually not natural.
No matter how little reverence most people have for life and death, their minds are empty and they only know about fighting and ruthlessness. They will unconsciously avoid the corpses that are about to be dealt with.
It is normal to block the face and body of the deceased so that they cannot be seen directly, but it is a bit strange to pile up a pile of debris and fill it up to the point where it is almost invisible. Not only will it cause trouble for you when you dispose of it later, but you will also have to increase the time to remove the debris and come into contact with the body.
The mine cart is too heavy to be turned over, and it is not a bucket cart. Tools like these are meant to be used repeatedly, so it is impossible to overturn the cart and pour out all the contents in one go. It doesn't make sense no matter how you think about it.
The explanations I can think of are: first, they are more inclined to hide the body out of habit and don't want it to be discovered, so it doesn't matter if it's a little troublesome; second, they don't want the body to move, and putting heavy objects on the body is a common preventive measure.
These mountain people came for profit, and although they were afraid of Wang Yongfu's violence, they probably concealed many things.
And there is one point I disagree with Wang Ping's point of view. In my opinion, those mountain people did not seem to be taking pleasure in the brutality of the miners. Instead, they were in denial after some kind of excessive fear.
The mountain villager who kicked and beat us before knew that Wang Yongfu was present. He had just heard Wang Yongfu casually tell someone to smash my head to ensure that I was dead, but he still cursed and attacked the "goddess", indirectly kicking me to the ground.
Now I think it's more like the loss of control after the complete collapse of fear, and the need to use violence immediately to get a "safe" answer.
This is consistent with the logic of Wang Ping's unusual behavior, where he kept silent about the fright he had caused me just now, as if he had forgotten about it, and instead seemed to be very tactless and kept attributing the answer to man-made disasters.
Looking at the yellow little people on the mine cart, I can be sure that these are not children, but extremely mature, dwarf-like adults. Their disgusting appearance immediately reminded me of mandrills, but they have no hair, fangs or flippers, and their abdomens are like mine at this moment, hollow and open, with no organs inside.
In the short time I spent thinking about it, they seemed to be a little closer to us.
Like sprouts, they are slowly breaking free from the heavy objects pressing on them and regaining their ability to move.
At this point I have to come to a terrible guess. Perhaps the mountain people set the rule of evacuating immediately at this time every day and insisted on dealing with the dead gutless miners in a timely manner in order to prevent such a situation from happening.
Not only the weak miners appeared in the mine for no reason, but also these strange dwarfs with yellow rashes all over their bodies.
This mine is definitely not that safe. The protective measures that the mountain people have concealed may have major loopholes.
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