The cat-ear cave we were in had a peculiar terrain; the ground wasn't flat, and in the narrowest parts, you had to lie flat on the ground and crawl through.
As we ventured deeper, the sound of the giant snake crashing against the mountain wall outside disappeared, and I was completely disoriented.
The cat-ear-shaped holes here felt to me like a bunch of tangled threads, a maze that made my head spin.
The long crawling made my elbows and knees ache terribly, and Nie Guangzhi, with his injured leg, moved as slowly as a snail.
At a fork in the road, I shone my flashlight into the cave above and turned to say, "There's a large space up there; once we climb up, we should be able to stretch our arms and legs."
As I spoke, I adjusted my posture, stood up in the cave, and used my arms and legs to support myself on both sides as I climbed up the cave.
The space above the cave was much more spacious, finally allowing people to stretch their bodies.
I checked my watch; forty minutes had passed since we entered the cat-ear cave.
Although we never stopped during this process, we were always moving in the direction of the cave, and we had no idea where we were.
I rested up there for a while, then took off my coat and used it as a rope to pull Nie Guangzhi and Song Laosan up as well.
This space of about three square meters finally allowed us to rest for a while. Song Laosan took out a bottle of mineral water, drank a third of it, and handed it to me: "We only have two bottles of water. After you finish this sip, you won't be able to drink water for at least twelve hours. In order to ensure a sufficient water supply, we need to start storing urine for emergency use now."
"I'm afraid that even if we keep struggling, we still won't find a way out!"
Nie Guangzhi took the water bottle and looked around at the surroundings with some frustration: "These cat ear holes are obviously naturally formed, with no trace of artificial digging. Do you think there might be no way out at all?"
"The formation of the cave is mainly the result of the slow erosion caused by water and carbon dioxide. Although there is no water in the cave now, many years ago, this must have been a cave with water! Since a cave could form here, there must be an inlet and an outlet, so it is not a dead end."
Song Laosan paused for a moment: "Unless the exit here has collapsed or is blocked, theoretically speaking, as long as we have enough time, we will eventually find the exit of the cave. Of course, this exit may not be able to allow us to open up this mountain."
I rubbed my aching elbows and knees, took out an antibiotic from my medical kit, and handed it to Nie Guangzhi: "How are you? Can you hold on?"
"Perhaps."
Nie Guangzhi glanced at his blood-soaked trousers and took a deep breath: "When we set off, I'll stay at the very back of the group. That way, my speed won't slow you down, and if I can't hold on, I won't block the road."
I heard Nie Guangzhi say that he was prepared to sacrifice himself. He took out his cigarette case and handed him a cigarette: "During the journey, we will not abandon you and will try our best to take care of you."
Nie Guangzhi smiled and said, "We've only met by chance, and we're even enemies. I'm already very grateful for what you've done! Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who repays kindness with enmity. Even if you abandoned me in a life-or-death situation, I wouldn't have any complaints!"
Seeing that he understood what I hadn't said aloud, I didn't say anything more: "Everyone, rest for another ten minutes, and then we'll set off."
After listening to my words, Nie Guangzhi took out a piece of raw meat from Song Laosan's travel bag and began to eat it in large bites to replenish his strength: "I don't know how much longer my body can hold on. If I have any poisoning reactions later, don't worry about me, just leave. Remember not to eat any more snake meat."
After getting to know him, I found that Nie Guangzhi was a straightforward and responsible person. I couldn't help but ask, "What crime did you commit that led you to be forced to leave your hometown and be executed on a boat?"
"A murder case."
Nie Guangzhi chewed on the snake meat and said in a low voice, "My parents died when I was very young, but the two neighbors couldn't bear to see me sent to an orphanage, so they adopted me! I don't have any glorious resume in my life. I joined the army at eighteen, became a non-commissioned officer, and after retiring, I worked as an auxiliary police officer at the town police station."
Three months ago, the construction of the highway encroached on our village's farmland, which originally belonged to my adoptive parents. However, the village secretary's brother-in-law jumped out and claimed that it was his family's land, and took away most of the demolition compensation that originally belonged to my adoptive parents from the village committee.
My adoptive parents were furious and went to confront the scoundrel. An argument ensued, and my adoptive father was struck on the head with a stick. He died after being taken to the hospital, but the forensic examination concluded that he died of a stroke! On the same day my adoptive father died, my adoptive mother was arrested by police from the county on charges of extortion. When I went to inquire about the situation, I was dismissed from my job for being unproductive, late, and leaving early!
After receiving this result, I was furious. I stormed into the village secretary's brother-in-law's house to confront him, and in the chaos, I hit him on the head twice with a hammer. Then I fled my hometown. After that, through a comrade's introduction, I became a hitman for Boss He, thinking that before I was caught, I could earn some money for my adoptive mother's retirement, as a way of repaying her kindness.
After hearing Nie Guangzhi's story, I asked, "Is the person you beat dead?"
Nie Guangzhi shook his head: "I don't know, but he's probably not going to make it. Our village secretary's family has a lot of influence in the area, and some of his relatives work in the municipal party committee. We can't afford to offend them."
I finished my cigarette, stubbed it out, and crawled into a cave ahead: "Alright, let's go."
The cave was damp and stuffy. After climbing for more than ten meters, beads of sweat started to drip down my face. When I reached a fork in the road, I saw that the passage on the right was wider. I stretched my body and was about to go in when I heard a rustling sound.
To conserve the flashlight's battery, we only turned on one flashlight, and I kept it in my mouth the whole time while crawling.
Hearing the sound coming from ahead, I thought they had found a mountain spring or something, so I quickly looked up.
When the flashlight beam swept halfway across the cave, I could already see many firefly-like flickering lights deep inside.
Immediately afterwards, the entire cave was illuminated.
This cave is a dead end. At the end, there are countless hairless rats, the same kind we saw in Jinji Cave.
"Squeak!"
Stimulated by the light, the pink-skinned rats in the hole let out shrill cries, then all opened their mouths wide and charged at me.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com