Fu Tianlai found the path he had taken before, and the traces of the route were still faintly visible. Li Junjie and his three men continued to clear the way ahead. It was much easier to walk than in the jungle, and the four-kilometer journey took only a little over two hours.
Upon reaching the sinkhole, everyone threw their backpacks and bags on the ground and peered down to the edge of the rock.
Zhou Xuan gasped in shock!
This sinkhole is at least two or three thousand meters in circumference, with sheer cliffs on all sides and a depth of five or six hundred meters. It's so deep that it makes you dizzy just looking at it. The bottom of the sinkhole is covered with lush forests, so you can't see the entrance to the water pit that Fu Tianlai mentioned at all.
Li Junjie had two white men set up a small tent, then installed an automatic mini pulley on a large tree that hugged the rocks, and attached two nylon ropes to the pulley.
This nylon rope is also specially made. Although it is only as thick as a little finger, it can bear a load of more than 20,000 kilograms. It is made up of 100 thin nylon threads, each as thin as a fishing line. Each thread can bear a load of 200 kilograms on its own, but the overall weight is very light.
Li Junjie's three men roasted the remaining wild boar meat and had another hearty meal before preparing to descend into the sinkhole. The two white men were left to stay behind and guard the exit, as it was crucial that the exit be left unguarded. If outsiders or wild animals damaged the pulleys and ropes, it would ruin everything.
After ensuring there was enough food and ammunition, Li Junjie gave the two men some more instructions. However, with walkie-talkies, they were always in contact, and they would know immediately if anything happened.
The Black man was the first to descend the rock face. He carried a pack, fastened his safety harness, and secured two ropes to the harness. One rope was for safety, and the other could limit the speed of the descent. Adjusting the tension of the ropes would increase or decrease the speed.
The pulleys installed on the rocks are basically useless when going down, but when coming up, they can be activated to wind the rope and automatically pull people up. If you were to use rock climbing, how much time would it take to climb a cliff of five or six hundred meters?
The second person to go down was Ito Kinji, followed by Fu Tianlai, and then the Wolf brothers also went down.
After Elena left, Fu Ying smiled at Zhou Xuan and said, "Little Zhou, it's your turn!"
To be honest, Zhou Xuan was a little afraid of heights. This cliff was exceptionally high, and Zhou Xuan had always had an inexplicable fear of sinkholes since he was a child. But at this moment, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go down.
After fastening the safety belt, I closed my eyes, took a few deep breaths, and slowly descended while holding onto the rope. To prevent debris and rubble from falling on our heads, everyone wore a safety helmet.
When Zhou Xuan reached about twenty meters, he looked up and saw Fu Ying above him, then Ono Yuriko above her, and Li Junjie at the very top and last person. He looked down and felt dizzy again.
For over a hundred meters below, a string of people were like grasshoppers tied together on a thread. Only when they were on the cliff did they truly feel how high and steep it was.
Zhou Xuan paused to catch his breath, then looked up to see Fu Ying staring at him with bright, beautiful eyes. She asked in a low voice, "Little Zhou, what's wrong?"
Zhou Xuan shook his head and said, "It's nothing, I've just never rock climbed before!"
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Volume One: The Lotus Buds Just Begin to Bloom, Chapter Twenty-Five: The Moon Over My Hometown Is Even More Beautiful
(On October 1st, National Day, I wish all my book lovers a happy holiday, a joyful family reunion, and a happy and carefree celebration!)
Zhou Xuan was the slowest, taking almost an hour to reach the bottom of the 500-600 meter distance. Wolf helped him unlock his safety harness as soon as he reached the bottom. Fu Ying, Ono Yuriko, and Li Junjie followed suit. (www.W)
Li Junjie used a walkie-talkie to communicate with his two white subordinates on the cliff top. Then everyone picked up their bags and Fu Tianlai pointed in the direction they were heading.
The forest at the bottom of the sinkhole was even more lush. Zhou Xuan didn't recognize most of the trees and plants. There were many trees that were twenty or thirty meters tall, and their trunks were so thick that it would take several people to hug them.
The direction Fu Tianlai pointed out vaguely resembled a path, and strange animal calls could be heard from the jungle from time to time.
Li Junjie tossed the shotgun he was carrying to Wolf, then picked up a machete and led the way with the black man, with Fu Tianlai following behind.
Wolf walked at the back with a shotgun in hand. Zhou Xuan looked up at the sky above. The top of the sinkhole was like the mouth of a bottle. The afternoon sun shone in from the western cliff top, turning the eastern cliff face golden. However, only the top ten or twenty meters were dark at the bottom of the sinkhole, which looked gloomy.
It felt a bit hot at the top of the cliff, but it felt very cool at the bottom of the sinkhole, with a chill in the flowing air.
There were ten people who went down into the sinkhole: seven men and three women. They were Li Junjie, Fu Tianlai, the black man's men, the Wolf brothers, Ito Kinji, and Zhou Xuan. The three girls were Fu Ying, Ono Yuriko, and Elena.
The bottom of the sinkhole covers an area of about four to five thousand square meters. It is small at the top and widens as you go down, making it look like an inverted funnel.
Following the vague path from before, it took more than an hour to reach our destination. The main problem was the heavy vines that blocked the way. When we reached the southernmost rock face, there was a bare area of about 30 to 40 square meters. Because it was a flat rock, no plants grew on it. In the middle of this flat rock, there was a circular pit about two meters in diameter.
Li Junjie put his backpack on the rock and went to look at the cave. Then everyone else dropped their bags and gathered around.
The cave is surrounded by smooth rocks, and about three meters deep at the top is a deep green water. It is impossible to see how deep it is, but the cold air from the bottom of the cliff comes from here.
Standing in the pit for a long time, my arms felt chilly.
By then it was getting dark. At five o'clock, it was still bright on the cliff top, but it had become dark at the bottom of the sinkhole.
Li Junjie quickly instructed everyone to open their backpacks, take out two tents, and set them up. The tents were inflatable and easy to set up. Then, they secured the four corners with nails.
The large tent housed seven men, while the smaller one housed three girls, including Fu Ying.
Li Junjie frequently travels the world for rock climbing and mountaineering adventures, and he is very skilled in these wilderness survival skills. After setting up the tent, he and his black subordinates found some dry branches to start a fire and roasted the remaining wild boar meat to eat.
After having dinner of roasted wild boar, it was completely dark. Li Junjie then spoke with the two white men on the cliff top.
Wolf and Daniel went into their tents to rest early, while Elena also went to sleep in her tent. Ono Yuriko and Ito went into the woods to meditate and practice their skills.
Fu Tianlai sat alone by the edge of the water pit, staring blankly into the hole. Li Junjie and Fu Ying walked up to him, one on each side, and whispered, "Grandpa!" "Grandpa!"
Fu Tianlai shook his head sadly, waved his hand, and didn't say anything. After a long while, he said, "Go to sleep early!" Then he got up and went into the tent.
Fu Ying gave Li Junjie a wink and said softly, "Cousin, Grandpa is thinking about Grandfather's matter. Go and comfort him!"
Li Junjie sighed, nodded, and then followed him into the tent.
Fu Ying glanced at the rock wall on the right, where Zhou Xuan was sitting alone, lost in thought. She walked over quietly and whispered, "What are you daydreaming about?"
Zhou Xuan glanced at her, smiled, and said, "Nothing, I was just wondering what's in this puddle!"
Fu Ying smiled faintly, sat down next to him, and said quietly, "This is a question that all of us who came here want to know!"
The wind blew across the cliff, making a sharp, piercing sound, like the howling of ghosts.
Of course, Zhou Xuan had never seen what a ghost looked like, nor did he believe in ghosts and gods. But not believing in ghosts and gods did not mean he was not afraid of anything. There were many frightening things in this world, such as the dark river pit in the sinkhole in front of him, which frightened him.
Feeling a bit cold, Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then quickly got up and pulled his coat, which was lying on the ground, a little closer. He said to Fu Ying, "Miss Fu, please sit here. It's cold on the rocks."