Abyss Empty House (The Salvageman's Adventure)

Chapter 11

Anger welled up inside me, and malice took hold. With a sudden clench of my teeth and a powerful push of my legs, hey! ———— I stood up!

Suddenly a knife appeared in my hand. Zhang Liheng had very perceptively handed it to me, and even looked at me with encouraging eyes. I gritted my teeth, raised the knife, and chopped it down at Lao Gu's head!

With a clang, my knife was blocked, and everything went black. I was so shocked I almost passed out. When I opened my eyes, I saw Zhang Liheng looking at me with a surprised expression and tears welling up in her eyes. She cried out, "Huang Ning, what's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly draw your knife to kill Lao Gu?"

I was startled. Looking closely, I realized I was still on the rocky mountain under the sun, while Old Gu sat in front of me, pale-faced and trembling.

What on earth is going on? I'm confused again.

Zhang Liheng hurriedly called out, "Huang Ning, what's wrong? Speak up! Did you have a nightmare?"

I patted my groggy head and looked at Zhang Liheng with great confusion. "Didn't you put the knife in my hand?" I looked around again. There was no large cabinet, no Ding Gen, no one else. The reservoir was still just a reservoir. There was no concrete house anywhere!

A sudden clarity dawned on me; everything that had just happened was a hallucination! Holy crap—!

He quickly moved to Lao Gu's side and apologized, saying, "Comrade Lao Gu, I'm so sorry, I was out of my mind just now and offended you terribly. Sigh, what a mess this is, I never thought I would fall asleep! I'm so sorry, Comrade Lao Gu, please be magnanimous and forgive me this once!"

Old Gu looked terrible, but there was nothing he could do. He muttered, "Brother, you've really gone all out. Don't worry about it, I'm fine. Let's get moving."

Chapter 30 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Chapter 30 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Author: Ghost Grinning

Date: 2008-03-27 23:43:00

I sighed helplessly, wondering what was wrong with me today, since I never dream. Not only did I fall asleep in broad daylight, but I also had such a strange dream. Wait, I suddenly remembered that Lao Gu mentioned that the two pursuers had argued about sinkholes, bronze mirrors, and gemstones. Why did I actually dream about a bronze mirror?

I pondered for a moment and asked Zhang Liheng, "Have you ever heard of any strange mirrors that can reflect the scene of a person's last moments before death?"

Zhang Liheng was a little confused: "A bronze mirror? It reflects the scene before death? What is that?"

Old Gu suddenly chimed in: "You mean the sea mirror? It's the only bronze mirror related to water. I've heard of it and even looked it up in books, but those are all ancient legends, you can't believe them."

Old Gu told us that there was a book that recorded that the sea mirror could see strange fish and all kinds of reefs from a hundred miles away, which was very magical. However, the back of this mirror had a special feature: it could show the scene of a person's death moment. No one knows how to use it anymore. Even if it doesn't have this ability, being able to show strange fish and reefs from a hundred miles away is more powerful than satellites and radar, which is obviously impossible!

I nodded in agreement, thinking it made a lot of sense. Old Gu had been at the reservoir for a long time and had really put in the effort to learn about the gadgets used on the water. He was a true example of someone who loved what he did. It seemed that my dream was just a wild fantasy, a random daydream.

Looking at the sky, I realized I hadn't slept for very long, and the sun showed no sign of setting; it was still a long time before it got dark.

I stood up and stretched, feeling refreshed, but my stomach was getting hungrier and hungrier.

Date: 2008-03-28 0:40:00

The three of us, who had struggled all night, staggered to the other side of the rocky mountain, the side where Lao Gu and I slid into the gap in the swamp.

At this point, we couldn't tell which way was north, south, east, or west at all. We could only head towards the side with fewer islands in the water, because we all remembered that the area where we stopped the boat for the night faced a rocky mountain with not many islands. As for the idea of climbing to the top of the mountain, we basically gave up. Firstly, we didn't have time, and secondly, there were too many cracks and gaps between the rocks, and we didn't want to accidentally fall into them again.

Little Baldy followed the moon, and after walking until he was covered in sweat, we finally reached a body of water with no islands in front of us. The boat we came by was stuck at an angle at the foot of the mountain, probably stranded.

With a cheer, we ran down the mountain.

After running a few steps, I slowed down and told them not to rush: "Slow down, everyone. This boat can't fly. There's something I haven't told you yet!"

When they stopped, I panted and told them about my experience on the boat. As I spoke, Lao Gu kept pulling his ankle back, although his limp wasn't obvious and his toes weren't very flexible.

Just as I was hesitating, a hot wind blew across the water. The wind was quite strong, and it seemed that some sand had gotten into my eyes. I quickly lowered my head to rub my eyes, but the more I rubbed, the more uncomfortable they became. They felt sore and I wanted to cry. But the image of the woman in the portrait kept popping into my mind. Her expressionless, gray eyes made me feel uneasy. Something felt very wrong.

I opened my eyes, and oh no! There seemed to be a whirlpool about to appear on the surface of the open water. I quickly blinked, afraid that I was dreaming again.

It's not a dream, it's real!

However, it couldn't really be called a whirlpool. It was just a very smooth, slightly tilted surface, like an open, flat-bottomed pot, trembling slightly in the wind. I tilted my head to take a closer look, wondering if it was just my eyes hurting and making a mistake. Sure enough, the surface of the water became smooth again!

I closed my eyelids and tried again. Oh dear, something's not right. I feel like my eyelids are different than usual!

Generally speaking, blinking is the result of the combined effort of the upper and lower eyelids. But I feel that in the last blink, only the lower eyelid moves up to cover the eyeball, while the upper eyelid doesn't move at all.

What's going on?

Date: 2008-03-29 12:24:00

I blinked again, but only my lower eyelid flipped up. I quickly touched it with my hand, and my lower eyelid felt hard, as if there was something inside. I panicked. Could it be some kind of fish gills or something? If that were the case, wouldn't I become a monster and die soon?

Old Gu and the other man looked at me suspiciously as I stood there in a daze. I quickly turned around and rubbed my eyes, saying, "It's nothing, just some sand in my eyes. It'll be fine after rubbing them." I was terrified that someone would notice something was wrong with my eyelids. The thought of them being studied on a dissection table sent chills down my spine.

While I was rubbing my eyes and talking, I heard the buzzing of a helicopter rotor overhead, so I quickly squinted at the sunlight to look.

It's true, a Z-5 helicopter is flying closer and closer, the rumbling is getting louder and louder, and the water is already being churned up and rocked. Is this helicopter coming to rescue us?

The helicopter circled the rocky hill where we were standing, and the three of us shouted and waved our arms at the top of our lungs.

The rocky mountain was bare with no big trees. The people in the helicopter must have spotted us. After circling twice, they stopped in mid-air, seemingly about to drop something. I saw that the helicopter was landing above the tilted boat, and I thought to myself, "Oh no!" If it dropped some supplies on the boat, wouldn't we have to risk going aboard to get them?

Following the rope below the helicopter, a person slid down quickly, followed by several heavy backpacks, all landing on the deck. Watching the person move his arms and legs, I felt he looked very familiar. Suddenly, it dawned on me that this person seemed to be my best buddy—Ding Gen. This guy has finally arrived!

I shouted as I rushed down the mountain toward the ship, partly out of surprise and partly out of worry that he might be unaware of what was happening and had been ambushed by the monsters on board.

A woman slid down from below the helicopter, and Ding Genzheng helped her land safely with both hands raised.

The road down the mountain was very bumpy, and I had to keep watching to avoid falling into the cracks between the rocks. Because of this delay, I saw Ding Gen waving at me, and then he and the woman walked into the cabin.

I really lost my temper and yelled, "Old Ding, you bastard, get the hell out here right now!"

The distance was a bit far, and the helicopter's rotors were making a piercing rumble that completely drowned out my shouts. Seeing that there was nowhere to land, the helicopter was slowly raising its fuselage, preparing to turn around and leave.

I continued to approach the ship quickly when suddenly the sky brightened, unusually bright. I involuntarily stopped and looked up to see what was happening. The helicopter was hovering in the air, trembling slightly, when suddenly a dazzling white ball of light exploded. I hurriedly shielded my eyes from the blinding light. Oh no! The helicopter was about to explode!

The blinding ball of light lasted only a few very brief seconds. After the ball of light disappeared, the helicopter vanished without a trace. There were no traces of explosion debris, nor any loud crash into the water. It simply disappeared in mid-air, right under our noses!

A deathly silence reigned everywhere. A loud bang came from the cabin, followed by the muffled crack of gunfire, which sounded particularly somber in the stillness.

Chapter 31 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Chapter 31 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Author: Ghost Grinning

Date: 2008-03-31 15:05:00

The three of us looked at each other, bewildered and uncertain, not knowing what had happened. Everything had happened too fast and too suddenly, and it even seemed a bit eerie, leaving us breathless and unable to process what was happening.

How could a helicopter suddenly disappear? It's even more terrifying than a magic trick. There was no explosion or crash, only a small section of the tail fin floating on the water, bobbing up and down. This means that the helicopter didn't speed away, but that an accident actually happened!

What happened in the cabin? That loud bang and the muffled sound of gunfire—what unexpected event had Ding Gen and that woman encountered? A series of unforeseen events led us to decide that they couldn't both go on the ship together. It would be best to send one of them to check what was going on first. Considering that neither of them were as healthy as me, and that I had more than one spare part, I naturally decided to leave them behind while I went on the ship to take a look myself.

Zhang Liheng grabbed my arm: "No, you're not feeling well, I'll go instead. I think I'm fine, I can definitely handle it!"

I laughed and said, "Alright, alright, how can I, a grown man, hide in the back and let you, a young lady, go on the risk? Besides, your job as a soldier is a clerical one, not as good as mine, a retired veteran. Stop arguing, I'll go, you just stay here obediently."

Zhang Liheng blushed, let go of his hand and said, "Go on, don't say so much, I was just being polite."

I was a little exasperated. I never knew this little girl could do this.

Before leaving, I glanced at Lao Gu and saw that his fingers were clenched so tightly they were white; I wondered what he was worried about.

I ran to the foot of the mountain, where the boat was moored among the rocks. It was still a bit far from the shore. Although it was a pity that my clothes had just dried, I had no choice but to jump into the water and quietly swim over. When I got closer to the boat, I pulled out my knife, held it in my hand, and slowly climbed up.

After the gunshots rang out in the cabin, there were no more. At least after I climbed onto the ship, it was still quiet everywhere.

The packages that Ding Gen brought down were still lying on the deck. I didn't go through them, but went straight to the bridge. I figured if anything happened, it would definitely happen in the bridge.

Date: 2008-03-31 16:12:00

I slowly walked to the cockpit. The previously locked hatch had a hole in the lower half, and Ding Gen was holding a gun, intently aiming at that hole. Afraid of disturbing him, I stopped and quietly looked at what was in the hole that made Ding Gen so vigilant.

This ship wasn't the kind of iron-hulled ship I was familiar with from my time in the army. The gaps in the holes were very irregular, and it was obvious at a glance that the hatches weren't made of metal. Inside the holes, there was a thing lying there, vaguely visible, covered in long, soft, and furry black hair. It lay there motionless, making me quite suspicious that Ding Gen had shot it earlier and killed it.

I was desperately trying to figure out what this little dog-sized thing was when Ding Gen spoke up: "Old Huang, don't move. I chased it all the way here. It's a fucking giant spider! This is unbelievable! There's something like this on the ship!"

I was startled. A water spider? No wonder it's covered in black fur. But weren't these creatures supposed to be extinct a long time ago? Besides, what creature could grow this big!

Ding Gen stomped his foot, but the furry thing still didn't move. It really looked dead. I asked Ding Gen, "Are you scared out of your wits? You don't even know if you hit it or not!"

Ding Gen said without turning his head, "That thing crawls so fast and it's covered in black fur, how could I possibly see it, brother!"

I walked over, raised my hand, and threw the knife in. It pierced right into the furry thing. I had a pretty good aim. Immediately, a spurt of black blood gushed out. I had always thought that spider blood wasn't red, but it turned out to be true. It seemed that Ding Gen's gun had killed it completely.

We both breathed a sigh of relief. Ding Gen put down his gun, faced me, and laughed loudly, "Haha, we brothers have reunited victoriously again!"

I shouted with great joy, "Finally, the organization has arrived! I've been waiting for this moment for ages, sticking to my post!"

Ding Gen waved: "Come out, it's alright! This is my brother Huang Ning."

I looked and saw a young woman walking out from around the corner, dressed in military uniform and trousers, but the clothes didn't fit properly. She was obviously not a soldier. What era is this? There are still girls who like this kind of clothes.

I asked hesitantly, "Who is this woman? Is she your girlfriend?"

Ding Gen quickly explained, "No, no, it's my colleague, Shen Juan."

I remember that Ding Gen's resettlement unit was the security department of the museum, but how come I didn't know there were women in his security department?

Seeing that I didn't understand, Ding Gen came over and whispered, "It's the curator's daughter. She heard that I'm going to salvage something this time, and she insisted on coming to watch the excitement. Old Huang, don't get the wrong idea."

I suddenly remembered that Lao Gu and Zhang Liheng were still on the mountain, so I quickly said to Ding Gen, "Let's talk later. I still have two comrades on the mountain. If you have any food, bring it out quickly. We're starving."

I ran out and stood on the deck of the boat, shouting towards where Lao Gu and the other man were hiding. Lao Gu stood up and waved, indicating that he understood. Then the two of them slowly came down the mountain and headed this way.

I felt relieved and walked back to the cockpit. Ding Gen had already taken out several cans and was trying hard to pry open the lids.

I couldn't help but walk towards the hatch. Where were the people inside? Didn't Lao Gu say he had spoken to them through the hatch?

Date: 2008-03-31 16:31:00

Looking at the dead spider there, I felt a chill run down my spine. What if this thing had accomplices hiding inside?

I shouted twice from outside, but there was no response from inside. Could it be that the thing that banged on this door last night was this dead thing? I remembered that strange shadow puppet prop, which was so lifelike that even its eyes could move, and my heart tightened again.

Just as he was hesitating whether to go in and take a look, the young girl Chen Juan said, "Comrade Huang, do you want to go in and take a look? Ding Gen, put down the can and come in to help. I remember that this kind of spider is solitary, there shouldn't be any more inside."

Ding Gen agreed, drew his pistol, and came over, leading the way into the room. I grabbed him and said, "Don't rush. I'm not worried about spiders inside, but something else."

Ding Gen looked at me suspiciously: "Old Huang, what's wrong with you? Have you not slept for days? You even have bags under your eyes. Don't be paranoid, you rest for a while, watch me go in first. Don't worry, I have this." After saying that, he waved his pistol and crawled inside.

I was stunned by what he said, and involuntarily touched my eyes. Sure enough, there was a small bulge under my eyes, and there was something hard inside. I immediately became anxious standing at the cabin door.

A moment later, Ding Gen emerged and said in a somewhat heavy tone, "There's nothing inside, neither living nor dead. But someone put a big bamboo basket in the middle, and when I looked inside, it looked like it was for this spider. It seems someone did something malicious and deliberately brought it onto the boat."

Date: 2008-03-31 22:51:00

I was stunned: "Nobody? In such a short time, are you sure you checked everything carefully? Are there any paper cutouts or puppets on the ground? And where's the driver? He's not in there either?"

Ding Gen shook his head: "Anyway, I didn't see it. It's a small place inside, dirty and smelly. There seem to be some bumps in the corner, covered with spider silk. They don't look like people. Why don't you go take another look? Here's a gun."

I didn't take the gun. My mind raced. If there really was no one inside, why would Lao Gu lie? Did he speak to anyone inside? Could it be that besides our group, there were other departments involved in this salvage operation?

At this moment, Lao Gu and Zhang Liheng climbed up, soaking wet, and Ding Gen and Shen Juan went over to help pull them up.