Abyss Empty House (The Salvageman's Adventure)

Chapter 19

The four people immediately gathered around and saw a rusty iron gate at the bend connecting the low wall and the stone wall. It was level with the wall and had no handle. There should have been a sign in the middle, but the lettering had all fallen off, leaving only the frame.

I pushed hard in the middle of the door, but the thick door didn't budge. I frantically groped around in all directions, hoping to find the mechanism to open it, but there wasn't one!

Zhang Liheng pulled me aside and said, "Old Huang, don't rush. Step back, let's use our flashlights to take a look at the overall structure."

A flashlight suddenly flickered, casting a dim yellow light. Ding Gen said irritably, "Oh no! Mine's out of power!"

It's normal that there's no power, so we ignored it and shone all three flashlights through the crack in the door. The rustling sounds in the distance were getting closer and closer, and we didn't know how many things were heading straight for us. We were at a loss, and Sergei was also full of anxiety.

Just then, a clue appeared on the thick door. On the lower left side of the door, there was a darker area. Upon closer inspection, it was a bloody handprint of half a hand!

I dipped my finger in it and rubbed it between my fingers. It wasn't completely dry yet; it must have been made recently! We immediately perked up and squatted down to examine the handprint closely. Why was it there? Could it be that someone above us was injured and accidentally left it after going through this door?

Date: 2008-05-03 22:02:00

But time didn't allow us to think about it carefully. The rustling sounds were getting very close, and a large patch of eerie green light appeared in the darkness. It was spreading all the way from far behind us, and it had that ethereal quality unique to plankton, illuminating the entire city gate in a pale green light. What was that?

Sergei was more confident than any of us. He stood up and kicked the spot with the bloody handprint. His leather boots had steel toes, and as soon as he kicked it, Zhang Liheng cried out in alarm, "Get out of the way! The door is going to collapse!"

With Sergei's sudden stomp, the lower half of the door opened inward, but the upper half collapsed towards us. There was a horizontal axis in the middle of the door, and if it turned around this axis, it would smash us all into the ditch!

Sergei dodged to the side after kicking, and Zhang Liheng also quickly jumped to the other side, both narrowly avoiding the suddenly collapsing goal. But I was unlucky. Just as I turned around to look at that green thing, which was standing on the outermost edge of the ditch, Ding Gen stepped back in front of me, and the gas cylinder on his back pushed against me, causing me to lose my footing and almost fall into the ditch.

I guess the moment Ding Gen bumped into me, he knew I was going to fall, so he twisted his arm and grabbed me. But the force of his backward movement was too great, and there was something heavy between us, so we had nowhere to put our weight on. It looked like we were going to fall in together. I thought the ditch wasn't deep, and the only thing to be afraid of was that green thing, so I resigned myself to fate and prepared to fight.

Ding Gen gritted his teeth and pushed me aside with all his might. Zhang Liheng immediately reached out and grabbed me. Ding Gen, who had turned around, lost the gas cylinder on his back and fell straight into the ditch!

There happened to be a cabinet that had fallen down and was standing upright in the ditch. Ding Gen braced himself with his arms, and the cabinet wobbled and fell over with a loud crash. Ding Gen used the force to lean back slightly. The greenish thing was very close. I quickly grabbed Ding Gen's arm and pulled him back with all my might. But Ding Gen's body suddenly lunged forward in a strange way and fell down with a thud!

I really didn't expect this. I thought I had a firm grip on Ding Gen, but he still fell down!

Those eerie green things were up to no good. They were pressing closer and closer to Ding Gen, who was desperately climbing up the ditch. I crawled down and pulled him up. I finally managed to get him up. Ding Gen's calves were covered with eerie green spots. Along with the smell of burning leather, a puff of smoke rose up. It seemed to be very corrosive.

As the contents of the ditch piled up higher and higher, we panicked. We crawled on the ground and hurriedly squeezed under the door.

As soon as he entered, Dingen kicked Sergei and yelled, "Did you fucking shove me?!"

Ding Gen didn't have a flashlight, and his headlamp could only illuminate a very limited distance on the ground. When he kicked out, he didn't hit anything at all and kicked empty air.

After I crawled through the door, I immediately rolled to the side. Hearing Dingen's roar, I quickly drew my pistol, lay on the ground, and aimed at the surroundings. From the beginning, I felt that I was on par with this Sergei, and that feeling was really right!

I had clearly grabbed Ding Gen's arm and regained my balance, but Ding Gen suddenly lunged forward and fell down. It must have been caused by some external force. Judging from Ding Gen's roar, he was certain that the person who pushed him was Sergei!

Hearing the panting and dragging footsteps not far away, the three of us immediately turned off our lights, because I knew that Sergei also had a gun. The enemy was in the dark while we were in the light, and we couldn't become targets.

Why wasn't it completely dark around me after the light source was turned off? I turned my head suspiciously and saw several eerie green spots stuck to Ding Gen's calf, which were extremely conspicuous in the darkness. I thought to myself, "This is bad!"

Before I could even cry out for Ding Gen, I heard several deafening gunshots, muffled in the darkness, hitting the spot where the green light was flashing. I knew it was Ding Gen's leg, and I felt extremely distressed. I aimed at the muzzle flash and rolled around several times, firing in rapid succession. The gunshots crackled and popped until I heard a muffled groan. It seemed I had hit something.

Several heavy footsteps and the sound of a chair being kicked over came from afar. Sergei seemed to have run away. Judging from the way he handled the cabinet and the way he kicked open the door, he must have been here before. I don't know what he was thinking when he retreated to the end. But if he wanted to harm us, he didn't need to save me.

Without thinking about the reason, I turned on my flashlight, but oh no, mine didn't work either. I tried my headlamp and it worked. I quickly went over to check on Ding Gen's gunshot wound.

When I turned on my headlamp, Zhang Liheng also turned on her flashlight, but it only emitted a dim yellow light, and it seemed that it wouldn't last long.

When I saw Ding Gen's location, I immediately panicked!

We were all wearing high-top diving boots that went all the way up to our calves, with diving socks underneath. The first thing I saw on the floor was a diving boot that had been taken off, with the zipper on one side still open. It was lying on its side, and next to it was a person lying face down with several bullet holes in their body, motionless and showing no signs of life.

Ding Gen was actually shot and killed!

My mind was in turmoil. I bit my lip, trying my best to hold back my tears. While I was turning over the body lying face down, I called to Zhang Liheng to bring me a flashlight. I kept muttering, my mouth trembling, "Old Ding, Old Ding, don't scare me! Come out quickly! I, Huang Ning, don't trust anyone else, but I believe in you. You're lucky and won't die so easily!"

I had finished speaking, but I still hadn't heard Zhang Liheng come over. I was getting a little anxious. What was this little girl dawdling about?

The headlamp was too dim for me to see Ding Gen's condition. I was furious and about to stand up when I heard Zhang Liheng's voice, which said calmly, "Huang Ning, stay there and don't move!"

I asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?" Zhang Liheng ignored me, but clicked the safety off her pistol.

Chapter 52 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Chapter 52 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Author: Ghost Grinning

Date: 2008-05-04 21:48:00

Sweat immediately broke out on my face. What was going on? Ding Gen was dead, and now the little girl had betrayed us too?

I stiffened my neck and said, "Comrade Zhang, you've misunderstood. How could I be a bad person? A comrade's gun should not be pointed at his own people. Who are our enemies and who are our friends? You should open your eyes and reconsider that Colonel Xie. He's clearly a traitor who's had plastic surgery. Didn't they say the Soviets have already developed head transplant surgery? You should think it through. I believe you..."

I tried to stall for time with some nonsense, but Zhang Liheng said, "Stop talking nonsense. I didn't say you were a bad person. Throw your knife over here, slowly, and don't move!"

Actually, when I said I believed her at the end, I truly believed Zhang Liheng from the bottom of my heart. Because the flashlight in her hand shone on me from behind, casting my shadow in front of me. My air tank was lost, and I was wearing a tight-fitting wetsuit, so I could clearly see several constantly wriggling tentacles on my shoulder, swaying up and down. They looked like some kind of animal!

Chapter Thirty-Six

When I realized that Zhang Liheng wasn't aiming at me, but at something on my back, I immediately breathed a sigh of relief!

Humans are always more difficult to deal with than any ferocious animal, especially comrades in the same trench!

I carefully tossed the knife backward, trying to keep my body still. The tentacles on its shoulder were still twitching erratically. I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder; it must be desperately trying to burrow in. I was secretly glad that my wetsuit was sturdy; otherwise, my shoulder would have become some kind of den. Then I remembered the soldier's body in the waterway that had become a crab's den, and I was even more furious. How dare this thing, still alive, invade my lair!

But what is this thing?

Zhang Liheng gradually approached me. I sensed that she was also a bit at a loss, and nervously told me, "Huang Ning, don't worry, this thing didn't crawl out of your flesh. It's trying to crawl in from the outside. Where did you get it? It looks like a leech. It's so fat and big, it's disgusting!"

Leeches? Leeches! Immediately, images of fleshy, slippery, and sticky ugly things popped into my mind. I was disgusted by these things when I was in the army, so why are they bothering me now? Did my rolling around on the ground just now break some of the Russians' bottles and jars?

My skin crawled with goosebumps, and I forced myself to suppress my nausea as I said, "These things are afraid of salt and vinegar. Don't try to pull them off, and don't cut them with a knife. If their head is severed, they can still burrow into a blood vessel and survive, which would be a huge problem for me! Here, come around in front of me. I think I saw some bottles and jars earlier. Quickly look for salt or vinegar; leeches are afraid of that!"

When I was inspecting Ding Gen earlier, I glanced at the setup in front of me. There seemed to be quite a few bottles of various sizes there, and the leeches probably came from inside. If there were some salt or vinegar, it would be easier to deal with. If not, I'll have to have Zhang Liheng use the back of a knife to slap them hard, or use the tip to prick them, to make the leeches detach from their suckers and jaws. I could feel that some of the leeches had already pierced through my wetsuit and were stuck to my skin. What the hell are these creatures? How can they be so vicious?

Soon, Zhang Liheng turned back, holding a large glass bottle in her hand, and said, "There's no salt or vinegar, but I found this. It's written in Russian and says 'Sodium Chloride for Injection.' The seal is pretty good. Squat down, I'll sprinkle some on it and try it!"

Good luck, sodium chloride is just physiological saline, isn't it?

I quickly ducked down and squatted down, ready to stomp on the leech as soon as it fell to the ground.

Zhang Liheng exclaimed in surprise, "My God, Huang Ning, how come your entire back is covered in so many!"

My scalp tingled with fear. When did I ever provoke these clowns? My body started trembling involuntarily.

Zhang Liheng got to work, wasting nothing. She started by pouring water on my shoulders, then drenched my entire back. A cool sensation ran down my spine, carrying away my cold sweat.

Zhang Liheng said, trembling, "Alright, there aren't any left!"

I yelled and jumped up on the spot. My stiff and numb muscles were sore from the strain, so I could only stomp my feet and shake my arms to release the terror in my heart.

*Smack smack*—Zhang Liheng and I kicked out together, stomping the clumps of leeches on the ground into a pulp. Only then did we realize that we had indeed knocked over several glass bottles, and there were still quite a few leeches inside that hadn't crawled out yet.

After we finished tidying up and calmed down, Zhang Liheng asked me anxiously, "What's wrong with Ding Gen? He hasn't said a word for a while. Could something have happened?"

My heart sank, and I was momentarily at a loss for words. I silently turned her flashlight around and looked at Ding Gen on the ground. What I saw made me laugh out loud: "This kid almost fell for his big trick!"

The person on the ground wasn't wearing a diving suit at all; only the diving boots belonged to Ding Gen. This guy is pretty quick-witted; knowing there was a greenish glow on his legs, he immediately took them off, creating an empty city ruse. It seems he wasn't injured. But where did this person on the ground come from? And where did Ding Gen go?

Turning my head to look at Zhang Liheng, I noticed that her face looked terrible, her eyes were wide open, and she was staring blankly at me without saying a word.

I said, getting a little fed up, "Comrade Zhang, could you please suggest that you stop looking at me like that? It's making me really uncomfortable. I know I'm handsome, but I can't stand it when you keep doing that."

Suddenly, someone behind you said, "She's not looking at you, she's looking at me!"

Chapter 53 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Chapter 53 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Author: Ghost Grinning

Date: 2008-05-05 20:56:00

I was startled and immediately jumped a few steps away. The voice was very strange, as if it came from a very distant place, or as if it was stuck in the throat and went around in circles before coming out, or maybe it was someone with a bad cold who was deliberately pinching their nose to speak. In short, it sounded very uncomfortable.

Zhang Liheng asked in surprise, "Ding Gen... what happened to you? What happened to you?"

When I looked, it really was Ding Gen. He had changed his clothes from head to toe, and I wouldn't have recognized him if I hadn't looked closely. He was wearing a tall, fluffy hat, and if it weren't for the red five-pointed star in the middle, he would have looked like a bandit leader. He was wearing a military green cotton-padded jacket and trousers, and a black woolen cloak wrapped around his shoulders, with the collar buttoned up. His face was pale from the cold, and his lips were trembling and bluish-black.

I asked in surprise, "Old Ding, what's wrong with you? You took the time to take a shower and change your clothes after not seeing me for a while?"

Ding Gen said with difficulty, "Over there...over there looks like a warehouse...I'm so cold, so cold, I can't stand it!"

I lifted his clothes to take a closer look. He had taken off his wetsuit and thrown it away, leaving only a short-sleeved undershirt underneath, and a woolen military uniform over it. He was shivering and kept wrapping the woolen overcoat around himself. It was a bit cold here, but it was summer outside, and the ground shouldn't be that cold. This shouldn't be the case. Then I saw that he was burning up, and his face was flushed, like a patient with a persistent high fever. Could he be sick? But why was he talking so strangely? Even if he was sick, it would take time. How could it happen so quickly?

Could it be bacteria or viruses? Subconsciously, I've already assumed this place is a warehouse used by the Soviet Union to research, produce, and store biological weapons. Judging from Ding Gen's condition, he's very likely been infected. There's only one possibility: when he fell into the pit, even though his diving boots provided some protection, something green still managed to injure him!

There was no time for me to think it over. I quickly went over and used a knife to pick up Ding Gen's diving boots to examine them carefully, while Zhang Liheng busied herself taking out her drinking water and giving Ding Gen a few sips.

The few scattered green spots on the diving boots had faded considerably. These things didn't look like long-legged animals; they resembled algae or something like the hydra mentioned in textbooks.

It was about the size of my little finger, with a small opening at one end from which several tiny tentacles extended. One of them was three or four times longer than the others, and it was still alive, wriggling on the surface of my diving boots, doing little somersaults. Its body contained something that glowed, like a firefly, but it emitted a cold, chemical light without any heat. I dared not touch it with my finger, so I gently scraped off a little bit with the tip of my knife and lightly rubbed it on the floor, hoping to find out what was causing the trouble.

Unfortunately, the Russians' methods left me completely baffled. I couldn't figure out what it was, nor could I find a way to counter it. I could only shake my head and mutter, "It must be some kind of bacteria. The Russians are so unethical, leaving behind such a menace. Could it be a backup plan?" The Japanese Unit 731 did exactly that back then, but after their defeat and surrender, it seems no hidden bacterial weapons depots were ever discovered.

Date: 2008-05-06 10:42:00

I suddenly had a strong premonition that the Russians left this place behind, and they probably still had a way to control it. If they couldn't control it, they wouldn't have gone to such great lengths. After all, this is our territory, and it would have been discovered sooner or later. Unless, oh no, if this method of control is just to send spies to secretly activate it during the war, wouldn't our rear be in chaos?

I told them my suspicion with great concern. Ding Gen was feeling a little better at this point, but his voice was so hoarse that he couldn't speak. He could only express his deep worry about Sergei's actions with his eyes. If this person was a double agent who was deliberately trying to cause trouble, we would be unable to guard against it.

I looked at Ding Gen's clothes. I'd only ever seen this kind of outfit in movies, especially the kind that appeared most often in the newly released film "The Battle of Moscow" this year, where large groups of Soviet soldiers sang: "The Soviet Union may be vast, but we have nowhere to retreat, Moscow is right behind us..." They wore this kind of Soviet winter uniform when they went to the front lines to die.

This room was undoubtedly a Soviet stronghold. I turned the body over and examined it; judging from its attire, it was a Soviet soldier. I picked up the hat that had rolled to the side; it was a dark yellow peaked cap with a narrow brim and no flowers. The cap badge was a red five-pointed star with a hammer and sickle in the center. It was definitely a Soviet officer, but I didn't know which unit it belonged to.

Zhang Liheng said from the side, "I know what this person does now. Only people from one department can wear this kind of military cap. It's the officer's cap of the KGB, the State Security Committee of the Soviet Union! Look at this insignia." After saying that, she tore off a small metal tag from the corpse's chest and handed it to me.

The shield had a large five-pointed star in the center, with a sickle and hammer pattern in the middle, and a sword stuck from top to bottom. Below that were the letters: KGBCCCP. It felt heavy in my hand. I didn't know much about these things, but Zhang Liheng said, "This insignia and military cap are KGB exclusive. Although I can't tell which bureau this person belongs to, he is definitely a KGB officer."

The KGB officer had a large hole in the back of his head, caused by a large-caliber bullet. That's really strange. Investigate how he died!

Oh, I forgot about Ding Gen. Although he seems a little better, he still can't speak.

Ignoring the corpse on the ground, I went up to Ding Gen and carefully examined him from top to bottom. Finally, I discovered a serious problem!

Ding Gen's throat had changed. We all know that men have Adam's apples, but Ding Gen's Adam's apple was ridiculously large, protruding too much, making his neck look swollen. I carefully unbuttoned his collar and was immediately shocked. Judging from Ding Gen's eyes, he was also very anxious. If he could speak, he would definitely ask me anxiously what I saw!

Chapter 54 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Chapter 54 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Author: Ghost Grinning

Date: 2008-05-07 09:08:00

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Under the flashlight beam, Ding Gen's Adam's apple didn't move up and down, but remained still. The protruding part of his Adam's apple clearly showed the facial features of a small person, as if a sheet had been covered on a person's face. The nose and mouth were clearly outlined, and the eyes were closed. I was immediately terrified!

I whispered what I saw to Dinggen and asked him when he started to feel something was wrong—was it after I changed my clothes, or when I fell into the ditch? Dinggen was speechless at this point and could only point laboriously to the boots on the ground, implying that the green things were the culprit. Sigh, bacterial weapons are no joke, especially for the Russians who have completely absorbed all of Japan's technology!