Tomber amoureux du diable

Chapitre 1

The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)

There aren't many dangerous jobs in peacetime, but underwater salvage happens to be one of the most dangerous.

I was originally an ordinary member of an amphibious reconnaissance team of a naval unit in Fujian. However, I retired in 1983. After leaving the army, I transferred to a county town to do clerical work. I lived a peaceful life for ten years. Thinking that I was still young, I couldn't resist the persuasion of my old comrades. So, I went back to my old job, which is to be a "ladies' man". The pay is decent.

The job is simple: during diving team training, you have to go down into the water first to prepare for rehearsals of complex underwater tasks such as welding, leak sealing, and pipe connection. Sometimes, you also have to design emergency scenarios such as damaged diving suits, lost diving shoes, drifting entanglement, and air supply interruption, and then hand them over to the diving team instructors to train the novices.

This diving team belongs to Shanghai Municipality. Their daily work is nothing more than exploration, salvage, and troubleshooting of ship hull malfunctions in the Yangtze River estuary and Huangpu River. In previous years, they also provided underwater safety for some important meetings in Shanghai. They have nothing particularly strange to share.

Date: 2008-03-08 11:40:00

What I want to talk about is a strange matter that I reluctantly got involved in just three years after I retired. I shouldn't be talking about it now, because twenty years have passed, and some people who knew about it back then have already revealed a lot of information. But there are some details that they will never know.

Besides me, only Ding Gen knew the details of this matter. The others, carrying their secrets, sank into the abyss back then.

Date: 2008-03-08 11:42:00

This year, that old bastard Ding Gen finally couldn't take the torment anymore and died. Before he died, he told me that this matter must be told before I die, and it can't be covered up in ambiguity like this.

So, the strange thing that happened in Qiandao Lake, Zhejiang Province, twenty years ago, in 1985, is what I want to tell you. Some things are hard to explain, and I still can't figure out the reason. I can only tell you the whole story and hope that someone can come up with a reasonable explanation.

Date: 2008-03-08 12:00:00

In 1985, the social atmosphere had just begun to improve. My county was located in a mountainous area of Zhejiang. My daily work was not particularly difficult. Occasionally, old comrades would come to visit me for drinks. Most of the rest of the time I was idle, so I lived a very leisurely life.

If I weren't someone who enjoys a leisurely life, I wouldn't have retired so early. But the underwater skills I honed during my time in the army haven't been neglected at all. I've maintained the prowess of a frogman in the military. In this wretched county town, everyone knows I'm a dragon in the reservoir. Unfortunately, once I came ashore, I turned into a lazy old eel.

Just as I was hesitating about whether I should find a woman to marry and have children since I was getting old, my former military instructor sent me a strange letter.

Our instructor's surname was Deng, and his full name was Deng Jianguo. During training, he always had a stern face and would scold us, but he was actually quite nice in private. He also had some real skills, so we all respected him and called him Head Deng.

The letter said that he had received orders from his superiors to carry out a mission in Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province. After arriving at the location, he discovered that the Xin'anjiang Reservoir was indeed vast, with numerous islands and complex underwater conditions, making the task very difficult. His superiors also said that the situation was special and that the personnel assigned to him were all green recruits with guns. After thinking it over, he wrote to me and Ding Gen, his old subordinates who had been demobilized and were in Zhejiang, who were skilled enough, to ask if we could ask our unit to let us go and help out. It would just be to go into the water to salvage some things, which would only take three to five days. As usual, the army would provide a stipend.

The letter also mentioned that after his trip to the lake area, he brought back some very strange clues and urgently needed help to get into the water. Therefore, he specifically left someone at the reception station to wait for me and Ding Gen, hoping we could get there as soon as possible.

Date: 2008-03-09 10:47:00

No matter what profession you're in, once you form a habit, it's hard to change it. At that time, I was dawdling around, bored out of my mind. The reservoir in the county town was also in its dry season in spring, and no one had asked me to go and fish for anything. So as soon as I received the letter, I immediately packed my things and prepared to head to the Xin'anjiang Reservoir to take a look.

Chun'an isn't far from the county where I work; it's less than a day's journey by bus. So when I arrived in Chun'an, it wasn't even dusk yet. Following the address on the letter, I went to the so-called reception station, which was really just a simple storefront with two broken tables at the entrance, covered by a frosted glass pane, and a few tea mugs on top.

Standing by the table, I kept wondering to myself, "Is nobody here?"

Looking inside, I saw another room filled with smoke. I wondered how many people were puffing away and causing trouble. I thought to myself, could this be Deng Tou's headquarters? Didn't he say that the situation was special and that he didn't have enough manpower? How come there are so many people here?

Just as I was hesitating whether to say hello, someone came out from inside. I was delighted to see him. I recognized him. He was a veteran naval diver who had become famous for beheading people during the anti-submarine warfare in the early days when the situation in Kinmen was tense. After the situation eased in 1975, he became an instructor with Deng Tou. When I was training, I often saw him come to drink with Deng Tou. He was very warm to me back then. His surname was Luo, and I called him Captain Luo like everyone else.

Team Leader Luo, his eyes red and dressed in civilian clothes, paused for a moment when he saw me, then blinked, and immediately rushed over with great enthusiasm, tightly grasping my hand: "Oh! Comrade Huang Ning is here! Good day! Good day!"

Date: 2008-03-09 11:34:00

His sweaty hands made me very uncomfortable as I followed Captain Luo inside, asking him, "Where's Deng? It's almost dark, and he's still not back?"

Team Leader Luo frowned and said, "Old Deng only went out this morning, he probably won't be back so soon. Come in first, get to know everyone, and there are some things I need to tell you."

I went into the inner room and looked around for a while before I could see clearly that it was just a passageway with a few benches. Five or six people were sitting there smoking, all with their heads down and not making a sound. They looked like soldiers.

Captain Luo beckoned me to continue inside. Several rooms were filled with stacks of sacks, and two men with guns were guarding them. I looked closely and noticed that their clothes had no identification markings; everything that could identify them had been removed. They looked like soldiers.

Finally, we arrived at a slightly larger room. Captain Luo said loudly, "Comrades, listen up. Let me introduce you to someone. This new comrade is Huang Ning, Deng Tou's prized disciple. He's the underwater dragon we need most right now. Later, another expert named Ding Gen will also be coming. Then things will be much easier for us! You all introduce yourselves. Lao Gu, you go first."

Chapter 2 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Chapter 2 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Author: Ghost Grinning

Date: 2008-03-09 11:47:00

In a short while, I got to know the four people in the room. They weren't from the same unit, and they didn't seem to know each other very well: the one called Lao Gu was actually Gu Jinping, the deputy director of the reservoir fishery administration and supervision department; Zheng Jian was an officer from the Fujian Navy, the leader of the team, but I didn't know him, judging from his age, he must have gone there after his retirement; there was also a woman named Zhang Liheng, an officer from the Zhejiang Provincial Fisheries Department; and the last one was someone I knew from when I was in the army, Lu Tongchun, a leader from the Fujian Navy, who also looked like the commander here.

After everyone finished their introductions, Lu Tongchun expressed his warm welcome to my joining the company. From his tone, I could tell that they were all at a loss, probably because they had encountered some difficulties in their work.

After sitting down, Lu Tongchun said seriously, "Comrade Huang, this mission was assigned by our superiors. I can't tell you all the details right now. It's partly our fault for being complacent and careless. We thought things on the island would be easy and we wouldn't need the navy's frogmen's help, but after going in a few times, we found the problem to be very complicated, extremely complicated. Some situations are simply unclear and quite dangerous. The area of water where the incident occurred has been tightly sealed off by Zheng Jian. You need to think this through carefully. This mission must not be leaked."

He made me nervous. Something happened? It's just a reservoir, maybe with a lot of islands in it, but what could possibly happen?

Date: 2008-03-09 11:56:00

There are fishery administration officials, fishery bureau officials, and naval officers and soldiers from two provinces. How did they all end up together? It's a complete mess.

Lu Tongchun continued, "Deng Tou said he would be back before dark, so Comrade Huang, you should get some rest. Tomorrow we'll all get up early and set off together. Remember, don't ask any questions or go out for a stroll. The higher-ups are taking the secrecy of this mission very seriously, and it's hard to say whether there are other people from other units involved."

I was taken aback: "That's it? You haven't even told me what happened yet? You have to give me some time to prepare myself, otherwise, I won't do it."

Lu Tongchun smiled wryly and said, "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that I can't explain it clearly at all. There are some things that I'm not allowed to say because of orders from above. So you'll have to go and see for yourself tomorrow."

I was a little annoyed: "Hey, you assign me a job without saying why? Fine, I'm not doing it. I'm retired anyway, I'm just helping out. Why don't you wait for Ding Gen to come and go with him?"

Date: 2008-03-09 12:09:00

The group parted on bad terms, and I prepared to head home. It wasn't that I was cowardly, but rather that I didn't want to be used as a pawn.

Back when I was in the army, I would never ask any questions, I would just obey orders. But now that I'm out of uniform, if you want me to risk my life, you should at least explain it to me clearly. How can you expect to get rid of me with a bowl of lukewarm water and act all mysterious and profound? I get annoyed just looking at you!

That night, I stayed in a fairly clean single room, all by myself, but I just couldn't fall asleep.

There's always someone whispering in the next room, not making a sound. I want to listen, but I can't hear clearly; if I don't listen, the buzzing keeps drilling into my ears. There's also a stench, seemingly everywhere. It's not so noticeable during the day, but at night, when the wind blows, the stench of dead cats, dogs, and rats fills the air, making it unbearable! It makes it even harder for me to fall asleep.

I was tossing and turning until almost dawn, and just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard heavy footsteps rushing towards my door.

Date: 2008-03-09 12:30:00

The loud knocking on the door annoyed me so much I wanted to curse. I looked at the sky; it was the early hours of the morning, with only a faint glimmer of light. It seemed I wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. Reluctantly, I got dressed, opened the door, and there stood the woman I had just been introduced to, Zhang Liheng, an official from the Fisheries Department.

Zhang Liheng said anxiously, "Comrade Huang, you should go and see too. They've all run to the dock. It seems something happened to Deng Tou!"

I got anxious as soon as I heard that, and my sleepiness vanished instantly: "Deng Tou is back? Why is it so late? Come on, take me to see him."

I ran to the dock, stumbling along, and vaguely saw a jeep, grass-green in color and without any license plates, but it was definitely a military-grade vehicle, quietly parked on the dock.

Looking around, I saw no one. I asked Zhang Liheng in confusion, "Didn't you say they all came to the dock? Why isn't there a soul in sight?"

Zhang Liheng shook her head and said, "I don't know either! Hey, look at this car, I recognize it. It belongs to Deng Tou. Deng Tou cherishes it and won't let anyone drive it. It was clearly parked in the parking lot, so how did it end up here?"

I looked around and saw that there was no one there, so I said, "Let's go take a look!"

Zhang Liheng and I ran over and saw that the jeep parked there looked like it had been washed, very clean. There was no one inside. We tried to pull the door, but we couldn't open it. There was no lock either, so it must be stuck somewhere.

Date: 2008-03-09 12:41:00

The dock is next to a low hill, which is covered with sparse bushes.

I walked around the jeep and found many messy footprints on the sandy ground around us, with the toes all pointing in the same direction, as if quite a few people had just run up the low hill.

I was just about to call Zhang Liheng over to take a look when I heard her standing at the front of the car calling me over.

When I got to the front of the car, I noticed something unusual. There were two shallow footprints on the hood. One was on the seam between the windshield and the hood, and it was slightly deformed. The other was on the hood, and it had sand stuck to it.

Who climbed onto the roof of the car?

Zhang Liheng pointed and said, "Look, there's more up there!"

The roof of the car had a green sail, and there were clear footprints on it. I told Zhang Liheng to wait downstairs while I carefully climbed up to take a look.

Date: 2008-03-09 14:33:00

There was nothing on the roof except for two footprints. The ones we found earlier were all half a forefoot, but these two on the roof were very neat, with the imprints being quite deep, as if the person had been squatting on the roof for quite some time.

What happened? Why would someone climb onto the roof of the car and squat there? I scratched my head, a little confused about what was going on.

A series of hurried footsteps came from the low hill. Zhang Liheng and I looked over and saw Lao Gu and Leader Lu leading several soldiers, carrying a person in the middle, walking towards the car.

My heart sank. Had something happened to Deng Tou?

Upon approaching, they saw several people hurriedly carrying the man, who was indeed Deng Tou. His hair was soaking wet, as if he had just been pulled out of the water. His face was pale, his eyes were tightly closed, his head was drooping, and he was unconscious with his body limp.

Chapter 3 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Chapter 3 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Author: Ghost Grinning

Date: 2008-03-09 17:00:00

After taking Deng back to the reception station, it was already dawn. I noticed that there were many more people on guard along the road, and the numerous police lines made the atmosphere tense and mysterious. On the way, I carefully examined Deng to see where he was injured, but I found that he was completely unharmed, without a single wound or bleeding. He could roll his eyelids and his eyeballs could still move, but he couldn't speak.

The hospital ambulance arrived with sirens blaring, picked up the unconscious Deng, and sped away.

I pulled Captain Luo aside, my face flushed and my neck red, and asked him, "What exactly happened? What kind of monster is in the lake? Tell me!"

After looking around to make sure no one was watching, Captain Luo said to me with a dejected expression, "There are some things that we're not allowed to say because of orders from above. I really can't do anything about it. Huang Ning, you have to understand. After all, you're a soldier yourself and you know the rules in the military!"

I was both anxious and angry. Although Instructor Deng wasn't a kind person and didn't show any mercy during training, he was ultimately doing it for our own good. If any unlucky guy accidentally got a minor injury, he could always find some folk remedies to cure it. I had always had a good impression of him. So I sighed and said, "Captain Luo, Old Deng is also an old friend of yours. I'm very sad that he's in this state for no apparent reason. I've decided to join you and find out what happened. Tell me, where did you find him?"

Team Leader Luo pulled me into the house: "You should have done this a long time ago. To be honest, Lao Deng has been talking about you and Ding Gen these past two days! He's been saying why you haven't come yet. Is something holding you back? When I found Lao Deng this morning, he was squatting alone in the bushes on the hillside, tilting his head and looking up, I don't know what he was thinking. Lao Gu called him, and he just lay down. Sigh, I think he was probably scared!"

I don't believe Deng Tou would faint from fright at all. He's incredibly brave. When he was an instructor, he would tell us about shipwrecks underwater, how the corpses were all swollen and bloated from being submerged in water. To make sure we didn't understand, he would even go and imitate those corpses himself, making a terrifying face with his eyes bulging out from being submerged in water. Now that Captain Luo says he fainted from fright, I don't believe it even if you beat me to death. With his courage, what strange thing could scare him?

Date: 2008-03-09 17:43:00

Deng went to the hospital, but Captain Luo refused to tell me exactly what happened, leaving me at a loss.

Just then, Leader Lu walked into the room and said to me with a solemn expression, "Comrade Huang, are you really going to leave?"

I said, "No! I just made it clear to Captain Luo that I've decided not to leave. I'll stay and work with you to find out exactly what happened to Deng Tou and what caused him to be like this. Don't worry, I'll do everything in my power to find out the truth!"

Leader Lu pondered for a moment and said, "That's good. I don't believe you can bear to leave after seeing Old Deng in this state. Now that things have come to this... Team Leader Luo, go and call everyone over. Let's have a meeting. We can't keep everyone in the dark forever. I'll tell you about some things that you don't know yet."

Date: 2008-03-09 18:10:00

Sitting on the bench, I, Team Leader Luo, Lao Gu, Zhang Liheng, and Comrade Zheng Jian, who had just returned, all listened silently to what Leader Lu had to say.

The events at this large reservoir were so bizarre that the military leadership issued a strict order to keep them completely secret.

The incident began when a small helicopter belonging to a military region went missing for unknown reasons while crossing Qiandao Lake. It could be considered a minor accident, most likely due to a malfunction that caused the aircraft to crash and sink to the bottom of the lake. As is customary, the reservoir's fishery administration and safety supervision department and the Zhejiang Fisheries Bureau searched for and salvaged the missing aircraft.

After searching for several days, the missing plane was still not found. The higher-ups were getting anxious, worried that if the delay went on, military secrets would be leaked. However, they were unwilling to disclose what was on the plane. So they went directly to the Fujian Navy's frogman unit and asked them to send people to assist in the search for the crashed plane. Old Deng was someone the leaders trusted and was highly skilled. Zheng Jian was specifically sent by the leaders and brought more than a hundred people to help Old Deng.

What angered Lao Deng was that his superiors hadn't provided him with more skilled divers. They repeatedly said that, according to intelligence, the crashed plane wasn't sunk at the bottom of the lake, but on an island deep in the lake area. They even showed Lao Deng a map and told him that the black box signal indicated that it was on an island in the center of the lake area. They said that Lao Deng alone was enough to go underwater, and that too many people shouldn't know about it.

Old Deng had no choice but to go into the lake area for the first time, taking several boats and heading straight for that area. Old Gu followed him, and when they returned, Old Deng kept muttering that something was amiss and they needed to find someone to help. After consulting with his superiors, Leader Lu agreed to summon Huang Ning and Ding Gen to Chun'an County to help in the water.

There are two things that we didn't know, and now Lu Tongchun, who is in charge, has finally revealed them.

One is the black box of the crashed plane. The higher-ups have made it very clear that the black box has been moving slowly and continuously, and for some unknown reason, it cannot be accurately located using satellites and radar.