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However, staying here is extremely unwise. The cliffs are becoming increasingly difficult to support, and floating in the water raises concerns about snake bites. The pile of corpses ahead also causes some worry. What if we get infected with the virus if we stay in the water for too long? Ding Gen and I are alright, as we already have the virus, but Zhang Liheng is still innocent and can't risk this danger with us!

Seeing the water rising higher and higher, and not knowing where all this water was coming from, a sense of unease crept into my heart. Would the water keep rising? And where was all this water going?

Looking at the surroundings, I said, "Why don't we climb up and find a closer place to get to the other side? As for swimming across, we both think it's too risky, so let's forget about that and find another way."

I picked up a stone and threw it across to the other side. To my surprise, the other side also had a cliff, not far away. I changed my position and tried again, and then I had an idea.

I called out to Ding Gen: "Old Ding, could you do this one more time and see if there's any rope or wire floating over there? We can cross over from the sky, not the water. Let's work hard together and get a rope for Comrade Xiao Zhang!"

Ding Gen muttered, "What time is it? He still can't forget to play the hero and save the damsel in distress. How cheesy."

Zhang Liheng couldn't stop him; Ding Gen had already swum across the pile of corpses and garbage in the water. I helped Zhang Liheng slowly dig through the rocks and dirt slope to climb up.

The water was getting stronger and stronger, and Ding Gen still hadn't returned. I was a little worried that if he didn't come up soon, he would end up mixed in with the floating corpses and garbage. We weren't wearing diving gear, and this old Russian's uniform would sink to the bottom if it got wet. So I kept urging Ding Gen to hurry up, and my throat hurt from shouting.

Ding Gen heard my shout, but instead of climbing up on his hands and feet, he had a roll of hemp rope on his shoulder and raised one hand high, pointing behind me. I turned around and saw what was going on. A boat was floating on the water.

It's not quite a boat, more like an inflatable kayak, with two people inside, one sitting and the other lying on their back.

I rubbed my eyes, a little incredulous. Someone brings me a pillow when I want to sleep, and someone puts a pair of chopsticks in my mouth when I want to eat. This is just too timely!

The people inside the kayak were alive!

It took me a while to realize that the two people looked alive. I was immediately thrilled. Thank God, in this hell on earth, I finally saw living people again.

Although the current was fast, it naturally slowed down when it reached the riverbed. The boat drifted on the water, turning in circles. The people inside had already seen me and Zhang Liheng, as well as Ding Gen, who was climbing up using both hands and feet.

I waved my gas lamp to signal them, and the people inside paddled over with all their might. When they saw that the space was too small, it definitely wouldn't be enough for the three of us to jump in. So I jumped on first without any hesitation, regardless of whether they were enemies or comrades. I pulled Zhang Liheng in as well, which made the kayak rock for a while. Ding Gen tried to squeeze in but couldn't, so he had to hold onto the kayak and grab onto the rocks.

The boatman was very skilled; he kept the small boat steady and prevented it from drifting aimlessly. The boat hugged the cliff face and slowly rose with the water level.

Upon closer inspection, we realized that although we didn't recognize the rower, he was wearing our military uniform, the kind without insignia, with a Type 79 assault rifle slung across his chest without a stock. He had a very young face and was staring blankly at us, making us want to burst into tears.

The person lying face up was a familiar face. His hands were tied together with rope, he was barely alive, his face was covered in blood and drool was dripping from his mouth, and his eyes were vacant like a dazed person. Who was he? It was Zheng Jian, the one who came into the reservoir with us, who had kept a straight face and didn't talk to anyone the whole way.

Chapter 66 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Chapter 66 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Author: Ghost Grinning

I knew the soldier with the gun was one of Zheng Jian's men. I was surprised that only one of them was left. I wanted to comfort him but didn't know how. So I patted him and said, "Do you still recognize us? What's your name? Tell me slowly. Xiao Zhang, is there any water left in that sealed bag? Let him have a sip. I think he hasn't eaten in a long time."

The soldier greedily drank several large gulps of water, choking and coughing. He said shyly, "You must be Huang Ning, the senior diver from the Fujian Navy. I'm from Henan, and they all call me Tiger Head. I recognize you."

Seeing that he had calmed down a bit, I asked him what had happened, and where the others were. What about Zheng Jian?

Unexpectedly, this soldier named Tiger Head was very vigilant, looking at Ding Gen suspiciously without saying a word. I quickly explained, "This is Ding Gen, the one your Captain Zheng mentioned, my closest comrade-in-arms. Like me, he is an old subordinate and veteran diver of Old Deng. He just came into the reservoir to find you. Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with his character."

Tiger Head burst into tears, sobbing as he said, "Brother Huang, please think of something! All our comrades have sacrificed themselves, and only the two of us are left. Look at Captain Zheng, he's been drifting here for so long, not knowing what to do. If I hadn't met you, I really would have committed suicide."

I said loudly and sternly, "What are you saying? What are you saying? You want to die over a little problem? If everyone's like this, what's the point of having soldiers? Stop crying and tell me what happened!"

Tiger Head shouted at me, and I stopped crying. Hesitantly, I recounted what had happened.

In the middle of the night, Captain Zheng called all the team members to get up and said that they had to carry out the mission immediately. A soldier's duty is to obey orders, so no one objected. A dozen or so people climbed up the rocky mountain together. When they reached the middle of the mountain, Zhang Liheng disappeared. Captain Zheng only realized this when he was almost at the top of the mountain. He quickly sent several team members to search around, but they could not find her.

After putting aside the search for the missing person, Captain Zheng personally led his men to climb to the top of the rocky mountain. Sure enough, they found the crashed plane, but only half of it remained. The front half had plunged into the rocky mountain, while the exposed rear half had melted into a lump of iron. It was unclear whether it was smashed by rocks or melted under high temperatures. The tail section and other parts were nowhere to be seen, and it was difficult to recognize without careful observation.

Although they found the plane, Captain Zheng was furious. He led us to search inside the plane for a long time, but we couldn't find any clues about the crew. It was only then that Tiger Head realized that the signal tracking device wasn't for tracking the black box; Zheng Jian was looking for something else.

Unable to find the information they wanted from inside the plane, Captain Zheng was also discouraged. Just as they were about to retreat, several team members discovered a large tree with its roots growing inside the mountain. Only a small part of the tree crown was exposed, and the ground around the crown was hollow, making the center of the entire mountaintop appear as a large pit, like a bowl embedded in the mountain.

Captain Zheng suspected there might be a problem here, so he ordered his team to dig the large pit with shovels, only to unearth a group of venomous snakes!

These venomous snakes were strange; they all looked about the same size, especially with a large fleshy growth on their heads. As soon as they appeared, they bit and killed three comrades who were caught off guard. Later, there were more and more of these venomous snakes, and they would spring up and jump very high, flying up and biting people in mid-air. Zheng Jian led more than a dozen people to kill the snakes with all their might, running, chasing, hiding, and killing them. In the end, they found that everyone had fallen into the tree pit.

They didn't know if it was day or night, they were too busy killing snakes. After killing the venomous snakes, they wandered around for a long time and got completely lost. The compasses and other tools were all useless, and the sun above the tree pit was completely blocked. No one could remember where they had jumped into the tree pit.

Later, by chance, they found a cave. It was so long that they walked straight for five or six hours. Several times they wanted to turn back, but Captain Zheng stopped them, saying that the testing equipment showed that the path was correct. They didn't eat and rest until they reached a city gate.

When Tiger Head finished speaking, I gestured for him to take a break. I needed to estimate the time to see if there were any major discrepancies.

While Lao Gu and I were struggling in that human skin cave, Zheng Jian and his group were rummaging through documents in the plane on the mountaintop.

While we were fussing over that portrait, Zheng Jian and the others were being chased around by poisonous snakes.

We emerged from the mountainside and returned to the boat. It was almost afternoon. Zheng Jian and the others should have already found the entrance to the cave. The approximate times were all consistent, although they were in different places.

It seems that the cave in the rocky mountain is the right way. Zheng Jian's group, our group and Sergei's group, and finally General Chen's group all came to the city gate through this road. The only strange thing is that we came in through the underwater road. We don't know what happened to it.

Tiger Head continued, "We rested for a night under this city gate, and then we encountered danger when we set off." As he spoke, his eyes reddened again, and his voice began to tremble.

The gate of this city tower was filled with many unknown monsters, some of which could fly and some of which crawled on the ground. Most of the teammate died there, many of whom were inexplicably pulled into the water where duckweed floated. The remaining five or six people could not rescue their companions and could only follow Zheng Jian and run desperately all the way to the end.

Chapter Forty-Eight: A Battle to the Death

When we were peering down into the abyss, we all thought it was a dead end with nowhere to escape, but then our Captain Zheng discovered a doorway.

I immediately interjected, "Is that door on the left or right side facing the abyss?"

Tiger Head thought for a moment and said, "Right side, I'm sure it's right side, because when we split up to find the way, I was in charge of the left side and didn't find any mechanisms or hidden doors or anything like that."

I pried open his hand and saw that his palm was still wrapped in gauze and stained with blood. I wondered if the bloody handprint on the door we came in through was left by this kid. I asked Tiger Head, "How did you get your hand injured?"

Tiger Head said embarrassedly, "Before entering the city gate, I slipped and fell. I don't know what kind of thorny vine I grabbed, but it hurt a lot."

Thorny vines? I asked doubtfully, "Where are the thorny vines? Before we entered the city gate?"

Tiger Head said, "Yes, there was a huge jungle there, and that's where we rested."

The route map I had arranged in my mind suddenly became a mess. Where was this jungle? Why didn't we see it?

There's more than one way to get to this city gate? That's impossible, isn't it? The more secret the place, the less likely there should be a second way. Even Mount Hua has only had one path since ancient times.

I scratched my head: "Go on, I'm just wondering why we haven't encountered any forests along the way? This is a cave, there's no sunlight, where did the green plants come from? Lao Ding, did you two notice that?"

The two of them shook their heads, quite surprised by what Tiger Head had said. However, I remembered that I had seen stars before, so I kept the question to myself.

Tiger Head continued, "After Captain Zheng led us through that door, there was a wide stone staircase. After going around a few times, we all went up to the second floor. The second floor was very spacious and looked like a large stage, just like the stage where we performed Bangzi opera in our hometown. There were tables, chairs, benches, and cement seats for the audience, but there was no one there. Everything was covered with a thick layer of mud. The six of us had no idea that there would be danger. Just like that, two more of our good brothers got stuck there."

The stage that Tiger Head described was a very dangerous place. There were more than a dozen stone statues around the stage. Captain Zheng looked extremely pale at the time and muttered that they were the images of the Twelve Kings of Hell. Tiger Head and his team members were so frightened that they dared not approach.

The eerie theater was deserted, yet riddled with traps and pits. The statues were also quite sinister, as if deliberately placed there to bewitch people.

Captain Zheng led the remaining four team members around for a long time without finding a way out. It was like they had entered a maze and couldn't get out. One comrade stepped on a trapdoor and fell in, and another comrade was stabbed to death by a bayonet protruding from a hidden door. Before he died, he was dragged away by a rope.

Tiger Head was about to cry again, saying, "I can't forget their faces. They were brothers for a long time, and now they've just disappeared without a trace. After those two incidents, there were only three of us left, and no one dared to wander around. Captain Zheng's equipment and instruments were all lost long ago. We all thought we were going to die here when we ran into Leader Gu from the reservoir's fishery administration department. He was wandering around inside with two other people. When we first met, we didn't recognize each other and almost started shooting each other."

Upon hearing that he had run into Lao Gu, Ding Gen immediately became agitated: "Lao Gu! Who are he with?"

Chapter 67 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Chapter 67 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Author: Ghost Grinning

Tiger Head hesitated for a moment before saying, "Those two are a man and a woman. The woman is probably injured. She's wearing a breathing mask and being carried around like an idiot. I've never seen her before, and I don't recognize the man either, but they're definitely not acquaintances who came in on the same boat."

Ding Gen and I were both surprised and delighted. This old Gu was no good. It seemed that the woman was very likely Shen Juan. We just didn't know if she was alive or dead. We immediately urged the young soldier to tell us what happened next.

Tiger Head continued, "After we met Leader Gu, he said he was familiar with the layout of this place and suggested that we follow him to the top of the third floor. So we followed him. I helped the woman up, and Leader Gu led the way. After many twists and turns, we actually left the group of statues and encountered no more danger. We went straight up to the third floor of the city tower."

The third floor of the city gate tower is a spacious cement platform surrounded by cement railings. In the middle of the platform is a square pool, about five or six meters long and wide. The pool is not filled with water, but with a dark red, viscous liquid, like congealed chicken blood. In the middle of the pool is an iron table, which looks strange like an antique. My other team member and I gathered around to look at it.

The ancient leader vaguely said that this was used in ancient times to worship heaven and earth, and that the thing on the iron table was a shrine.

What I found strange was that the statues in the shrine were very similar to the ones we saw on the second floor; they were just as eerie, making you want to run away as soon as you saw them.

Later, for some reason, Captain Zheng and Leader Gu turned against each other while they were talking. Of course, we sided with our own people and helped keep an eye on Old Gu's men with our guns. The man who was working with Leader Gu even tried to draw his gun and fight us, but Captain Zheng shot him dead.

The woman was completely unconscious. As soon as she went up to the third-floor platform, she collapsed to the ground and didn't move at all.

Later, we saw Captain Zheng force Leader Gu to kneel on the ground. After talking for a while, Captain Zheng suddenly pointed his pistol at his forehead, as if he was going to execute him. My teammates and I were stunned and didn't know what was going on or how things had turned out like this. When did Leader Gu, whom you call Lao Gu, suddenly become an enemy?

Next, Captain Zheng hesitated for a long time before putting away his gun. Instead of shooting Lao Gu, he let him go and allowed him to stand up. After Lao Gu stood up, he still apologized to the captain with a fawning expression. We didn't see how he did it, but after getting close to the captain, he gently patted the captain's shoulder. This was bad. Captain Zheng went crazy and immediately kicked Lao Gu away. Then he tried to touch Lao Gu's shoulder with his backhand. He then chased after Lao Gu and beat him relentlessly. After running out of bullets, he didn't even know to reload and threw the bullets at Lao Gu like stones.

That old Gu was very cunning. After patting the captain on the shoulder, he jumped into the dark red pool and didn't dare to show his face again. I saw him swim to the iron table in the middle, so I started shooting at him in circles. Captain Zheng also came over and aimed at him, but it was too dark, and we were very nervous. We accidentally smashed the shrine on the iron table. Immediately, a dark hole appeared with a creaking sound, sucking in the dark red liquid. Old Gu then rushed into the dark hole, laughing like a madman!

After Lao Gu disappeared, Captain Zheng went completely mad. He ran back along the city wall, throwing down many cabinets along the way. My teammate and I couldn't stop him. We don't know where he got such strength, but he pushed one of his comrades who was holding him down off the city wall. At this point, only my teammate and I were left. We could only lie on the ground and cry, begging the captain to calm down!

After Captain Zheng accidentally pushed the team member down, he briefly regained his senses and kept shouting for us to tie him up. Later, his shouts turned into pleading for us to shoot him dead!

Neither of us dared to fire, so we tied the captain up with a rope.

At this point, there was no one else around. After being in a frenzy for so long, the captain was finally on the verge of death and could no longer speak. Another comrade and I carried him on our backs and gritted our teeth as we made our way back to the spacious cement platform.

All the equipment was gone. The old man's companion, whom Captain Zheng had killed, had a big bag next to him. I opened it and found the kayak and the foot-operated inflatable device. Thinking it might be useful, I tied it with a rope and prepared to carry it with me.

It was dark and cold. Captain Zheng kept vomiting black blood. I didn't dare touch him, but I didn't want to die like this. Another companion ran to the pool in the middle to check. The dark red liquid had long since leaked out. After the iron table and shrine collapsed, there was a deep, winding, round cave that sloped downwards. It wasn't very steep, enough for two people to climb forward side by side. The cave walls were all made of stone, and some water was seeping out.

I don't know where we got the courage, but we were on the same page. One of us carried the team leader on his back, and the other dragged the kayak down. At the time, we had no idea that the kayak would be so useful. We just thought that since Lao Gu had gone to so much trouble to bring it, it must have a purpose.

It took about three or four hours to get there. We didn't even know if we were on the right track. There were many side tunnels along the way, but we didn't go into any of them. The three of us just went down to the bottom in a daze, only to find that it was all muddy swamps and stinking pools.

Tiger paused for a moment, then continued anxiously, as if he hadn't seen his own people in a long time. He was eager to tell us everything that had happened. Ding Gen tried to interrupt him several times, but I stopped him. I knew he was very concerned about Shen Juan's whereabouts, but I wanted to wait until the young soldier finished speaking before asking, so as not to make things unclear.

The young soldier said, "Later, another venomous snake appeared in this mud. It was still silvery-white, and the fleshy growth on its head was the same as the one we saw on the mountaintop. After we desperately killed the snake, only Captain Zheng and I were left. That comrade also died from the snake. Alas!"

Tiger Head wiped away his tears, looked up and said, "The water has risen and fallen three times already. The kayak finally came in handy. The captain and I were stuck in that pit, unable to move. We thought that if we waited any longer, we would all be finished. Seeing that the water was high this time, we risked paddling out. We drifted for about half an hour, and that's when we ran into you guys."

Ding Gen snapped out of his daze and immediately asked, "Where's that woman? The woman who was with Lao Gu, didn't you say she hadn't woken up at all? Is she still sleeping on the city wall?"

Tiger Head said, "No, after we went down into that round hole and walked a bit, we thought it was a way to survive. We couldn't bear to leave the woman behind, so we went back to try and bring her down with us. Even if she's an enemy, she's still a woman. It's just a little effort for the two of us. At worst, we'll all die together. If we don't bring her along and leave her alone on that concrete platform, she'll definitely die."

Ding Gen breathed a sigh of relief, looked around, and asked Hu Tou with a lot of suspicion, "Where is she?"

Tiger Head said with a wry smile, "When I went up to carry her, I found that the woman was gone, and all that was left on the ground was the mask that was originally covering her face!"

Ding Gen was taken aback: "Gone? Have you looked for her?" The young soldier shook his head with a wry smile and said no.

Chapter 68 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Chapter 68 of "The Empty House in the Abyss (The Salvage Worker's Adventure)"

Author: Ghost Grinning

Chapter Forty-Nine: Death is a Relief

I could only comfort the dejected Ding Gen: "In that situation, no one would have dared to act rashly. Maybe after Shen Juan woke up, she followed Hu Tou down into the cave. And with so many side caves in this cave, it's hard to say where she is now. There's even a chance she might run into Lao Gu again, but it's better than staying there and waiting to die."

The situation was so confusing that my brain couldn't keep up. This city wall was like a battlefield, with people fighting to the death everywhere. On the right, Lao Gu and Zheng Jian were locked in a fierce battle, on the left, Sergei and Lin Teng were killing each other, and below, the three of us had run into General Chen's men. It was all so complicated that the concepts of enemy and comrade were completely blurred in my mind.

It seems that all of this is no longer simply the work of the Soviets. Bacterial and chemical weapons have become secondary; the power of nature and the underhanded tactics of Sun Chuanfang and Okamura Yasuji are the real dangers we are facing.

No wonder the area on the right looks like a big X to Sun Yuehua; the trouble the Soviets encountered back then was probably related to this.

As for that theater, it's clearly Sun Chuanfang's doing. Legend has it that he sent several opera troupes down into the sinkhole back then, which is absolutely true. I just don't know what about the three-tiered shrine and the iron table? Could it also be the work of Sun Chuanfang and Okamura Yasuji? What exactly is Lao Gu's purpose in doing this? Even General Chen's men are wary of him. I think all of them have the same goal: to get what Sun Chuanfang and Okamura Yasuji are after.