Chapter 563: The Underground Bunker

He Yuzhu stood up and walked straight out; He Daqing also wanted to follow to see what was going on, but was stopped by He Yuzhu.

"Dad, the mountain is already frozen, and the road is slippery and hard to walk. You just wait here."

He Daqing's face was full of worry, and he nodded repeatedly, urging: "Zhuzi, you must be careful!"

"Don't worry!"

He Yuzhu ran out quickly.

Erkui followed behind, panting, his lungs feeling like they were about to explode, and he shouted at the top of his lungs: "Zhuzi! That child is likely done for; nine times out of ten, he's been snatched away and eaten by wolves!"

"How old is the child?" He Yuzhu asked in a deep voice without stopping his pace.

"An eleven-year-old boy, not very tall!" Erkui replied, gasping for air.

"Erkui, issue a strict order from now on—no one is allowed to go up the mountain to cut firewood without an adult! If they don't listen, we won't care; we are a Farm, not a police station, and we don't have the spare time to help look for people every day!"

Erkui's expression darkened, and he said unhappily: "Zhuzi, it's all because you're too kind-hearted, letting all these people stay. They're from all over the country, and they're impossible to manage!"

He Yuzhu knew in his heart that this made sense, but upon second thought, he couldn't let more people be left without a place to stay just because of a few disobedient ones!

"Erkui, how many people are searching in the mountain now?"

"Twenty from the Factory Protection Team, and over thirty from his fellow villagers!"

He Yuzhu turned his head and said: "That's enough people; it's useless for you to follow. Go back and look after my dad! You two haven't seen each other for a long time."

Erkui stopped, gasping for air, and nodded: "Alright, Zhuzi, then I'm heading back!"

He Yuzhu began to sprint again, simultaneously activating the Scanning System.

Ten minutes later, he caught up with the team searching the mountain.

He Yuzhu brushed past the crowd and ran for a while, only to discover there were no human footprints on the ground, not even those of large animals.

Not right.

That child definitely couldn't have walked this far.

He immediately turned back and spotted Yan Jiecheng in the crowd, saying: "Jiecheng, stop searching deep inside; there are no fresh traces of wild beasts ahead. Search back the other way!"

Yan Jiecheng nodded: "We haven't seen any bloodstains along the way either; it doesn't look like the child was snatched by a wild beast."

The child's father was a man in his thirties with a face full of wrinkles; he was so anxious that his face turned red, and he rushed up to grab He Yuzhu's arm, shouting: "Little Factory Director He, you can't just ignore my son!"

He Yuzhu's face darkened instantly: "How am I ignoring him? You are all searching blindly; you need to use your brains to think!"

The man was suppressed by his imposing manner and didn't dare to say another word on the spot.

Lv Hong stepped forward quickly and analyzed: "The children who were with Huzi said they didn't see any wild beasts, only a large rock rolling down the mountain. After that, Huzi was gone."

He Yuzhu thought for a moment and said: "I think he most likely fell into some hidden hole!"

Lv Hong's eyes lit up, and she immediately shouted loudly: "Everyone search back! Go search near those big pine trees on the mid-levels."

He Yuzhu was inspired by these words; his figure darted out like an arrow, and he simultaneously activated the Scanning, taking in the ground structure within seven hundred meters.

After sprinting for nearly ten minutes, there was still nothing unusual.

He stopped abruptly and looked around.

Behind this mountain was the Anbang River, the pine trees were at the mid-levels, and below the mountain was a narrow road leading straight to Ha City; this place was definitely a strategic throat. Back in the day, the Japanese devils likely set up a bunker here.

He rushed to the side of the three big pine trees and, upon Scanning, discovered that there was indeed a hidden passage underground!

He slowly approached the tiny hole and realized that this spot had originally been covered by a large rock; clearly, Huzi had been mischievous and kicked the large rock down, sliding into the hole himself.

At this moment, Lv Hong and her group also hurried over.

He Yuzhu pointed to the hole: "The child must have fallen into the hole."

Lv Hong squatted at the hole and examined it repeatedly, her expression changing slightly: "I passed by here before and saw a small opening, but I thought it was a wild beast's den, so I didn't think much of it... Little Factory Director He, what should we do now?"

"Child's father, you go down and take a look," He Yuzhu said indifferently.

A flash of cowardice appeared in the man's eyes, and he stammered: "B-but..."

He Yuzhu smiled, his tone carrying an irresistible sense of pressure: "Go down quickly; the child is inside, and there is still a glimmer of a chance he is alive."

The wrinkled man gritted his teeth and nodded fiercely: "I'll go! I'll go!"

He Yuzhu pulled a Rope from his backpack, tied it around the man's waist, and handed him a whistle: "Blow the whistle immediately if there is danger."

The man went down the hole trembling while holding the rope, and before long, a sharp, urgent whistle sounded from the bottom of the hole!

"Quick! Pull him up!"

He Yuzhu gave a low shout, and the group pulled together with all their might, dragging the man up.

The man was pale as a sheet, trembling all over, and was so scared he couldn't speak clearly: "Human bones! It's full of human bones inside!"

He Yuzhu frowned and asked: "Did you see the child?"

"I... as soon as my flashlight shone on the human bones, I fell down; I didn't see anything else!"

He Yuzhu shook his head and said: "Hold the rope, I'm going down."

Yan Jiecheng said hurriedly: "Zhuzi, the flashlight is gone, I'll get you a torch!"

He Yuzhu nodded.

Before long, a pine resin torch was lit, the flames crackling and billowing black smoke.

He Yuzhu held the torch and slid nimbly to the bottom of the hole.

As the torch shone, the scene inside the hole was laid bare.

Inside, there were jagged rocks, and several corpses were tied to stone pillars; their flesh had already rotted, looking exceptionally terrifying.

He Yuzhu didn't dwell on these; he held the torch up to inspect the area, but there was no sign of the child.

"Huzi! Huzi!"

He shouted a few times, but the hole was deathly silent, with no response.

He Yuzhu was puzzled; if the child had fallen down, how could he have disappeared?

His nose twitched slightly, and a faint, fishy, musky scent drifted over; he understood a little bit in an instant.

"Huzi! Where are you?"

He shouted while untying the rope at his waist, walking slowly toward the depths.

The passageway grew narrower as he walked.

Suddenly!

A violent gust of wind struck him head-on!

He Yuzhu's reaction was extremely fast; his body suddenly crouched down!

A furry giant palm swept fiercely past his scalp, bringing with it a foul-smelling wind!

He threw a punch as fast as lightning, aiming straight for the opponent's chest.

With a "Bang!" sound.

He Yuzhu only felt as if his fist had smashed into a hard, taut rubber mat, his knuckles slightly numb.

The one that had been hit was none other than a black bear!

This fellow, suddenly struck hard, felt its chest tighten and could barely catch its breath; with a miserable "Awoo" cry, it turned and bolted into the depths of the Cave!

He Yuzhu did not give chase.

He shone his torch, only to see a little boy lying quietly on the ground.

He understood instantly—the black bear had been looking for a place to hibernate, and Huzi had happened to fall in; the black bear had knocked him unconscious but hadn't intended to eat him yet, which was how the child had escaped with his life.

He reached out to check, and Huzi's pulse was steady, his breathing still present.

He Yuzhu did not delay any longer; he scooped the child up, walked quickly back to the cave entrance, and blew his whistle hard.

Movement immediately came from above.

The rope tightened, and He Yuzhu, holding Huzi, was steadily pulled up.

As soon as he landed, Yan Jiecheng immediately leaned in and asked urgently, "Zhuzi, what exactly is the situation inside?"

He Yuzhu's lips curled into a smile; his voice was not loud, but it made everyone's heart race: "There is a Japanese Bunker inside, and it might even hide a vault; do you want to go down and see for yourselves?"