Chapter 354: Enclosed Space

Poker-face was acting differently than before, somewhat strange, barely moving, leaning against the corner. He turned his head to look at me and said flatly, "I don't remember, but I know this is just the beginning."

In an extremely eerie atmosphere, Fatty and Poker-face told me about what they had been through. I had thought I would hear a very complicated story, but unexpectedly, their account was incredibly simple.

After I left, their actions were roughly what I had expected—they started using the simple equipment Agui had brought to fish things out. Those skeletal remains on the rocks were found among the branches of a dead tree; they speculated that due to the siphon tide, larger corpses eventually got stuck in the branches, while the gear thrown into the water ended up elsewhere, hanging on that fence.

The last time they went into the water before disappearing, Fatty was the first. He was already getting ready to surface when he saw something glint within the beam of his flashlight, seemingly some kind of metal.

Since they were in the water to salvage things, he was naturally drawn to it, but when he swam over, he found nothing there except some large rocks.

The oxygen in his helmet was almost depleted, so he couldn't examine the crevices in the rocks carefully. Assuming the flash was from a small piece of metal or glass, he paid no attention and prepared to surface.

Just then, he suddenly felt "something bite him," and a numbness instantly spread through his hand, reaching his whole body within seconds. He thought to himself, "Damn," and tried to rush to the surface, but it was too late—the next moment he passed out. When he woke up, he was already lying in this cave.

Poker-face's situation was a bit more complicated than his, but not too different. He went into the water in a hurry to look for Fatty. Not long after diving, he suddenly felt something was wrong. He wanted to turn back but it was too late—underwater, no matter how skilled he was, there were limits.

His exact words were: "I felt something move behind me. It was too late to turn around. When I woke up, I appeared in this place as well."

I thought to myself, how strange—how could something like this happen?

Losing consciousness instantly and then waking up to find yourself in another place—that sounds like something aliens would do. Could this be the inside of a UFO?

I looked at the stone cave again—all four sides were solid rock. If this really were a UFO, it would be one from the Stone Age.

I felt that things were getting more and more absurd. Damn it! Fatty and Poker-face were "bitten" by something and lost consciousness. If it were poison from some creature, they would have drowned, but instead they ended up here. No matter how you look at it, it's not some mysterious phenomenon—it looks too much like human intervention. Someone must have drugged them and moved them here.

But if it was human intervention, how do you explain our current situation? This is a completely sealed cave. What kind of person could stuff us through solid rock? Liu Qian? Fatty thought back to that moment, still puzzled. "I can't figure it out. The visibility underwater was good at the time. After being stabbed and before passing out, I was still conscious for a short while. I immediately looked around—there was nothing."

"Maybe it's some kind of insect or fish, very small. If it sticks to your back, you won't notice it. Do you have any wounds?" I asked. There's no way to feel pain for no reason; if something stabbed you, there should be a mark.

"I checked right after waking up—there's no mark." Fatty showed me the spot where he was stabbed, and indeed there was nothing. "I don't think it's likely to be an insect. Think about it—even Xiao Ge got caught. What insect would dare bite him?" I clicked my tongue. This was too uncanny, completely inexplicable! None of it made sense—it didn't seem like something a "person" could do. Could it really be the lake god messing with us? Fatty continued, telling me that the only way in or out of this place was a wrist-thick crack in the ceiling of the outer cave. That's where they had found the giant salamander. A lot of water seeped in through that crack. For the past two weeks, they had basically eaten nothing and survived only by drinking water. He had lost about six kilograms, and his skin was hanging loose. To conserve energy, they barely moved and just sat still.

Outside, on the other side, there were some wooden frames left over from past excavation, which could be used for fire. They only burned a little each day; fortunately, oxygen wasn't an issue.

When I suddenly appeared earlier, they thought I had seen the marking on the giant salamander, tracked it down, and figured out a way in and out. They didn't expect that even I didn't know how I got in, which crushed Fatty's hopes. I took a breath and remembered something. "Since you two suddenly lost consciousness, why did you tell me to follow the siphon tide? How did you think following the current would lead here?"

Fatty said, "It was the sound. I don't know exactly where this place is, but I knew it had to be near the siphon tide opening, because at night, the water seeping in contracts rhythmically, making a very distinct sound, like breathing. Only if you're very close to the siphon tide would the amplitude be so large. If you found the giant salamander and were led near the siphon tide opening, you might find the crack leading here."

I couldn't help cursing inwardly. So that's how it was—far too idealistic! Fatty's idea was completely baseless, and the facts proved that following the siphon tide was a dead end. But since I hadn't died, I didn't want to complain anymore.

After listening, I stood up shakily. Although I absolutely trusted Fatty, a strong urge inside me still wanted to see the cave for myself, to examine the stones up close.

Fatty sighed and shook his head. "Don't waste your energy. Tianzhen, think about it—damn it, Xiao Ge and I have been trapped here for two weeks. What do you think we could have done in those two weeks? At first, I didn't believe it either. I kept thinking there must be a secret passage, so I searched and searched, inch by inch. Do you know what it feels like to look at the same rock a thousand times? By the end, I almost threw up, but there's nothing, nothing at all."

His expression was very pained. I could imagine that feeling, but I still felt empty inside without seeing for myself, so I told him not to bother.

I laboriously crawled along the rock walls and made a full circle, this time looking very carefully. Fatty was absolutely right—the rock wall was indeed completely solid. The occasional tiny cracks were naturally formed, too small even for a knife to fit into. The biggest crack was in the ceiling of the outer cave, but it was only as thick as an arm, with a steady stream of water flowing down from above. The ground was covered in puddles of various sizes, and the water then seeped through the rock crevices below.

Where could this cave be located? Could it be near the place where I nearly drowned? Looking at these chisel marks, they were very similar to the rock markings at the bottom of that well. They must have been carved by the same group of craftsmen.

After all, I'm not trained in geological surveying—I only know some basic mechanics, and I have no idea about the rest.

When I knocked on the rock, the sound was extremely dull, indicating that there likely wasn't any secret passage. Besides, Poker-face was here—if there really were a hidden passage, he would have found it long ago.

Then I went to check the items piled in the corner. At first glance, there seemed to be a few stone mill-like objects. Coming closer, they looked like cast-iron stoves with iron slag inside. On one side was a shelf full of tools, all very securely arranged.

Additionally, there was a clay statue of a deity, about as tall as a beer bottle—it was either Guan Gong or some other bodhisattva. I had never seen anything like it before; perhaps it was a deity from an ethnic minority.

I tried to move it by hand, but whether because I was completely weak or it was too heavy, it didn't budge at all. Fatty said he had already moved it long ago—there was no passage underneath.

I walked back to Fatty and finally confirmed that he was right. Though I had believed him before, this time the certainty came from the bottom of my heart. A feeling of anxiety welled up inside me—it was a human's instinctive reaction to an enclosed space.