ILSITM Chapter 2

“You said you two didn’t go down into the underground cave, but you felt this cave was strange. So, where exactly is it strange?” I walked behind Old Lin, impatiently asking.

“It’s just a feeling,” Old Lin replied as he walked.

“The last time you came in here, did you find anything else?” I continued to ask.

“Last time, I just went in through this passage and didn’t find anything. That’s why I brought you here this time, hoping you can discover something,” Old Lin chuckled.

After we walked in the passage for nearly twenty minutes, I suddenly noticed that the passage seemed to have become wider and taller, because now I could stretch my arms out and walk forward with my chest out and head held high.

“The entrance to the underground cave is just ahead,” Old Lin, who was walking in front, stopped.

When I walked to Old Lin’s side, I indeed saw an underground cave about two meters ahead.

I moved my head up, down, left, and right, using my headlamp to illuminate the area around the entrance of the underground cave.

“The entrance of this underground cave seems to be elliptical, about five meters wide and twelve meters long,” I estimated the size of the entrance and looked at Old Lin in a questioning tone.

“Pretty close. 4.8 meters wide and 12.3 meters long. I measured it,” Old Lin said seriously.

“How deep is the cave?” I asked, standing at the edge of the entrance.

“Last time, I threw a rock down, and after a long time, I didn’t hear the sound of the rock hitting the ground. How deep do you think this cave is?” Old Lin’s answer seemed a bit exaggerated.

I knelt at the edge of the entrance and adjusted my headlamp to the ultra-bright setting, and a beam of strong light quickly shot into the cave.

Strangely, after this beam of strong light shot into the cave, it seemed to be swallowed bit by bit by the boundless darkness inside.

The headlamp I used was a new one I recently bought. It has a concentrated light source and a long range. The ultra-bright setting can illuminate places two to three thousand meters away, but this cave was like a bottomless abyss, and I couldn’t see the bottom at all.

I was shocked and said, “Could the depth of this underground cave have exceeded three thousand meters?”

“Hard to say. Did you notice that after the light entered the cave, it seemed to be swallowed? Your headlamp can actually only illuminate a few dozen meters deep into the cave. Any deeper, and the light just can’t penetrate,” Old Lin’s words surprised me greatly.

“This passage starts to widen and become taller about ten meters away from the entrance of the underground cave. The height of the passage at the edge of the entrance is about two meters, and the width is about four meters,” I stated my estimated data one by one, then looked at Old Lin.

“Your estimated data is pretty close to my measured data,” Old Lin said with a smile.

At this moment, I suddenly noticed that there seemed to be an “eye” on the opposite rock wall staring at Old Lin and me.

I stared intently at that “eye” for a while before realizing that it seemed to be a narrow passage entrance.

“Shifu, there seems to be another passage on the opposite rock wall, but the entrance is very small. If you don’t look carefully, you might think it’s just a small hole in the rock wall,” I said to Old Lin.

“Yes, there is indeed another passage on the other side of this underground cave entrance, but I haven’t been to the other side before,” Old Lin said regretfully.

“We don’t have all the necessary equipment with us today. Let’s bring all the equipment next time and go over there to take a look,” I said.

“Okay, today I mainly brought you here to familiarize yourself with the route. Then let’s bring all the equipment next time and come again,” Old Lin said with a chuckle.

When walking back, I suddenly noticed that this passage was a slope.

When I first entered the passage, I was only focused on talking to Old Lin and didn’t notice that the passage under my feet was all downhill. Now, when walking back, I realized that the whole journey was uphill. Only with the comparison did I discover this little secret.

When Old Lin and I climbed out of the manhole, it was only a little past six o’clock. The shops in the alley and on the Pedestrian Street had not yet opened for business. Apart from one or two people jogging past, there were no other pedestrians on the Pedestrian Street.

“Shifu, next time we come here to explore the cave, I’d like to bring another person with us, is that okay?” I asked, looking at Old Lin.

Old Lin smiled and remained noncommittal.

After returning home, I imported the cave exploration video taken with the sports camera into the computer. After editing, dubbing, adding background music, and adding commentary, I uploaded it to the internet.

In the afternoon, I gave Wen Rourou a call and asked if she was interested in exploring the underground cave under Jiudong City’s Pedestrian Street. She was very excited after receiving my call and said she was willing to come.

To get her “in the mood” sooner, I also forwarded the cave exploration video that I had just uploaded to the internet to her.

After Wen Rourou retired from the national rock climbing team three years ago, she chose to find her own employment.

This year, after filming the “Another World” documentary, she returned to her hometown, San Tong City, and prepared to become a coach for a newly established rock climbing club in San Tong City.

That evening, Wen Rourou flew to Jiudong City, and I took a taxi to the airport to pick her up.

At five o’clock the next morning, when Wen Rourou and I arrived at Jiudong City’s Pedestrian Street as agreed, Old Lin and a strange man were already waiting there.

“Hello Shifu, this is the retired national rock climbing team’s beauty, Wen Rourou,” I introduced her to Old Lin.

“Amazing beauty! Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!” Old Lin was very satisfied with the beauty I brought.

Then, he patted a man of about fifty or sixty years old standing beside him and introduced him to Wen Rourou and me: “This is my colleague Old Zhang, who just retired this month. He used to teach history at the school and, like me, enjoys outdoor adventure, winter swimming, and long-distance running. He’s in great shape too.”

“Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!” Wen Rourou and I said in unison.

After the four of us put on our headlamps, Old Lin bent down and opened the manhole cover.

“Wow,” Wen Rourou exclaimed excitedly as she glanced into the manhole.

Old Lin and Old Zhang took the lead in descending into the manhole. After opening the passage door, they crawled into the passage one after the other.

I pressed the button to turn on the sports camera’s recording function, and Wen Rourou and I followed closely behind.

After our group crawled into the passage through the passage entrance on the side wall of the manhole, we walked with our backs bent for nearly twenty minutes and arrived at the edge of the underground cave entrance.

Old Lin and Old Zhang took off their backpacks from their shoulders and placed them about two meters away from the cave entrance. Then, they squatted down, pulled open the backpack zippers, and rummaged around inside.

I accompanied Wen Rourou to the edge of the entrance, helped her take off her backpack, and then took off my own backpack.

We both used our headlamps to illuminate the area around the entrance and then shone the headlamps together into the cave.

“Hello, is anyone there?!” Wen Rourou shouted loudly into the cave.

But strangely, the sound traveled into the cave without any echo.

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