ILSITM Chapter 3

“How deep is this cave? The light doesn’t seem to reach the bottom, and there’s no echo when sound enters,” Wen Rourou said, glancing at me before turning to look at Old Lin and Old Zhang.

Old Lin and Old Zhang, holding something in their hands, walked to the edge of the cave together.

“We can’t currently determine the depth of this underground cave, but we can be sure that it absorbs light and sound,” Old Lin said, looking at Wen Rourou and me.

“That’s amazing!” Wen Rourou exclaimed with excitement.

“There’s also a passage on the other side of the cave opening. We’re going to try today to see if we can climb over to that side,” I said, shining my headlamp on a passage entrance on the opposite rock wall.

“The opening of this underground cave is narrow and long, and the walls are quite smooth. How are you planning to get to the other side?” Wen Rourou asked, tilting her head to look at me, then at Old Lin and Old Zhang.

“I brought a power drill and rock climbing bolts today. I’ll try the drill first,” Old Lin said, picking up the drill and starting to make holes in the ground of the passage two meters away from the cave opening.

The drill was powerful, and Old Lin drilled three holes in the passage floor in a row, arranged in an inverted triangle.

Old Zhang then picked up a small rock hammer and hammered the three rock climbing bolts into the drilled holes one by one. He threaded one end of the rope through the loops at the end of the three bolts and tied a secure knot.

“We’ll use the method of drilling holes in the cave wall, hammering in rock climbing bolts, and hanging ropes to get across. I’ll be responsible for drilling, hammering in bolts, and hanging ropes,” I said to Wen Rourou.

I fastened my safety harness and took a rope from Old Zhang. One end of the rope was already firmly tied to the three rock climbing bolts. I secured this end of the rope to the safety ring on my harness.

After descending about 1.5 meters into the underground cave, Old Lin handed me the power drill.

It was a cordless drill and felt heavy in my hand.

I placed the drill bit about fifty centimeters away from the cave opening, turned on the drill, and applied force with both hands. The drill bit was instantly “eaten” into the cave wall.

So, I first drilled holes in the cave wall with the electric drill, then hammered the rock climbing bolts into the holes, and then used quickdraws to connect the bolts to the safety harness.

Repeating this process, I quickly climbed from one side of the cave opening to the other.

After climbing up to the other side of the cave opening, on an open area of about five or six square meters, I drilled three holes in an inverted triangle arrangement. Then, I picked up the rock hammer and hammered the three rock climbing bolts into the holes one by one, and then threaded one end of the rope through the loops at the end of the three bolts and tied a secure knot.

Wen Rourou, Old Zhang, and Old Lin followed the rope I had hung, climbing one after another from that side of the cave opening to this side.

The four of us stood on this open ground of only five or six square meters, looking at a narrow passage entrance in the rock wall in front of us, feeling a little excited.

“Old Zhang, the fact that we two could come to this side of the cave opening today, we really have to thank Ma Tiandong!” Old Lin said, glancing at Old Zhang before turning to look at me.

“Yes, a rope flies across north and south, a natural barrier becomes a thoroughfare, Tiandong deserves the credit,” Old Zhang said, looking at me.

The entrance to this passage was only one meter square, so we had to bend down and crawl inside.

After crawling a few meters into the passage, it immediately became taller, and everyone could stand up straight and walk normally inside the passage.

After walking for more than ten minutes, the passage gradually widened.

“There’s another underground cave ahead,” Old Lin said, walking in front.

The four of us stood at the edge of the entrance of this underground cave and stopped.

The shape of this cave opening was a bit similar to the shape of the underground cave opening behind us, both being elliptical, with a width of about five meters in the middle and a length of about twelve meters.

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

The sound traveled into the cave, but there was still no echo.

When light entered the cave, it was also swallowed.

Our headlamps could only illuminate a few dozen meters into the cave. Beyond that, the light couldn’t penetrate any further.

On the rock wall on the opposite side of this underground cave opening, there was also a passage, the entrance to which was also not large.

“This underground cave looks so similar to the previous one!” Wen Rourou said in surprise.

“Yes, they were poured from the same mold,” I laughed.

“I think the passage connecting these two underground caves seems to be man-made, but these two underground caves seem to be naturally formed,” Wen Rourou said.

“It’s hard to say. I think these two underground caves seem to be both naturally formed and man-made,” Old Zhang said ambiguously.

“I think both of these caves are man-made, but the caves are so deep, and the walls are so smooth, I don’t know which dynasty or generation’s excavation expert used what tools to carve them out,” Old Lin praised.

“Hearing you say that, I think these two underground caves were carved out by aliens. Let me look carefully to see if there are any symbols or alien writings left at the edge of the cave,” I said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

As soon as I finished speaking, Wen Rourou really bent down and lay down at the edge of the underground cave, looking carefully.

The three of us looked at Wen Rourou’s seriousness and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Do we still want to go to the other side of this underground cave?” I asked Old Lin and Old Zhang in a tone of seeking their opinion.

“Yes!” Old Lin and Old Zhang said in unison.

“There’s a line of words here!” Wen Rourou suddenly shouted.

The three of us gathered around. On the right side of the cave opening, there was indeed a line of text: “Carved in the first year of Tianqi.”

“Which dynasty and era was the first year of Tianqi?” Wen Rourou asked, looking at everyone.

“The first year of Tianqi was the reign title of Zhu Youxiao, the fifteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The start and end dates were from the first year of Tianqi (1621 AD) to the seventh year of Tianqi (1627 AD),” Old Zhang said.

“Old Zhang really teaches history. He remembers the reign titles of all the dynasties perfectly,” I sincerely praised.

“What kind of emperor was this Zhu Youxiao?” Wen Rourou asked, raising her head and looking at Old Zhang.

“Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne at the age of sixteen. During the early days of his reign, Nurhaci of the Jurchens rose up between the Changbai Mountains and the Black Water River, taking the opportunity to capture Shenyang, and his power grew day by day. Zhu Youxiao was actually a puppet emperor. During his reign, he relied on the eunuchs around him for assistance. Later, Wei Zhongxian colluded with Madam Ke and Li Xuan, seized power, gradually became dictatorial, framed loyal and good officials, leading to the deterioration of the court and the intensification of eunuch politics. In the fifth year of Tianqi, Zhu Youxiao fell ill from drowning while playing in a boat. Although he recovered later, he still indulged in sensual pleasures, drinking elixirs and spiritual dew in search of longevity. In the seventh year of Tianqi, he died in the Palace of Heavenly Purity at the age of twenty-three, after only seven years as emperor,” Old Zhang said, seeing that Wen Rourou and I were interested in Zhu Youxiao, he began to introduce Zhu Youxiao in detail.

“Zhu Youxiao had a talent for carpentry and was obsessed with the work of knives, saws, axes, and paint. He neglected his duties, dealing with axes, saws, and planes all day long, only knowing how to make woodenware and build small palaces, abandoning state affairs and ignoring them. He was a veritable carpenter emperor. It seems that these two underground caves are related to Emperor Zhu Youxiao,” Old Lin chimed in.

“If the previous underground cave was also man-made, there should also be text or symbols left at the edge of the cave, right?” Wen Rourou said, looking at the three of us.

“Very likely. Why don’t we go back now and look around the edge of the previous cave to see if there are any texts or symbols,” Old Lin said, looking at everyone in a tone of seeking their opinion.

Today’s cave exploration had a “major discovery”, and everyone agreed to first return to the edge of the first cave to look for new clues.

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