Cruel Heart

On the way back, everyone slowed their steps instinctively. One turn, then another, our pace became slower and slower. Fourteen flashlights conducted a carpet search on the surrounding stone walls, and we eventually returned to the original Bone Cave. Despite anticipating this outcome, it still filled me with despair. When the students had nearly encircled the five hundred square meters cave with their hands and returned to the tunnel entrance, some of the boys could no longer suppress their fear and started cursing: “Looks like we have to move forward, even if we don’t know where it leads, it’s better than staying here.” Liang Yingwu immediately made the next decision. My experience told me that since the path we came from had inexplicably disappeared, the unknown darkness ahead undoubtedly hid danger. Liang Yingwu must have known this too, but it seemed there were no better options. The students’ flashlights continued to sweep the stone walls on both sides, futilely seeking a non-existent fork to end this nightmare. Liang Yingwu and I focused our attention on the darkness ahead, the flashlights casting intersecting beams of light. I stared intently at that area, where danger was most likely to occur. After the second turn, all the students began to pray, hoping this was the way we came in, hoping the exit was just beyond, obscured by rain preventing sunlight from entering the cave. I walked forward step by step, the path underfoot still flat. I clearly understood that this was absolutely not the path we had entered by. I had vaguely seen the exit, and I believe Liang Yingwu saw it too, as he further slowed his already cautious steps, watching for any reactions from the walls on both sides. In such a mysterious unknown environment, any place that seemed unproblematic could suddenly become hazardous.