Cruel Heart

“Quick, turn off your flashlights.” I noticed most people were still reluctant to turn off their lights, wondering how they’d cry when their flashlights died. Here, light was crucial to finding our way out of this “human cave.” “Zhu Zili and He Yunkai, keep your flashlights on and maintain vigilance; everyone else, turn yours off.” Under Liang Yingwu’s urging, soon only two dim beams of light remained in the cave. Compared to these lights, the phosphorescent glow from the bones on the ground was more noticeable, though the thought of what they represented chilled everyone’s heart. “Damn it,” I suddenly cursed myself, pulling out my phone from my waist. In my shock, I had forgotten this simple solution; as long as we could contact the outside world, finding a way out should be possible. Seeing me take out my phone, everyone else followed suit, including Liang Yingwu. Normally, the first reaction after being trapped would be to use a phone to call for help, but this entrapment was so unusual that even the calmest among us had lost their composure. My phone was a Nokia 8210, a model from a couple of years ago, but it had always worked well, and I neither had the interest nor the financial means to frequently upgrade. Just yesterday in the village, I had called the newspaper office, and the signal was fine. But now, looking at the glowing screen, the signal indicator on the left side showed no bars at all. I should have anticipated this; the mobile signal coverage in Shennongjia was not great to begin with, and in the belly of the mountain, no signal was quite possible. As each hope was shattered, my grip on the phone tightened, my knuckles turning white. Not giving up, I dialed the number for the newspaper office’s main line in Shanghai. The screen showed it was dialing, but soon it disconnected. “No signal.” Though my voice was low, it was enough for everyone to hear. Looking up, I saw the expressions on everyone’s faces, their young features stern under the dim light of their phones. “I don’t have any either.” “No signal for me too.” Among the 14 phones, whether Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, or the so-called “fighter jet among phones” Bird, none had a signal. The most advanced technology was entirely useless in this primitive and dangerous place. I walked several laps around the cave, trying countless positions, almost tripping over a thigh bone into a pile of corpses, but the signal indicator on the screen remained stubbornly absent. “We need to try again.”
I gave up on trying to use my phone and whispered to Liang Yingwu as we moved towards the tunnel, “What are you thinking about?” Liang Yingwu asked me. I shook my head, realizing he couldn’t see my gesture in the darkness, and said, “Nothing, but we’ve been moving forward, taking each step ourselves. No matter how we twist and turn, it doesn’t make sense to end up back at the start. Although we’ve made two turns, it’s conceptually no different from walking in a straight line. How could we suddenly be back after walking several hundred meters? This time, it’s different from anything I’ve encountered before. In the past, no matter how bizarre things got, I could always understand there was a logical reason behind it, even if that reason might be beyond the common understanding.”