Cruel Heart

I spoke in fits and starts, with little confidence. Even I wouldn’t believe I could predict such a thing with a casual guess. However, currently, this was the only theory I could come up with, and even worse, even if my guess was close to the truth, we still had no clue how to solve it. Liang Yingwu pondered for a moment. I could clearly hear my own heartbeat. In a normal setting, such discussions would be lively, with animated gestures and expressions, but here, in the cave, where the only light was the faint glow from a flashlight a few steps away and the occasional flicker of phosphorescent light, and where even the sound of wind or water was absent, and where even familiar faces seemed ghostly due to the overwhelming darkness, the discussion felt profoundly different. At every moment, I felt the pressure from the darkness, stemming from fear, which in turn stemmed from ignorance. Even with all my effort, I couldn’t see Liang Yingwu’s or Lu Yun’s faces clearly, let alone what lay deeper in the darkness. Fortunately, Liang Yingwu didn’t remain silent for long: “Your idea is novel; I hadn’t thought of that, but the issue of teleportation, I’ve considered. Your idea and teleportation share a fatal flaw.”
Liang Yingwu paused, and I knew what he was going to say. He sighed and said, “Are you thinking why none of us felt anything?” I saw Liang Yingwu’s head move, likely nodding. “Yes, a reflection point that goes unnoticed by fragile and sensitive humans, yet it’s so smooth that 14 people fully concentrated couldn’t detect the moment when they started walking back. A reflection point where 14 people confirmed that no one ahead or behind them suddenly disappeared or showed any anomalies. Even if you stretch your imagination to the limit, what do you think the probability is?” I couldn’t answer; my speculation was based on my own imagination, whereas Liang Yingwu’s rebuttal was grounded in the collective sensory abilities of all 14 of us, including mine. If I rejected Liang Yingwu’s rebuttal, it would be tantamount to denying the sensory judgment of myself and everyone around me. The facts were there; we walked back and forth several times, each of us fully focused, yet no one detected anything unusual, let alone the major issue of displacement. My conjecture was overturned, but surprisingly, it sparked a glimmer of hope within me. Liang Yingwu’s questions and statements clearly indicated he had his own thoughts, different from mine. Sure enough, Liang Yingwu said, “I’ve been thinking for a long time; we can’t find even the slightest strange trace from the outside, so if we assume that there’s nothing wrong with the external environment, then the problem…” “Is with us?” Lu Yun blurted out. My heart stirred as I thought about those peculiar stones. “Yes, I speculate that if there’s an issue with our perception, some unknown force has affected all our sensory capabilities, at least confusing our vision, making us walk back while thinking we’re moving forward. This explanation seems more plausible.” “Our senses were affected?” I pondered Liang Yingwu’s explanation while mentioning my doubts about those stones. “Hmm, if our senses truly are affected, then we can almost certainly conclude this is a supernatural event. Though it’s unlikely directed at us, our curiosity has put us in danger. Those stones might indeed be part of some kind of formation, trapping us since we entered the cave.” With the new clues I provided, Liang Yingwu’s tone became more certain. Recalling Liang Yingwu’s earlier actions and relating them to his words, I finally understood what he was doing. “Did you just close your eyes, trying to walk out by feeling the wall?” I asked. “Yes,” Liang Yingwu confirmed, “if the tunnel itself is fine and the problem lies with our senses, then by feeling the wall, we should be able to walk out.” “Let’s try it together; you feel the left wall, I’ll feel the right,” I suggested. “Okay,” Liang Yingwu agreed, then turned to Lu Yun, “You stay here and wait for us. This will take some time, whether we make it out or not. If any of our classmates wake up, explain our situation and our speculations. Don’t worry; if we get out, I’ll have Naduo contact the outside from the cave entrance, then come back.” Lu Yun suddenly grabbed my arm, her voice trembling slightly, “You… you must come back.” My heart pounded a few times; I knew what she meant. She wasn’t afraid we’d leave them behind if we got out but feared we might enter this dark tunnel and never return, disappearing forever. In such a place, such a possibility couldn’t be ruled out. I had tried walking with my eyes closed before, on my way home at night, just out of boredom, but usually, I couldn’t go more than 20 steps before opening my eyes. Even though I knew there were no people or cars ahead and I wouldn’t walk into a wall, I couldn’t help but open my eyes; it’s a human instinct, unable to move forward in complete uncertainty for long. I thought walking by feeling the cave wall would be easier, having already spent so much time in the dark, temporarily closing my eyes to block out the faint light from the flashlight shouldn’t be too hard, but after 30 steps, I realized I was wrong. The wall felt icy and rough; I was already chilled to the bone from sleeping, now trembling slightly, sweat beading on my forehead. In this cave that had swallowed the exit, walking with closed eyes, abandoning the sense that could detect danger, the feeling of helplessness intensified with each step. My hand gripping the wall grew stronger, but my pace slowed. I felt ashamed; was this the adventurous spirit I prided myself on? But if it were an ordinary person, they probably wouldn’t make it a hundred steps before opening their eyes and running back. Normally, closing my eyes and walking along a wall might have some psychological barriers due to the loss of vision, but there wouldn’t be the feeling of “not being able to go on.” Yet in this cave, with hundreds of skeletal remains not far away, their ghostly phosphorescence flickering, I was genuinely worried about touching a living skeleton or suddenly feeling a tap on my back from an unknown hand emerging from somewhere. “Are you still there?” As we turned the first corner, I could no longer bear the heavy pressure from the darkness and the unknown. I had been hearing heavy footsteps beside me, knowing Liang Yingwu was still there, but talking while walking would greatly alleviate the stress. At least it would confirm that someone was truly walking with me in the dark. Speaking up shouldn’t affect this experiment, right? “Here,” Liang Yingwu replied. From the sound, he seemed to be slightly behind me. So he was walking slower than me, which at least showed that his fear was no less than mine. “Anything unusual on your side?” In fact, Liang Yingwu was only a few meters away; if there was anything unusual, I would have known, but I needed to find something to distract from the heavy pressure. Someone with less endurance might need psychological help after navigating the tunnel this way, even if they managed to get out. “No, what about you?”
“No, we should be coming up on the second bend soon.” “There’s still some way to go.” “Uh…” I suddenly remembered something I really needed to ask him, “What was that discovery you didn’t mention yesterday?” … Liang Yingwu did not respond. If it weren’t for the sound of his footsteps still echoing in my ears, I would almost suspect something had happened to him. What on earth had he discovered that he was so secretive about? “I noticed something odd about those skeletons, the way those people died was strange.” His voice clearly came from behind me; it seemed that upon hearing my question, Liang Yingwu had immediately slowed his pace. “Odd how? Didn’t they die of starvation?” I also slowed down, a sense of unease creeping into my heart. “Perhaps we could attribute their deaths to a lack of food, but some, or perhaps most of them, didn’t just die from starvation.” “Not from starvation, then how did they die?” “You must have noticed that most of the skeletons are incomplete, with leg bones, arm bones, and ribs scattered all over the ground.” “Are you saying they were killed?” I guessed what Liang Yingwu meant. “Yesterday, I picked up a few scattered bones. Two of them had some marks on them.” “Marks?” In the darkness, I heard Liang Yingwu’s breathing become more rapid. “I think they are teeth marks.” I opened my mouth to ask, but the words caught in my throat as I suddenly understood Liang Yingwu’s implication, feeling every hair on my body stand on end. “Cannibalism?” My chest felt like it was weighed down by a thousand-pound stone, making it hard to breathe. “Yes, I believe they were trapped like us, with no food, so they turned on each other, the survivors eating the defeated. But in the end, probably no one lived much longer than anyone else.” I struggled to digest this news; no wonder he didn’t tell the students about it yesterday: “It’s better not to tell the students; they wouldn’t be able to handle it.” “No,” Liang Yingwu’s voice was icy, “I’m afraid they might get ideas they shouldn’t.” My body shuddered. Would they? They are still students, still children. But in such a life-or-death situation, human nature’s darker sides and cruelties could be fully exposed, especially if they knew there was a precedent… I swallowed hard, feeling my mouth dry as dust. At that moment, the wall I was touching started to curve, indicating I had passed the second bend. Whether we could find our way out by touch depended on this last stretch of the corridor. Liang Yingwu and I unconsciously quickened our pace. Would we escape or fall back into the abyss of death? Suddenly, Liang Yingwu stopped. “What’s wrong?” I asked, tense. A sigh reached my ears. “Nothing, let’s keep going,” Liang Yingwu said. After another dozen steps, I stopped abruptly, my heart sinking. “You’ve noticed too.” Liang Yingwu’s voice was filled with deep fatigue. Yes, I had noticed. I didn’t know where the path I was on led, but it was definitely not the way out. The ground was still flat, without any rise or fall. Liang Yingwu had evidently realized this much earlier. As we walked a bit further, even with my eyes closed, I sensed a red glow. Was it the sunlight from outside, or… “They’re back, Teacher Liang and Naduo are back,” the students’ shouts announced our failure. I opened my eyes, the flashlight’s beam blinding me. We had come back. Despite relying solely on touch to move along one side, we had returned to our starting point. Liang Yingwu followed me out of the corridor. “Did you make it out? Did you make it out?” He Yun asked. Although most students could guess the outcome from our expressions, He Yun’s question still sparked a glimmer of hope on their faces, only to be met with our negative response. “Don’t get discouraged; we’ve only just begun. Today, we will conduct experiments to rule out possibilities, find the most likely scenario for our current situation, and find our way out. Have you ever heard of a scientist succeeding after just one experiment?” Liang Yingwu’s firm tone began to restore the students’ lost reasoning abilities, some of them looking thoughtful. If this were indeed some kind of formation, what would happen when modern scientific spirit and experiments clashed with ancient, profound formations? I suddenly felt a bit of confidence that we might find our way out. “Now, let’s distribute today’s food. You can decide when to eat it based on your condition.” I was given five compressed biscuits, which wouldn’t even count as a meal under normal circumstances. Yet, even with such meager rations, the pile of food diminished significantly. As for water, Liang Yingwu and I took empty cola bottles and filled them from the pool. I tasted it first, then drank half a bottle. The water was clear and slightly sweet. Knowing how those skeletons had died, I was convinced that the water in this pool was safe. If there had been a water shortage, people wouldn’t have lasted long enough to resort to cannibalism. I ate three biscuits, carefully wrapping the remaining two in a napkin, sealing them in a small plastic bag, and tucking them into my pocket, zipping it up. In the last moments, I might even eat the napkin that wrapped the biscuits. Having walked through the corridor again, using a method that consumed several times more energy and concentration than usual, and being constantly on edge, my stomach had already started to cramp. Otherwise, I would have left three biscuits in my pocket. I glanced at Liang Yingwu; he seemed to be doing something similar. As for the students, they were already famished, having shown great restraint not to touch the communal food earlier. Now, with their rations, they quickly devoured them. If we had entered the cave yesterday, it would have been hard to imagine these students eating among the bones. One night had passed, and the students’ fear of the bones had lessened. The reason was simple: they were now trapped in a fear far greater than that of the dead bones. The time was early morning, but inside the cave, there was no day or night, only darkness and the glow of phosphorescence. Thus, there was no trace of morning vigor among the 14 of us. We had seven working flashlights left, and the rate at which they were being used was alarming. Even with four batteries left, the time we could maintain “constant light” was limited.