Cruel Heart

If we are still at a loss before being engulfed by darkness, then we are in big trouble. Of course, we are already in a dire situation. Liang Yingwu’s thoughts are clear and he is good at expressing himself, so the task of conveying our analysis of the situation to the students naturally falls to him. Liang Yingwu shared all our guesses, questions, and possibilities with the students. Under the current circumstances, holding back information is clearly not a wise choice; we need to pool everyone’s wisdom to have a chance of escaping. However, regarding the matter of cannibalism, Liang Yingwu did not inform the students — that was an exception. Despite some wild ideas, the students ultimately leaned towards the judgment Liang Yingwu and I made. That is, our own perceptions have been altered. There is no known scientific theory to support the fact that traveling along the same path will lead us back to the starting point. Since we cannot invent a new scientific theory to support this fact, we must conclude that, objectively, there is no path that leads back to the starting point; the issue lies with us. This is currently the only direction we can think of moving forward. I dare not say it is absolutely correct, or even necessarily correct, but it is the only direction we have, otherwise, we would only have the option to sit and wait for death. If the path itself is not the problem, and the problem lies with us, then there must be a flaw in this situation. We must be able to prove through some method that our perceptions are indeed faulty. Once we find this flaw, we can follow it to find a way out. Also, there is something very important — we must act quickly. My stomach, having received three compressed biscuits, is still cramping; these three biscuits are not enough to satiate it. There must be something wrong with our vision; otherwise, after several rounds, we wouldn’t have failed to notice that we were unknowingly retracing our steps. And just now, the experiment Liang Yingwu and I conducted proved that our sense of touch is also compromised. That force operating in the darkness has perfectly deceived both our sight and touch. We must devise experiments that rely little or not at all on human senses to test the corridor. Additionally, Bian Xiaou and Fei Qing suggested that if, as I said, some kind of array is at work, then according to some ancient texts, there might be times when the ‘life gate’ of the array opens. Perhaps we should send someone to walk through the corridor at regular intervals. Although I am skeptical about these so-called ‘ancient texts’ which might just be tales of immortals and demons, they do have a point. Even if there’s only a one in ten thousand chance that this ghost cave might deactivate at some point, we can’t afford to miss it. After discussing with Liang Yingwu, we decided that besides our experiments, we would send out a two-person exploration team every hour with a flashlight to walk the corridor. Everyone sat in a circle; we had all finished our breakfast. This time we didn’t turn on the flashlights because everyone understood that if there’s danger here, a faint light wouldn’t save us; it’s better to save the power, using light only for necessary moments like restroom breaks, and focusing all light on exploring the corridor. Sitting in a circle in the darkness, each person held their arms around their chest for warmth, only the heavy breathing of each other could be heard, with the faint glow of human eyes. This glow from the pupils, if you look closely, is green, reflecting the phosphorescence of the surrounding bones. If not for these bones, even the eyes wouldn’t emit light. I thought to myself that if we could gather some bones with strong phosphorescence and pile them up, they might serve as a source of illumination, but such an idea is only good in theory; implementing it might drive the less mentally robust students to madness. The sky… what would happen if someone went mad in such a place, what kind of actions would they take? I dared not delve deeper into that thought. Despite the eerie atmosphere, everyone was proposing testing methods for the corridor one after another; at this time, the only way was to keep our minds fully engaged, not allowing them to dwell on things they shouldn’t. Liu Wenying proposed a method called “Reverse Visual Positioning,” which we all thought was worth trying. This method requires two people, back-to-back, with one person walking forward and the other retreating at the same pace, maintaining close contact at the back. Each person holds a flashlight, one looking forward, the other backward, ensuring they do not backtrack. If the corridor’s effect on human vision isn’t perfectly synchronized, meaning one person is affected while the other isn’t, even for a second, it would be detected. If there’s some force causing special situations at certain points in the corridor, this method should also reveal it. Liang Yingwu added that while walking, one should carefully observe and mentally note the surroundings of the corridor so that if they return to a previous section, it would be immediately noticeable. I stood up, dusted off the dirt, and prepared to explore the corridor with Liang Yingwu using this new method, but then I heard several voices almost in unison: “Let me go.” I tried to discern who was speaking; it was He Yun Kai and Bian Xiaou, and even the introverted Guo Yong Hua. “This is everyone’s business,” He Yun Kai said. “Anyway, someone has to go every hour to scout; it can’t always be you and Teacher Liang.” “Yeah, let me and He Yun Kai go,” Guo Yong Hua said, “or, or, Lu… Lu Yun, do you… do you want to come with me…” Guo Yong Hua stuttered again. I felt a slight twinge in my heart; I guessed Guo Yong Hua’s face must be flushed with embarrassment. This guy, usually so wooden, now had the guts to flirt with a girl. But then again, in this situation, it’s indeed a good opportunity to show off a reliable shoulder. Of course, this assumes we can get out of here; otherwise, even the fairest face would turn to dust, and the shoulder would be meaningless. “I… I…” Lu Yun was clearly hesitant. “I’ll go, I’ll go with Fei Qing, we should work better together.” Bian Xiaou’s words were more convincing, and Fei Qing next to him gave a soft “hmm” in agreement. “Alright, be careful.” Liang Yingwu agreed. Just as Bian Xiaou and Fei Qing were about to enter the corridor with their flashlights, I reminded them:
Maintain a back-to-back position as you enter the corridor. From now on, concentrate your efforts, and try not to let anything distract your attention. When you’re focused, you’re less likely to be influenced. Also, pay attention to the beam of the flashlight; see if there are any signs of distortion.” Bian Xiaoe and Fei Qing, back-to-back, cautiously entered the corridor. Everyone hadn’t left the living area, but all eyes were on the entrance of the corridor, waiting, despite the darkness that loomed there. In the silence of the dark, time passed very slowly. After nearly twenty minutes, I saw a faint light from a flashlight at the corridor entrance. My heart sank; I knew they had failed. After a few more minutes, Bian Xiaoe and Fei Qing, still back-to-back, slowly emerged from the corridor. “We failed,” said Bian Xiaoe. They returned to the living area and turned off their flashlights. Before the light went out, I noticed that both looked very pale. “We didn’t see anything unusual, and, and…” Bian Xiaoe turned to look at Fei Qing. “This is really bizarre, I couldn’t even distinguish between these three corridors. How about you?” Bian Xiaoe asked Fei Qing. “All the corridors looked exactly the same,” Fei Qing replied. “Exactly the same, how could that be?” several people asked. “Really the same, I had carefully observed the features of the first corridor, like at the entrance, there were three small indentations on the left, and above there was a slightly drooping triangular rock.” Fei Qing added, “And about five steps along the right wall, there’s a large protruding stone about three centimeters high.” “But when we got to the second corridor, all these features were exactly the same as in the first corridor, and the third was the same too, like they were cast from the same mold.” There was a stir among the group; such a situation was truly, too perfect, completely flawless. “Let’s analyze this,” said Liang Yingwu. “First, the influence of this corridor starts at least from the entrance, and it’s not out of the question that even this cave we’re in might be affected. Secondly, this influence affects multiple people simultaneously and does not interrupt during the process. Thirdly, this influence is extremely powerful, so powerful that even with full concentration, one cannot escape it, and from what we can see, the details are also well-executed.” Liang Yingwu concluded, “Therefore, we must find a new method, a new point of entry.” The students began a new round of discussion, but I wasn’t optimistic at all. Liang Yingwu seemed to notice my low spirits and approached me, asking, “What’s wrong, Nadao?” “With such well-executed details, I’m worried it will be hard to find a way to break through,” I expressed my thoughts. “No, I don’t think so. No matter what method is used, if the illusion created resembles natural conditions or lacks clear logical conflicts, it’s very hard to solve. But now, the situation we’re facing is too bizarre, excessively so, there must be flaws to find.” Liang Yingwu said firmly. “I hope you’re right,” I was motivated again by Liang Yingwu’s words. My thoughts turned, and I suddenly thought, if we had explosives, maybe we could just blast it open. But if that caused a landslide, the end result might be the same. With this in mind, I dragged over my travel bag, rummaging inside for anything useful. My hands felt nothing but a long length of climbing rope. This rope was 100 meters long, strong enough to lift 200 kilograms, but in the current situation, it was of no use. Wait, a 100-meter rope. Suddenly, an idea struck me, and I couldn’t help but smile, shouting, “I’ve got an idea!” “What idea?” All the students gathered around. “Use the rope.” I pulled out the climbing rope. “The rope…” Liang Yingwu slapped his thigh, “Good idea.” Others seemed not to understand yet, so I explained, “If one person holds one end of the rope, and another walks into the corridor with the other end, keeping the rope taut at all times, meaning you’re not turning back, until all three corridors are traversed, any magic will be broken.” Everyone got excited; such a simple method could potentially break this array. At least, I couldn’t think of any counter from the perspective of whoever set up the array. “I thought of this method, I’ll do it, and nobody else should try to take it from me,” I said. However, upon calculation, the entire corridor was about 250 meters long, and my 100-meter rope was far from enough. Fortunately, Liang Yingwu and He Yunkai each brought a 50-meter rope, and there were nearly ten shorter ropes under 20 meters in total, all tied together, leaving a gap of just over 30 meters. “Unpack,” Liang Yingwu decided immediately. The bags of nine men, including myself, Liang Yingwu, Zhu Wenying, Bian Xiaoe, He Yunkai, Zhao Gang, Wang Fangyuan, Lin Zhupu, and Guo Yonghua, were completely cut open, twisted into a rope, finally creating a “hundred color rope” about 300 meters long. It was 50 meters longer than initially estimated; we needed some leeway. This time, Liang Yingwu was my assistant, standing at the entrance of the corridor, holding the varied-textured “hundred house rope.” We had done a simple test before, and the rope’s strength was not an issue. I took the leading end of the rope and walked into the cave, each step forward, Liang Yingwu let out some rope. The force transmitted through the rope from Liang Yingwu gave me more confidence than ever before. In the darkness, I didn’t bring a flashlight; previous experiences had shown that flashlights were not very effective. This time, the rope in my hand was enough. The first bend came, and I turned past it, taking a few steps. The rope grazed the rough stone wall at the corner, slightly increasing the friction resistance. I was somewhat worried that the rope might be cut by the rough corner, so I slightly relaxed my grip. Liang Yingwu immediately felt it on the other end, pulling the rope three times in succession. I tugged back a few times to indicate there was no problem. Of course, I could shout, and he should hear me, but in such a place, I didn’t want to do anything to scare myself or others. With each step forward, my heart beat faster. I couldn’t tell if it was excitement or fear, but I could feel the rope staying taut throughout, meaning I wasn’t turning back.