Chapter 040 Exploration
Tongsuo smiled but said nothing. Li Yang said, "Eat, eat. We'll talk after dinner."
The four of us sat around the table, which was filled with delicious dishes, fried, stir-fried, and deep-fried. Tongsuo called and ordered a case of beer. Li Daming smiled and said, "Would you like some white wine?"
"No, no." Tongsuo said, "We have important things to do tonight." Then he blinked mysteriously.
I was suspicious, but since I wasn't familiar with them, I suppressed my curiosity.
Li Yang and Tongsuo are both wine-barrel level people. They drink beer like water. They can finish a bottle of wine immediately and blow directly into the bottle.
The drinking lasted until after nine o'clock in the evening. I have a low alcohol tolerance, so after two or three bottles I felt a little tipsy and walked unsteadily. However, Li Yang and Tongsuo looked normal, laughing and chatting in a proper manner.
Tongsuo burped, stood up and said, "It's almost time, you guys follow me."
We packed up the food and the four of us came out of the house, wandering sideways in the corridor. We took the elevator to the ninth floor and came to a house. Tongsuo took out the key to unlock the door and led us in. He turned on the light on the wall and the house was lit up.
Only then did I realize that this was a two-bedroom apartment, with one bedroom and one living room. There was not much furniture in the apartment. The living room was as messy as a construction site, with cement and bricks everywhere. Some axes and hammers were thrown aside, as if they were undergoing renovations, but I couldn't see any effect.
Li Daming asked, "Tongsuo, what are you doing? Are you tearing down the house?"
Tongsuo laughed: "You are right, I am demolishing the house. I have a friend who runs a decoration company, and I hired a craftsman from him. He worked in this room for three consecutive days and finally finished it."
"What to accomplish?" Li Daming asked.
Tongsuo had a weird smile on his face. He came to the middle of the living room, where a heavy coffee table was placed. He called Li Yang, and the two of them worked together to move the coffee table away. I was embarrassed to stand there and watch, so I wanted to go over to help, but Li Daming held me back and said with a smile, "Let these two bastards do it. They'll be exhausted. Let's not interfere."
Tongsuo moved the coffee table aside and gave us the middle finger.
The living room was filled with the smell of cement. It was getting darker, and the lights in the living room were so bright that they were dazzling, giving people a drowsy feeling.
Under the coffee table, there was a carpet. The copper lock lifted the carpet, and a wooden cover with a handle was revealed in the middle of the cement floor.
I immediately understood that Tongsuo had hired someone to dig a hole in the middle of the ground! A round wooden cover was installed on this hole, which could be opened to enter the lower floor.
The ninth floor we are on is actually the twelfth floor, so the floor below is the sealed mysterious eleventh floor.
The second building was built around 2000, and it has been nearly 20 years. If the fire occurred during the construction of the building, then these three floors have been sealed for at least 20 years. It is hard to imagine that there is such a mysterious space in the city.
Tongsuo looked at us, took the handle on the wooden lid, twisted it three times to the left and three times to the right, and with a "creak", the lid mechanism opened. He licked his lips, looking very excited, and slowly opened the lid.
Li Yang suddenly asked: "Have you ever been down there?"
"I just finished it today." Tongsuo said as he opened the lid, "If you hadn't called me to come up, I would probably have been exploring inside now."
We arrived at the cave and looked down together. It was very dark in the cave, without any light at all, as dark as the abyss. Everyone looked at each other.
Li Yang and Tongsuo are not office workers. They have plenty of time to play and have seen and experienced a lot. Even so, facing the abyss before them, their faces look hesitant and uncertain.
Li Daming snapped his fingers: "Do you have a flashlight?"
Tongsuo went to the inner room and pulled out a few flashlights: "All of them were bought online. They just arrived today. They are wolf tooth flashlights, and the light is very bright."
Li Daming took one and opened it. A dazzling light shone out, almost blinding us.
Li Yang was furious: "Do you have a good aim? Shine it into the cave, not at us!"
Li Daming laughed loudly, kneeling at the entrance of the cave and shining a flashlight inside. As soon as he shone, the light really pierced through the darkness, and everything below was clear.
Several of us leaned over to take a look, our curiosity taking over. What on earth was underneath? When we saw it clearly, we all looked at each other in bewilderment, and for a moment, no one spoke.
The illuminated area was an indescribable space with high walls on all sides. One could vaguely see a road leading out at the corner of the wall.
It is hard to describe what this space is. It looks like a room, but it is empty on all sides with nothing but walls.
The scene was so silent that one could hear each other's heartbeats and the sound of air flowing.
Li Yang asked: "What should we do? Go down?"
Tongsuo smiled and said, "I don't care about you. I must go down. If I am not allowed to go when encountering such a thing, it would be more painful than killing me."
"One floor is three meters high." I said, "How can we get down? It would be best if we could go down and come back up again."
"I've thought about this problem," Tongsuo said. "At first I wanted to find a ladder, but a ladder that's more than three meters high and has to be sturdy would be very conspicuous to move around, and the elevator wouldn't fit in it, so it was very troublesome. It might also alert the enemy. So I thought of another way."
He went to the inner room and took out a big bag. He pulled out a black nylon rope and tugged it in his hand. "This is a professional climbing rope. It's very strong. See this coffee table? I've tried it. It can bear the weight of at least two adult men at the same time. We'll tie this end of the rope to the coffee table and throw the other end underneath. Then we can slide down one by one."
"Damn it, I can't rub my hands until they are broken." said Li Daming.
Tongsuo rolled his eyes at him and said, "You are just a delicate person."
He took out three more pairs of hiking gloves from his bag, kept one for himself, and gave one pair to Li Yang and Li Daming. Then he said to me apologetically, "Brother Lin, I'm sorry, there are only three pairs of gloves. How about this time..." He paused and said, "Wait until we come back and then I'll take you there?"
I was depressed and very unhappy, but I didn't know what to say, so I forced a smile and said, "It's okay, it's okay, you go first."
Li Yang said: "Brother Lin, don't think too much. We are all old members of the Lantern Alliance and have rich experience. We will go ahead to help you, and then you can enter safely."
I smiled and said it was okay, then you guys go first and be careful.
The three of them were ready to go. Tongsuo put on his gloves and tied the rope to the coffee table. I watched carefully from the side. His knotting technique was extremely professional and he was often involved in field work. When he was almost done, he suddenly stopped and scratched his head: "How do I get the last circle?"
I walked over and helped him wrap the last circle, "Put it in from the outside and insert it into this hole."
I tugged hard. "You were going to tie a bowline knot just now, and I put on a sailor's half hitch at the end. It must be very strong, don't worry."
After saying this, the three people present stared at me. Li Yang blinked and said, "Brother, you are really good! I didn't realize that you are also a master."
I was a little proud, and I smiled modestly: "My parents used to be professional staff members of the geological exploration team. I was exposed to them since I was a child."
Li Yang said: "I regret this a little bit. Tongsuo, give your gloves to Brother Lin and let him go with us."
Tongsuo was not happy: "I think you are really good, why don't you let Damin stay? We are really brothers."
Li Daming laughed: "We two brothers are bullying you, what can we do?"
I saw that it was not good, so I quickly waved my hand and said, "I won't go this time. The three of you know each other well and have been working together for a long time, so there will be no problem."
Li Yang smiled: "Brother Lin, we are used to joking around together, no matter how serious it is, it's okay."
Tongsuo said, "I'll go first." He put the flashlight on his waist, pulled the rope, and although he was so fat, he was as light as a swallow. With a "whoosh", he went down the cave.
We were watching from above and saw the flashlight swaying down, the copper lock sliding to the end of the rope, stepping on the ground below, and looking up and making an "OK" gesture to us.
Li Yang went down second. Li Daming pulled the rope, glanced at me, nodded, and said it all. He also slid down.
The three men met up below. They were indeed old partners, and they hardly needed to talk. They understood each other just by making a few gestures.
They walked towards the corner of the wall together, the light flickered, and the three people disappeared and went in.
I let out a long breath and sat on the coffee table waiting. After waiting for a few minutes, I became irritable and restless.
I looked into the cave, and there was no light below, it was pitch black and unfathomable. I listened carefully, but could not hear any sound. If I listened carefully, I could hear the hollow sound of air flowing gently, which made me even more anxious.
I walked back and forth in the living room, looked at the watch, and before I knew it, it was ten o'clock in the evening.
I looked at the watch and saw that they had been gone for more than half an hour and had not returned yet. I took a deep breath, my anxiety reaching its peak.
I consoled myself, there are three floors in total, if I grope my way through them bit by bit, I won't find any clues in less than five or six hours. After six hours...it will be dawn.
