“Do you mean those miluotuo eat people?”
“They eat anything they can catch. The most common method is their unique way to trap creatures that have strayed into certain crevices and caves and then eat their corpses.”
We followed him back to the cave.
“What"s this unique way you"re talking about?” Fatty asked.
“They can seal caves and crevices with their secretions and trap their prey inside the mountain. This process is very rapid and there are a lot of gaps in these mountains, like a maze. Many people will find their entrance suddenly disappeared.”
Fatty and I looked at each other and realized what had happened in the closed cave at the bottom of the lake.
“Or they can form rocks themselves. There are two kinds of rocks here, one is the real and already existing rocks, and the other is formed after the body fluid secreted by them solidifies. The stone formed by this secretion is exactly the same as the original stone here. They devour and corrode rocks and then fill in their secretions like concrete. Using this method, the whole mountain is like a huge jelly. They can move slowly in it since the rocks are like liquids. However, this method is only effective for sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks, so they can"t advance when encountering igneous rocks. Another way is to pour strong alkali on the stones, which can also stop them. “
“Does it mean that the rock walls around this ancient road are covered with strong alkali? Although we can see miluotuo inside, they won"t come out?” Fatty asked.
I shook my head: “Wouldn"t the rain wash it away after all these years?”
“When it rains, the whole mountain road becomes a diversion ca.n.a.l and at the top of this mountain there is an alkali seam. All the rain washed down from the top is introduced into this diversion ca.n.a.l. As you can see, the rising trend of these mountain roads is very strange and the rain water flows very slowly here. The surface of the mountain roads is designed with a lot of acc.u.mulated water, so when the water washes down, there will be countless pools. After these pools dry up, the alkaline substance will cover the rock surface.”
I thought of the old log-covered road Fatty took us along when we came earlier. There were indeed a lot of water pools there.
“So, this is an extremely unusual ranch?”
“I don"t think the word "ranch" is appropriate.” Ghost said, “At that time, we thought it was like a fish pond. The rock is the water, and these miluotuo were the fish in the water. They can swim freely in this area, but they will never reach land.”
“But does this have anything to do with what you said about everyone definitely dying when they enter Zhang Jialou?”
“I don"t know if you"ve ever gone fishing. There is a very common phenomenon in fish ponds: when bait is put into a crowded pond, all the fish will be attracted and gather by the bait. After the miluotuo were put into the mountain, the Zhang Jialou was surrounded by a stone covered with strong alkali, which could not be breeched. But the miluotuo will be attracted by the heat emitted by the people inside and crowd around the building. All of them will be crowded around the entrance.”
“Buddy, you mean to tell me everyone will be trapped to death?”
“Probably so, but the situation is worse than you think. If there are too many miluotuo gathered around, the ancient building"s mechanisms will be activated. A large amount of strong alkaline water will flow down from the roof of the cave, forming a mist that will flood the entire building, forcing the miluotuo gathered around to retreat. The whole area will be covered in a strong alkaline fog, and n.o.body will survive.”
Fatty looked at me but I didn"t know how to continue. Fatty said, “Wait a minute. So if you"ve been to Zhang Jialou, then why are you still alive?”
Ghost lifted his hair, revealing an extremely horrible face, and leaned in front of Fatty: “Do you think I"m really alive? I just didn"t die completely.”
When I saw his face, I immediately realized how his body melted and became this way. It was the effect of strong alkali.
“I was in the tunnel at that time, and it only took a light spray of alkali gas to become like this. Our people that were already in the ancient building turned into water in an instant. “
When he said this, he regained his cool. Although his whole face melted, I suddenly had a thought—I seemed to recognize him.
He wasn"t in that photo and didn"t have the kind of relationship I thought he did with Uncle Three. Thinking of this, I broke out in a cold sweat. But I did meet him. Where did I meet him? Who is he?
The more I tried to remember, the harder it was, and after trying to recall for half a day, I finally gave up. I knew that if you didn"t flip through the photo alb.u.m or relax completely, it would only be worse. (TN note: not really sure about this sentence).
“Brother, I sympathize with you.” Fatty walked around the edge a few times and found that there was nothing in the hole, eventually sitting down beside me. “What are you going to do? I know doctors from Concord but I think it"s more difficult for you to look like a human being, what with the whole look you have going on right now.”
“I won"t leave here.” He drank some water and said, “I brought you with me just to ask you something. What you want to do afterwards has nothing to do with me since there"s nothing you can do here.”
I looked up, heart thumping and wondering what he was going to ask, only to hear him say: “I"ve said so much, you should also tell me something I don"t know.”
“What do you want to know?” I said, mind a little nervous. But when I thought about it, wouldn"t it be nonsense to tell him what he didn"t know?
He asked, “Who is in charge of you now?”
“You mean who"s to blame—”
“I don"t want a full account of who"s in charge of the group." He said, “Nearly 30 years have pa.s.sed, and Old Yu will definitely not be in that position.”
“n.o.body cares about us.” I said. I could only roughly guess that he asked about the management of the archaeological team that year, “The world changed a long time ago, and none of us are in charge.”
In fact, I don"t know if it"s really n.o.body"s business, but at least judging from the development of the Xie, Huo, and Wu families, there was no obvious possibility of political interference.
“n.o.body cares?” He muttered to himself, “He also said that n.o.body cares. Is it true what he said?”
“Who else have you heard from? Did you have any contact with the outside world during this period?” I asked. According to his statement, it seemed that he had heard other people say this.
“You know their habit of doing things. I haven"t contacted anyone, I know too much. If I want to live a more comfortable life, it may be better here.” He said.
I said: “But times have really changed. When you leave here, no one will persecute you. The organization from those days has disappeared. Everyone—everyone is making money.”
“Impossible. Times will change, but that thing won"t change. Wu Sanxing, why are you lying to me?”
I sighed and didn"t know what to say. This guy had been here for so many years, and Banai was a very small, isolated village. He may always think that the whole environment was the same as it was then. There was really no way to let him know that the outside world had changed dramatically.
“Stop pretending.” By this time Fatty had spoken.
When I looked back at him, Fatty said, “You speak so fluently that you"ve definitely not been here alone for 30 years. In a place like this, even if you were a disabled person with all kinds of abilities, it"s impossible to stay so sane for such a long time. I"ve seen it before. If you spend too much time alone and don"t talk, it"s hard to understand what"s being said.”
I also knew this and said, “Fatty is right. What are you hiding?”
He made a few strange sounds that sounded like laughter: “Wu Sanxing is still Wu Sanxing. He can always see things that others can"t.”
“I pointed it out first.” Fatty was dissatisfied.
I shook my head and motioned him not to speak. Ghost said, “I survived because the team"s guide saved me back then. Many people in that village have seen me and think I"m crazy. I only have some contact with the old guide. He brings some food and I exchange some things with him.”
“Is that why you killed those people?” Fatty said, “You stripped me of my clothes and wanted to exchange them for something.”
“The old guide you mentioned is Father Pan Ma, right?” I asked him.
He nodded: “No matter what the outside world looks like, what is buried in this mountain should not be known.”
“What happened to the others?” He continued.
I scrambled to think, what should I say? I felt very emotional as I made up some stories and tried not to mention personal matters, only talking about a few of the families and some gossip.
After I finished speaking, he fell into silence. I could feel that he was not listening to the later parts.
I suddenly remembered one thing: I remembered my theory with Xiao Hua at that time— was the real purpose of the team really archaeology?
Was it possible that the archaeological team was a funeral procession, like Leather Bag said?
When I looked at the man, I suddenly felt that such an opportunity wouldn"t appear again. In this world, there may be only one person left from that archaeological team. It would be a pity if he weren"t asked some very practical questions.
But I wasn"t sure what his att.i.tude towards us was. I tried to imagine myself in his shoes and felt that his att.i.tude towards us now should be very dangerous.
He was so willing to kill all the others, but he didn"t kill us. We were only here because we knew him in some way, and he wanted to know something. People like him wouldn"t change their principles because of their feelings. I think he said so many things carelessly, but obviously maintained his extremely high vigilance, which showed that he may commit murder at any time.
Fatty"s gun was with him and we have no chance.
I can"t ask directly and must be very careful. I had a line of questioning in mind and picked out a few to ask him. Each of them left room for maneuvering and I went through them again before I dared to ask.
“What exactly is it?” This was the first question.
He paused and looked up. I asked him, “What exactly did you bring in that year?”
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