Just as I thought I was mistaken, the dark shadow reappeared. Facing away from me, it then turned around to reveal Jiang Lingxi.
She looked at me with a haggard expression and called out my name, "Xiang Fei... I'm so scared..."
Before I could speak, the skin on her face peeled away, instantly transforming her into a monster with cracked skin, blood-red eyes, and fangs protruding from its mouth!
Suddenly, it lunged towards me. At that very moment, I jolted awake!
Yes, awake!
I had dreamt within a dream...
Seeing Yang Hanxue and Fu Honglang smoking beside me, I finally relaxed, though I was still shaken.
"What's wrong? Bad dream?" Fu Honglang asked with a smile.
I nodded, took a cigarette from him, lit it, and began to smoke.
Fatty's snores rose and fell, sometimes loud like thunder, sometimes soft as whispers.
"How long have I slept?" I asked.
Yang Hanxue glanced at his watch and said, "An hour."
I rubbed my numb face, finished my cigarette, and then woke Fatty up.
Although we hadn't slept long, I felt there was no point in sleeping further.
After all, this wasn't a five-star hotel, and we needed to find Jiang Lingxi quickly.
We packed our things and headed towards the warehouse.
Walking westward, we encountered more and more shelves along the walls. After about ten minutes, the passageway narrowed.
We hadn't been this way before, so we were unsure of the situation. No one spoke much along the way, maintaining a constant state of alert.
When we reached the warehouse entrance that Da Kui had mentioned, we saw two large iron doors half-open, the chain lock casually tossed aside on the ground, and numerous bullet holes on the doors.
I told everyone that the monster was likely here and that we shouldn't let our guard down.
Yang Hanxue said, "How about this, I'll go in first, and you follow behind me."
With that, he gripped his pistol, pushed open the iron door, and stepped inside.
For some reason, as I looked at the iron door, an ominous premonition washed over me, as if this door was an entrance to hell.
Fatty stayed close to me, yawning intermittently, his hand gripping a trench shovel.
Upon entering the warehouse, it was much larger than I had imagined. Shelves were scattered everywhere, with wooden crates lying in disarray, their contents spilled out.
Most of them were daily necessities, like canned food, towels, and toiletries, not very well made.
But then again, having such items back then was considered good.
Besides these daily necessities, there were also many clothes and bedding, though much of it was old and worn out.
Yang Hanxue suggested we first locate the power system and see if it could be activated.
To avoid any unforeseen circumstances, we didn't split up, but moved together as a group.
We stayed close to the walls, as Yang Hanxue had mentioned that power systems were usually installed along the walls.
Sure enough, we soon found a small room. The lock was so rusted that Yang Hanxue kicked it open with a single blow.
Inside were many instruments, all bearing Japanese writing that I couldn't understand at all.
Fortunately, Fu Honglang knew some Japanese and quickly found a startup switch.
He said that this power system appeared to be hydroelectric, but he wasn't sure if it still worked after so long.
When he flipped the switch, a "humming" sound indicated something had started to operate.
"Looks like it still works," Yang Hanxue said with a smile. "This makes things much easier now."
After about ten minutes, a "sizzling" sound was heard, and soon there was light outside. The light bulb above our heads in the room also lit up.
After emerging from the power room, I finally got a clear view of the entire warehouse.
Honestly, when I saw the situation here, I was stunned.
The scale of this warehouse was immense, at least as large as a football field!
Dense shelves wound through it like a maze, and along the walls were many small rooms, their purpose unknown.
In the center was a main aisle, which led to a massive steel door.
The door was at least four to five meters high and over ten meters wide, with a steering wheel-like mechanism on the lower left corner.
"Brother Xiang, this place is really huge. The little devils were doing research and storing supplies here back then... How did they dig such a large hole?" Fatty asked.
I replied, "This might have formed naturally, and they merely utilized the terrain."
"They were quite good at finding places then," Fatty remarked.
At this point, Song Bing, who had been quiet, spoke up, "In that era, the geological exploration technology of Japan was the most advanced in the world. They sent many geological exploration experts to China, painstakingly searching for minerals and oil. So, it's not surprising they found a place like this."
"Damn little devils!" Fu Honglang couldn't help but curse.
Looking at the brightly lit, vast warehouse, I felt a lot more at ease.
"This place is too big. If we all search together, it might take a long time. How about we split into two groups and communicate every five minutes with whistles to ensure safety?" Yang Hanxue suggested.
I glanced at everyone and saw no objections. So, Song Bing, Fatty, and I formed one group, while Fu Honglang and Yang Hanxue formed another.
Soon, our two groups separated and headed in different directions to search. Finding someone in this warehouse filled with goods was not easy. We agreed to meet in the center after one hour.
Song Bing didn't talk much, but Fatty was incessantly chattering, "Brother Xiang, do you think these things are antiques?"
"What kind of antiques are these?" I retorted impatiently.
"That shouldn't be the case; these are old items, after all."
I said, "If these were Chinese items, they would have collectible value, and someone might buy them. But these are all Japanese items. Who would you sell them to? Unless you take them back to Japan to sell?"
Fatty's eyes lit up, "Hey, Brother Xiang, that's a good idea! If we took these things to Japan, they might actually be sold as antiques. Then we'd become international traders."
Just as we were talking, a shelf over four meters high suddenly toppled over!
Before Fatty and I could react, Song Bing had already shoved us both to the ground. I felt several wooden crates crash heavily onto my back, causing me immense pain.
I quickly shielded my head, but it was too late. My back of the head struck something, and I fainted...