I arrived at a secluded spot and asked Wang Yang, "Do you have something to tell me?"
"Don't you think something's wrong?"
"What's wrong?"
He leaned in and whispered, "Those two guides."
It seemed he had noticed too, which didn't surprise me.
"What about them?" I asked.
Wang Yang said, "Did you notice the younger one? All the way here, that guy's eyes were glued to Wu Tingxiu and Bai Hanyan, like he wanted to devour them..."
"That's it?" I looked at Wang Yang with disdain. "I think you've been staring at them quite a bit yourself?"
Wang Yang rolled his eyes at me impatiently. "I'm being serious. Did you notice what they had tucked into their waists?"
I nodded.
"Those are homemade steel pipes. If that thing goes into a body, it can drain all the blood in minutes," Wang Yang said.
I asked, "You think these two are planning to rob and murder us?"
Wang Yang nodded. "In these deep mountains, no one would know if a few people were killed. Not to mention, those two jeeps we drove here in are enough to make them consider murder."
Hearing him say that, I recounted the feeling of being followed during the day. He didn't seem surprised at all and said, "I noticed it too. We are indeed being followed. I'm not sure how many people yet."
"What should we do? Should we tell Wu Tingxiu and the others?" I asked.
Wang Yang shook his head. "The two people Wu Tingxiu brought with her are not to be trifled with. I saw they had something like this in their bags..."
As he spoke, he gestured a "big" with his hand.
I hadn't expected those two to be carrying guns. That was somewhat surprising.
Wang Yang continued, "When we sleep tonight, don't sleep too soundly..."
Just as we were talking, a voice sounded from not far away, "What are you two muttering about?"
Turning around, I saw it was the younger guide. He spoke in a local dialect, "Done? Takes you half the day to take a dump..."
"Alright, alright, we'll be right back," I said with a smile, waving my hand.
Back at the mine entrance, sitting by the bonfire, Bai Hanyan sidled up to me. "Were you two having a secret meeting just now?"
"Secret meeting? What secret meeting?"
Bai Hanyan gave me a "don't think I don't know" look and whispered, "I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen."
This little firecracker had been picking fights with me all day, retorting to everything I said. Now she was comforting me?
That was a bit surprising. Just as I was about to say something, she slipped something wrapped in red cloth into my hand. I felt it and realized it was a dagger.
Seeing that no one was paying attention, I tucked the dagger into my waistband.
After everyone had eaten, we went into the cave to rest.
Guan Hu, the one who came with Wu Tingxiu, clearly had no intention of sleeping. He sat at the mine entrance, smoking a cigarette.
It seemed his vigilance was quite high. Perhaps he had already foreseen all possible eventualities.
Seeing this, my worried heart was somewhat put at ease.
After a day of traveling, I was exhausted. Lying in my sleeping bag, my eyelids grew heavy, and I unknowingly drifted off to sleep.
I don't know how long passed before I suddenly heard a loud noise, and then someone yanked me up.
Before I could even react, a flashlight beam shone directly into my eyes, making it impossible to open them.
"Xiang Fei! Wake up!"
It was Wang Yang's voice.
I brushed away the blinding flashlight with my hand, licked my dry lips, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Wang Yang looked at me with a complicated expression and pointed the flashlight towards the cave entrance. I turned to look and saw that the entrance had collapsed!
My sleepiness vanished instantly. I looked around and saw Wu Tingxiu and Bai Hanyan behind us, all staring at the collapsed entrance with complex expressions.
I scanned everyone and confirmed who was inside the cave.
It was me, Wang Yang, Wu Tingxiu, Bai Hanyan, and that Song Bing.
This meant the two guides and Guan Hu, who was on watch, were still outside?
But how could the cave entrance, which was fine moments ago, just collapse?
Song Bing walked past us towards the cave entrance. He assessed the situation and then shouted, "Hu Zi! Hu Zi!"
There was no response. He turned around and said, "Ms. Wu, this cave was collapsed intentionally."
Wu Tingxiu frowned. "Can we still get out now?"
Song Bing turned back and started picking at the stones, as if calculating something. After a moment, he said, "We can't get out unless it's cleared from the outside. Otherwise, it's very likely to cause a secondary collapse."
Hearing this news, I subconsciously swallowed.
If I had known, I wouldn't have fallen asleep just now!
I glanced at Wang Yang. "Didn't you hear any noise earlier?"
Wang Yang said, "It happened too fast. There was no time to react."
Song Bing nodded. "It must have been planned in advance, otherwise it wouldn't have been so sudden."
"You mean those two guides..."
Before I could finish, Wu Tingxiu spoke, "Let's first look for other exits. We can discuss other matters after we get out."
Upon hearing this, Song Bing said no more and started walking deeper into the mine with his flashlight.
We placed our belongings where they were and followed him.
The deeper we went into the mine, the narrower it became. What started as wide enough for two people to walk side by side became so narrow that even walking alone was a squeeze.
As we walked inside, a gust of wind blew from somewhere, making people shiver.
And it was this gust of wind that made me glance back at Wang Yang. I saw a look of joy on his face, similar to mine.
Wind meant another exit!
"Everyone, be careful. The cave ahead is narrow," Song Bing's voice came from the front.
Indeed, as he said, there was a small hole about half a meter high ahead. It was clearly not dug out with the mine.
Wang Yang whispered, "It looks like a tomb robber's tunnel..."
I hadn't expected that someone else had been to this mine before us and had dug a tunnel here.
Does this mean there's a tomb inside?
Thinking of this, for some reason, I suddenly felt a little nervous.
Passing through the narrow tunnel, we soon heard the sound of flowing water. Then, the cave opened up, not only allowing us to walk upright but also widening considerably all around.
Seeing that the person in front had stopped, Wang Yang and I moved closer and found ourselves facing a subterranean river about four to five meters wide.
The current was strong. On the opposite bank, there was a platform, and we could faintly see an entrance.
Song Bing turned and asked, "Who will go back with me to get the supplies?"
Wu Tingxiu looked at me, then at Wang Yang, clearly asking which of us would accompany Song Bing to fetch the supplies.
"I'll go," Wang Yang said, patting my shoulder.
I nodded and told him to be careful on the way.