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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Eighty-Four: Three-Pronged Approach
"Brother, why do you think Uncle Two spoils Jin Bo so much?"
"Let him spoil him, why are you worrying about it?"
"I just can't stand the way he struts around, acting all high and mighty, as if he doesn't consider himself an outsider."
"You're just bored. If you could fight like him, you'd be just as arrogant."
"So what if I can fight? Can I still act tough with a gun pointed at him?"
"That's why Uncle Two looks down on you. Can you find food supplies for thirty people all by yourself? Can you cover Uncle Two's escape in a horde of Zombies and still make it back safely? Uncle Two values him for a reason. Just grumble a bit in private and don’t act like an idiot by confronting him. That kid could crush you like an ant."
"I get it. I just can't help but feel angry seeing him being so chummy with you! I'm just looking out for you!"
"Hahaha, I don't have time to get worked up over this nonsense. With him around, we can enjoy some peace amidst all the fighting. Just be smart about it and avoid provoking him. Let's hurry up; thinking about little Girl calling me 'Chubby Brother' makes my heart melt."
As their voices faded away, Ming Junwei and Zhuzi exchanged glances at the ventilation hole, their hearts filled with excitement.
"You really have good ears," Ming Junwei said, scratching his ear. His right ear had been buzzing, and without Zhuzi's reminder, he wouldn't have caught what was said below.
"Did you get water in your ear when you fell earlier?" Zhuzi recalled that Ming the Great Hero was usually very alert and couldn't help but worry if he was injured.
"I'm fine." Ming Junwei waved his hand and pondered, "The sounds were quite clear; it seems like they're right below us."
"This place is really strange. What kind of place is down there?" Zhuzi carefully stood up, steadying himself against the uneven ground, puzzled. "This doesn't look man-made; how could there be a ventilation hole here?"
"Who knows? Stop guessing. We might have to brave the dragon's den and tiger's lair. I suspect that below is where those people are holed up; we need to go down." Ming Junwei pulled his leg back from the edge and said, "Zhuzi, since your hearing is good, help me listen closely and see how deep it is." He then unfastened his axe from his waist and dropped it down.
'Thud.'
It wasn't as deep as they imagined; Ming Junwei heard a dull thud almost immediately after letting go, as if it landed on sand or cloth.
Both of them looked pleased, estimating that they had found a way in. They took off their HK416 slings and tied them together with their belts, stretching it out to about two meters long. Zhuzi assessed that the height here was no more than five meters; they could lower themselves down a bit further before jumping straight down.
The pillars required a lot of physical strength, and they had undergone extensive training for climbing up and down. For safety's sake, Ming Junwei braved the biting cold and jumped into the water, tightly wrapping his belt around his hand and tossing the other end into the ventilation shaft. The Pillar stood on the platform, flexing his limbs, biting down on a machete, and slid down using the rope.
The belt dug painfully into his palm, and the icy water constantly stimulated Ming Junwei's nerves, causing his grip to weaken. Both arms dangled with the rope as he could only rely on his chest to brace against the Brick Wall of the ventilation shaft. Fortunately, the Pillar finally reached the bottom; perhaps sensing that Ming was growing fatigued above, he jumped down from mid-air.
A muffled thud echoed from deep within the ventilation shaft, followed by a strong whiff of Sulfur mixed with an odd acidic scent carried by the wind.
"Pillar?" Ming Junwei felt a headache coming on from the smell and submerged his head in the icy water to wash it off, feeling much better afterward.
"Cough cough cough, I'm fine, cough cough..." The Pillar seemed to be choking as well.
"Then I'm coming down," Ming Junwei shouted into the dark hole, looping his belt around a protruding sharp rock before sliding down with the makeshift rope.
The landing was soft, as if stepping onto solid ground, but dust rose beneath his feet, and a pungent odor once again engulfed them.
"Oh no!" The Pillar suddenly exclaimed, quickly adding, "Brother Ming, don't rub your eyes or touch your face!"
Ming Junwei was about to wipe away the dust on his face when he heard this warning and hesitated, sensing something was off.
"This is... this is explosives!" The Pillar lowered his voice intentionally out of concern for anyone outside, but his excessive tension made his voice tremble.
"What?" A chill ran down Ming Junwei's spine as he recalled the waves of Sulfur and almond-like acidity. Initially, he thought it was just a deep pit causing these smells to waft up from between rock layers.
"Hold your breath; don't inhale it," the Pillar said as he groped along the wall. He felt around and discovered that one side of the Brick Wall wasn't built up but instead stacked with square bricks layer by layer, leaving a crescent-shaped archway at the top.
This strange dark room wasn't large—about twenty square meters—and was filled with bags of urea. Stepping on them felt solid. The Pillar initially thought these were flood control bags left in a Coal Mine but realized they were genuine Tri-nitrotoluene!
Ming Junwei felt a wave of dread wash over him. Although he didn't understand why there was such a large stash of explosives here resembling fertilizer piles, he could easily imagine what would happen if these explosives detonated. Just moments ago, he had considered firing a shot to test the waters but was stopped by the Pillar; otherwise, not just them but everyone below would likely perish.
"Brother Ming, this wall isn't built up," the Pillar gasped after holding his breath for too long and accidentally inhaled a mouthful of high-concentration dust.
Ming Junwei looked up at the crescent-shaped opening about five meters above ground; they certainly couldn't reach it by stacking on each other. Those large bricks weren't something they could push over with sheer strength either. Looking around, aside from bags of yellow explosives, there was nothing else in sight.
"Let it be," Ming Junwei said resolutely as he called out to the Pillar: "Move! Stack them up and get out from above!"
"Ah? Inhaling too much will cause poisoning!"
"From top to bottom, we've inhaled quite a bit already." Ming Junwei tried to control his breathing, not wanting to be too forceful. He decided to act and used his waist strength to lift the urea bags and stack them under the Brick Wall.
The ground was already covered with bags, so they didn't need to search around. A faint light filtered through the crescent-shaped gap above, and looking up, they saw countless specks of dust floating in the thin layer of light.
"Will it kill us if we inhale too much?" Ming Junwei paused his work to rest for a moment, suddenly coughing violently.
"It varies from person to person. Severe poisoning can damage vision and affect liver function."
"As long as it won't kill me right away, that's good enough." Ming Junwei sighed, unsure whether to feel relieved or mournful.
When Jin Bo arrived at Hole No. 1, he saw Old Timer and Chang Laowai carrying the bloodied Uncle Two back. A group of youngsters followed them in retreat, while one of them occasionally fired a few shots outside the cave entrance.
"How is Uncle Two?" Jin Bo hurried over and stopped the two men who were rushing back.
Old Timer was middle-aged, with a square face marked by deep lines; his prominent forehead seemed etched into his skin. He used to work as a latrine cleaner in the county and was a fellow villager of Uncle Two. After the Cataclysm, he fought his way out with a pitchfork and saved Uncle Two, who was bedridden at the time. Chang Laowai lived up to his name; in his thirties, he carried a large backpack wherever he went, hunched over with triangular eyes that occasionally sparkled with intensity. He used to set up a stall in the county for fortune-telling, and because those who consulted him often faced misfortune—some losing money and others their lives—he was also known as Chang the Crooked Mouth. Like Old Timer, he was one of Uncle Two's right-hand men.
Both men recognized Jin Bo and could tell from his frantic demeanor that he was there to help with the fight.
"He wasn't hit in a vital area; it was too sudden, and everyone was caught off guard." Old Timer helped Uncle Two sit down on the ground and lifted the hem of Uncle Two's blood-soaked shirt. A long gash appeared between his ribs.
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