Chapter 55: The Terrifying Dry Well (7)

  Seeing this surging coal wave instantly engulfing the running crowd, I subconsciously wanted to rush up and rescue them.

  Not to mention my current identity as a yin-yang inspector, even an ordinary person would not stand idly by in the face of this human purgatory.

  Coal and gas outburst often lead to extremely serious malignant death accidents. Brief mine life, I understand what happened at this moment.

  The sudden change of events made my emotions anxious and flustered, I was at a loss for what to do, and in my haste, I shouted at Tie Yi: "Nima, hurry up and help! What are you standing there stupidly for? If we don't rescue them soon, it'll be too late! They'll all die!"

  My fingers gripped tightly on Tie Yi's shoulder, staring at the surging coal flow rushing towards us, I didn't have a single thread of fear or thought of escaping, at that moment all I wanted was for those miners to live, just to live!

  Tieyi didn't say a word, but tightly grasped my hand, no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't break free, as if being clamped by an iron clip.

  Forcing me to stare blankly at death right in front of me, those faces smeared with coal dust and exhaustion made my heart feel like it was being cut by a knife. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shake off the ghostly apparitions before my eyes. I slumped down on the ground, helpless tears falling one drop at a time.

  Tieyi approached me, patted my shoulder and said coldly, "Except for watching, we can't do anything else. None of us can save anyone. Actually, you're very clear about what happened here."

  Life has no likes or dislikes, no fairness or unfairness.

  Those lives that were once so vibrant, instantly vanished in the rolling ink, I didn't even see their original appearance under the coal dust at arm's length. I had never felt that life could be so humble, like ants.

  At this moment, I can only sense the pain from those fearful and desperate eyes, and can only watch as one life after another dies before my eyes.

  At this time, from the coal heap, a human arm stretched out, no mistake, a human arm.

  I stared at the short man who crawled out of the coal sea in amazement, and saw that his body was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The man quickly dug out a thin figure from under him, shouting repeatedly, "Zhuangzi, wake up, Zhuangzi, hurry up and wake up! Don't scare Dad!"

  As the short man stumbled, the young boy who was called "Gan" woke up. Apparently, they were a father and son duo without a doubt. It was a miracle that they could escape from such an intense coal gush.

  But the explosion sounds from deep within the coal face are still continuing, it seems that a second surge is likely to come at any time.

  The father seemed to understand a lot, he picked up the stake and put it on his shoulder, then ran away. Just as I was relieved that at least someone had survived, the second coal burst came unexpectedly.

  The father looked back and then froze like a statue, the rolling coal flow instantly submerged the two people, and finally there was no miracle!

  At this point, I burst into tears, my hands clenched and pounded the ground, hating my own incompetence, hating the injustice of fate.

  I closed my eyes, I didn't have the courage to look again. In the journey through hell, facing fear, I had never been so heartbroken. As the momentum gradually slowed down, the coal wave was finally approaching the position of the wellhead. At this moment, Liangzi, who was at a loss, walked over step by step with a stick.

  "Uncle Water, Uncle Water, Brother Pillar... what's going on? What's happening inside? Say something!" The young child cried out in a trembling voice, unaware of the life-or-death danger that was about to unfold.

  Looking at the thick coal heap in front of him, Liangzi didn't make any movement, as if his emotions had completely collapsed.

  Afraid of what might happen again, "I don't want the past, I don't want the past" I shouted hysterically. Fortunately, the coal surge finally stopped.

  After a few minutes, Ryōsuke suddenly woke up and burst into loud wails, digging his hands into the ground with all his might. Soon, both of his hands were bleeding profusely, but he didn't care, looking like a madman.

  I silently lowered my head, and Tie Yi also squatted down, gently patting my shoulder.

  "It's useless, we can't change it! This has been the case for 20 years already." Tie Yi grabbed me and pointed to a cigarette made from an old calendar on the ground.

  "They're dead, and in the blink of an eye so many people have died. We can only stand by and watch, it's unbearable for me, really unbearable, like having a knife stuck in my heart." I said,

  "I know, but we can't change it, it's fate," said Tie Yi.

  "But what did they do wrong? What did they do?" I asked.

  "Life has no reason." Tie Yi replied.

  In the silent space, sighs echoed. Facing fate, we are as small as ants, with no choice, no fairness, this is life, also known as destiny.

  Although Tie Yi's words were cold, I could clearly feel his hand trembling in mine, a strong tremble that completely exposed the strength he had been hiding.

  I tore open the iron door with my hands, and sat down on the ground in despair, watching the rolling coal dust swallow dozens of lives just like that. The conversation from just now was still echoing in my ears, and those faces stained with coal dust seemed to be right in front of me. A distance of only a few seconds could be the difference between life and death.

  "If there were at least some protective measures, if the mine owner had a bit of humanity, such things would not have happened. Bastards, they are all bastards! This is a crime, this is murder, this is hell, they are all madmen! Scene after scene, questioning my soul, I couldn't let go, couldn't untie, my heart was in extreme pain."

  I patted my protective gear, no pockets, no cigarettes.

  "There is gas here, no smoking."

  I nodded without saying anything.

  It's unknown how long it took, but the noisy sounds gradually disappeared, everything returned to calmness, the coal waves slowly stopped surging, and the world seemed to have been muted.

  I felt my own breathing and pulse, the alley suddenly became pitch black, I adjusted the wolf-tooth flashlight in my hand and shone it on, amidst the coal dust were many iron clamps, burlap sacks, willow hats, shoes and other things, before my eyes was a foot with a splint, that child Lianzhu's foot, looking at the rough bandage on his foot, and the figure crouched on the coal heap digging desperately.

  The sound of iron clothes and hand bones ringing out because they were held too tightly.

  "They're all dead." I muttered.

  Crouching inside the Ghost Hide, I adapted for a long time, making efforts to adjust my breathing, wanting to calm down my mood.

  At this time, I heard some movement at the bottom of the alley's steep slope, and it seemed like there were still people alive. I excitedly shouted "There are still people! Iron brother, let's go take a look!"

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, on the half slope of the alley, there were indeed two figures, carrying coal bundles in their hands. It seemed that these two people had just sent coal to the outside of the well and were returning to the bottom of the well when the accident occurred, fortunately escaping with their lives.

  Looking at them, I felt a little comforted in my heart. Anyway, at least someone escaped this disaster and lived fortunately.

  "What's wrong? What's wrong?" One of the younger children yelled as he rolled and crawled towards the well, crying and rushing into the coal heap.

  Looking at Ryouko who was on the verge of collapse, he roared loudly:

  "Liangzi brother, what's going on? What's going on? Shuibo, where are Zhuangzi brothers?"

  "Monkey, monkey, something big has happened, hurry to the mine to find someone, save..." Before I could finish speaking, Liangzi fainted, but I reckon it shouldn't be a big problem, probably just a severe emotional fluctuation causing a heart attack, after resting for a bit he should be fine.

  Looking at the miner who was called "monkey" and holding onto Liangzi with a trembling body, he was also a young child.

  At this time, another slightly older person also rushed to the well and looked at everything before. His legs softened and he fell to the ground, muttering "My son, my son, my son is still inside, this is not true, this is not true." His dazed expression seemed to have been stimulated extremely. He rushed into the working face like a madman and disappeared into a sea of blackness in an instant.

  The monkey dragged the injured Liangzi to the bottom of the slope at the wellhead and shouted towards the coal mining face several times "Uncle Ma... Uncle Ma...", but there was no response at all.

  Facing the unconscious Liangzi, the monkey said "Liangzi brother, hold on, I'll go call for help and come back to rescue you immediately." After saying that, the child wiped away his tears and scrambled up the steep slope.

  Fell down, got up, fell again, got up again, staggering figure, gradually disappeared at the wellhead.

  After a while, a hysterical cry came from the direction of the work surface: "Son, son wake up! How can I explain to your mother? It's killing me! My child!"

  I clenched my fists tightly, and suddenly I felt a voice behind me. I turned around to see tears in Tie Yi's eyes.

  "It's okay, at least someone is still alive" I looked at Tie Yi.

  Tieyi shook his head and didn't speak. Suddenly, a chill rose up in my heart.

  In the distance, I saw that Mazi uncle who rushed into the working face hugging a person stumbling towards our direction, his body trembling with intense pain. When he passed by me and Tie Yi, I saw clearly that it was a young miner.

  Near the wellhead, the man put the child in his hand on the ground, "Baby, wake up, Dad is here, don't be afraid, wake up, we will go home to eat meat, what do you want to eat, Dad will buy it for you, what do you want to wear, Dad will buy it for you, as long as you are alive, let Dad do whatever." Tears fell on the young child's face, scattering into pieces.

  Uncle Ma Zi used his coal-dusted hands to wipe the bloodstains on the child's face again and again, but he couldn't wipe away the blackness that covered it.

  "Girl, your mother is still at home waiting for us to return. You'd better wake up, let's go home and sleep well, I beg of you, wake up, let's go home!" As he spoke, Uncle Ma began to shake the child violently, but got no response whatsoever.

  He frantically knocked his head on the ground, hysterically shouting "Let me die for you, you're only thirteen years old, my child, how can I and your mother live without you?"

  ……。

  As I looked at the father and son beside me, I stretched out my hand to pat his shoulder, wanting to comfort this father's sorrow. But unexpectedly, when my hand passed over his shoulder, there was not a single thread of tactile sensation, as if it had directly waved in the air.

  The child's forehead, from time to time, had blood dripping down. Uncle Ma Zi tightly pressed the child's head with his hand, then picked up the child and struggled to climb up the well, "Baby, it's okay, Dad will take you to see a doctor, you'll definitely be fine, Dad won't let you die..."

  But what he didn't know was that behind him, I had already been shaking my head with tears streaming down my face. It's definitely impossible for him to still be alive after such a long time.

  It seemed like an eternity had passed, but I finally heard some movement from the well. Judging by its slender body, it was undoubtedly a monkey. As the shadow drew closer, I finally got a clear look and indeed it was a monkey.