Chapter 46: Love and Sunshine Coexist

  "A 90-centimeter square tunnel!" Liu Yi measured the length, width and height of the tunnel entrance, then turned to the crowd and said: "What Kexi said earlier about the ancient Qiang tribe's 'crawling in endless darkness' during their training should refer to this tunnel. It looks like it was also carved out of Kunlun jade, and you can't feel any airflow inside. If this road is very long, crawling forward in the dark will be a terrible feeling!"

  Professor Zhou Tao leaned against the wall of the cave, gazing at the dark entrance and said slowly: "This passage is a checkpoint for the ancient Qiang people to test their skills, it's definitely not easy to pass through. If I'm right, this passage should be built in imitation of the intestines of a sheep!"

  Malacca exclaimed in surprise: "Sheep's intestine path? Will it be very long?"

  Professor Zhou furrowed his brow: "Generally, the intestines of an adult sheep are about 50-60 meters long. If this entire White Goat Jade Palace were built to scale with a single sheep, and we estimate from the enormous white stone goat head outside and compare it to a normal goat's head, then this road before us would have to be at least 1000-2000 times longer... if that's the case, then the distance of this passageway should be around 100,000 meters..."

  "Good heavens, this is a marathon with no end in sight! It's impossible to get through! Not to mention the thin air and lack of ventilation, which will suffocate people. Just talking about the distance, in such a narrow place where you can only crawl forward, the oppressive feeling alone will drive people crazy!"

  Kekexili thought for a moment and said, "The ancient Qiangma teachings have a 'Turtle Breathing Technique', similar to the Daoist Bigu technique. This passage is probably built to test the achievements of the little lamas' techniques and their inner strength. If the traveler's mastery of the technique is not good enough or if their 'witch heart' is unstable, they will die inside this passage."

  Liu Yi smiled and said, "This place is quite difficult for the ancients to pass through, but we have portable oxygen tanks. No matter how long or dark the road is, we must rush forward!"

  They had prepared oxygen cylinders for use in an underwater world, but did not expect to use them in such a strange passageway.

  He paused for a moment and said, "In fact, the most difficult thing to get through here is not the difficulties we face, but our own hearts. As long as we overcome our inner fear of darkness, we will naturally pass through here. Moreover, what the professor said makes sense, but it's definitely not as terrifying as he said. Ten thousand meters? How is that possible? This jade palace must be enormous! Based on my guess, this passage can have a length of 10,000 to 20,000 meters and it would already be very frightening..."

  Malacca smiled and said: "If foreign witches and poachers can get through here, we definitely can too!"

  Lu Zonghan was rummaging through the bag for oxygen bottles and inhalers, and after hearing their conversation, he raised his head and said: "It's depressing enough, but as long as you close your eyes and think that once you get through this, you'll get what we want, it shouldn't be that difficult!"

  They said it was easy, but when I actually got in, it wasn't like that at all.

  Liu Yi led the way, followed closely by Professor Zhou Tao. Behind them were Lu Zonghan, Ke Kexi and Ma Liujia. Liu Yi had deliberately arranged the order of their advance. As Professor Zhou was older and not as physically strong, if he couldn't climb any further, Liu Yi instructed him to get onto his back, and they would carry him out of the dark cave.

  The dark cave is very narrow, so narrow that it's impossible to turn around. It's very low, so low that if you raise your head, you'll definitely hit the wall of the cave.

  As soon as they entered the cave, they all closed their eyes, lay on the ground, and moved forward with difficulty, advancing in silence, no one spoke, only heard heavy breathing and heartbeat.

  The decision they made was wrong, they thought that as long as they closed their eyes and didn't think about anything, they would crawl forward with their heads down and eliminate the feeling of oppression. But unexpectedly, when they closed their eyes, this feeling of oppression became even stronger.

  Liu Yi, who had been crawling at the forefront for a short while, suddenly felt this way in his heart:

  He felt as if he had entered a black bottle that could hold himself, without light, not even a thread, endless darkness swallowed him. He struggled to find a way out in the bottle, but couldn't find it no matter what.

  He was anxious and frustrated, constantly running and shouting in the bottle, but there was no hope. Just like when he was searching for his father alone, he felt lost and helpless, with a strong sense of desperation that was beyond helplessness.

  "Light, light, I need light!" Liu Yi kept shouting in his heart!

  "Ah..."

  A thunderous roar had just escaped his lips when the sound was sucked away by the black hole and drifted to a distant place.

  Liu Yi's loud roar awakened his companions who were all falling into this illusion behind him.

  Liu Yi fumbled, pulled out the flashlight from his waist and tied it to his arm with a rubber band. "Everyone open your eyes and follow the light forward," he called out. "Don't close your eyes. In this place, closing your eyes will make you have huge hallucinations. Everyone can chat, don't be silent. If we add silence to the darkness, it will increase the feeling of oppression... everyone do as I say!"

  "Let me tell you a story..." said Malacca at the end of the team.

  Everyone was silent, and Malacca began to talk to himself:

  As you know, I used to be a soldier.

  In the era of peace, we are always prepared to deal with sudden natural disasters, floods and earthquakes. I have participated in all these things. In 2008, I participated in the rescue efforts for the Wenchuan earthquake. My rescue team worked day and night, almost 20 hours a day, on the front line of rescuing people, without even having time to eat. Alas, looking at those ruins, how could we swallow our food?

  But even if we can't eat, we have to eat because we want to save people. We are racing against time and death, and we know that as long as we try a little harder, even if it's just a fraction of a second faster, we might be able to rescue one more life from the rubble.

  When excavators couldn't get in, we ran over there. When tools were insufficient, everyone dug with their hands, and every person's fingernails were all dug bloody.

  Yet no one shouted abuse, no one retreated, because we knew that as long as we persisted, as long as we hastened a little, the sufferers waiting in the dark underground for rescue by the people's soldiers would have hope of survival.

  We also understand that the sufferers, staying in the endless darkness, isolated and helpless, hungry and fearful, insist on not letting themselves fall asleep in the darkness, just to see the light that represents hope, perhaps it is also the light of their inner desire to continue life that guides them to keep going!

  I once saw a mother, like a madman, digging the ground with her bare hands. I also saw people who had broken legs and arms, showing happy faces when they saw sunlight!

  What force makes them so, is love and hope, is the pursuit of light...

  This story was timely and apt, just what everyone needed to boost their morale...

  They never thought that the careless Malacca would say such touching words, and after listening to them, their hearts were already shaken...

  "Yes, only love and sunshine can help us capture a reliable future. Following the guidance of our inner light, we should do what we should do. What if we fail? Professor Zhou Tao wiped his face on his sleeve, probably wiping away tears that had already fallen. He might have deeply felt the emotions of those earthquake victims in this dark underground cave."

  Liu Yi didn't say a word, as the vanguard leading everyone forward, he crawled ahead with the light on his arm, and the crowd behind him saw that beam of flashlight, just like seeing hope, this beam of light was the lighthouse guiding everyone forward!

  The lighthouse never goes out, and progress will never stop!

  Even if the lighthouse is extinguished, they will still persevere like the seasoned old Tibetan monks, not giving up or abandoning their way through this dark underground tunnel!

  Everyone has such a belief, and it's easier with faith. Everyone tells their own story and moves forward.

  They know this is a protracted war and can't be impatient!

  The flow of time in a dark and cramped space makes people feel particularly long, every minute is especially unbearable, as the physical functions of the crowd decline, this feeling becomes stronger.

  This sheep intestine-like black hole is really frustrating to build, with its ups and downs, lefts and rights, twists and turns, countless bends and unclear corners. Fortunately, this road doesn't have any forks, it's a single road that climbs up into the darkness, so they won't get lost in this dark and narrow cave.

  Fortunately, so far, no strange creatures have appeared in this cave. If there were any, they would be dead for sure.

  They just kept going, crawling forward step by step like a struggling snail, not knowing how long they had been crawling...

  100 meters, 300 meters, 900 meters, 1,500 meters, 4,800 meters, 6,000 meters...

  The oxygen in the oxygen tank is getting less and less, and their strength is also getting less and less...

  At first, they were still telling stories, but now their mouths are all busy gasping for air, where is the energy to speak?

  Heavy breathing sounds, heartbeats, echoing in this tunnel, constantly echoing.

  It's just these voices that can prove they exist for each other and are still alive.

  It wasn't long before Liu Yi suddenly noticed a corpse in front of him under the light.

  It's strange to say, but after Liu Yi saw the corpse, he not only didn't feel scared, but instead seemed very excited. His arms swung even faster as he crawled over. After he crawled past, he used the flashlight on his arm to take a look, staring at the blood hole on the corpse's head and thinking: "He must have been unable to withstand the pressure and smashed into the wall to death, how frightening!"

  He said: "The corpse is the poacher who was ahead of us... It's not a bad thing to see the corpse here, I estimate that we are not far from the exit... Everyone, let's make an effort..."

  As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Professor Zhou Tao's muttering behind him: "I'm done."

  In this cave, they couldn't even turn around, so Liu Yi stopped and waited for Professor Zhou Tao to catch up. Then, he felt his ankle being grabbed by a hand, followed by the feeling of Professor Zhou's body attaching itself to his back.

  Professor Zhou Tao struggled hard but finally couldn't move anymore...

  As agreed before, if Professor Zhou Tao really can't crawl anymore, he will ride on Liu Yi's back...

  It's already so difficult for one person to crawl through this cave, let alone with another person on their back.