Following the tree roots up the well, they climbed for about thirty meters and finally emerged from the well opening. The sound of countless insects crawling was all around, their numbers enormous, and the phosphorescent glow surrounding them was brighter than below. Li Cu saw a dreamlike scene.
He saw a gigantic tree.
How big was this tree? It was so immense that, in his entire field of vision, all he could see was the trunk of this tree. It couldn’t be described with terms like a few people embracing it, or dozens, or even hundreds. The trunk was so thick that it resembled a wall, stretching from one end to the other.
From the various grooves and cracks on the bark and trunk, it was evident that this was a banyan tree, with its trunk formed by countless aerial roots merging together.
This was a massive hall, entirely man-made, built of piled stones. Huge columns and stones supported a height of over sixty meters. He could see a gigantic statue on one side of a boulder, entangled and supported by countless vines.
The chaos of this space was indescribable; it resembled the densest, most lush valley in a tropical rainforest, with no available space, filled with numerous vines and moss. Here, too, countless trunks and aerial roots intertwined throughout the space, with a dense web of vines in the center.
Due to insufficient height, this gigantic tree had begun to grow horizontally after sticking to the top, with three massive branches resembling giant, decaying arms protruding into the walls, looking like the remains of a colossal monster hunched over, bearing the weight of the sky.
Most astonishingly, Li Cu saw many leaves in this dark place. In many areas of this tree, there were indeed dense leaves, all facing downward. Did the phosphorescent glow here also facilitate photosynthesis?
In this vast space, Li Cu saw more people.
At least over thirty individuals were scattered in groups of two or three among the branches of this tree. They all had unusually long fingers.
These people were quite young, dressed in tight black jackets, fully equipped.
Their physiques were almost identical, whether in height or body proportions, and even their hairstyles were basically the same. No one spoke; they seemed to be mute.
Li Cu was laid down on a vine, and someone began to examine his body. They started conversing in a very soft, incomprehensible language.
He felt a tingling sensation all over his body, which brought him some joy because he had previously felt no sensation in his body. A young man carefully explored and kneaded around his neck. He heard the chilling sound of bones grinding in his neck.
Then the tingling sensation began to roam chaotically through him.
He spent three hours gradually regaining the sensation of pain. His consciousness had been hazy for a long time, and as he gradually recovered, his knee was also secured with a splint.
“Thank you,” Li Cu said. This shouldn’t be his hallucination, but how could there be so many people in this place?
No one paid him any mind; these individuals quietly looked at him while using a liquid to wipe his corroded skin.
His sensitivity wasn’t very sharp; it didn’t hurt much, but rather there was a pleasant sensation of tightness in his skin.
“Are you enemies of Boss Wu?” Li Zu asked, thinking to himself, is it these people that Boss Wu wants to eliminate? These people are good folks, practically the embodiment of competence and teamwork.
“If you are enemies of Boss Wu, I’ve decided to switch sides. Take me back to Beijing, and I’ll tell you everything,” Li Zu said. “We must decisively overthrow Boss Wu, this reactionary.”
At that moment, a man in black brought over a jar, and from it, he pulled out a red snake and held it up to Li Zu.
“You know what we want,” the man in black said. “Tell us what you feel.”
They pressed the snake against Li Zu’s neck, and he felt a tingling sensation followed by the burning pain of snake venom spreading from his neck throughout his body.
“I feel pain,” Li Zu said, thinking to himself, indeed, bad people are still bad people. I was wrong about Boss Wu.
After saying this, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, and everything around him became blurry.
“I’m going to sleep again,” Li Zu thought. “Sleep, sleep, I hope I don’t wake up. Just let me go meet God without having to read any more hormones.”
Previously, Li Zu thought he had a unique ability to cooperate with himself; no matter how anxious the environment, he could set everything aside and enter deep sleep. As long as he could sleep, he would definitely fall asleep. But now he realized that was not the case; he was simply a chronic sleeper. However, he had never felt this drowsy in his life.
A spinning sensation engulfed him, the pain from the wound on his neck radiating throughout his body. Li Zu closed his eyes, began to breathe deeply, and gradually emptied his mind, pushing away everything unrelated to his sleep, wishing for no scenes to appear before him.
A few minutes later, he truly fell into a deep sleep. The two men in black laid him down and checked their watches.
“If he’s not dead in four hours, wake him up,” one said.
“What about the others?”
“Until Wu Xie’s true intentions are clear, it’s best to avoid rash actions.”
Li Zu began to dream. He opened his eyes. Damn it, he saw sunlight and heard the sound of a stream.
He sat up and found himself by a stream in a forest, where many people were resting.
He saw a middle-aged man sitting quietly on the other side of the stream, bare-chested. He seemed to have just undergone intense physical activity; although he wasn’t out of breath, he was covered in dirt.
The middle-aged man didn’t notice him; he was just staring at the stream, and behind him, Li Zu could see other people resting at a distance from the water.
They were all strangers; Li Zu had never seen them before.
The middle-aged man jumped into the stream and began washing himself. Suddenly, the sky darkened, but the man didn’t mind. It started to rain heavily in the stream.
The rain intensified, but the middle-aged man stood still in the downpour. After about five or six minutes, the rain stopped.
The middle-aged man shook his head and walked towards Li Zu. He approached Li Zu and picked up a cage from the ground.
The cage was empty, with some bait inside.
He tossed it back into the bushes and went to check another one.
The scene overlapped, and Li Zu felt a surge of vigilance. He watched as the man seemed not to see him, but an instinctive alertness rose within him.
Another cage was lifted, revealing a red snake inside, coiling and striking at the walls of the cage. The middle-aged man set the cage down on a stone by the stream, right where Li Zuo was standing.
Li Zuo suddenly sat down, facing the middle-aged man. The man took a few steps back and sat on another stone, wiping his face. He said to the snake in Li Zuo’s arms, “This is the last message for Wu Xie. I can only convey this information in this way.”
“I haven’t gone that deep, but based on my experience, this route should be relatively safe,” he continued.
“There must be some basis for such a judgment,” Liang Wan interjected.
“It’s based on some traces you can’t see in the dark,” the man with the black glasses replied. “The details of the world I see are very different from yours. Moreover, there are four rooms like this along this route, indicating that this route was frequented by people at the time and is the only route with resting rooms. If they were to implement any closed protective or isolation measures, it would have to be along this route.”
Liang Wan nodded in agreement. The man with the black glasses pointed to the core area. “The outer wall of this tomb must have been opened. There should be various ropes and makeshift ladders going down. Follow the stairs; don’t take any detours, and don’t touch anything.”
Liang Wan nodded. “How do you know Li Zuo is in this tomb? This site may not be large, but it is deep; don’t you know the exact location?”
The man with the black glasses replied, “Follow the bloodstains; he must have serious injuries.”
After saying this, he took a spray can out of his bag. “This is stone powder spray; this plant really dislikes this kind of stone.”
“How much do you know about this strange plant?”
“It’s a complex organism; in fact, what we’re dealing with isn’t a plant,” the man said. “However, there’s no chance to cut open the trunk to see what’s inside, so I don’t know exactly what it is. This thing coexists with a type of beetle and cannot digest its prey on its own; the beetle is deadly.” He pulled out a test tube from his bag. “This is an antiserum; once opened, it can repel the beetles, but its effect is very mild. It oxidizes quickly when exposed to oxygen, so it must be used cautiously.”
Liang Wan looked at the test tube; there was very little liquid inside. She glanced at the man with the black glasses. “You must be hosting that kind of beetle inside you, right? Can’t you use the antiserum on yourself?”
The man with the black glasses replied, “This antiserum isn’t enough for three people. I can only ensure that the beetles won’t crawl onto me; I can’t protect others or even cover my whole body.”
“But you’re dying,” Liang Wan said. “The antiserum is meant to be taken internally; you could use it to save your life. Why did you only bring one?”
“Ah, the raw materials are quite scarce,” the man with the black glasses said. “I promised someone to get this done, so this thing is more valuable in your hands.”
Liang Wan sighed, organizing her backpack as she spoke. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll just take these things and run away?”
“That would be understandable,” the man with the black glasses leaned against the wall and looked at his own hands. “It would be only natural for you to run away.”
Liang Wan found an empty syringe in Su Wan’s backpack. She drew some water from the kettle, rinsed it a bit, and then opened the test tube to inject the water inside.
“It’s already in a diluted state. Adding water will only provide a slight psychological benefit; it won’t enhance the effect,” said the man in black glasses.
Liang Wan drew the serum into the syringe, expelled the air, grabbed the man’s hand, and injected it.
The man in black glasses was taken aback; the serum had been fully injected. Liang Wan moved with great skill, putting the syringe back into her backpack. “This was used by Su Wan. I hope you don’t wish for him to have gonorrhea, syphilis, or AIDS. However, these conditions take time to manifest, so overall, you still come out ahead.”
The man in black glasses looked at his hand. “This thing is very precious. Without this serum, you might not come back.”
Liang Wan replied, “First and foremost, I am a doctor; only then am I a woman confused about her fate and past. Unlike you all, who have been thieves from start to finish. I know what I should do.”
She slung her backpack over her shoulder, turned on her flashlight, counted the glow sticks, and pushed the door open. “After it takes effect, take care of your wounds yourself. I’m going to help you clean up the mess.”
The man in black glasses took off his glasses and exclaimed, “Wow, not one of you is obedient.”
He stood up, took off his shirt, and the serum immediately began to take effect. The parasites under his skin, which hadn’t yet burrowed into the muscle, started breaking through the surface. He took out a lighter, drew his black knife, twisted the handle, and pulled out half of it, revealing a small knife.
The small knife was also black. He used the lighter to sterilize it, but the intense pain radiating throughout his body made him tremble.
He stumbled over to Su Wan, lifted him up, and tried to push him into the bathing pool, only to see Su Wan staring at him.
“Hey, kid, you’re awake but not saying anything.”
“Why did you lie to that woman?” Su Wan asked. “Ya Li was clearly not there; we saw him fall. You deceived her into continuing deeper. Don’t you feel guilty? What are you really after?”
The man in black glasses fell to the ground and laughed, “You think it’s just us messing around here?”
Su Wan struggled to get up. “What do you mean?”
The man in black glasses pointed to his watch. “How much time has passed?”
“More than a day,” Su Wan replied.
The man in black glasses handed him the small knife. “Things are going to get busier around here. This is just the beginning. Come on, help me dig out those parasites.”
Su Wan took the knife, glanced at the man in black glasses, and realized what he wanted him to do. “How do I dig?”
“Press the knife with your hand, and when you feel a hard lump, just dig it out directly.”
“Parasites like these, if they die inside you, will be absorbed by your body. Don’t worry about them; they’ll die off as they crawl around,” Su Wan said.
“Don’t worry, that won’t happen. They have to be dug out,” the man in black glasses insisted. “Give me a cigarette, and make it quick.”
In the darkness, Liang Wan began to follow the route on the map. She felt that she was no longer very afraid of this place. For some reason, perhaps it was the sudden appearance of the blind man singing that made this place feel absurd.
At this point, there are many things she can no longer understand, and she doesn’t want to try to understand them either. She decides to go along with the thoughts of those who are in the know. If she can survive, she will surely find a reasonable explanation.
The backpack is heavy; the things a man carries are never as meticulously packed as this. She quickly begins to feel fatigued.
The pipes here are very clean, with no black asphalt, only cement. The cement is devoid of anything—no signs, no damaged potholes, and no exposed wires.
In the past, places like this would have felt eerie and terrifying, but now it seems oddly reassuring.
The fever hasn’t subsided, and her dizziness has intensified. She finds a corner to squat down and takes deep breaths in an attempt to recover.
In the past, when she worked overtime, she had ways to make herself feel neither fatigue nor heat during work hours. Now she can no longer do that; after all, she is no longer a young girl.
Logically, she doesn’t want that Li Zhu to die; the little rascal is still quite interesting.
However, her attitude toward death and others is different, as she is a doctor after all.
In the silence, she hears some strange noises.
She looks up and hears a familiar sound coming from the direction she is heading.
It’s actually a phone ringing.
Just an illusion, she lowers her head and continues to rest her eyes.
