Some of these burlap sacks were stacked five or six layers high, and you could see several layers piled up at the bottom. Because of their struggles, many of the skeletons’ hands and feet were exposed, but in the end, they couldn’t escape the restraints of the tough iron wire and all died here. The corpses were all naturally dried, their expressions twisted in pain, making it hard to look at them closely.

We tried to move some of the sacks, but the iron wires immediately tangled together. Ethan Brooks was extremely frightened, completely losing his composure. If he hadn’t relieved himself before we came, I bet he would have wet his pants. As for Charles Bennett, he barely spoke and remained very calm.

We dropped anchor, and Vice Monitor hopped over a few rocks to take a look. He found that further in, there was a long stretch of the same situation—there must be at least seven or eight hundred corpses here, if not a thousand. This place was practically a miniature mass grave.

There are cowards even in geological exploration, and it’s true that encountering dead bodies is rare. Seeing so many at once was truly chilling.

After discussing among ourselves, we felt certain these people must have been laborers captured by the Japanese army back then. Transporting parts for a heavy bomber would have required a lot of manpower, and in this kind of terrain, nothing was more agile than people as a means of transport. Given how secretive things were at the time, these people were ultimately silenced in this way.

Such heinous atrocities are all too common when it comes to the Japanese. But we all found it strange—why were the bodies piled up here? These “corpse sacks” couldn’t have any other use; they must have been used as buffer bags, probably for blasting operations. Could it be that the Japanese carried out explosions here?

I thought of these collapsed boulders—could the geological collapse and the falling, shattered rocks have been caused by the Japanese?

But after looking around, we found no such traces at all. Charles Bennett also said that deep in the cracks between the rocks, you could see the edges of stones in the water below were extremely smooth. Such a degree of water erosion couldn’t have happened without tens of thousands of years of scouring. This must have been the site of a geological collapse from a very long time ago.

Likewise, this kind of place isn’t suitable for any blasting operations; otherwise, it would easily trigger a chain reaction in the rock layers. Besides, the way these buffer bags were piled up was chaotic, as if they’d just been abandoned here. Could these have been extras?

Not being the people involved, it’s really hard to guess the bizarre thinking of the Japanese devils. This made us even more curious—what exactly did they do at the end of this underground river?

With the raft unusable, our plans were thrown into chaos. Vice Monitor told the engineers to pack up all the equipment, and we helped carry a lot of it too, because once the raft was deflated, it became extremely heavy. After we finished, I realized my load was way beyond what I’d imagined.

We started trekking on foot, moving forward by holding onto the rocks, one boulder at a time—it was incredibly difficult. We hadn’t gone far before we suddenly understood why the Japanese had piled up these corpses here—they were actually filling the path. The bodies filled the gaps between the huge rocks, making it easier for those coming after to walk faster.

I couldn’t help but feel nauseated, a chill running down my spine, as if thorns were stabbing the soles of my feet. I just wanted to get through this area as quickly as possible.

But things didn’t go as we wished—the path here was so difficult it was almost impassable. Every time we moved to the next rock, it took as much effort as performing a stunt. And if you stepped on those sacks, your whole foot would sink in and get stuck in the iron wire, and you’d have to cut the wire to pull it out.

We gritted our teeth and managed to walk just over a kilometer, which took nearly three hours. Vice Monitor was also exhausted to the limit. After stopping once, none of us could stand up again. Edward Foster, panting, said to me, “Old Carter, at this rate, we might have to spend the night in the mass grave.”

Edward Foster was right. It was pitch black ahead, and we had no idea how far it was. There was no way we could spend another three hours crawling back. I exchanged a glance with Vice Monitor, thinking there was nothing we could do. Even if we were a hundred times unwilling, we’d have to grit our teeth and rest here.

So I said, “So what if we do? These are all our compatriots. They’ve been dead so long and never had any peace. Let’s just keep them company for the night—what’s the harm?”

I hadn’t even finished speaking when Ethan Brooks immediately objected, “I disagree.”

I was a bit surprised and asked him, “Then what do you suggest?”

“I think we should keep going and rest after we get out of here, because, well, you definitely can’t rest well in a place like this,” he said.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Edward Foster teased, “Who can’t rest well? I bet you’re the only one who can’t sleep here. Hey, Ethan, are you afraid there are ghosts here?”

Ethan Brooks’s face turned bright red and he immediately said, “I am scared, so what? My mother gave birth to me at six months, so I was born weak and naturally timid. Can you blame me for that? Besides, being timid doesn’t stop me from contributing to the motherland. Anyone who laughs at me is just putting down a comrade.”

Edward Foster and I exchanged a glance—there was nothing we could do with him. I said, “Ghosts and spirits are just superstition. Rock is just matter, and so are corpses. Just treat them all as rocks—there’s nothing to be afraid of. Besides, I doubt we could get out of here even if we walked another day. We can’t afford to waste our strength.”