My mind was already a mess, and I recalled what Old Grant had said to me before leaving, feeling worse and worse. “Something’s not right,” I told them. “We can’t go any further in.”

“What’s not right?” Edward Foster asked.

“I don’t think we’re the first group here,” I said. “There’s definitely something going on here. That colonel didn’t tell us the truth.”

At that moment, my mind was in chaos, and my thoughts weren’t clear, but the situation was obvious. Charles Bennett immediately nodded, clearly realizing it too, his brows furrowing.

Looking at Alice Reed’s outfit, it was obvious she was also part of this geological survey mission, but among the four teams that came in with us, she wasn’t included. That meant she must belong to a fifth team we didn’t know about.

And judging by logic and geography, this fifth team must have entered the cave before our four teams did. We’d only been in here for a little over a day; if they’d come in after us, there’s no way they could have caught up so quickly.

In other words, there must have been a survey mission before we entered the cave. The specifics were unclear, but this premise held true. Alice Reed was solid proof.

Things were getting complicated, and a lot of trouble could arise from this. For example, how long ago did they come in? Why didn’t the colonel tell us about it? As a female survey team member, there’s no way the higher-ups would let her enter the cave alone—so where were the others?

The deputy squad leader and a few soldiers sat quietly to the side, saying nothing. I asked them how much they knew about this.

The deputy squad leader shook his head and said, even less than you. We came in with you, you even had a meeting, but we didn’t. The higher-ups told us to stick with you, not to ask, not to listen, not to question, just to complete the mission.

Everyone fell silent. No one had expected something like this.

Edward Foster said, “Why don’t we wait until she wakes up and ask her?”

I shook my head. Alice Reed’s condition earlier wasn’t good, and the most frightening thing was that she didn’t have a flashlight. That meant this poor woman must have been in this pitch-black cave for who knows how long. If you imagine such a scene, you’ll realize how terrifying it is—endless darkness, a cold cave, all sorts of strange noises. After going through all that, anyone’s mental state would be affected.

Charles Bennett was thinking along different lines, but ultimately came to the same conclusion. He said, “It’s useless. Even if she wakes up, I’m sure she won’t tell us much. That’s their level’s professional code. And she outranks us—if we’re not careful, we might end up having to listen to her.”

“So what do we do?” Edward Foster thought for a moment, then cursed, “Damn it, what is the organization thinking? We never had so much trouble before—digging a tunnel was just digging a tunnel. Is there really something so mysterious in this cave that they have to make such a fuss?”

“You should have realized when you got on the truck that this time is very different from before,” Charles Bennett said, not even looking at him, but instead gazing in the direction we were heading. I saw a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

I thought to myself, this guy really is a bit odd—he doesn’t seem to care much about this kind of thing. I remembered that note again, but then I realized I was a bit curious myself. What exactly is at the end of this underground river? Why does this whole thing feel more and more unfathomable?

“Don’t say any more, or the engineering corps brothers will hear and think we’re doubting the organization’s decisions. If word gets out, it won’t be good,” Ethan Brooks huddled to the side and whispered. “We’re already down here, what else can we do? Just grit our teeth and keep going.”

Edward Foster glared at him, but I stopped him. This time, Ethan Brooks wasn’t wrong. The engineers think differently from us, and we shouldn’t say too much in front of them to shake their confidence. I thought for a moment and said, “But no matter what, we still have to wait for her to wake up and ask her. Any information we can get is better than nothing. At least we need an explanation.”

Fourteen: A Madwoman

That night, as we rested, everyone had their own thoughts. None of us had ever been with a woman before, and now there was a woman sleeping here, with her underwear drying by the fire—it was hard to fall asleep. But I was truly exhausted. My mind wandered aimlessly, and in the end, I fell into a deep sleep.

I don’t know how long I slept before someone shook me awake. I lifted my head to find everything around me pitch black—the fire had gone out. I sat up and turned on my flashlight. It turned out the soldier on night watch had fallen asleep, unable to stay awake, so no one had added fuel and the fire had died.

I turned to see who had woken me, and saw Alice Reed squatting naked beside me. I was startled and asked, “You’re awake?”

She didn’t answer, but leaned in and pressed herself onto me. I smelled a strange scent and felt dizzy. Alice Reed was from the northeast, and like most northeastern girls, she was voluptuous, her body exuding a strong feminine allure. I wanted to push her away, but my hands involuntarily wrapped around her. The smooth, delicate feel of her skin made my scalp tingle.