by Xu, Lei
"This is just what I was hoping for," said Wang Sichuan. "Once we're out of here, we can find a little village to lie low in and wait for our future selves to be dispatched to the cave. Until they leave, we cannot return home. Otherwise we'd never be able to explain ourselves."
Yuan Xile must have convinced the special emissary to let us go. I thanked my lucky stars for ever meeting Xile. Then I suddenly remembered what she'd looked like when we first found her in the cave. "Wait a second," I said, "we can't just leave them like this. If we do nothing, most of these people will die."
"To you and me, they're already dead." Wang Sichuan's voice was solemn. He'd clearly already thought this through.
"What if we just warn them a little bit? Perhaps things won't go nearly so bad."
Wang Sichuan immediately shook his head. "Absolutely not. If we really have traveled back in time, then I cannot even begin to imagine the consequences of us giving them any kind of warning. Their future is our past. Their fate has already been decided. Anything that changes this fate will affect our present. I don't know what might happen, but I doubt it will be something either of us is willing to accept. As it stands, Yuan Xile, Su Zhenhua, and Old Cat will be the only survivors of this mission. But if we warn them, then maybe these three will die and someone else will survive."
He was right. If the majority of Yuan Xile's team did survive, then it would be them, not us, aboard that underground flight. And there was no telling whether Yuan Xile would survive the crash. We'd already experienced the best possible past, or at least as good of one as I could hope for. I thought again of Yuan Xile, lost and alone in that pitch-black cave. Her future was fated to be a nightmare, but for her sake, I had no choice but to sit back and watch it happen.
I took a deep breath, telling myself that the fate of man is decided by Heaven alone. I might be able to see into the future, but if I was wise, I would do nothing.
CHAPTER
53
The Plan
The venison dried all afternoon. Evening fell. Yuan Xile still hadn't announced the news Wang Sichuan had hoped for. This was no surprise. Such matters always required some time for discussion.
Before falling asleep, I mentally organized everything that had happened—the past, the present and the future. The more I thought things through, the easier it was to accept our situation. This was real. We'd traveled back in time and were now several months in the past. If we did as Wang Sichuan advised and avoided warning the others, then they'd be picked off one by one in the cave until only three remained. And I would still be working with my regular prospecting team, blissfully unaware of the order I was about to receive.
There was still time before all this happened. When our team discovered the Shinzan, it was already so rusted I'd assumed it had been there for at least 20 years. The toxic subterranean environment would corrode the plane rapidly, but I figured it still needed at least four months. We'd entered the cave in mid-November of 1962. So, to give the plane time enough to thoroughly rust, we must have crashed it in the summer of 1962—early July, most likely. This was the reason for the high temperatures. Summer had already arrived. We'd been here for about a month. It would still be another three months before the future me arrived. If Yuan Xile and her men entered the cave one month before us, then they still had another two months to go. What did they do in all that time? Had it really taken them two months to find the entrance?
The cave was covered by a thick layer of leaves. Wang Sichuan and I had been hunting very close to the hidden entrance and we hadn't found it. Still, they didn't lack for people. They could painstakingly search the entire region inch by inch and still find the cave within a month. Had something kept them from entering the cave sooner? Was it the rain? The rainy season had already begun. The underground river was probably so high that even if Yuan Xile and her team found the cave, it would be too dangerous to go inside. They'd have to wait until the water level dropped before continuing their exploration.
Suddenly, I had an idea. Rather than just warning them, what if I went ahead and did something that put a stop to their entire expedition—something like blowing up the entrance to the cave? I could even use the frozen bombs from the dam's icehouse to do it. But even though this seemed like it would save Yuan Xile and her team, it would also cause a series of unpredictable changes. The other me would be unable to join a project that had already ended. None of what I'd experienced would occur. This was a paradox. If I was never involved in this project in the first place, how could I now be here to stop it from proceeding? No matter what, they were going to enter the cave and meet with disaster, after which I would be trucked out here to continue the investigation.
The whole thing was one big loop, with neither beginning nor end and no way out. I knew only that I'd better not do anything rash. Who knew what might result? And yet whenever I thought of the danger Yuan Xile was soon to face, my heart shivered. When the time came, could I really just sit back and do nothing?
With all these thoughts swirling in my head it was difficult to sleep that night. I truly hoped Old Tian was right, that I was crazy and this was all a dream. Even if I were to open my eyes and find myself strapped to a hospital bed, I would breathe easier. I spent the night in semi-consciousness, drifting in and out of numberless dreams, their portent impossible to fathom.
The next morning I awoke to the sound of Wang Sichuan loudly arguing with someone. Climbing out of bed, I found him just outside the cabin hurling invective after coarse invective at the special emissary. No one was going to intervene until the fists started flying. Back then things needed to get physical for something to be considered a fight. Otherwise it was just a "heated verbal exchange" and most bystanders weren't willing to get involved. I couldn't stay out of this, though.
I walked between them and waved for Wang Sichuan to stop. "What's going on?" I asked.
"This son of a bitch is making us stay here!" snapped Wang Sichuan. "He's not letting Little Einstein take us back."
"Is that true?" I asked, turning to the special emissary. "How can you find us stranded out here and do nothing to help? Aren't we all comrades?"
"Unfortunately we have been unable to reach headquarters," replied the special emissary, his voice perfectly even. "This decision is not one we can make on our own. Our assignment is quite urgent and cannot be delayed any longer. We have no choice but to ask you to stay here. Once our work is complete we will come get you."
"We've already been stuck here for nearly a month," said Wang Sichuan, his face red with anger. "We, too, have an assignment to take care of."
"Then it's too bad for you that we showed up," said the special emissary.
He wasn't fighting with Wang Sichuan, just watching him react. Something subtle must have changed behind the scenes. Perhaps they had reached the higher-ups and this was what our superiors had decreed. In any case, although I was upset, I understood their decision. They could never know the location of every prospecting team at all times, but for us to appear here unannounced was not a matter to be taken lightly.
"All right then," said Wang Sichuan, "get on with your goddamn mission already. I'll just walk out of here on my own."
"I'm afraid not," said the special emissary. "This forest is a very dangerous place. The three of you must remain at camp to await our return. It would be wise of you not to wander too far afield. For your safety, we will leave a few people behind to wait with you." Without saying anything further, he turned and walked back inside the cabin.
Shaking with anger, Wang Sichuan roared after him. "Wait with us? Don't you mean monitor us? What the hell do you think we've done?" He was on the verge of losing his mind.
The special emissary ignored him. I glanced over at Wang Sichuan, signaled for him to cool it.
Then I lit a cigarette and followed the special emissary inside with Wang Sichuan behind me. "When do you expect to return?" I asked him.
"Hard to say, but it won't be too long. As long as you three wait her
e calmly, everything will be fine." The special emissary didn't even look at me as he spoke.
"If it's just a normal prospecting job then perhaps we can help. That way you can keep all your men and we won't have to wait so long. We've all worked with Yuan Xile before. She can vouch that we know what we're doing." I glanced over at Yuan Xile, but she gave no response.
"She doesn't need to," said the special emissary. "Our confidence in your ability is not the problem."
He didn't doubt our skills; he doubted us. I was about to respond when Old Cat walked over and patted me on the shoulder. "It's not that we don't need your help. While we're gone you can catch us some more food, make sure we have enough for the trip back." He looked at me and laughed. Everyone else began to laugh, too. I knew Old Cat was just trying to give both parties a way out of the conversation, but I was still annoyed.
No matter. The decision had already been made. Anyway, they were still behaving politely, which meant they hadn't had time to investigate our backstory. If we kept arguing, we might make them more suspicious. Better to appear resigned to our fate while we thought of a plan. Nodding silently, I sat down on one of the beds and pulled Wang Sichuan down beside me. Old Cat looked over at us, his eyes hinting at something, though whether it was sympathy or something else, I don't know. He turned and sat on one of the beds at the other end of the room.
After that the first team began to explore the area in earnest, leaving behind only Little Einstein and a few other men to look after us. We never knew where they went, but they always came marching back every three to five days. While at camp they made sure not to discuss any of their work in front of us.
While the main force was off exploring, Wang Sichuan and I would go hunting. Little Einstein didn't accompany us, but he always made us leave our packs behind. He figured that without our equipment and a considerable amount of food, we weren't going anywhere. Wang Sichuan thought otherwise. He began skinning our catches in the field and hiding the meat in the trees to dry. It always went bad in a few days. Escape wasn't really an option. We didn't have enough food and the soldiers wouldn't hesitate to shoot us dead.
As the days passed I felt increasingly apprehensive. It wasn't us that I was worried about—it was them. I knew Yuan Xile and her team would inevitably find the cave and the water level would inevitably fall. And once they dropped below the earth, the hour of their death would be at hand.
CHAPTER
54
Things Fall Apart
It was already early September. The weather had grown much cooler. Yuan Xile and her men had been away for some time. Days passed and still they did not return, nor was any message sent back. Little Einstein was obviously uneasy. He tried to pretend otherwise, but it was no use. Our own behavior began to change as well. Wang Sichuan became increasingly calm. I grew more and more nervous. My premonition was finally coming true.
Things soon became extremely awkward. No matter how difficult it was to find the cave, we all knew they should have long since returned. Having heard nothing to the contrary, we could more or less assume they'd already suffered some accident, gotten lost or trapped somewhere. Little Einstein, Wang Sichuan, and I went on several searches for them, but because we weren't allowed to bring any supplies, these had to remain relatively small in scope. The kid was too goddamn stubborn. Even in a situation this serious he still refused to trust us. This continued for another week. There was no longer any denying it—something had gone wrong. Their food would have lasted them two weeks at most. By now a month had already passed.
Two of our three guards prepared to set out. I immediately asked Little Einstein if we, too, could join the search party. This would allow us to form two groups. People's lives are on the line, I told him. If we don't act fast it will be too late. Still Little Einstein hesitated. After thinking for a while, he finally responded, "You three need to stay here. That's what the special emissary ordered."
"You honestly think Su Zhenhua would rather you look after us than save his life?" I asked. "By waiting here, all we're doing is giving them time to bury their dead. This is no time to tiptoe around the issue. If you really don't trust us, then take a gun and stay with our group the whole time. You afraid we'd still try and make a break for it?"
And yet his ambivalence continued. The kid was obviously impervious to reason. To hell with it, I thought. I grabbed a bag and began stuffing food and equipment inside. It was time to get to work. Wang Sichuan began organizing two bags as well (one of them filled to the brim, albeit covertly, with smoked meat). Once Little Einstein saw the two of us were packed and ready to go, it was as if something suddenly clicked for him. Stamping his foot, he yelled for the two other men to come quick. Once everything was set we were divided into two groups: Old Tian, Wang Sichuan, Little Einstein, and I in one, the two soldiers in the other. And with that we headed into the woods.
I soon realized the situation was much more serious than I'd thought. The newly-dense vegetation made everything look the same. All the paths we'd walked before seemed to have disappeared. To keep us from getting lost, Wang Sichuan used a hatchet to carve the character 王 (Wang) onto some of the trees we passed. Yuan Xile and the others always came back every three to five days to resupply. The area they were searching couldn't be more than one to two days' travel from camp. But seeing how easy it was to get lost out there, I realized they might have taken a wrong turn and accidentally traveled a very long way. If so, their fate would not be pretty. Or they might have already entered the cave, though this seemed unlikely. Why would they go hungry when they could return to camp, restock, and then continue their exploration?
At first we headed northeast into the mountains, calling out their names. Before long we found a lookout point. The vast forest spread out below us, an endless sea of green. We sent up a smoke signal, hoping they would respond. No such luck. Five days passed with no sign of them. We were hemmed in on all sides by thick foliage and tall trees. I knew that if we kept searching like this—haphazardly, with no plan—our chances of finding them were extremely slim. Losing people from a prospecting expedition was hardly rare. Locals would be asked to bring torches and join the hunt, but it was never any use. In this case, however, I was convinced Yuan Xile and the others were still alive.
As we marched through the forest, Wang Sichuan kept signaling to me that we should make our escape. We were already carrying enough food to survive. All we needed to do was subdue Little Einstein. Yuan Xile's team was not fated to die in the forest, he said. It was possible they'd already been found by the other search party or even returned to camp on their own. We didn't need to worry about them. He had a point, but I still refused to go along.
The reason, which I didn't say aloud, was the vague recollection of the corpse we'd found under the canvas sheet in the warehouse. I had realized it was Little Einstein. If I was right, then Little Einstein would eventually enter the cave himself. He would not be kidnapped by us and led south. If we tried anything, we'd likely be the losers, shot dead by Little Einstein's gun. Wang Sichuan's impatience was getting on my nerves. Only when we began angling our search south did he calm down.
"Don't worry," I told him. "If we don't find them, we can just continue on in this direction out of here."
Traveling south, we made our way deeper and deeper into the forest. Seven days passed. On the afternoon of the eighth day Wang Sichuan suddenly cried out. We looked in the direction he was pointing. A plume of smoke was rising from a distant mountainside. Wild with joy, Little Einstein took off running. We followed close behind. The smoke was rising slowly, sheltered from the wind by the mountain. It took seven hours to reach our destination. There was an encampment of six or seven tents. Even though I'd known that our comrades were all right, it was still no small relief to have finally found them. The three of us sprinted towards the tents, Little Einstein calling out his teammates' names. But when we arrived and I saw where we were, a cold sweat ran down my back. I knew this place.
This was
where they'd found the Pit of Heaven, the vertical shaft through which we'd first entered the cave. The place looked the same as before, except every inch of ground was covered by a thick layer of leaves. As far as I could remember, though, this entrance hadn't been that far from the old Japanese camp, nor had it been in this direction. Had we gotten turned around along the way? Had we made one gigantic circle?
Little Einstein began to call out, "Special Emissary Su Zhenhua! Special Emissary Su Zhenhua!"
No one replied. We entered one tent after another, but they were all empty.
"What, were they all carried off by wolves?" asked Wang Sichuan, having not yet realized where we were. "Where could they have gone?"
I knew the answer. I turned and hurried up the mountain slope. I burst into a clearing. There, surrounded by leaves and black earth, was the cave. Little Einstein followed close behind. Seeing the cave, he immediately ran to its very edge. He stood there for only a split second before the ground beneath his feet gave way. If I hadn't grabbed his arm, he would have tumbled into the darkness. I pulled him up and brushed away the leaves around the cave. An old net covered half the opening. The net was made of extremely thick rope, but had rotted through. Several new lengths of rope dropped into the darkness beyond the net, their other ends tied around a nearby tree.
