frightfiction Chapter 342 The Caves and Grottoes of a Thousand Years Ago
Chapter 342 The Caves and Grottoes of a Thousand Years Ago
As Li Ju'an listened to the group bickering, he felt that the place looked very familiar.
He thought about it carefully, looked around, put down what he was doing, took off his glove and went to check the cave where Old Qian had fallen that afternoon.
He said, "There can't be caves that deep in this place. And if there were, there would be more than just a few."
In his previous life, he often saw news reports about landmines exploding at old military bases, maiming or killing many villagers. He never expected to actually find one in this area.
A sudden thought flashed through his mind: the beginning of his rebirth, when he had discovered two nearly intact black guns, two Type 56 semi-automatic rifles. He had already carefully dismantled and sold these guns, disposing of them without a trace. He had disposed of them thoroughly, clearing away the evidence, as they were, after all, stolen goods. Their origins were unknown, and he couldn't afford to be careless.
The place where he searched for the gun was a hidden cave deep in the mountains, which he found by following the footsteps of bandits, based on his memories from his previous life. At that time, the bandits obviously failed to get what they wanted, and what they were looking for remained a mystery.
At this moment, Li Ju'an's gaze was fixed on the cave where Sun Weimin had accidentally slipped and fallen, his tone thoughtful: "Sun Weimin, how did you manage to slip and fall here? It's clearly not a shadowy place."
If it were said that Lao Qian and Lu Zhiqiang had slipped and fallen, that would be somewhat understandable. Because that cave was indeed shrouded in the shade of the cliff face, where no light or shadow could be seen.
But the cave where Sun Weimin fell faced south, so the sun was shining brightly on him. And the fact that he fell in during broad daylight left everyone baffled.
Song Desheng teased him, saying, "Sun Weimin has a good eye for young women, but he finds other things uninteresting."
Old Qian and Old Zhang glanced at Sun Quande, thinking to themselves: It's one thing for a hot-blooded young man to be distracted, but Sun Quande is such an experienced hunter, we can't afford to misjudge him.
Sun Quande felt dizzy and hit his vestibular system, so he was too light to stand up, and his pupils were trembling. Li Ju'an stepped forward to examine him and said, "He has a vestibular nerve disorder."
Lu Zhiqiang asked in confusion, "What? What's disordered?"
Li Ju'an, having lived two lives, witnessed wealthy merchants and noblewomen suffering from this ailment during his travels in the south. It rarely affects young people; it usually affects older individuals. After a chance encounter or bump, vestibular function becomes disordered, possibly due to loose otoliths or other injuries causing vestibular congestion. In the early 80s, the only treatment was rest.
Sun Quande suddenly let out a "Wah!" and then turned his head away to vent his nausea. However, the long period of fasting meant that he could vomit nothing more than acidic gastric juices and bitter bile.
He struggled to open his eyes, his pupils trembling violently in their sockets, his gaze telling a story of endless pain. Finally, he could only helplessly close his eyes, letting the waves of agony engulf him. Cold sweat, like beads from a broken string, streamed down his forehead, soaking his clothes at the neck and leaving mottled stains.
Old Qian's heart tightened as he watched, as if he could feel Sun Quande's excruciating pain. He hurriedly urged, "Old Sun's health can't be delayed any longer; we need to get down the mountain quickly. Second son of the Sun family, how exactly did you jump into that pit?" However, Sun Quande was too weak to respond at this moment, so Old Qian could only turn his gaze to Sun Weimin.
Upon hearing this, Sun Weimin answered truthfully, "How did I jump? It was because my father jumped first."
"My dad jumped first, and I followed suit. At that time, there were so many wolves chasing us, a huge swarm of them. We had to hide first. That's why we use flanking tactics to protect our gains."
The group nodded in agreement; that made sense.
With so many green leopards on the ground, transporting them all down the mountain was no easy task. They had no choice but to carefully select the valuable meat and bones that could fetch a good price, placing them cautiously on the mule's back, hoping that the large animal could carry their hopes and steadily make their way down the mountain.
Li Ju'an turned to Song Desheng and borrowed a headlamp. He pressed it gently, and only a faint light appeared. He couldn't help but frown and sighed, "This lamp is probably out of power too."
Upon hearing this, Song Desheng gave a wry smile: "That's right. Those few nights we searched for you, we practically turned the whole mountain upside down. We were lucky to find you, we didn't even have time to think about batteries."
Upon hearing this, Li Ju'an smiled and a mischievous glint in his eyes: "How about we go down and explore? Maybe Sun Pao is quite familiar with this cave and can point us in the right direction."
Before the others could recover, Lu Jinyang smiled at him and said, "I'll go down and take a look too. Maybe Sun Pao knows this cave and there are some good things inside. But Sun Pao is tight-lipped and doesn't want to talk about it."
Both men turned their gazes towards the cave, and now Lu Zhiqiang was uncertain. Who was the real brother? You two are playing cryptic games; I don't understand a word you say!
Sun Weimin helped his elderly father, Sun Quande, lean against the rock wall to catch his breath. Meanwhile, Lao Qian and Lao Sun were busy bandaging the injured leg bone, their movements skilled and focused. At the same time, Li Ju'an led the two Lu brothers and Song Desheng, holding rough hemp ropes, carefully stepping along the rugged cliff face, slowly exploring deeper into the cave.
Song Desheng lowered his voice and asked Li Ju'an with unease, "Brother Li, what if that guy Sun Weimin has ulterior motives and cuts off our lifeline? What should we do then?"
Upon hearing this, Li Ju'an smiled faintly and said confidently, "Don't worry. I've already hidden a spare rope in the treetop. If he really gets itchy, I have a way to call a hawk to go up and retrieve it. When he comes back, he'll definitely get a good beating to teach him a lesson."
His words drew a burst of hearty laughter from the crowd. They knew that Sun Weimin had the will but not the guts, as there were still many thugs above him, and he was counting on them to escort him down the mountain.
Li Ju'an jumped down from about half a person's height above the bottom of the cave. Using the dim light of his headlamp, he discovered a small hole about half a person's height in a corner.
The small hole was hidden in the shadows, with no footprints nearby and dry branches used for concealment, making it appear to be deliberately covered. Sun Weimin was quite carefree; trapped at the bottom of the hole for so long, he only thought about climbing up to call for help, without ever considering exploring the bottom of the hole.
"Shall we go in and take a look?"
Li Ju'an nodded towards the cave entrance.