chsdbacks Chapter 471 Basement Level 2
Chapter 471 Basement Level 2
The gap that Li Donglin referred to was a cement seam in front of the crematorium. The gap was small, less than one centimeter, and looked like a normal crack.
"Here?" I was a little surprised.
"Um!"
Li Donglin nodded and said to Meng Guizi, "Old Meng, you try to pry it open!"
"OK!"
Meng Guizi took the crowbar that Li Donglin had instructed him to bring, aimed it at the gap, pried it in, and exerted force. The entire cement slab was pried up, revealing a narrow, dark passage leading downwards.
"Wow!"
Less than a second later, Meng Guizi released the crowbar, took two steps back, and the cement slab fell with a muffled thud.
Our situation was similar to his; we were also retreating.
There's no other reason than that the smell down there is just too awful.
The smell was like decades-old pickled cabbage, sour and stinky, so strong it brought tears to your eyes.
"Why does it smell so bad?"
Old Fang was also affected by the fumes and waved his hand as he retreated.
"It's good that it smells bad!"
Li Donglin, who had already retreated to the side, said.
"You knew this would happen all along?"
"I asked in a hoarse voice," Meng Guizi asked.
"Um!"
Li Donglin nodded coldly and said, "This is the flue of the crematorium. The smell you just smelled was the odor of corpse oil vomited over decades!"
"Grass!"
Upon hearing the smell of corpse oil, Lao Fang and the young man who followed him immediately vomited.
Meng Guizi was a little better, but his brows furrowed, and he asked, "Why is the chimney built here?"
"The flue was built here for no other reason than to hide the entrance to the secret vault!" Li Donglin said.
"How do we get down here?"
Meng Guizi frowned.
"Get down!"
Li Donglin said.
Ten minutes later, after some quick preparation, we pried open the cement slab again.
As before, Li Donglin went first.
He simply tied a rope around his neck, then lowered himself down it.
"You can get down now!"
About five minutes later, Li Donglin's voice came from below.
"I'll get off!"
Meng Guizi rushed forward, and within minutes, he no longer cared about the stench.
After he went down, it was Lao Fang, then Fatty Lin, me and Long Nier, and Blind Zuo.
The young man that Lao Fang brought, along with several of Meng Guizi's men, were guarding the upper floors.
The flue was very narrow, and its four walls were covered with a layer of black, shiny, aged corpse oil.
Over the years, the corpse oil has hardened, and if you accidentally touch it while crawling inside, your clothes will rip and squeak.
After descending a few meters, the flue began to slant. After crawling inside for nearly ten meters, there was a piece of iron plate that had already been cut open.
Below the iron plate were Li Donglin and the others who had gone down first.
Go down from here to the second basement level.
After getting off, I looked around and found that we were in a long, dark corridor with iron bars on both sides.
As the flashlight swept across the cells, one could see the devastation: tattered clothes, broken shoes, and scattered bone fragments everywhere, along with walls covered in scratches, giving a vivid picture of the horrors of that time.
"This is a small labor camp. Back then, the Japanese retreated in such a hurry that they didn't have time to deal with the situation, so they just locked people up here," Li Donglin said in a low voice.
We know very well what being locked up here means; it means people are going to be imprisoned to death.
Driven to extreme hunger, those imprisoned here are highly likely to kill each other.
As you walk along the corridor, every single one of the dozens of cells on both sides is covered with broken bones.
I estimated that the skeletons in each cell could be pieced together to form at least ten people.
In other words, hundreds of people were imprisoned and died here alone.
We walked on in silence, no one spoke, because we didn't know what to say.
"Chirp!"
Hachiko's cry broke the silence.
"Xiao Ba said the people in the cell are still locked up!" Long Nier translated.
"Still...still locked up, what does that mean?" Old Fang stammered as he asked.
Long Nier remained silent.
"Chirp!"
Little Eight called out again.
"Xiao Ba said they are very pitiful!" Long Nier translated.
"Let me open my third eye!" I said after thinking for a moment.
"Don't open it!"
Fatty Lin and Blind Zuo tried to stop them at the same time.
"Fatty, Fourth Brother, I just want to see them!" I said in a deep voice.
Fatty Lin and I looked at each other for a moment, then he sighed and didn't stop us anymore.
The blind man shook his head, seemingly wanting to say something but ultimately not stopping him.
I took out the Ghost Eye Paste, poured out two drops, rubbed them slowly in my palm, closed my eyes, and gently rubbed them on my eyes.
A moment later, I opened my eyes and looked at the cell beside me.
Just one glance, and my heart ached.
Inside the cell, more than a dozen emaciated laborers lay numbly on the ground. When they noticed me looking over, they all turned their heads at the same time, and more than a dozen pairs of sunken eyes looked at me.
Seeing them, I understood what Xiao Ba meant when he said they were still locked up.
I slowly exhaled, and with difficulty shifted my gaze to the other side of the prison. Just like before, more than a dozen skin and bones, barely alive, laborers lay on the ground, waiting for death.
This is what they looked like in life, and this is what they look like after death.
For over sixty years, they have been imprisoned here without any relief.
Now I understand why Fatty Lin and Blind Zuo wouldn't let me open my third eye.
"Don't overthink it. After this is over, I'll hold a memorial service to send these compatriots to heaven!" Fatty Lin patted my shoulder and said softly.
"Um!"
I nodded, no longer dwelling on it.
Moving forward again, the corridor ends at a staircase leading to the next floor.
After going up the stairs, the space felt both open and oppressive.
The second basement level is an arched structure resembling a stadium.
On the left were piles of ammunition boxes that looked like a small mountain. We went over to take a look and found machine guns, rifles, shells, and even a few mountain guns covered with military green cloth.
To the right is the operations room, with scraps of paper, files, and burned military documents scattered all over the floor.
At the end of the path was a room that resembled a shrine.
There are memorial tablets in the room, talismans scattered on the ground, dried bloodstains in some places, and a pottery urn near the corner of the wall.
We took a quick look. The inscription on the memorial tablet was in Japanese script, which we couldn't recognize. The talismans scattered on the ground were somewhat similar to the runes of the Nine Chrysanthemums lineage that we had seen before.
As for the earthenware urn in the corner, when opened, it contained a small skeleton.
"An infant corpse!"
Upon seeing the remains, Li Donglin's face darkened further.
After leaving this room, walk further in and you'll reach the end.
At the end was a large iron gate with inscriptions in Japanese script, which we didn't recognize. However, I recognized one number in the inscription: 8.
"Is Vault Number Eight really here?"
Upon seeing this number, Meng Guizi's eyes gleamed.