They had been running for over ten minutes when the gap between the canyon walls began to narrow. At first, four people could easily run side by side, but now they could only pass through one at a time. This immediately slowed everyone down, and the beetles behind them drew closer and closer.
Just as everyone was growing increasingly anxious, Jia Zhuangyuan, who had been leading the group, suddenly came to a halt. The group immediately bunched together, and Jia gasped loudly, “Damn it! There’s no way forward—it’s a dead end!”
A wave of despair washed over everyone. On both sides rose towering cliffs, behind them loomed the eerie, monstrous beetles, and now there was no escape ahead either—they had truly reached a dead end.
As the swarm of white beetles drew near, nearly reaching Fan Debiao at the rear, he suddenly roared in desperation, “Come on then! I’ll take you all on!” Immediately afterward, the deafening roar of a submachine gun rang in everyone’s ears.
Liu Dashao, frustrated and anxious, slammed his fist furiously against the nearby cliff wall. Unexpectedly, the wall gave way, revealing a large hole punched through the rock. Darkness poured from within, accompanied by a damp, icy chill. Stunned at first, Liu quickly realized what had happened and, overcome with excitement, began kicking and punching at the edges of the hole until it was large enough for a person to crouch and crawl through.
Liu immediately shouted to the others, “There’s a cave here! Hurry and get inside!” With that, he grabbed his flashlight and was the first to duck into the opening.
Inside the cave, Liu Dashao heard the sound of rushing water not far ahead. It seemed like an underground river. He quickly ran toward the sound, soon hearing footsteps behind him—everyone was following him into the cave.
The cave appeared enormous, his flashlight beam unable to illuminate its edges. He kept running toward the sound of the water, thinking to himself that if the beetles followed them in, they could all jump into the river. Surely those insects wouldn’t dare follow them into the water.
In the distance, he could already hear the buzzing of the beetles’ wings. They had indeed followed them in.
Liu Dashao was worried about Fan Debiao. When they were still outside, the beetles had nearly reached him. But judging from how quickly the insects had followed them into the cave, Fan must have made it safely.
Liu’s flashlight finally illuminated the rushing water ahead—an underground river, just as he suspected. Without hesitation, he turned and shouted, “Everyone, jump into the river!” With that, he dove headfirst into the icy water.
Seeing him leap, the others followed one by one, like frogs jumping into the water. Poor Fan Debiao, though spared from being roasted by the beetles, suddenly realized he couldn’t swim as his body slowly sank. But climbing back out now would be suicide. Holding his breath, he silently cursed his luck and hoped someone would come to his aid.
Suddenly, he felt someone swim swiftly toward him, grab his arm, and pull him upward.
With a splash, Fan and his rescuer broke the surface. Looking over, Fan saw it was Liu Dashao. Liu had kept his composure and, upon hearing Fan’s struggle underwater, had quickly pinpointed his location by sound.
Just as Fan was about to say something, a buzzing sound came from above. The two quickly took a deep breath and dove back under the water. Underneath, Liu made a hand signal and pulled Fan upstream.
When Fan felt he could no longer hold his breath, Liu, as if sensing his distress, yanked him upward. They broke the surface again. This time, the buzzing of the beetles was gone. All around was pitch black—Liu had lost his flashlight when he jumped in, and Fan hadn’t had one to begin with. The two swam slowly toward the riverbank by instinct and climbed onto a rock.
Gasping for breath, Fan whispered, “Dashao, I saw Jia and the others swimming upstream underwater. Maybe we should keep going forward and try to find them.”
Liu nodded. “Let’s hope they’re not far ahead.”
The two began walking cautiously along the riverbank, feeling their way forward. The riverbanks were littered with rocks of all sizes, and in the pitch-black darkness without any light, progress was extremely difficult.
After walking for a while, they suddenly heard faint voices ahead—though they couldn’t see anyone, it might have been a bend in the river. Liu guessed it was likely Jia Zhuangyuan and the others.
Just as he was about to call out, a sudden voice shouted in English: “Help!” The word meant “save me” in English. Liu’s heart sank. It seemed Jia’s earlier concerns were justified—the foreigners hadn’t given up their mission.
Liu quickly pulled Fan behind a large rock.
The person crying for help began screaming in agony. Then, suddenly, a burst of fire lit up the area ahead. Liu saw clearly now—a man engulfed in flames staggered out from around the river bend, seemingly trying to jump into the river.
Sure enough, with a loud splash, the flames were extinguished. Moments later, they heard rapid footsteps and then a series of splashes as many people jumped into the water.
Liu inwardly cursed. It seemed the foreigners were also being pursued by the insects. He quickly pulled Fan toward the riverbank. Just as they stepped into the water, countless white lights emerged from the bend in the cliff, and the buzzing sound grew louder.
Liu and Fan submerged themselves in the water, leaving only their heads above the surface, watching the beetles nervously. Fortunately, the insects seemed not to notice them and only hovered above where the foreigners had jumped in.
Liu silently hoped the beetles would leave quickly, but also secretly wished they would burn every last foreigner to ashes, eliminating any future conflict. After all, with only the two of them, it would be difficult to fight against the foreigners.
Then, something shocking happened. The white beetles began to gather in greater numbers. Within five minutes, hundreds of them had appeared from nowhere, forming a massive white sphere in the air—like a strange ball of fire—that suddenly dove toward the spot where the mercenaries had entered the river.
A tremendous explosion echoed across the river, water sprayed high into the air, and steam rose. The beetles must have been extremely hot, and the combined heat of hundreds must have been unimaginable.
But the attack seemed ineffective. The foreigners underwater had likely already swum far away. After the explosion, there was no movement. Worse, many of the beetles had been lost in the blast, their numbers visibly reduced.
Liu felt a mix of relief and concern. On one hand, he was glad to see the beetles had a weakness—water, just like before. On the other, he worried the foreigners had also swum upstream, meaning he and Fan would inevitably face them again later.
Eventually, the beetles seemed to sense their prey had escaped. They flew back around the bend and disappeared from sight, leaving Liu and Fan once again in total darkness.
Fan whispered, “What do we do now, Dashao?”
Liu thought for a moment before replying, “Let’s wait a bit. Wait until the beetles are far away and see if the mercenaries come back up. If we go out now, we risk running into either the insects or the mercenaries—and we won’t stand a chance.”
Fan nodded. The two silently climbed back onto the bank and hid behind the same large rock as before.
After about ten minutes, aside from the sound of rushing water, there was no other noise. The mercenaries must have moved on, and the beetles had likely flown elsewhere. Liu and Fan cautiously emerged from their hiding spot and slowly began moving forward.
In the pitch-black space, Liu and Fan were like blind men. Fortunately, the earlier appearance of the beetles and mercenaries had at least given them a sense of direction—toward the protruding cliff wall.
After a long struggle, they finally reached the spot. Liu stopped, thinking: should they continue forward or turn toward the direction the beetles had flown? He hesitated, unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared. Liu looked up in horror—those white beetles were flying back the same way they had come. His heart pounded. He quickly grabbed Fan and sprinted upstream.
In the darkness, the uneven ground tripped them countless times. Their legs and arms burned with pain—bruised and scraped in many places.
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