Ghost Blowing Lantern II

Lao Yangpi said: "I'm quite old, and I'm very scared. I'm worried about this girl. Alas... I've been a vegetarian all my life. Although I haven't shaved my head in my life, I'm just a hairless monk. Why? All the bad things have happened to us..." He couldn't continue talking in the middle of his words. I knew he probably thought that even if he returned to the pastoral area, he would not be able to account for the heavy losses of cattle, sheep and horses. Lao Yangpi, this old man, had no idea. It's all bitterness. How can I find a way to shirk responsibility for him and Ding Sitian?

While we were talking, the fat man had completely dismantled the brick wall. The remaining wall was made of bricks and cement. I asked the fat man: "Can this iron cover be opened?" The fat man reached out and touched it: "80% It can be pulled open, but there is an iron bolt, but it is not locked or welded."

I pulled the knife out and asked Ding Sitian to illuminate it with a match so that she could see clearly what was behind the iron cover. Seeing that everything was ready, I reached out and patted the fat man on the shoulder. The fat man got the signal and raised his feet. He leaned against the brick wall and used both hands to pull the handle on the edge of the heavy iron door. A heavy "click" sound was heard in the darkness, and a choking breath could be smelled coming from behind the iron lid. When we came out, the smell was nauseating, as unpleasant as it was, like a disgusting and pungent mixture of soot and grease. We quickly blocked our noses.

I listened to the movement and whispered to Ding Sitian: "Go to Liangzi." Ding Sitian immediately struck a match, and the fire lit up. Behind the open iron cover, there was a layer of dark stone bricks more than one meter thick. Further inside is a cylindrical upward shaft, which does not reach the sky or the ground. The inside of the shaft wall is covered with thick black carbide, as if it was formed by years of smoke and fire. I wrapped it with Ding Sitian’s scarf. I held my nose and got in to explore. It was so dark below that I couldn't see the bottom, but there was a small piece of hazy starlight above. It seemed like there was a circular skylight on the top of the building. The shaft was narrow. If I supported the walls of the shaft with my hands and feet, I might be able to get through it. Climb up to the skylight.

I turned around and came out, and Fatty also got in and took a look. Lao Yangpi and Ding Sitian asked me what was behind the iron cover. I said uncertainly: "I think... it's the flue of a big chimney." Lao Yangpi had never seen such a big chimney and was a little unconvinced. I explained to him: "When Fatty Sitian and I were in tandem, we once visited the old revolutionary area to experience the revolutionary spirit. I didn't eat anything for a day. It was past dinner time when we went back, but we had to work on the revolution the next day and we couldn't be hungry at night, so the fat man went and stole a piglet from the fellow villagers' pigsty. I was responsible for holding the piglet and putting it in In the burning brick kiln, I wanted to roast the suckling pig until it was cooked, but I didn't control the heat properly. The temperature inside was too high, and the fat little pig was roasted. Later, the fellow villagers came to arrest us. We retreated as the enemy advanced and retreated into the abandoned brick kiln chimney of the brick kiln factory until dawn, thus escaping being held accountable by the revolutionary masses for stealing the socialist piglet."

It was that experience that gave us a very profound and intuitive understanding of chimneys. We will never forget it in our lives. I just wiped a handful of it into the flue behind the iron cover with my hand, and it was filled with soot. After another twist, it became sticky. It's greasy, like oil fumes. There must be a kiln or furnace under the flue. It hasn't been used for so long, why is it still so greasy? Plus there’s that disgusting smell…

An ominous thought emerged in my mind. This was a crematorium used for cremation. Even if it didn't burn people, it had at least burned a large number of animals. It was the grease brought into the flue by the high temperature and thick smoke, which cooled and solidified. It was down, so even after a long time, the thick grease has not disappeared. The iron cover behind the brick wall on the second floor does not look like a furnace, but a channel used to clear the flue to prevent clogging. It is only a crematorium. Old-fashioned incinerators only need this kind of facility, because the grease in the flue must be removed manually. I heard that after the German Nazis used gas chambers to massacre Jewish people, they would use crematoriums to dispose of corpses. Did the Japanese do the same? Introduced this kind of German equipment to destroy corpses and eliminate traces? The main thing is that we don't understand. If this is really a big chimney, why does it need to be so tightly disguised and sealed? I'm afraid it's not just as simple as deceiving others.

When I thought that it might be a crematorium where countless corpses had been burned, I almost vomited out all the roasted gizzards I had eaten in the middle of the night. I quickly wiped the black grease on my hands from my clothes. But if I wanted to escape, I had to Someone must climb up the flue of the crematorium, but matches cannot be used to illuminate the process, lest the smoke ignites the remaining combustibles in the flue and burn oneself. Another way is to go to the basement in the dark, but there should be a large iron stove there. , there may not be an exit, and it is not realistic to go to the basement with just a few remaining matches.

As soon as I told my companions about this plan, the fat man immediately objected: "No, this is definitely putschism. I said, Lao Hu, this is going to be very difficult. Although we have to get out of this chimney sooner or later, we can't burn it." The feeling of becoming smoke is so different from climbing up alive. This is not for living people at all. Besides, there is such a thick layer of grease on the flue. It will definitely be slippery when you climb up. You may think it doesn't matter, but the big deal I wouldn’t feel embarrassed if I fell into the stove and died and became crippled. But if the upper part was narrow and got me stuck in it, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable if I couldn’t get up and get down and was suffocated to death? Such a cowardly thing. I can't accept this way of death. I'm afraid there is no such precedent in the world since ancient times, and I don't want to break this world record."

I said: "We have mirrors for myopia - we must solve the current problem. There is no other way now. This is not my personal heroism. I think the only way to take this matter now is to take a chance. You are just waiting for me here." I climbed out single-handedly, and then managed to open the iron gate from the outside to let you out. If you fall... then it will be considered as me taking the first step, and we will see you in the next life."

Ding Sitian grabbed my arm and urged me: "Don't go. Is it possible to climb on the chimney of the crematorium? Even if you don't fall to death, you can choke to death from the soot and oil fumes inside. Let's go somewhere else." Find a way."

I was also relying on the fierceness of a moment of bloody courage. I was afraid that if I hesitated for a moment, I would not dare to risk climbing that flue again. A strong man needs nine points of ruthlessness, and a strong horse needs eighteen lashes. You cannot let your ears soften at a critical moment. The chain fell off, so I ignored Ding Sitian's dissuasion and got into the flue behind the iron cover again. I covered my mouth with a scarf and looked up at the chimney mouth. From me to the exit, there was only It was only one and a half floors away, which was not very far. In addition, I was relatively confident in my ability to climb stairs, so I gritted my teeth and leaned into the flue.

(To be continued. If you want to know what happened, please log in. There are more chapters. Support the author and genuine reading!)