BPIFC -Volume 1 – Chapter 33 Whispers

The company commander and the others were stunned by what they had just witnessed. They had only arrived yesterday to guard the mine entrance and knew very little about what had actually happened below. When their superiors dispatched them here, they had given strict orders: no one was to enter the cave without authorization, and they were to wait for the experts to arrive. No one had imagined that the soldiers assigned to guard the entrance would dare to go down on their own.

Ximen Lian sighed and said to the commander, “There’s methane gas down there. Your men are probably in grave danger.”

“Who are you trying to fool?” the commander snapped. “This is the Gobi Desert—dry all year round. Where would methane come from?”

Pointing at the cave entrance, which was still emitting a foul stench, he continued:

“My hometown uses methane for cooking, and it doesn’t smell anything like this. If you’re not planning to rescue people, then get out of here! Men! Go get the gas masks! If we go down now, there’s still time to save them!”

“Who said methane can’t exist in the Gobi?” Sun Desheng stepped forward. “Do you know how many types of methane there are? Six. Five of them are the wetland types common in places like your hometown. The sixth is a subterranean dry-compressed methane particle type, like what we have here.”

Seeing how anxious the commander was, Sun handed him a prepared business card.

It read:

XX Institute of Chemical Physics Defense
Senior Researcher — Sun Desheng

When Fatty Sun wasn’t acting goofy, he actually looked somewhat like an intellectual. Originally, he was one of the “experts” the commander had been waiting for. After seeing the card, the commander had even less reason to doubt him.

Sun pointed at the gas masks being brought over and continued:

“These are filtration-type gas masks designed for chemical warfare agents. They only filter particles larger than 0.07 microns. I can tell you responsibly that this dry-compressed methane particle type is smaller than 0.05 microns. Until the gas is fully vented, however many people you send down there is how many people you’ll leave down there.”

The commander’s face turned pale.

“Then we’re just not going to rescue them? Watch my soldiers die? No! Absolutely not!”

“Who said we’re not rescuing them?” Sun replied. “Rescuing people requires the right method.”

He pointed toward the cave entrance.

“This kind of subterranean dry-compressed methane is usually stored in compressed pockets. There won’t be too much of it in a single area. Once we vent it out, we can go down and rescue them. The short-term effects on the human body are limited. As long as they’re brought out in time, your men still have a chance.”

Hearing this, the commander suddenly remembered that they had brought industrial ventilation equipment.

He immediately ordered his men to carry over the exhaust fans and begin pumping the “methane” out as quickly as possible.

While the soldiers of Wu Jing’s unit got to work, Che Qianzi walked over and gave Sun Desheng a thumbs-up.

“I never would’ve guessed it. Thought that big belly of yours was filled with nothing but fat. Turns out you’ve got some brains. Learned all that at the Bureau? If you hadn’t said it, I’d never have known methane came in so many varieties.”

“I didn’t know either,” Sun replied, sticking out his tongue.

Then he lowered his voice.

“Six kinds of methane, gas masks filtering particles, all that stuff… I made it up. Totally made it up. The business card’s real, though. If you check the Chemical Physics Institute, my name’s still there. I think I even got promoted again—something like Deputy Director now.”

Che Qianzi froze.

Then he glanced toward the cave entrance.

“What about the people down there…?”

“I already said it. The odds aren’t good.”

Ximen Lian walked over and sighed.

“Great Sage, things down there may be even more complicated than we expected. You’re too valuable. Stay up here and coordinate. Once the Second Division arrives, we’ll go down.”

Sun looked at him in surprise.

“Since when did you become considerate?”

Then he glanced at Che Qianzi, who was nervously watching the soldiers operate the ventilators.

“Let’s wait and see,” Sun said lazily. “None of us are Director Wu. Whatever happens next is anyone’s guess.”

As everyone watched the soldiers work to expel the underground “methane,” a guard brought over three newcomers—two men and one woman.

All three were dressed like scientific researchers.

After learning that Sun Desheng’s group were the specialists sent by higher authorities, they quickly introduced themselves.

The older man was Feng Haiyang, deputy leader of the geological survey team. Because of his age, he had remained above ground to coordinate operations and had escaped the disaster.

The second man was Wang Jiayuan, a bureau chief from the Geological Bureau and the overall leader of the expedition. He had rushed over immediately after the accident to take charge.

The only woman was Li Weiwei, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. Despite her youth, she had been in charge of the rescue operation.

She had stayed behind specifically to coordinate with the Bureau’s personnel.

It was obvious that the failed rescue effort had hit her hard. Even while speaking, she constantly sighed and looked exhausted.

After some polite introductions, Ximen Lian said:

“We’ve already read the basic reports. But we’d like you to think carefully—was there anything left out? Any details that weren’t recorded? We need specifics. Details about what happened inside the cave.”

Feng Haiyang volunteered first.

“Sir, I was among the first group to enter the underground rock layers. Later, I handled coordination between the surface and underground teams. Honestly, it wasn’t much different from any other mine survey I’ve worked on. We were just mapping and collecting samples. Everything went smoothly at first. Nobody expected an accident right at the end.”

His account matched the official reports.

The collapse had occurred just as the survey mission was nearing completion.

Most of the truly strange events happened during the rescue operation.

Many rescue personnel were still undergoing psychological treatment. Li Weiwei herself was only able to remain here because she had taken medication prescribed by a psychologist.

Since Feng Haiyang had nothing new to add, Wang Jiayuan had even less to contribute.

Only Li Weiwei seemed hesitant, as though she was holding something back.

Encouraged by Ximen Lian, she finally spoke.

“I can’t guarantee it was real…”

“When I led the rescue team underground, I heard voices. Hallucinations, maybe. I asked the others afterward, but nobody else heard them.”

She paused.

“It sounded like someone speaking a foreign language. Not English or French. It didn’t sound Russian either, or anything from the Latin language family.”

Her words immediately caught everyone’s attention.

Under further questioning, she continued:

“It felt like someone was lying right on top of me, speaking directly into my ear nonstop. I couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman. But it kept repeating the same sentence over and over.”

She then repeated the phrase she had heard.

However, she couldn’t imitate the peculiar rhythm properly—a strange tone that was half speech and half song.

Ximen Lian immediately asked:

“You could only hear it underground? After you came back up, did you still hear it?”

“No.”

Li Weiwei shook her head.

“Once I came back up, it disappeared. But now that I think about it… the voice seemed urgent down below. The higher I climbed, the slower it became. Once I reached the surface, it was completely gone.”

“The higher you went, the slower it became…”

Ximen Lian exchanged a glance with Xiong Wanyi.

Then, without warning, he recited a string of rapid, harsh-sounding words to Li Weiwei.

Combined with his unusual intonation, it sounded almost like singing.

Li Weiwei’s eyes widened.

“That’s it!”

She pointed at him excitedly.

“That’s the exact tone I heard underground! The words are different, but the melody and rhythm are identical. How do you know that?”

Before Ximen Lian could answer, the company commander came running over.

“It should be fine now. I can’t smell anything anymore. I even tested it with a flame—it wouldn’t ignite.”

Xiong Wanyi nodded.

Walking to the cave entrance, he pulled a talisman from his pocket, lit it, and tossed it inside.

Standing at the edge, he watched the burning paper drift slowly downward.

After a moment, he turned back to Ximen Lian.

“It’s clean. We can go down.”

Then he added:

“No need to wait for those youngsters. Same as always—you and I go down. Sun Fatty, you and your little brother stay up here and provide support.”