Chapter 346 - 150: "Air Defense

Chapter 346: Chapter 150: "Air Defense

"Why do I feel a step on the floor? I thought this place was flat."

Du Kang himself was baffled after he said it.

Qingyi asked,

"A step? I don’t get what you mean."

"Well, how do I put this... There’s a really obvious difference in height. What I mean is... where you guys are standing is flat, but a few steps over, there’s a raised platform. That’s what I tripped on."

"How high is it?"

"It’s not that high, about the height of a brick. I actually thought it *was* a brick at first, but the more I felt around, the bigger it seemed to be. I’m not exaggerating, guys," Du Kang shivered, "but I think I’m squatting on this platform right now."

As he spoke, he shone his flashlight into the water, but the beam couldn’t penetrate the murky depths.

Du Kang had no choice but to keep feeling around. As he did, he asked,

"Besides, I clearly walked through this room once already. How did I not notice it? That shouldn’t be possible."

"You stuck to the walls earlier, didn’t you? You never went into the middle of the room," Qingyi pointed out.

"Oh, right, right," Du Kang said, the realization dawning on him. "But why would anyone build a platform in the middle of a room? And... why does this feel like iron? Hiss... It’s pretty big, too."

"Iron?"

Zhang Shutong seized on that keyword. Lost in thought, he instinctively reached for the water.

But Ruoping stopped him.

"Just hold on. You’re already injured. Let Du Kang and Qingyi check it out first."

She didn’t even need to say it. Qingyi had already rolled up his sleeves, raising an eyebrow.

"Finally, something interesting."

Zhang Shutong watched him bend over and dip one hand into the water. After feeling around for a bit, Qingyi started walking, circling Du Kang completely.

"Whoa, man, what are you doing?" Du Kang jumped. "You’re making me feel like some kind of ritual sacrifice."

"You’re wrong."

Qingyi said in a low voice.

"What?"

"I’m saying you’ve had it wrong from the start."

Qingyi straightened up, shaking the muddy water from his hand. He said softly,

"It’s a door."

"A door?"

"Yes, an iron door. It’s a perfect rectangle, and it has a handle."

"Who would just leave an iron door lying around in here?"

"To be precise, it wasn’t left here. This door belongs here." Qingyi tapped a spot with the toe of his shoe. "This part feels like a hinge. You all know what a cellar is, right? They still have them on the island for storing food over the winter."

"But those are usually in the surrounding villages. This is the city." Zhang Shutong was immediately reminded of the basement in their dorm. "Did you feel anything like a keyhole?"

"No, it seems to be a completely smooth door."

"So that means we might be able to open it?"

"We should be able to."

Zhang Shutong walked over to Qingyi. Getting serious now, he crouched down, stuck his hand into the water, and observed for a moment before pulling it back out.

"See? Even though we can’t see the iron door itself, the water is flowing toward it. That means the space underneath isn’t completely sealed; the water is slowly seeping through."

He felt for the handle Qingyi had mentioned and gave it a tug.

"The handle’s pretty wide. One person might not be able to move it."

"My thoughts exactly. Let’s get Du Kang to help."

Qingyi called out. Du Kang, forgetting about the dog for a moment, hurried over to help. Zhang Shutong took a step back. With his arm in a sling, he’d only get in the way if they were all crowded together.

"This is getting stranger and stranger..." Ruoping whispered, standing beside him.

"It was strange to begin with," Zhang Shutong said after a moment’s thought. "Think about it. This building doesn’t even have windows. It’s as if it wasn’t built for people to live in, but solely for the sake of this iron door in the floor."

"Then what’s hidden inside? It can’t really be a place where people used to store food, can it?"

"’I can’t say for sure.’" Zhang Shutong made a quick assessment. ’The place where the mud figures had appeared was a restricted zone. Opening this cellar, at least, shouldn’t cause too much of a mess. Since it’s something we can probably handle, let’s just give it a try and see what happens.’

As they spoke, Qingyi and Du Kang had already gotten into position. They gripped the handle at the same time and exchanged a look.

"Three, two, one!"

The two of them heaved with all their might, veins bulging on their foreheads.

"HNNNNGH—"

With a long, drawn-out groan that sounded like a weary sigh, the iron door lifted a crack.

"Hey, it’s moving! It’s moving!" Du Kang yelled.

The two men pulled back with all their strength. As the door opened wider and wider, approaching a right angle, Zhang Shutong and Ruoping rushed forward to help hold it. He warned,

"Watch your step, everyone! Don’t fall in!"

The four of them, two on each side, struggled to hold the heavy iron door up. In an instant, the muddy water on the floor found its release. All the standing water in the room rushed downward in a GUSHING waterfall. Zhang Shutong had Du Kang and Qingyi carefully switch positions, and then the four of them stood on the same side. With a mighty push—

The iron door crashed to the ground. Muddy water splashed high, drenching their faces and soaking them from head to toe. But no one had time to care about the filth; all eyes were fixed on the opening beneath the door.

The opening was also rectangular. Muddy water from the surrounding floor surged into it, temporarily obscuring the view inside. The little dog scrambled up in a panic, only to be grabbed by the scruff of the neck by Du Kang. No one knew what to say. All they could do was wait. After a few dozen seconds, once the water had finished draining, Zhang Shutong shone his flashlight down and froze.

What lay beneath the iron door wasn’t the cellar Qingyi had guessed at all. He had seen rural cellars before; they were just crude earthen pits dug into the ground, used for storing long-lasting vegetables like cabbage, potatoes, and radishes. You usually needed a ladder to get down into one.

But when he aimed his flashlight into the opening, what came into view was...

A staircase!

It was a concrete staircase, extending straight down into the depths of the earth. Narrow and dark, there was no telling where it led.

’Whatever’s hidden down here is much bigger than I imagined.’ Zhang Shutong was about to take a few steps down the stairs when Qingyi suddenly spoke.

"I think I know what this is. It’s the entrance to an air-raid shelter."

"An air-raid shelter?"

Seeing the looks of sudden realization on the others’ faces, Zhang Shutong figured this was another piece of local history he wasn’t privy to. He listened as Qingyi explained.

"It has to be an air-raid shelter. Shutong, you know our island used to have guerrilla fighters, right?"

Zhang Shutong nodded. That much he knew; it was a piece of history every child on the island grew up with.

In a way, the island was considered an old revolutionary base. Thanks to its natural geographical advantages, it served as an important strategic point during the war. Even now, if you go into the city, you can see the Martyrs’ Memorial Hall built to commemorate them. Our school used to organize trips there.

Qingyi continued,

"One theory is that they were built during the war. Of course, another is that they were civil defense projects from the 1970s, back when relations with the Soviet Union were deteriorating. There was a famous slogan at the time: ’Dig deep tunnels, store abundant grain.’ I never looked into the specifics, but anyway, it’s a sure thing that there are air-raid shelters on the island."

"Do you two remember the air-raid drills from back in the day?"

He was speaking to Du Kang and Ruoping. Qingyi recalled,

"When we were in elementary school, they’d hold air-raid drills, and we’d all have to go hide in the shelters."

"Wait, there was an air-raid shelter under the school?" This was the first Zhang Shutong had ever heard of it.

The island’s elementary and middle schools were right next to each other. He’d attended school here for three years and had, of course, participated in the annual air-raid drills. But all they ever did was run out onto the athletic field and pretend, laughing and joking the whole time. He’d never seen the real deal.

"There used to be. Not anymore," Qingyi said. "It was right under our school’s rubberized track. Of course, back when we were in elementary school, we didn’t have any fancy rubberized track. It was all paved with cinders."

"And then what?"

Qingyi spread his hands.

"But once the new century rolled around, a lot of the shelters became obsolete. Some weren’t properly maintained, so they were filled in or repurposed. It’s not just our town, either. I’ve heard of other places turning their old shelters into tourist spots or underground shopping streets."

Zhang Shutong wasn’t interested in tourist attractions right now. A thought struck him. If the school’s shelter was right under the rubberized track, and there was no rubberized track before he transferred to the school, didn’t that mean...

"Exactly what you’re thinking." Qingyi nodded. "When Gu Qiuyan’s father donated the money for that track, they had to lay a whole new foundation, so they filled in that section of the shelter."

"So it’s a real shame, Shutong," Qingyi was still in the mood to joke. "Your island childhood was technically incomplete."

Zhang Shutong didn’t respond. He just stared at the passage leading underground as theories began to form in his mind. He asked for confirmation,

"So, let’s make an assumption. We’re behind the old hospital, which was built in the last century. It’s highly likely there would be an entrance to an air-raid shelter underneath it. That would mean this house is actually an emergency entrance, which is why it’s been left standing all these years?"

"That’s probably it." Qingyi crossed his arms. "The only question is whether they built a new entrance when the new hospital went up."

"Hey, wait a second. We didn’t just mess something up, did we?" Du Kang started to panic. "If what you’re saying is right, and this shelter might still be in use, didn’t we just flood it by opening the door?"

"No way." Qingyi rolled his eyes at him. "What kind of air-raid shelter would it be if a little rain could flood it? Still, we should go down and take a look. Since it’s a proper military fortification, at least we don’t have to worry about it collapsing."

Then, the three guys all turned to look at Ruoping.

"What do you think?" Zhang Shutong asked. "If you’re scared, we don’t have to do this tonight."

"I’m fine," Ruoping hesitated. "I’m only really scared of... you know, supernatural things that can’t be explained. If there’s a scientific explanation, then I don’t care. Think about it. Even though everything seems weird, the door was opened by a dog, and the old house is here because of the shelter. To put it bluntly, it’s just an old national defense project. What’s so scary about that?"

Zhang Shutong was surprised at how good she was at rationalizing, but then Ruoping’s tone shifted.

"But now I want to go home and change my shoes."

Then she added, conflicted,

"But if we just go back now, I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight. And you guys would definitely give me crap about it the whole way home."

"So what should we do?" Du Kang asked automatically.

"How should I know what to do?" she shot back.

"Ugh, I swear... I must have done something to deserve you three!"

Ruoping never was the type to back down. She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again.

"Let’s go! We’ll do it according to that... that whatever-it’s-called ’power-saving-ism’ thing. Quick trip, in and out!"

"It’s ’energy conservation-ism.’"

"Get lost!"