So Qin Bukong and I walked separately and roughly measured the area. I went from south to north and he went from north to south. It would take us close to two hours. If you find it, don't go down alone and come back here in two hours to meet up.
The road that passes through the iron gate runs east-west, which means that there are alleys only in the north-south direction. Regardless of whether Songzi entered the sewer from a certain location in the alley, at least it is less likely to be detected in these places. Discover. I don't know if Qin Bukong was lazy, but I really searched for them one by one seriously. Every time I found one, I had to carefully distinguish whether the dirt on the edge of the kiln manhole cover had been deposited for a long time or if it had just been lifted up. , and even stepped on it with his feet to see if it was loose.
Most kiln shaft covers will have two long oval holes evenly distributed. When maintenance workers need to clear a pipe, they will use two T-shaped crowbars to reach in, and then they can flip up the manhole cover with a slight twist. However, the manhole covers in some places are not specifically used for people to enter and exit, so they are locked from the inside. This is easy to distinguish because there are words and patterns on the manhole covers. If the patterns on the edges and parts outside the manhole covers can be If they are consistent, it means that the cover has basically never been turned up, and naturally it cannot be the place where pine nuts choose to enter.
After two hours, I had found four or five manhole covers that had no dirt on the edges and could be easily stepped on to loosen them. When we met Qin Bukong, we talked to each other about the situation and found that we had found six in total. There are seven such manhole covers, and these manhole covers can be turned over and drilled down, so we decided to find the manhole cover closest to the iron gate and go down.
It was almost noon, and there were a lot of pedestrians on the street, and they probably all went home to eat. Qin Bukong, a hard-nosed man like me, actually asked me to treat him to a meal in the supply and marketing cooperative's cafeteria. I laughed at him. He was considered a senior after all. Wouldn't it be embarrassing to ask a junior to treat me to a meal when he was out of town? Qin Bukong didn't seem to mind this shameful behavior. He put large pieces of vegetables into his mouth and said nonchalantly, "What's the matter? I'm your senior. Treating me to dinner is called respecting the elderly. You are my apprentice. You Inviting me to dinner is called respecting the teacher.
So I spent time silently, just because I didn't want to continue arguing with him, lest it get involved in this deformed master-disciple relationship that I least wanted to face, but had to admit. If the discussion continues, everyone will be dissatisfied with each other and feel unhappy.
After lunch, we chose a place closest to Tiemenguan based on the manhole covers we found. This manhole cover is located only about 20 meters away from the iron gate in a straight line, in a small alley back from the street. Many residential houses in Wuhan are being built on both sides of a narrow alley, and Qin Bukong's home is like this. So we know that as long as we move quickly enough, we can still avoid being discovered, otherwise we may be regarded as thieves who stole manhole covers. In our era, the crime of stealing was very serious. The key is that everyone is relatively radical. Even if you are not stealing a manhole cover, once others suspect you, they will report and arrest you first, and then study the right and wrong. So this is a sad era, and it is precisely because of this era that those of us who survive in the cracks are more tenacious than others if we survive.
There was no crowbar, so we bought one specially. Probably Songzi also bought other tools here a few days ago. Qin Bukong and I hid the crowbar and brought it to the manhole cover. The alley was straight and some distance away from the road. When we saw that there was no one around, I immediately used all my strength to pull the manhole cover. It was turned over, revealing a gap. Then he moved it on the ground for more than a foot until the space was enough for Qin Bukong and I to enter and exit. I asked Qin Bukong to go down first so that I could close the manhole cover later, but Qin Bukong said there was no rush and he wanted to let the dirty air inside dissipate. So we stood on the edge and waited for about two or three minutes. Fortunately, no pedestrians passed by during this period. Then Qin Bukong grabbed the escalator beside the well and slid down. I followed and entered, with my head under the mouth of the well. Finally, I poked the hole in the manhole cover with a crowbar and dragged the cover back into place.
There was, how should I say it, a very strange smell in the sewer. Although it wasn't the kind of stench that would make you gag if you smell it, it was really unpleasant. The place we were stepping on was actually a buffered step, and there was only some sewage flowing in along the manhole cover under our feet. This sewage came from the accumulated water in the alley we entered previously. What really made me find it unbearable was when we went down to the second staircase. Below, there was really all kinds of filth in this city.
Domestic garbage accumulated over the years, as well as excrement and water, all kinds of unpleasant smells are mixed together, making people extremely uncomfortable. The sewer is not what I imagined at first. I always thought it was a round pipe at the bottom, but it is actually in the shape of a square top and a semicircle bottom. All kinds of sewage accumulates in the semi-circular groove. Although we don't have to step in the excrement water, there is a small narrow step specially built for people to walk on the side. Presumably for the workers who maintain the pipelines.
Qin Bukong and I held back the stench and covered our mouths with our sleeves from time to time. I began to wonder if I had offended some deity and punished me to come here to suffer. When he was upset, he was about to light a cigarette, but was immediately stopped by Qin Bukong. Did he say you don't want your life? What do you think the stench in here is? It is a gas emitted after various kinds of dirt decay. It is biogas and has a very low ignition point. What if it explodes when you light it? The pine nut was not rescued, but it cost us two lives.
Although I know Qin Bukong's words are a bit exaggerated. If the methane here reaches the level of explosiveness, if we come down and take a few breaths, we will probably die. But I didn’t argue too much with him, and I didn’t smoke if I didn’t want to smoke, so I put the cigarette back into the cigarette case.
We calculated the direction and started walking towards the iron gate. As we walked, we shined a flashlight on the ground to see if there were any recent footprints. If so, maybe they were pine nuts. of. The water flow in the sewer is often like opening a sluice, suddenly getting larger and smaller, and every ten or so steps, you can see one or two rats suddenly escaping out. In a closed environment like this, speaking softly will have a strong echo. While resisting the unpleasant smell, we were wary of rats that suddenly ran out, and searched for traces on the ground.
I walked like this for more than ten minutes. Because the speed was very slow, it didn't take much time. We came to an intersection, which was where two or three pipes met. We started to wonder which direction to go. At this moment, Qin Bukong saw a nail on the wall on the steps opposite us. Tie with red cotton thread.
So I, Qin Bukong, tried my best to cross over without touching the sewage. On the steps under the nails, I found some footprints. The footprints were very new, as if they had been left recently. Qin Bukong reached out and touched the nails on the wall. There was no trace of rust, and the red cotton thread was also clean. Qin Bukong turned to me and said that this should be what Songzi left behind. He probably left the road sign deliberately because he was afraid of getting lost. I looked around and said, which direction should we go?
The place we are at happens to be at a corner, and the footprints on the ground are facing in one direction. This means that if these things are left behind by pine nuts, then he should be in the direction where the footprints follow. But the opposite direction was the direction he came in. Maybe there was something left on the previously dry buffer steps. If we check it out, we may be able to more accurately determine whether it is pine nuts or not.
Qin Bukong rarely accepted my opinion. He said that you should go back and have a look. I will wait for you here. So I started walking in the opposite direction, faster this time, tracing the footprints on the ground as I walked. Following the footprints, I quickly reached the buffer step. I climbed up and took a look and found a coat thrown on the ground. It was probably because Songzi felt that it was inconvenient to take off because he had worn too many clothes. This coat was also the one he was wearing on the night he disappeared.
Now I was absolutely sure that Songzi had been here, so after cursing in my mind for a while, I tied his coat to the shoulder strap of my satchel. I went back the way I came to find Qin Bukong. After explaining the situation, we continued searching in the direction of the footprints.
We walked like this for half an hour, because the pipeline is not a straight line, but has twists and turns. The straight line is more than ten or twenty meters away, and there are almost seven or eight turns. It is said that this is for flood discharge. When the channel is long in a limited space, it can effectively prevent backflow. And at every fork in the road, you will find a nail tied with a red thread. As we walked deeper and deeper, we felt that this road was so far away. The straight-line distance we measured just now was only twenty or thirty meters. We walked for more than half an hour and still didn't find anyone. Qin Bukong told me, remember, we are here to find people, not things, so no matter how far away we are, we will find the person to talk to first.
After roughly finding seven or eight nail road signs, the footprints on the ground suddenly became messy, as if a person had walked back and forth here many times. Not far from these footprints, there is a small gentle slope, which you can climb to a slightly higher small slope. There are no pipes on this soil slope, but it is exposed. Probably because the terrain was relatively high, no pipes were laid here. And on the small mound, I saw another nail tied with a red thread. The mound On a wall perpendicular to the ground, there was a small hole about the size of a manhole cover. At the entrance of the hole were some excavated dirt and a shovel that had fallen to the ground.
I thought to myself that this brat had secretly come to dig something, so Qin Bukong and I walked to the entrance of the cave and looked around. As soon as we brought our heads closer, a stream of slightly warm air slowly hit our faces, accompanied by a breath of air. It smells like rotten eggs. Qin Bukong and I suddenly felt something was wrong and quickly covered our noses. No one dared to get in rashly.
I had a flashlight in my hand, so I shined the flashlight into the cave. It didn't matter, but I saw a woman with messy long hair sleeping in the cave with her head facing the entrance of the cave! And when my beam hit her, she suddenly raised her head expressionlessly. Her long hair covered most of her face. From the gap in her hair, I saw a pale, thin face, and a staring dog. Look into my eyes!
