Uncle Lai's eyes and expression clearly told me that after insisting on asking about my father, I may have been under tremendous psychological pressure. The father in everyone's mind is their childhood idol and the one they hold in their heart.
A hero, if one day his image completely collapses for some reason, many people may not be able to accept it.
"Uncle Lai, go ahead, I'm listening." I don't want to back down. We've reached this point, so what else can we do? The letter my dad left for me is getting heavier and heavier, and I can't breathe anymore.
I'm angry. If I didn't know the inside story at all, maybe it would be okay, but once I learn the clues, my character is destined to be intolerable.
"Everyone will do something wrong." Uncle Lai reached out to me for a cigarette again. I could see that he had a very personal and subjective point of view when telling these past events: "Our ancestors left a saying
, He did evil unintentionally, and even though he was evil, he was not punished. You have to remember that your father did not intentionally make this mistake."
Xihaihe was destined to become a point in my father's life that could not be forgotten or erased. However, he had already demobilized and became an ordinary citizen, and the previous Xihaihe had been completely destroyed. There should be no recurrence between him and this place.
What an intersection.
However, changes in life are unpredictable and no one can predict it. After my father was demobilized, he got another opportunity to get close to the Xihai River. The unit he worked for at that time organized a survey. The main task was to find a place near the Xihai River.
Looking for chromite.
"The target location is said to be near the Xihai River. In fact, there is at least a hundred kilometers between them." Uncle Lai said: "The engineering unit your father was in back then had a very tight seal on the situation in the Xihai River. No one knew about it.
"
After the destruction of the Xihai River, it gradually returned to its former desolation. The geological team conducted an investigation at the target site for about five days. The preliminary investigation results showed that the ferrochromium content here was very low and there was no development value.
At that time, maybe everyone in the team focused most of their energy on work. Only Uncle Lai, who was closest to my dad, noticed something unusual about him. In Uncle Lai’s mind, my dad was a very steady and serious person.
However, when the team marched to the target location, my dad's behavior became abnormal and his mood was very unstable. He often sat outside alone late at night in a daze. Uncle Lai asked, but my dad hesitated to speak.
After the mission was over, the team planned to return. At this time, my dad might not be able to bear it any longer. He told others that there was a place with beautiful scenery nearby that he could drop by to see. Everyone in the team was very curious.
They were geologist and had traveled to many places. I couldn’t imagine what beautiful scenery there would be in such a desert. The team at that time were all young and strong people. After listening to my father’s encouragement, they became more interested.
, immediately changed the original return route and moved closer to the Xihai River.
This is the first and last time that Uncle Lai enters the Xihai River in his life.
Although Xihai River has the word "sea" and "river" in it, it has nothing to do with any water source, nor does it have anything to do with the beautiful scenery. My dad has stayed here for four years and is very familiar with it. When he led people into the
When building the Xihaihe Project Base, others were unaware of it, but he was the only one who knew it in his heart.
They had already walked a hundred kilometers, and some people began to doubt, because if they walked another hundred kilometers at this rate, there would be no good scenery to see. They discussed it and decided to switch to the original route tomorrow.
.
When we were camping that day, the wind started to pick up. When it got dark, the wind was already very strong. The strong wind covered the patches of sand, which made people unable to open their eyes. The safe tents were blown up from the ground. The team was in chaos.
After a while, after everyone gathered together, Uncle Lai discovered that my dad was missing.
No matter what we said about the team back then, one thing is undoubted. They cared about each other very much. If there was someone missing in the team, they had to find it no matter what. Although the strong wind made it almost impossible for the person to stand, the team was still divided into two parts.
, they split up and looked in two directions from the campsite. They didn't dare to spread the people too thinly. Uncle Lai took four people, and the other took three people.
"I didn't know anything at the time. I just wanted to find someone. As I walked, I might have walked into the real site of the Xihaihe engineering base."
The wind was getting stronger and stronger. If they continued walking, Uncle Lai and the others would encounter irresistible danger. They discussed it and wanted to find a place to take shelter from the wind temporarily, and then continue looking. When looking for a shelter from the wind, Uncle Lai first
Realizing that this place was abnormal, he saw some fragments of buildings scattered in the sand, and found obvious traces of excavation in a deep nest of sand.
The traces of the excavation were very new, and they were obviously left not long ago. The situation was very urgent at that time, and there was no other way to think of. Uncle Lai was worried about my father, so he took the lead to get inside under the pretext of going in for shelter.
When Uncle Lai and the others entered, they were shocked. Although the entire Xihaihe Project Base was completely destroyed, the scale of the buildings and the traces left after the destruction could not be removed. It was a huge underground project, but there were many
The passages into the depths of the project have been blown up, making it impossible to go in. If you force your way in, you will need time to find the way and clear the obstacles. More importantly, the main structure of this project is quite complex, especially when it is being used.
After the destruction, people who are not familiar with it are likely to get lost among the ruins.
"None of the four of them intend to go deeper, do you know why?" At this point, Uncle Lai started to interrupt again.
"Why?"
"Because of intuition." Uncle Lai pointed to his head: "Everyone's intuition is different, but here in Xihai River, when the five of us entered the ruined project site, we had a very strong intuition at almost the same time. It was huge.
The underground project is like a cage, trying to trap something."
It is impossible for Uncle Lai and others to know the specific situation of Xihai River, but their intuitions are surprisingly similar. They feel that something exists deep in the underground project. Once this thing breaks out, everyone will die.
It was decided. Their intuition made them fearful.
Only Uncle Lai, when the other four were hesitant, decided to go deeper. Uncle Lai was very careful, and he keenly discovered several iconic symbols. The symbol is very simple, it is a crossed cross.
, which was carved just now.
Uncle Lai judged that this was a symbol deliberately left by someone. The function of the symbol is to remember the way forward. Because the underground project is very complicated, people entering are afraid of getting lost, so they keep leaving such symbols along the way. If you go
If you can't walk further in the depths, you can still follow these symbols to return to the starting point.
Who would carve symbols in a place like Xihai River that is so remote that there is no life? Uncle Lai’s mind immediately flashed the figure of my father. Moreover, Uncle Lai endured it and did not tell anyone else about the symbols. He felt that my father was secretly
He must have his own reasons for leaving the team alone.
Uncle Lai began to persuade the other four people. People at that time did not need too much education, because everyone had a sense of honor, disgrace, and mission. Uncle Lai was also very talkative. After what he said, the four people were ashamed and they believed it.
According to Uncle Lai, I believe that my father entered here due to some unexpected reasons and entered the depths, so he must find it back.
Uncle Lai led the way. He knew nothing about this place, or the Xihai River Project. His basis was the signs that kept appearing in front of him to mark the way. Following these signs, the five people gradually walked into the depths of the underground project.
.Because the entire project site was bombed to a mess, Uncle Lai didn’t have much impression of the general outline of the project.
The entire project went deeper into the ground one by one. It was as if Uncle Lai and the others were walking on a winding mountain road that spiraled downwards. By this time, the outline of the underground project became clear, because no amount of explosives could possibly destroy such a huge project.
It was completely blown beyond recognition. Those people only blew up key components and areas, causing the entire engineering base to be completely paralyzed.
“Do you know what the Xihai River Project is about?”
"Uncle Lai, please, you know that I can't answer these questions, but you still keep asking them. I have never liked people who deliberately trample on my IQ."
"If you have relevant common sense or experience, at first glance, you will think that the Xihai River Project is like mining." Uncle Lai stretched out a finger and shook it gently: "But that's not the case, absolutely not."