The cave was enormous. It turned out to be a tunnel that sloped gently downward. At the far end, the road curved around in a U-turn; it looked like it turned there and led beneath the reservoir.
But Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei didn't need to go that way. That tunnel was probably meant for vehicles.
Right beside the tunnel entrance, a staircase descended, with a turn in it. It was only twenty or thirty steps down.
That was for people on foot.
The cave was pitch-black. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei could only see thanks to the light shining from the Mechanical Dog's eyes.
They didn't hurry down the stairs, instead lingering at the entrance for a long time.
For one thing, they carried all the loose stones outside into the cave and wiped away every trace on the ground, to keep anyone from following them in.
For another, they wanted to observe the interior and see whether this old shelter was still suitable for people to enter.
The shelter had been built underwater, so the requirements for ventilation, pressure resistance, and other factors must have been very demanding.
After all these years, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei weren't sure whether it was safe for people to go inside or whether they would still be able to breathe.
Lu Xi'an instructed the Mechanical Dog to give them a warning, then carefully blocked the outermost part of the opening they'd made with stones. Only after confirming everything was all right did he relax.
Now, no one would discover the entrance they'd dug, and they could easily break their way out if they needed to. They wouldn't have to worry about anyone finding and following them inside.
They'd been working in the cave for so long without any ill effects, so things should be fine.
They went down the stairs and paused again to see how they felt.
Their breathing was still unaffected. The area below was intact, and the passage continued without any signs of collapse.
At last, the two of them felt completely reassured.
There was a walkway in the tunnel below, so they only had to follow the Mechanical Dog's light along it.
The tunnel wasn't very long. After walking for a while, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei came to a lowered roller shutter. There was also a metal door on the walkway.
The metal door had an electronic lock, but after so many years, its battery had run out. The lock cylinder could only be removed from the inside, so they couldn't supply power to it. The Mechanical Dog couldn't do anything about it either.
Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had no choice but to try to open the roller shutter.
Fortunately, they were both incredibly strong. Working together, they managed to lift it.
They crawled underneath. When they let go, the heavy shutter crashed to the ground with a BOOM, and the impact shuddered through the floor. The two of them worried that it might cause a collapse.
Fortunately, the shelter's interior was sturdy. The previous collapse had only affected the outside.
There had simply been too many huge rocks outside. The people who'd remained back then probably lacked the necessary tools, and they hadn't had a Mechanical Dog to help find the weak points in the collapsed area. They'd been powerless to do anything.
And so this underground shelter had remained sealed until today. Only after Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei arrived had it finally seen daylight again.
Was there anyone inside?
Lu Xi'an wondered as he followed the Mechanical Dog in with Yao Wei.
Behind the roller shutter was a parking garage, completely empty—not a single vehicle in sight.
Lu Xi'an felt a little disappointed. If they'd found a car here, he wouldn't have had to keep clinging to Yao Wei.
He and Yao Wei followed the Mechanical Dog across the parking garage and came to a small elevator lobby. The elevator had no power, and even if it had, they wouldn't have dared to use it.
Fortunately, there was another staircase behind the elevator lobby, leading down.
At the stairs, Lu Xi'an picked up the Mechanical Dog for convenience, holding it like a flashlight.
The Mechanical Dog's eyes shone brightly, lighting the way down for Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei.
The stairs spiraled down several times before they finally reached the actual underground shelter.
The shelter had an electronic lock, but fortunately, it was open.
Lu Xi'an told the Mechanical Dog to turn off its lights and sent it in to scout the area, checking for danger.
Of course, while the Mechanical Dog searched, he and Yao Wei stood at the entrance with their guns, providing cover.
Inside was empty and pitch-black, eerily cold and silent, like a morgue. The slightest sound came through with perfect clarity, as if amplified through a loudspeaker right beside them.
Even the Mechanical Dog's wheels sounded incredibly loud as it moved.
The sound of the wheels seemed to echo, or maybe it didn't.
After a long while, a light finally appeared, bright enough to sting their eyes.
Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had to squint, but at least they relaxed a little, now able to confirm the place was safe.
"Mechanical Dog, come here."
Lu Xi'an called the Mechanical Dog back. Then, guided by its light, they began to explore.
The first thing they saw upon entering the shelter was a large open space supported by several pillars. It looked like somewhere people would gather or eat. The tables and chairs were in disarray, some already overturned.
A television hung on the wall, long since covered in dust. They had no idea whether it would still turn on.
Beyond the open space was a row of rooms. Some doors were open, others closed, and the furnishings inside were very simple—
Each room had two bunk beds on either side, with a table in the middle. Cabinets against the outer ends of the beds filled the rooms.
They looked like dormitories, each able to accommodate eight people.
But it seemed no one had ever moved in. They were empty, the beds neatly made and all the cabinets left open.
Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei went into the rooms one by one and checked the desk drawers. Those were empty too.
"If there are enough supplies and the water, electricity, and sewage systems work, this place could be somewhere to stay," Lu Xi'an said.
But Yao Wei remained silent. She just kept checking the rooms one by one.
Around the middle of the shelter, they found a bathroom.
They went in to take a look. The sewage system still seemed to work, but once they used the water, they wouldn't be able to pump in fresh water to replace it.
The water that had been stored there for who knew how long smelled moldy and foul.
When they turned on the row of faucets, no water came out. The shelter was right beneath the reservoir, with an abundant water source nearby, yet the water supply was broken.
Lu Xi'an sighed.
But Yao Wei said, "It's broken."
Perhaps it was his imagination, but Lu Xi'an felt that Yao Wei's tone concealed the slightest hint of happiness. She was keeping it so carefully suppressed that it was hard to tell.
"Yeah. It's broken."
They left the bathroom and continued on. There was another row of dormitories on the other side, empty and unoccupied.
But when they reached the very end, Lu Xi'an saw a skeleton lying on one of the beds near the back of a dormitory.
The sheet beneath it seemed to have been stained with blood. It was now black-red and stiff, an unpleasant sight.
A fruit knife lay on the floor beside the bed. There was blood on the blade, long since dried and brittle, with cracks running through it.
"Looks like he killed himself," Lu Xi'an said.
Yao Wei nodded.
Had he taken his own life out of despair because the exit was blocked and the shelter was empty?
Or had something else happened?
Whatever the truth, the past no longer mattered. Neither Lu Xi'an nor Yao Wei felt like guessing at what had happened.
In that dormitory with the dead man, they found quite a few things: clothes, chocolate wrappers, a bowl of Instant Noodles with dried, hardened broth, and packaging from other foods.
These things were enough to confirm one thing—
There really were supplies in this shelter!
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