Gao Ming did not leave. As he continued caring for her, he grew increasingly familiar with the Black Pit, and everything here began to feel more and more real.
His hearing and sight had still not returned, but his heart felt much brighter. Even though he could neither hear nor see, he no longer felt afraid.
The familiar stench grew stronger. Her hands gripped Gao Ming weakly. She lay in bed, unable to get up, and needed him to do everything for her.
Putting everything else aside, Gao Ming only wanted to accompany her through the final stretch of her life. But he gradually noticed that many things in the room had been moved, and the woven bamboo mats had been stolen.
Besides him and the gravely ill woman, there were other people in the cellar.
Keeping his guard up, Gao Ming finally caught a child's arm, only to be pushed down by the group of children.
"Are the village children causing trouble?"
Gao Ming wanted to chase them. He ran some distance by feel, then slammed his head into the cellar's stone wall.
He was now very close to the exit. It seemed he could leave simply by climbing up.
The increasingly distinct sound of rain in the distance and the faint glimmer in the darkness both seemed to lure him out of the cellar.
For an ordinary person trapped in soundless darkness, seeing an exit and finding hope was like a traveler who had gone thirsty for two days in the desert finally discovering a stream.
His feet shifted forward involuntarily, but just then, Gao Ming caught a scorched, foul smell.
Something seemed to be burning behind him. Thick smoke was spreading!
"The cellar is behind me. The person who saved me is still inside."
A new choice