The collapsed area was not hard to find.
They had not gone far before they spotted a large patch of brown exposed on the mountainside ahead.
It stood out starkly against the slope's blanket of greenery.
It took them half an hour to reach the site of the collapse.
Song Ning had been the one to suggest taking a look.
She still remembered the strange smell she had noticed in the room where the bodies were laid out.
Rot and stench were normal, but the chemical odor mixed in with them had seemed out of place.
She had not thought much of it then, but after Gu Zheng mentioned the geography of this place, she could not help giving it more thought.
Although it was daytime, the dense vegetation on the mountain provided excellent cover.
Only up close did they realize how large the collapse really was-a full two football fields.
They chose the end farthest from the edge of the village and picked their way along the sunken section of the mountainside.
Judging by its appearance, the fracture reached ten to twenty meters into the mountain. There had been no torrential rain or earthquake, and the site did not look like the aftermath of a landslide...
As Song Ning studied the area, Gu Zheng nudged her arm.
"Look over there!"
Song Ning followed the direction he pointed.
Up ahead, where the mountainside had sunk deeper, a small portion of a dark opening seemed to be exposed. Without a close look, they would never have noticed it.
They carefully made their way over.
Gu Zheng was better equipped. He pulled out a small flashlight.
It lit up at the press of a button.
It looked waterproof, too.
He leaned close to the small opening and peered inside.
"There's definitely space