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墨書 Inktalez
The signal was urgent and precise, a stark contrast to the blinding light that had initially dazzled me. I estimated that the person signaling me was Xiao Ting. Whether she was at school or participating in some archaeological activity, she would have learned and been exposed to these simple signaling techniques.
I believed that they were using this method to convey a message of great urgency, so pressing that they had no time to come and warn me in person. Especially Fatty; if there were a real threat to my life, I was certain he would come rushing to my aid without hesitation. But what kind of danger did this signal indicate? They were only telling me to run—run where? At least I hadn’t detected any imminent danger yet. If I ran in the wrong direction and stumbled right into their peril, then this signal would not be a "Save Me" but rather a death sentence.
Suppressing my anxiety and fear, I mouthed towards the glowing point, "Can you see what I'm saying?"
The light flickered several times: Yes.
"Who are you? Fatty?"
"Yes."
I thought if it was indeed Fatty sending the signal and he was proficient in light language, his response would likely be something like: "Damn it, who else would care about your life besides me?" Followed by a series of expletives that would need censoring.
"Then tell me what the danger is and where we should run!" I could only speak slowly; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to decipher my words. However, he should have seen the anger on my face. His vague warning only served to incite panic and fuel my frustration.
"Northeast." "Quickly." "Danger."
These simple words repeated incessantly forced me to tense up. Trusting Fatty, I decided not to probe further or verify this information. I immediately signaled the two Lao People about the danger and the need to retreat. Then I turned my head towards Fatty's direction and mouthed one last question: "Have you seen Jack? Tell me his condition."
The light signaled back: No.
I didn’t inquire about Ah Xiang and A San’s status; at the moment Ah Xiang aimed his muzzle at me, he was no longer my teammate. My sense of responsibility was excessive, but it wouldn’t extend to indiscriminately caring for friend or foe. I never considered this group of Vietnamese as my friends, and now tensions were running high; why would I concern myself with their fates, especially since I had already decided to withdraw from this operation?
After signaling the two Lao People to follow me, I jumped into the water and headed in the direction indicated by Fatty. The water in the swamp was shallow, but the mud beneath had a strong suction, making each step a significant effort and preventing me from moving quickly.
Not long after, I felt a sharp decline in my stamina. I had been awake for over fifty hours, and while the two Lao People managed to catch some sleep last night, I hadn’t closed my eyes at all. The extreme fear and heightened concentration from the previous night left me unaware of my fatigue. Now, after trudging through the swamp for a while, exhaustion and rising temperatures began to cloud my mind. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold on; I believed that once I reached a dry spot, I would collapse. My energy reserves were nearly depleted.
The two Lao People were faring better than I was, moving faster and urging me to keep up. They didn’t know what dangers lay ahead, but seeing me in such a half-dead state while still pushing forward must have convinced them that whatever threat we faced was deadly.
All methods of stimulating my nerves had become ineffective; even slapping my cheeks only produced a sound without any real pain. The place where Fatty signaled me with light was behind me to the side. When I was still somewhat aware, I would occasionally look back to ensure I was heading in the right direction. However, this state didn’t last long; I gradually stopped trying to contact Fatty and just moved mechanically forward. The direction seemed correct enough.
At one moment, I felt a breeze pass by. This wind was cool, and it brought a bit of clarity back to my mind. When I turned to look at where Fatty had signaled, I realized that it had grown dark. The entire Valley was shrouded in ominous clouds, with surrounding peaks towering above them.
The wind began to stir ominously. Just as this thought crossed my mind, lightning suddenly illuminated the dark clouds. Unlike any lightning I had seen before, this one branched out into multiple forks striking down toward the hills within the Valley as if those hills were countless lightning rods drawing down the electricity from above.
With rolling thunder, the dark sky suddenly unleashed a torrential downpour that felt more like a flood than rain. It was as if the heavens had opened up; no words could adequately describe how violently the water cascaded down.
The water level in the swamp rose rapidly; the icy rain lowered the temperature of the swamp while the water climbed from my knees to my thighs, sending chills throughout my body. My exhaustion did not lessen; instead, it intensified due to the increased difficulty of moving through the rising water. However, the sleepiness and numbness in my nerves received some stimulation, gradually bringing clarity back to my mind. Using the faint light as a guide, I chose the nearest hill and struggled toward it with the two Lao People.
I hadn’t yet seen the danger Fatty warned me about, but an immediate threat was evident before me. I wasn’t sure if I could continue moving through the increasingly heavy rain; let it go to hell in the northeast direction—I urgently needed to find somewhere safe to rest. If this continued, we would drown rather than perish from whatever unknown danger awaited us.
When the water level reached my waist, reaching that visible hill felt like an unattainable luxury. We couldn’t swim our way forward; each of us carried heavy batteries in our backpacks that would drag us down if we submerged.
To lighten our load, I started tossing items out of my backpack—first the batteries, then drinking water and canned food. Seeing what I was doing, both Lao People began opening their bags and discarding things as well. I worried they might throw away everything, making our situation even more perilous; we needed to keep some batteries.
I grabbed their backpacks and personally helped lighten their loads. The batteries we carried were waterproofed for short-term immersion; thus, I left ten high-capacity batteries in each of their bags and discarded everything else. Each person kept only one bottle of water while all canned goods were thrown away—only compact food that could stave off hunger remained.
As soon as the weight of the backpack was reduced, our bodies began to float. At that moment, the water in the swamp had risen to the chest of Lao People, and at this depth, walking on foot would be nearly impossible.
The target was still that hill. Battling against the pouring rain, I remained silent and simply pointed towards the distant hill, swimming towards it first.
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