Search for the Buried Bomber

CHAPTER 15





The Water Dungeon



We had reached a water dungeon. We'd all seen them before in the structures the Japanese built all across Manchuria. The cages were designed so the water would just cover the bars across the top. The prisoner was thus forced to hoist himself up and stick his nose through the gaps if he wanted to stay alive. In the freezing water of the underground river, prisoners would have had to maintain this posture for several days. If they gave up, they drowned.

Iron cages had been sunk all along the length of the river, creating a dense mass beneath the surface, but unless one looked closely, they were undetectable. Bringing the beams of our flashlights together, we could see dim shapes floating within many of the cages. A shiver ran down my spine. Wang Sichuan told us he'd sometimes heard the older generation talk about these things. They said that when the Japanese sealed you inside, there was more than freezing water and exhaustion in store for you. He was sure that leeches and other things also lurked within the river. We couldn't just jump right in.

Hearing this, our hearts dropped. The deputy squad leader protested that it was too cold for leeches, but Wang Sichuan replied that temperature had nothing to do with it. The Mongolian grasslands were filled with mountain leeches, he said. They would stick to the underside of fallen leaves and come out as soon as it rained. We were well aware of the dangers posed by these creatures. They weren't fatal, but they nonetheless elicited feelings of intense disgust and their bites could sometimes lead to malarial infections. They were one of the principal dangers of prospecting. We pulled our pants and shoelaces tight. Leeches are extremely small before they fill with blood. Even the tiniest crevice is enough of an opening. We lined any tears in our pant legs with gauze. Once our preparations were complete, we inspected each other to make sure we hadn't missed anything. We then entered the water one by one. Lifting his belongings overhead, the deputy squad leader led the way. The rest of us followed behind him, our hands in the air like those of surrendered soldiers.

The rocks beneath our feet were bumpy and uneven. As we continued, the frigid water soon rose to the middle of our chests, soaking through our clothes, stealing our body heat, and causing our teeth to chatter uncontrollably. Wang Sichuan was freezing at the back of the line and pressed us to hurry up, but no matter how much we wanted to quicken our pace, we could go no faster. The combination of the freezing cold and the deep water greatly hindered our progress. It was all we could do to keep moving forward, each step requiring an ever-greater effort.

Two of the engineering corpsmen proved more resistant to the cold. They waded on up ahead, sweeping the beams of their flashlights back and forth across the surface of the water. It wasn't long before we found ourselves amid the iron cages. They were much closer here and their details far clearer. As the corpsmen shined their lights upon the rusted underwater bars, our hearts froze. Hair hung from them in wispy clumps and the outline of twisted limbs slowly rocked beneath the surface.

"Terrible," Wang Sichuan said through chattering teeth. "To drown in a place like this…Even in death these men will not find peace."

"Indeed," added Pei Qing, "and how unexpected, to come across a water dungeon this far below the surface. This was one of the tricks the Japanese used to threaten Chinese laborers. The Japanese must have stayed in these caverns for some time. I bet we'll find some long-term fortifications up ahead."

None of us spoke. At last, Wang Sichuan mumbled, "In any case, anything the Japs liked can't be good."

We continued on in silence. All that could be heard was the swishing of water and the men in front and behind gasping for breath. This section of river wasn't long. Soon enough we'd reached the middle. I was already so cold I couldn't feel my feet. My mind swam through a vague tumult of sensations, the swaying flashlight beams appearing like flowers of light blooming in the darkness. I relied purely on reflex to keep going. Whether or not leeches lurked beneath the surface—I had no strength left to care.

Then the sound of swishing water changed. Someone seemed to have stopped. I squinted ahead into the darkness. It was the deputy squad leader. Shining his flashlight at the water just in front of him, he was leaning forward, searching intensely for something. We asked him what was wrong. When he raised his head, we saw his face was pale. "Something down there just grabbed hold of my foot," he said.

"Don't talk nonsense!" cried Wang Sichuan, but I could see the color drain from his face. To say that kind of thing in a place like this was no laughing matter. A moment before we had been merely trudging along, our minds empty from the cold. Now everyone's energy immediately returned.

"I'm not joking," said the deputy squad leader. "There's definitely something in the water." The deputy squad leader was a serious man not given to making friends. No way would he have waited until this moment to finally tell a joke. We all began scanning the water with our flashlights.

"Could it be a cave fish?" asked Pei Qing. "This same water flows all the way from the top of the cave. There would have to be at least some living in a river of this length."

"You find one and I'll believe you," said Wang Sichuan. Then, in the bright spot lit by our flashlight beams, we saw something very long sweep past, moving fast as lightning.

Everyone gasped. Wang Sichuan was the first to react. Panicking, he turned, splashed over to one of the cages, and climbed on top. The rest of us rushed to copy his example. In a chaos of waving arms and sloshing water, we clambered atop the other cages. Only the deputy squad leader thought to hoist his rifle. The click of a gun being loaded resounded throughout the cave.

We were all soaked to the bone, cumbersome and clumsy under the weight of our dripping clothes. Pei Qing, the smallest in our group, was unable to steady himself. He slumped down heavily onto the cage, his face even paler than usual, and sat staring numbly at the water. Several people began scanning the river with their flashlights, but nothing could be seen. Small waves and concentric ripples covered its surface, the results of our frantic rush to reach the cages a moment ago. What if the shadowy image had been nothing more than an illusion conjured by our nervous minds? No one was brave enough to jump back in and find out.

For a moment we were unsure how to proceed. Then Wang Sichuan spoke up. "Switch off the goddamn flashlights," he said. "Let's get to the far bank. Then you can look all you want." He stood and began sprinting across the cages toward the shore. We watched him run for a moment. Then some nameless terror overtook us. Unable to think for another second, the rest of us took off after him. The cages were packed tight together, the tops of them relatively flat and only a finger's length away from the water's surface. I had just been wondering how the Japanese had managed to stick their prisoners inside. Now I could see they'd simply walked atop the cage tops. If only we had realized this earlier, I thought, there would have been no need to wade through the water. The old saying was true: only when the situation becomes critical does a solution ever appear.

We ran like the wind, all of us terrified of falling behind. Soon we could see the opposite bank. There were no more cages in the final section of river, and we watched as Wang Sichuan reached the edge of the last one. He leaped like a bear into the water. After struggling to the surface, he took a few short steps and climbed onto the bank. The rest of us followed closely behind. Pei Qing was now in the lead. I was the next man behind him. Then, all of a sudden, he was gone. I gasped and sprinted to the spot where he'd disappeared. The water where he fell began to seethe violently, but I couldn't make out what was going on beneath the surface.

My heart skipped a beat. For a moment I hesitated, then my mind went blank and I leaped into the water. I swam over to where the surface was still churning and dove under. Everything was concealed in a dense swirl of bubbles. Somewhere in front of me, two giant shapes appeared locked in violent struggle. My nerves went haywire. I pulled out my dagger and shined my flashlight into the murk.

It was not at all what I had expected. Once my eyes acclimated to the underwater light, I saw no monster awaiting me. It was Pei Qing. Somehow he'd gotten himself trapped inside one of the iron cages. He was a poor swimmer, incapable of opening his eyes underwater, and though he struggled with all his might to free himself, he was far too agitated. His efforts did no more than vainly stir up the water. After Wang Sichuan ran across the cage's severely rusted top bars, they needed no more than the weight of Pei Qing to snap in half. He was skinny enough to fall through the gap that had opened, and once underwater, he panicked. Since he was unwilling or unable to open his eyes, all he could do was knock about from one side of the cage to the other.

I had no idea how severe his water phobia was. Some people can drown in public baths. I swam toward the cage, reached my hand between the bars, and tried to calm him down. As I grabbed hold of him, his entire body erupted in a fit of fright. His feet pedaled violently. He smashed them against the sides of the cage. I swam to the surface, climbed atop the broken cage, and reached my hands into the opening to pull him out. At this point, the deputy squad leader and Wang Sichuan both rushed over to help. Wild with fear and adrenaline, we forced apart the bars of the cage and attempted to hoist the half-dead Pei Qing to the surface.

The poor guy was in a terrible way. As soon as we got his head above water he vomited violently, was racked by coughing, and then went completely still, his body soft and limp as clay. Despite all our efforts, we could only get the top half of him above the surface. His legs still dangled in the freezing water below. After attempting to pull him up several more times without success, Wang Sichuan stopped and said that his legs were probably hooked on something below the surface. Someone should go under and investigate. At once everyone turned to me. I alone was entirely soaked from head to toe. There was nothing to say, so I cursed silently and jumped back in.

The water was much clearer now that Pei Qing was no longer tossing about. Treading water, I saw the cages were wound together with coils of iron netting. The Japanese had probably been afraid the strongest prisoners might be able to lift the cage from where it sat and flee while still within its bars. It was this netting that was now hooked around Pei Qing's pant leg. I dove underwater, grabbed his pant leg, and yanked on it with all my might. I was almost out of breath by the time his pants ripped free of the wire. When I released my hand from his leg, Wang Sichuan and the rest were at last able to drag Pei Qing's whole body out of the water. I exhaled deeply, sending forth a river of bubbles. Reaching out of the cage, I was about to kick to the surface, when my flashlight lit upon some shape to the right. There, from out of the darkness, emerged the most hideous face imaginable.