Suddenly something at the bottom of the pool took shape. Fang Mu carefully stepped closer.
Amid the darkness, the object looked like some kind of box. Tightening his grip on the knife, he cautiously walked closer. When he was standing directly opposite it, he extended his hand holding the lighter as far as it would go, simultaneously straining to see what it was below.
His breath caught in his throat, and his heartbeat started to race as the object took definition.
It was an iron cage. And someone was sprawled inside. He tried to compose himself. Shakily he yelled, "Hello?"
In the vastness of the water dungeon, the sound was infinitely amplified. Bouncing off the walls, it echoed back at him with terrifying clarity. But the person in the cage didn't move at all.
Who was he?
And was he still alive? These questions ran through Fang Mu's mind as he used his lighter to illuminate his surroundings. The flame didn't reveal any stairs leading into the pool. After hesitating for a moment, he squatted down and shined the bottom of the pool. He gritted his teeth and leapt inside. He landed with an awkward thud.
The pool was deeper than he had imagined and his legs shook with pain. He decided it best not to walk immediately over, so he squatted down and listened for any sounds of movement, at the same time quickly illuminating his surroundings with the lighter. Once he was certain that the place was empty, he slowly stood up, gripped his dagger, and carefully advanced on the cage. He had been right. Someone was lying inside.
In the faint light of the lighter flame, he couldn't be certain whether it was a man or a woman. Straining to see the person more clearly, he cautiously approached.
Was it Tai Wei? It didn't seem like it. This person was a little shorter, a little heavier.
Who was it? As he drew closer to the cage, the person's outline became more defined.
It was a man, curled on his side, with his back to Fang Mu. Something about his gray sweater looked very familiar…
The flickering flame shone on the man's gray hair.
Fang Mu's eyes went wide as he hoped against hope.
Throwing caution to the wind, he ran to the other side of the cage and squatted down. He held the lighter flame up to the man's face.
It was Professor Qiao.
For a moment, Fang Mu didn't know whether he was startled or relieved, disheartened or enraged. Kneeling down, he shook the cage as hard as he could. "Professor Qiao!" he yelled. "Professor Qiao!"
His hair disheveled and face so thin he no longer looked like himself, Professor Qiao rocked back and forth in time with Fang Mu's movements. His tightly shut eyes never opened.
Was he dead?
No, please no!
Fang Mu reached inside the cage and placed his fingers beneath Professor Qiao's nose. Fortunately, he was still breathing, if faintly.
Pocketing his knife, Fang Mu grabbed onto the cage with one hand, while using the other to press his thumb against Professor Qiao's philtrum, digging in as hard as he could, hoping to apply the proper pressure. (Translator’s note: The philtrum is the indented spot between a person's mouth and nose. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is considered a very important acupressure point.)
"Wake up, Professor Qiao, wake up…"
After what seemed to Fang Mu to be an agonizingly long time, Professor Qiao's hand moved slightly and a faint sound emerged from his lips.
Overjoyed, Fang Mu hurried to support Professor Qiao's head and then struggled to raise him to a sitting position.
Coughing, Professor Qiao leaned weakly against the bars of the cage.
After the coughing fit ended, he gasped for breath. "Water…water…" he mumbled, once more closing his eyes.
Water? Where can I find water around here? Agitated, Fang Mu looked around. In the corner of the cage he spied a bottle of water. He hurriedly reached in and grabbed it. He sighed with relief; there was still about half left. After twisting off the cap, he supported Professor Qiao's upper body with one arm while he used the other hand to raise the bottle to Professor Qiao's lips.
Once he had gulped down several mouthfuls of water, Professor Qiao's breathing relaxed slightly, and his eyes slowly opened.
Professor Qiao's eyes, which had once been bright with keen intelligence, were now dazed and glassy. He slowly turned them to look at Fang Mu. After staring at him dully for several seconds, he finally recognized him.
"It's you?"
"It's me, Professor Qiao, it's Fang Mu." He quickly asked, "How did you end up here, sir?"
Professor Qiao shook his head, his lips curling into a bitter smile.
"Aye, don't ask." He sighed. "I'm old…an old fool. I thought I could convince him to turn himself in. I thought he was still the same obedient, diligent student from all those years ago."
"You mean Sun Pu, right?"
"Oh? So you know then?" Professor Qiao was momentarily stunned. Then he laughed faintly. "I really was right about you."
"Save your energy, Professor Qiao. I'm going to get you out of here!" Helping him to lean against the bars, Fang Mu stood and looked the cage over more thoroughly.
With Professor Qiao inside, the cage had to weigh well over 200 pounds. Moving it would be extremely difficult, not to mention getting it out of the pool and up onto the first floor. His only chance was to open the lock, get Professor Qiao out, and then decide on his next step.
After locating the lock, Fang Mu weighed it in his hand. The thing was solid. Pulling out his knife, he inserted the point into the keyhole and fiddled with it lightly. It wasn't going to work. Not only would this not open the lock, it would likely break the knife as well.
He raised his lighter and looked around. The place was empty; there was nothing around that could be used to get the lock open.
After thinking for a moment, Fang Mu remembered the prison cells full of chairs and desks on the first floor. There had to be an iron bar or something along those lines inside one of them. Squatting back down in front of Professor Qiao, he said, "Wait one moment, sir. I'm going to go find something to get this cage open."
But before the words had even left his mouth, he heard something rumble overhead.
A beam of light shot down, illuminating Fang Mu's face.
Dizzy from the light, Fang Mu quickly shielded his eyes with his hand and looked up.
There was a square opening in the ceiling overhead. Through it shone a flashlight beam.
Someone else was in the bunker.
Even though his vision was blurry from the light, Fang Mu could still vaguely make out that it was a man.
"Who are you?"
Fang Mu's heart began to beat fast. Was it the police?
The man didn't answer, just chuckled darkly.
In an instant, an ice-cold feeling gripped Fang Mu's heart. He knew exactly who it was.
Before he could think anything further, something else appeared in the man's hand and then a terrible-smelling liquid came pouring down.
Although Fang Mu dodged back instinctively, one of his sleeves was still soaked with the stuff. But Professor Qiao had nowhere to hide and was drenched all over.
Fang Mu sniffed his sleeve. A chill ran through his body.
It was gasoline.
The man above disappeared, leaving only the square opening. A thin beam of light shed down from it, as if it were a single eye, watching them with evil intent.
For a moment Fang Mu was scared stiff. Then he scrambled toward the cage."Professor Qiao…"
"Stay back!" said Professor Qiao sternly.
Fang Mu stood where he was, not daring to move, not daring to flick on his lighter.
Amid the darkness, he stared stiffly at the cage only a few steps away. He could faintly see that Professor Qiao was slowly sitting up, his eyes alive, as if he were pondering some difficult problem.