bookbashuk Chapter 470 Crematorium
Chapter 470 Crematorium
"There's really no space behind it!"
The moment the electric pick broke through, the worker gasped in surprise.
"What are you shouting for? Keep going!"
A look of shock flashed across Meng Guizi's face, but he quickly recovered and directed the workers to continue working.
Twenty minutes later, with the combined efforts of an electric pick and a hammer, the wall was smashed open, and a downward staircase came into view.
Looking at the dark staircase that exuded a putrid smell, the workers were both curious and afraid.
"Second brother, take the men back, pay them their wages first, then take them to the bathhouse for a big bath, and afterwards take them out for a meal!"
Meng Guizi spoke up in time, ordering one of his henchmen to lead the workers away.
"Come on, let's go out and get the money!"
The man called "Second Brother" was a skinny, middle-aged man who waved his heavily tattooed arms and beckoned the workers to follow him.
The workers hesitated for a moment, then followed them out.
Once the workers left, the place was suddenly empty, leaving only a few of us, Meng Guizi, Lao Fang, and a young man who had just arrived.
Old Fang only managed to bring five people, not ten; the others were waiting in the car outside.
"Donglin, there really is a basement in here. Can we come down and take a look?"
I thought Meng Guizi would be the first to speak up and suggest going down to take a look, but I didn't expect Lao Fang to speak first.
"Going down to take a look is fine, but just take a look. If you notice anything wrong, come back up immediately!" Li Donglin said.
"Donglin, don't worry, we know what we're doing!" Old Fang said with a smile.
"You've got a lot of farts to count!"
Li Donglin chuckled and scolded, then pulled out two talismans and handed them to Lao Fang, saying, "One for each of you. Wear them. No matter what you see or hear later, don't be afraid. We're here to protect you!"
"What about me?" Meng Guizi asked, dissatisfied.
"You still use this?"
Li Donglin curled his lip and said, "With all that stuff on you, what could possibly get close to you?"
After saying that, Li Donglin pointed to a bracelet on Meng Guizi's hand and said, "This, is it tiger bone?"
Before Meng Guizi could answer, Li Donglin tugged at his clothes again and said, "And the tattoo on your back, a tiger descending the mountain?"
"Just these two things, what are you afraid of?"
"Whether I'm scared or not, give me a talisman!" Meng Guizi started acting like a rogue.
"Fine, fine, I'll give it to you!" Li Donglin said helplessly, but still handed over a red cloth wrapped around a talisman folded into a triangle.
"That's more like it!" Meng Guizi smiled smugly, and instead of wearing the talisman around his neck, he put it on his wrist.
"Why!"
Li Donglin shook his head helplessly and looked at us, saying, "Brothers, let's go see what's down there!"
After saying that, he took the lead and walked down the stairs.
We followed him down.
After going down there, the burnt smell, mixed with the stench of decay, became even stronger.
At the bottom, there was an iron door.
"We've arrived at the basement level."
Li Donglin arrived at the iron gate, took a deep breath, and pushed open the iron gate, which was cracked in half.
The iron gate creaked open slowly.
The moment the iron gate opened, a cloud of dust billowed out, along with a soft, rustling sound.
The sound was very low, not the sound of wind, but more like the sound of crying, but very faint, as if countless people were whispering and weeping.
The sound made us pause. After a moment, Li Donglin said softly, "Follow me!"
After entering through the iron gate, the scene inside surprised us.
Under the beam of the flashlight, the first thing that caught our eye was three old-fashioned crematoriums standing side by side.
I used to see these kinds of crematoriums often when I was a child.
Because of my profession, I often went to the crematorium with my grandfather when I was a child, dragging people into the cremation room and sending them into the crematorium furnace.
Unlike now, where family members don't need to lift a finger, back then, family members had to push the person into the crematorium and work with the crematorium workers to put the person into the crematorium furnace.
The three crematoriums on the basement floor are no different from the ones I saw when I was a child, only older and more worn.
"Damn it, there really is a crematorium!"
Fatty Lin has been to the crematorium just as many times as I have, and he recognized what it was. Upon seeing it, he instinctively swore.
Li Donglin didn't say anything, he just walked inside with his flashlight in hand.
Two of the three crematoriums had their doors open, while the remaining one was half-open.
Upon arriving at the crematorium, shining a flashlight inside reveals a thick layer of ashes. In addition, there are some well-formed leg bones near the furnace entrance.
For some reason, looking at these leg bones, a picture popped into my head.
When the Russians attacked, the Japanese were busy evacuating and hastily sent the workers imprisoned here to the crematorium to silence them. Because there was not enough time and they were in such a hurry, coupled with the struggle of the people inside, they did not care that the furnace door was not closed properly before pressing the incineration button.
The moment the fire started, the people inside the furnace struggled. In their struggle, the furnace door was kicked open, but under the scorching heat, they no longer had the strength to climb out and were all burned to death, leaving only a pile of leg bones at the furnace door.
"This is the main crematorium from back then." Li Donglin's voice was cold. "Laborers, prisoners of war, and rebels were all burned to ashes here."
Li Donglin's voice pulled me back to reality. Looking at the leg bone at the furnace door, I didn't know for a moment whether what had just appeared in my mind was a hallucination or what they wanted me to see.
Strangely enough, once we got to the area around the furnace, the faint sounds disappeared.
"brute!"
Fatty Lin squeezed out two words through gritted teeth.
"There are shackles there!"
The young man who came in with us scanned the area with a flashlight and found something on the right side of the crematorium against the wall.
We followed the light and saw a row of iron rings on the ground.
Seeing the iron rings brought back an image to my mind: because there were too many people to be burned, those who couldn't get their turn were pinned to the ground by these iron rings, just like pigs and sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
While waiting, they watched helplessly as their compatriots were pushed into the crematorium, howling in agony amidst the flames.
Meanwhile, the Japanese soldiers looked at them arrogantly and smugly, waiting for them to collapse.
"Not human!"
A moment later, the image disappeared, and I let out a difficult breath, feeling even more choked up.
"Brother Li, didn't you say there were three underground levels? This is only the first one. Where are the other two levels?" Fatty Lin asked at this moment.
I glanced at him; his chubby face was tense, and he didn't want to stay there a moment longer.
"Under the crematorium!"
As Li Donglin spoke, he walked back to the crematorium.
"under?"
Fatty Lin looked at the crematorium in front of him and asked.
"Um!"
Li Donglin nodded and pointed with his foot to a crack in the ground in front of the crematorium.