Ghost Blowing Lamp II

Chapter 44

Lao Yangpi said: "I'm quite old, I'm afraid of balls, I'm worried about this girl, alas... I've been a vegetarian all my life, even though I haven't shaved my head all my life, I'm just a hairy monk, why? The bad luck made us catch up..." He stopped talking halfway through, I know he probably thought that even if he returned to the pastoral area, he would not be able to account for the heavy losses to the cattle, sheep and horses. It's all bitterness, how can I think of a way to help him and Ding Sitian evade responsibility?
While we were talking, the fat man had completely dismantled the brick wall, and the rest of the wall was made of bricks and cement. I asked the fat man, "Can this iron cover be opened?" It can be pulled apart, but there is an iron bolt that is not locked or welded."

I pulled out the knife and asked Ding Sitian to light it with a match so that I could see clearly what was behind the iron cover. Seeing that everything was ready, I reached out and patted the fat man on the shoulder. Borrowing against the brick wall, I used both hands to pull the handle on the edge of the heavy iron door. Immediately there was a heavy "cracking" sound in the darkness, and I could only smell a choking breath coming from behind the iron cover. When it came out, the smell was nauseous, as bad as it could be. It was like a disgusting and pungent mixture of soot and grease. We quickly blocked our noses.

Listening to the movement, I whispered to Ding Sitian, "Go to Liangzi." Ding Sitian immediately struck a match, and the fire lit up. Behind the open iron cover was a layer of black stone bricks more than one meter thick. Further inside is a cylindrical shaft that goes up to the sky and down to the ground. The inner side of the shaft is covered with thick black carbide, which seems to have been formed by years of smoke and fire. I wrapped it in Ding Sitian's scarf. I squeezed my nose in and explored. It was pitch black below and I couldn't see the bottom. There was a small piece of dim starlight above, as if there was a round skylight on the roof. The shaft is narrow. If you support the side of the shaft with your hands and feet, you may be able to Little by little climb to the position of the skylight.

I turned around and came out, and the fat man got in to have a look. Lao Yangpi and Ding Sitian asked me what was behind the iron cover, and I said uncertainly, "It looks like... the flue of a big chimney." Lao Yangpi had never seen such a big chimney before, so he didn't quite believe it. I explained to him: "When I was in series with Fatty Sitian, I once visited the old revolutionary base area to experience the revolutionary spirit. I didn't eat for a day. It was past meal time when we went back, but we had to do the revolution the next day. You can’t be hungry at night, so the fat man went to steal a piglet from the fellow’s pigsty. I was responsible for holding the piglet and putting it in In the burning brick kiln, I wanted to roast suckling pig until it was cooked, but I didn’t know how to heat it properly. The temperature inside was too high, and I roasted a fat little pig. Later, the villagers brought people to arrest us. We fought against each other and retreated into the chimney of the brick kiln in the brick kiln factory until dawn, so we were able to escape being accused by the revolutionary masses of stealing socialist piglets."

It was that experience that gave us an extremely profound intuitive experience of chimneys, which we will never forget in our lifetime. I just wiped a handful of soot in the flue behind the iron cover with my hand, and it was full of soot. It was so greasy that it looked like cooking fumes. There must be a kiln or a hearth under the flue. It has not been used for a long time, so why is it so greasy?Plus that disgusting smell...

An ominous thought emerged in my mind. This is the cremator used for cremation. Even if it didn’t burn people to death, at least a large number of animals were burned. Therefore, even after a long time, the thick grease has not disappeared. The iron cover behind the brick wall on the second floor does not look like a furnace, but is used to clear the flue to prevent blockage. Only the crematorium Old-fashioned incinerators only need this kind of facility, because the grease in the flue must be removed manually. I heard that after the German Nazis massacred Jews in gas chambers, they would use crematoriums to dispose of the corpses. Did the Japanese also use it? This kind of German equipment was introduced to destroy corpses?The most important thing is that we can't figure it out, if this is really a big chimney, why does it need to be so tightly camouflaged and sealed?I'm afraid it's not just as simple as deceiving people.

Thinking that it might be the cremator where countless corpses were burned, I almost spit out all the roasted big-eyed thieves I ate in the middle of the night, and quickly wiped off the black grease on my clothes. Someone must climb up the chimney of the crematorium, but matches cannot be used to illuminate during this process, lest the smoke ignite the remaining combustibles in the chimney and catch fire. Another way is to go to the basement in the dark, but there should be a big iron furnace , there may not be an exit, and it is not realistic to go to the basement with only a few remaining matches.

As soon as I told my companions about this plan, the fat man immediately objected: "No, this is absolutely putschism. The feeling of becoming a smoke is very different from climbing up alive. This is not for living people at all. Besides, there is such a thick layer of ointment on the flue, and it must be slippery when climbing up. You may think it doesn’t matter, it’s a big deal If I fall into the stove, I won’t feel embarrassed if I fall to my death or become disabled, but if I get stuck in the middle due to the narrow size of the top, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable if I can’t get up or down? This kind of wimpy I can't accept this way of death, I'm afraid there has never been such a precedent in the world since ancient times, and I don't want to break this world record."

I said: "We need mirrors for myopia—the current problem must be solved, and there is no other way now. It is not my personal heroism. I can only take a risk. You are waiting for me here. I climbed out single-handedly, and then tried to open the iron gate from the outside to let you out, if it fell... then count me as the first step, and see you in the next life."

Ding Sitian grabbed my arm and persuaded: "Don't go there. Is the chimney of the cremator for climbing? Even if you don't fall to your death, you can choke to death if you are choked by the soot and oily smoke inside. Let's do it another way." Find a way."

I was also relying on the ruthlessness of a moment of blood courage, afraid that if I hesitated for a moment, I would not dare to take the risk of climbing the flue again. A strong man needs nine points of ruthlessness, and a strong horse needs eighteen lashes. The chain fell off, so despite Ding Sitian's dissuasion, I got into the chimney behind the iron cover again, covered my mouth with a scarf, and looked up at the chimney mouth. The distance of one and a half floors is not too far, and I am quite confident in my method of climbing stairs, so I gritted my teeth and leaned into the flue.

(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
(End of this chapter)