"The Little Things"

The cavern

Zhao was paying more and more attention to the surroundings as he led the group into the mountain. The tunnel they were now in started changing after half an hour. Tiny veins began to appear on the stone walls and ceiling, and as they ventured deeper into the unknown, the veins became thicker, and there were more and more of them. Yunlan scratched them from time to time, and every time they felt like a rock.

"Professor Shen, I know geology isn't your field of expertise, but as the smartest among us... any thoughts?"

Shen Wei leaned towards one wall and examined the strange patterns. "I believe these might be roots. If specific conditions are applied, and of course, with time, wood can actually acquire qualities of stone."

"How much time?" Guo's curiosity won with his timidness.

"We are talking about millions of years."

Zhao exhaled loudly. "I'm more worried that there is a kind of plant that could grow its roots so deep into the ground. And that we are plainly going in its direction. Keep vigilant."

As they moved further, the roots grew even more massive. They were on the walls and ceiling, and soon Zhao had the strange impression that those roots were supporting the entire weight of the mountain.

"Chief," he turned and saw alertness on Chu's face. His flashlight was off, and he was staring intently ahead. "I think I see some light". They turned off their torches, and after their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they managed to see a faint blue-ish glow. Zhao tensed, focused. They started walking again, and after ten minutes, the corridor brightened enough that they turned off their sources of light.

The tunnel opened to a circular cavern. Its walls were covered with a spiral of dark, thick roots, which disappeared in the barely visible ceiling forming a dome. In the centre of the cave, there was a pool of water. The source of azure light was clearly somewhere under its surface. There was something silver in the water, too, as if another liquid was recently poured into it and hasn't had a chance to dissolve properly. Zhao Yunlan suddenly shivered, a strange sensation of fear creeping up on him.

"Whatever you do, don't touch that water!" he ordered. "Don't even go near it!"

"What kind of water is that?" asked Guo, taking apprehensively two steps back.

"The deadly kind," Zhao replied coldly.

"How do you know?" asked Shen Wei curiously. He was leaning slightly towards Yunlan, focused on him undividedly. Their eyes locked, and for a moment, Zhao couldn't say a word. Finally, he shook his head minutely.

"It... feels wrong. You have to trust me on this."

"I do," came a simple reply. Zhao nodded slowly, not willing to break the connection with those trusting eyes.

Chu Shuzhi cleared his throat, and Zhao finally looked away. He went to the right, hoping to find an exit, but the roots were a solid wall of petrified wood. Suddenly, he paused. There was a trickle of something thick and dark glinting on one of the roots. He touched it and looked at his finger. It was blood. He quickly looked up, but whatever was bleeding was beyond his field of vision. Highly alerted, he turned to Chu and Guo, who were in the middle of examining the other side of the cave.

"Anything?" he asked, wiping his hand in his jacket.

"Yes. There is something here. Come see."

He returned to Shen Wei, and together they went to the place indicated by Old Chu. The floor ended there abruptly, and they looked down into the darkness of the abyss. Light from the torches couldn't reach the bottom of the pit. Zhao took one of his lollipops and tossed it down. They waited for any sound, but it didn't come. There was a single root going across the pit, leading to a narrow gap in the wall. Zhao looked at it suspiciously.

"It's not ideal, but with the right equipment and safety measures, we should be fine." He took off his backpack and untied a rope. He actually regretted not taking Da Qing with them. It would have been a cakewalk for the cat. "I'll go first." He secured the rope around his waist, popped another lollipop into his mouth and put on the backpack again. He handed the rest of the line to Chu, who nodded solemnly.

Then the detective checked the root for stability and, somewhat reassured that it didn't give, stepped onto it. He moved slowly, carefully placing each step. "Be a nice root. Let me pass," he said under his breath. At that exact moment, the whole place trembled faintly, and he swore, his foot slipping. He managed to catch balance, halted and bent his knees just in case, but the rumble stopped, and after a while, he resumed his walk. After two minutes, he was on the other side. He swiped sweat from his forehead, looked into the abyss, then back to the three men waiting on the other side of the chasm. "Did you guys hear it?" he shouted.

"Yes, felt it too," responded Chu. "What was that?"

"I don't think we even want to know." Zhao looked around, scrutinizing the new area. He turned to his companions. "There seems to be some sort of a small cave with tunnels going two ways. Once we're all here, we'll inspect further. All right, the next one can go." He tied his end of the rope to one of the roots and saw it tighten when Chu pulled at his side. With this makeshift railing, it was easier for the next person to cross.

"Profesor Shen," Chu bowed his head politely and pointed at the root with his hand. "Please."

Shen Wei pressed his lips together and nodded once. He took hold of the rope and started walking.

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Hi, 

Thank you so much for reading, you don't know how happy I am seeing you here. 

(Petrified wood is commonly found around the world, the photo below is of a piece from my collection of weird things.)