Cave Refuge

Everyone lit a cigarette, looking towards the one who had started the conversation. He took a deep puff before wearing a face of enjoyment, while the others observed him critically.

Maybe their skeptical glares were too obvious, as he suddenly cleared his throat before starting to explain:

"Don't look down on our Pengcheng because it's a third-tier city."

"It's a second-tier city now, not third-tier."

Annoyed by the interruption, he snapped back: "Are you talking or am I? If you want to speak, I'll shut up. But if you want to listen to me, then don't interrupt."

The one who interrupted appeared embarrassed at his casual response, then joked around, pretending to slap his mouth a few times.

"Regardless of whether it's a third-tier or a new second-tier city, Pengcheng is still Pengcheng"

"Actually, you all should know, since ancient times Pengcheng has been a strategic battleground. In every era, battles have taken place in Pengcheng."

"At the establishment of our nation, our military equipment was lacking! Fearing air raids, we dug numerous air-defense tunnels, now known as the underground Ren Defense Area."

"But as everyone knows 'before soldiers move, provisions must go ahead'. Even with safe areas in place, people still needed to eat and drink during a war. So, you can guess what's down there."

Hearing this, disbelief was written all over everyone's faces. Among those present, some had held higher positions than him in the past but none knew about this. As a result, they questioned his claims.

Seeing the skeptical looks in everyone's eyes, his pride swelled, and he suddenly stood up, "You all don't believe me? Follow me, I'll take you to a place."

At his words, everyone's curiosity was piqued. However, they had no idea that he had already told Mr. Thompson about this matter. Otherwise, Mr. Thompson would not have agreed to use the items from the small warehouse to maintain their friendships.

The group arrived at the edge of the People's Square next to a building. They thought he would lead them to break down the door. But surprisingly, he walked around the side of the building and stared blankly at a flower bed nearby.

After a while, seeing him still standing there lost, Mr. Thompson broke the quiet atmosphere: "If you can't find it, let's forget it. It's getting dark. We can come again next time."

In the world of adults, these words were an opportunity for a graceful exit. They could always come back another time, meaning they could drop the matter altogether.

The group comprised of old friends who often exchanged light-hearted banter, but they didn't want to truly embarrass each other.

So, after Mr. Thompson provided an opportunity to back out, everyone started making excuses about it being too late and needing to rest.

Knowing that they were kindly trying to help, he quickly shouted: "Hold on, everyone! The plants in the flower bed have all withered and I was just confirming our location. I've found it, follow me."

He then climbed into the flower bed. Seeing his actions, the others reluctantly followed despite some hesitation.

Thankfully, the surface of the flower bed was dry, as it had been some time since the flood. They wouldn't step into a muddy hole.

While leading the way, that person explained, "I brought you here just to confirm that I wasn't lying. After the disaster, the plants originally in the flower bed, acting as markers, had withered so I wasn't sure of the precise location.

"We're just taking a look so it's a bit of a hassle. To open it in the future, you just have to move the soil on the surface. There's no need for all this trouble."

The flower bed wasn't large, and the place where he stopped was not in the middle, but slightly on the north side.

"The entrance is right under here. Just dig up the soil on top and you'll see it."

Hearing this, everyone seemed rather unenthusiastic.

Though everyone was in good shape, wanting to dig without appropriate tools was a challenge. They couldn't possibly dig with a badminton racket.

Seeing everyone's expression of agreement without interest, he suddenly became even more competitive. Angrily, he pulled out one of the decorative stones from the edge of the flower bed and started using it as a shovel, digging earnestly.

His sudden outburst shocked everyone, and they quickly tried to convince him to stop digging. They all agreed to believe him.

However, the more they tried to stop him, the more he wanted to dig out the entrance to prove that he had not lied.

But his frenzied digging ignored his own physical limitations. The stone in his hand was moderately sized and rather thin. But it was, after all, made of stone.

He had only managed to dig a small hole before he was gasping for breath.

Mr. Thompson wanted to confirm whether there was a war readiness warehouse below, just like his son had told him. He took the stone from him and continued to dig.

The truth was that when Mr. Thompson reached out to snatch the stone, he hadn't resisted much. This allowed Mr. Thompson to easily take the stone from him.

But Mr. Thompson, too, was soon out of breath. After all, he was not young anymore. Moreover, the stone wasn't as convenient as a shovel. He soon tired out after not making much progress.

Another man, seeing Mr. Thompson sweating profusely, was about to seize the stone from his hand and continue digging when he casually asked how deep was the entrance buried.

"The entrance should be about five meters underground."

Upon hearing this, the man immediately took the stone from Mr. Thompson's hand and accused him: "You should have said the entrance was five meters underground! Are you joking using this thing to dig?"

Having said that, he threw the stone far away.

Just when he wanted to refute and argue, everyone started to chime in, trying to put an end to the dispute.

Because of this, everyone went home with heavy hearts that night.

No one expected that the next evening, this man brought along a few young men equipped with various tools to the flower bed. He wanted to prove he hadn't lied.

Since Mr. Thompson's actions yesterday had brought them closer, he looked at the young men's figures in the flower bed and asked him in a low voice: "Do you really need to make such a big fuss over this, Luo Brother?"