Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 473 A Trip to the Water Cave

At that time, Beixi Water Cave had no geological museum, no petrified wood, and no scenic area that was later built. The river beach was desolate and empty. Tourists from other places were playing in the calf-deep stream. There were a few restaurants and small shops along the roadside.

The entrance to the water cave is surrounded by a small park with covered bridges and pavilions built along the natural water features. Visitors can choose to walk around and explore, or they can walk around the cave to reach the entrance, or they can go directly from the ticket gate through the small square to the entrance.

Tickets cost 30 yuan per person, coats are 5 yuan to rent, and there are also vendors renting cameras, selling film, batteries, and snacks and sundries. It's quite crowded and noisy.

Because they had two pregnant women with them, the six of them chose to go directly to the cave entrance, where a huge cave suddenly appeared on the mountain rock. The mountains in Liaodong are all large rocky mountains, sometimes feeling like the whole mountain is just one big rock, so they are very stable and safe.

Above the cave entrance are the four large characters "Beixi Water Cave," which were personally inscribed by Pu, the elder statesman of the Central Committee, who was very fond of this place.

Upon reaching the cave entrance, the air temperature seemed to drop instantly, and gusts of cold wind blew out. Several people stood in front of the red marble partition at the entrance, peering into the cave, but could see nothing. The ground was paved with artificial stones, while the walls and ceiling were made of natural stone. The words "Nine-Bend Milky Way" were carved in running script on the side wall of the entrance.

Nine-Bend Milky Way is another name for the water cave.

There weren't many tourists. The six of them took military coats and followed the queue into the cave. It only took about ten minutes before it was their turn to board the boat.

There is a tour guide on board, so you don't need to spend extra money.

He was shouting through a megaphone: "Be careful, be careful! Watch your step! Go up slowly! Let me tell you, if you capsize the boat, you can't afford to pay for it. The water is several meters deep. If you go down, you won't be able to be rescued. At most, you'll just have to retrieve a body."

"Sit still on the boat. No standing up, no throwing anything into the water, and no putting your hands or feet in the water. Understand? You'll be fined if you're caught."

Everyone boarded the boat in order and took their seats. It was a metal boat, with two people per row, and one boat could seat eight rows, sixteen people in total.

Once everyone was seated, wrapped in their military overcoats, the boat slowly sailed away from the small dock, following the quiet, dark water into the cave. All that could be heard was the sound of the boat rubbing against the water and the engine, as if people had suddenly entered another world.

First, there was a narrow, low-lying waterway inside the cave, which seemed to have turned several corners. Then, the ceiling suddenly opened up, and before my eyes appeared a hazy light in red, green, blue, or purple hues. The lights were cleverly installed inside the layers of stalactites, so that you could see the light but not the lamps. This made the entire cave, with its natural wonders, look like a dream.

The tour guide began his explanation. At this time, the explanations were still very simple, unlike the flowery language of later generations. He simply introduced the history of the cave, the reasons for its discovery, the development process, and the scenery. However, everyone's eyes were drawn to the countless and wonderful natural paintings, and probably very few people could hear what he was saying.

Looking around, stalactites stand tall, stalagmites are picturesque, and clear water murmurs. There is a kind of beauty that cannot be expressed in words, and a kind of shape that cannot be described with vocabulary. This is the stalactite world inside the water cave. Without seeing it with your own eyes, any description will be pale and powerless.

There are several places where you can go ashore and touch or tap things. Some of these places produce strange echoes, while others emit beautiful musical sounds. No one can understand why; that's the wonder of nature. There's no real reason behind it.

Chen Xiao was unusually well-behaved today, sitting on the boat without moving. He reached out and touched something within reach a few times, then stopped moving altogether. It was cold.

The further you go in, the more spacious the space becomes, with stalactite formations all around, winding waves dozens of meters long, layers of blooming flowers, and countless hanging ribbons. Sharp stalactites occasionally hang down from above, or emerge from the water, or form several adorable domes, or form a dense forest overhead.

As they rounded another bend, everyone on the ship gasped softly. Beauty, breathtaking beauty. Suddenly, the view opened up before them to a magnificent, multicolored palace, spanning a thousand meters in diameter—solemn, grand, noble, elegant, and resplendent.

The boat slowly docked beside a curtain-like structure. The tour guide said, "This is the Immortal Elixir Stone, a curtain from the Jade Emperor's Palace. You can smell it; this place always exudes an indescribable fragrance, a combination of osmanthus and mint. The reason is unknown, but it's a treasure created by nature. Next to it is Li Bai's Divine Brush. Doesn't it look like it? Only the Poet Immortal could lift this giant brush."

The boat moved forward with the current, and suddenly a golden bull appeared in the water, looking back with remarkable lifelikeness. Unfortunately, taking pictures wasn't allowed, which made Xiao Hong and the others very unhappy. Everyone was sitting too close together on the boat, the cave was dark, and the boat was constantly rocking, so it was impossible to take any pictures. The flashlight was practically useless here.

Xiao Wei helped the slightly excited Xiao Hong wrap the front of her military coat tighter. He turned to look at Chen Xiao, who had been sitting behind him without moving, and noticed that she had wrapped the coat tightly around her body, hugging it with her arms, clearly cold. He also saw that Chen Hui was hunched over. Xiao Wei took off his own military coat and wrapped it inside out around Chen Xiao, then asked Chen Hui to help him button it up at the back.

Geng Hui sat behind Chen Xiao, blinking as she watched Xiao Wei's movements, seemingly lost in thought. Chen Xiao said, "No need, we'll be going out in a bit. Aren't you cold? Don't catch a cold."

Xiao Wei said, "I'm not too cold. As long as you and Geng Hui don't catch a cold, it's fine. You two are practically protected animals."

Xia Maosheng looked down at Geng Hui and asked, "Are you cold? Do you want me to give you my coat?"

Geng Hui shook her head.

The boat wound its way through a vast space until the stalactites overhead were no longer visible. The still water rippled, and several openings appeared in different directions at the far end of the water. They were dark and gloomy, which instilled a sense of fear in the passengers.

The tour guide said, "This concludes the tour of the Nine-Bend Milky Way Cave. The area ahead is not yet open, so we cannot go any further. Beyond this section of water lies a natural water cave maze, over seven meters deep, with a much faster current than outside. For everyone's safety, the government has sealed off the cave from here. There is a dry cave ahead, which you can visit. There are no guides for the dry cave, so please be careful."

The boat turned around on the water and went back along the waterway, much faster than it had come.

At this time, the dry cave was empty, just some natural formations, and there wasn't much to see.

(End of this chapter)