Free Nen by Sean Ding Page B

past god knows how many years and human intrusion had essentially backfired upon us. Look at what happened to the Japanese soldier?”
    “Henry died of asphyxiation. The Japanese soldier had its lower body torn off. He died in a completely different way.” Sarah corrected.
    “Let’s not speculate how we are going to die guys. I think we need to get out of here as soon as we can.” Kenso-san cricked his neck before he said that amicably.
    “You’re right Kenso, I am not waiting to die here like Henry.” Nelson muttered what everyone feared most in their hearts.
    “I think we got to go through that tunnel now, with or without Howard.” Kevin suggested. Almost everyone nodded their heads in unison.
    “No, I can’t risk my family going into that tunnel.” John spoke up, begging to differ. “God knows what’s inside? Howard said he will be back and I had his words.”
    “Then you and your family shall stay here and wait. And we go.” Mr. Park from Korea said in an unfriendly tone.
    At that instance, the tourists in the crystal cave did not know that the tunnel was merely a shallow one and if they knew, they would have passed over long time ago. Fear was such an odd thing and the presence of the mangled skeleton of a Japanese soldier was like a gigantic obstacle standing in their way. Imagine the difference between standing next to the railings of a balcony on a fiftieth floor apartment unit and doing the same thing on the ground floor unit. Even though the balcony railings on the fiftieth floor and that on the ground floor unit were of the same make and strength, people would feel insecure on the fiftieth floor and would refrain from leaning against the railings. However, no such fear would exist in their minds if they were on the ground floor unit.
    The fear of entering the tunnel was like the fear of leaning against the balcony railings on the fiftieth floor. Entering it posed an uncertainty that most people feared. An unknown risk to take and if a wrong decision was made, it could lead to grave danger or even death. In fact, some of them were starting to speculate that Wong and Howard might had already been as dead as that World War Two Japanese soldier at the tunnel entrance.
    “Hey, let’s not fight over this.” Paul said. “We need to stay together as a team to survive this. Let me suggest this, guys, I will go into the tunnel by myself but I will come back after ten minutes no matter what I see or encounter on the other side. I am going to set the countdown timer with my watch to ten and if I don’t return after fifteen minutes, you guys should block up the tunnel and start finding another way out.”
    “Are you sure about this?” Nelson asked his friend.
    “Yeah. Let’s not waste any more time, brother.” Paul gave a curt reply and he turned and walked briskly towards the entrance of the tunnel.
     

CHAPTER 17
     
    Just as Howard and Wong were heading back to the tunnel that linked this army facility to the world of glistening crystal rocks, they heard a faint voice and saw a small human figure running towards them from the parking space of trucks and jeeps.
    Howard lifted his hatchet against his chest but put it down when he realized it was Paul who was running towards them. Paul couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the military base but he did not stop. To keep his promise, he continued sprinting like a flying dart towards Howard.
    “Howard, where the hell… have you guys been? And…what in God’s name is this?” Paul stopped in front of Howard and Wong, panting like a dog.
    “It’s a World War Two Japanese military base, Paul. My bad, we should have gone back earlier. Is everyone okay?” Howard asked with remorse. He realized that he had made a grave mistake, a mistake of indulging in his curiosity of this place and his strong desire to seek a way out. Something must have happened and he knew that he would never forgive himself if his foolish actions had indirectly resulted in any