Chapter 35 Chapter VII

In the afternoon ten days later, I arrived in this small town in Iwate Prefecture. I got off the Shinkansen at Ichinoseki, transferred to the Ofunato line, and came here.I happened to be in Sendai yesterday for an academic conference, so I stopped by here to have a look.Even including the transfer time, it takes less than two hours to get here from Sendai.If it hadn't been for a coincidence, I might never have come here. My mother's hometown is a village near this small town.Said to be the hometown, I am afraid there is only one abandoned house left.There might be a few distant relatives in the village... who knows?

Forty years ago, with the passing away of my grandfather and grandmother, my mother's relationship with this place ended. The mother is an only child, and she moved her parents' tomb to Tokyo, where she has not set foot here for thirty years.She seems to have some unbearable memories here, and I seldom hear her recall the past.I was born here and lived only three months.If it weren't for the mother of "Southern Pavilion", maybe I would never ask about this place in my life. I got into the only taxi and told the driver where I was going. I'm staying at the M Hot Spring outside the town tonight, and I plan to go to the stalactite cave after putting down my luggage.The driver readily let me into the car.In fact, it is quite far from the hot springs.

There is only this car on the deserted mountain road.It really is a deep mountain. "It's really sparsely populated here." There was no car approaching. "Only the tenants who go to the hot springs take this way. Sir, are you the first time here?" "Isn't the hot spring very lively?" "There is only one hotel. This is not a tourist attraction. There are very few guests staying here. It's a bit like a sanatorium in the town. Even the locals in Iwate don't know much about this hot spring." "I came here after being introduced by a friend in Sendai."

"Basically, small traders come to stay in this town. Are you here for work?" The driver looked at me in the mirror. I replied that I wanted to see the stalactite cave, and added that I knew it was a well-known source of natural water. The driver nodded and said, "That's at the innermost part of the mountain, it's in the nearby village." He said the name of the village where his mother came from. I nodded secretly.I checked a very detailed map, but couldn't find the location of the stalactite cave.I was going to ask about the waterworks. Of course, I once suspected that this stalactite cave was in my mother's hometown, otherwise why would my mother be so surprised.

"Is it for water quality monitoring or something?" The driver seemed interested in my purpose. "The factory is near the stalactite cave, right?" "The source is in the stalactite cave, but the factory is at the foot of the mountain. The 'drops of water from the lake' are simply nonsense and fraud. Now the public office is also worried about various complaints." "..." "It's not easy to go there. To climb over this mountain, you need to prepare a flashlight. There is still a way to go to the entrance of the stalactite cave. The inside is undeveloped. It is best to find someone to be a guide."

"I plan to go after putting down my luggage." The driver nodded.He said that it would take three hours to go back and forth, and it would definitely cost a lot of taxi fare. "Have you ever been there?" "I went there once in high school, fifteen years ago. There are stalactite caves in Iwate, and there is a cave called Iwaizumi, which is the largest stalactite cave in Japan. Have you ever been there?" I shake my head.I had no interest in stalactite caves. Two hours later, I got out of the car and walked with the driver. The mountain road is very narrow.I was walking and suddenly started sulking.

It's been twenty minutes since I've been gone. If I had known I would suffer this, I wouldn't have come.Although the water here is the cause of my nettle rash, what's the use of coming here to see that lake?If it wasn't for my mother's reaction... My anger turned to my mother.I looked at the map at the place where I lived, and found that the stalactite cave was indeed in the deep mountains behind my mother's hometown.Mother lived there until she was fifteen.This thought may be too much, but—— That stalactite cave is, in all likelihood, an excellent place for a tryst.

Does mother have such a past?Fifteen is considered an adult.I don't know much about the folk customs of Northeast China. I heard that there is a custom of adultery... If my mother really had that kind of experience, it's not surprising that she doesn't want to recall it. By the way, how long will it take?Because I didn't pay attention to physical exercise, my knees were shaking. Coupled with the glare of the sun, my throat was almost stuck. "How long will it take?" I asked the driver in front.If it's still far away, I'd better give up as soon as possible.

"Five or six minutes." That's what I said just now. I couldn't help but sighed and had no choice but to follow him.It wasn't his fault, I was the one to come. Unexpectedly, this time it was really only five minutes. We came to the entrance of the stalactite cave.The cool wind blowing from the narrow hole made me feel relieved. The driver bent down and took out a handful of clear stream water and drank it. "This is not the source. The source is underground, connected to the underground canyon. But it's delicious." I wanted to drink too, but held back.It would be terrible if it happened in such a remote mountain.

"It's so dark, it looks scary." I borrowed a flashlight from the driver and shone in. This kind of place is not suitable for trysts at all. I suddenly became a little scared, and couldn't help asking: "Is that lake still far away?" "It's not far, it's only about a hundred meters away. Don't look at the small opening of the cave, you can stand and walk inside. Now that they're all here, let's go in and have a look." He is right.If you give up here, all your efforts will be wasted.However, this move may have no meaning in the first place...

We got into the stalactite cave.Sure enough, only the beginning is relatively narrow.After walking about ten meters, I was able to stand up. I followed closely behind the driver.The darkness under my feet frightened me a little.The front can only see the range illuminated by the flashlight. "It seems that couples often come here." The driver smiled lowly, "It's like a haunted house, but someone wants to come." Indeed, without a flashlight it is almost impossible to move forward.My first taste of the horrors of the dark. Although it was only 100 meters, it took us 20 minutes to reach the lake.The driver was afraid of going the wrong way, so he was very cautious along the way. "Wonderland on earth..." This time it was worth it!It is said to be a lake, but it is actually a pool fifteen meters in diameter.It looks deep.When I use a flashlight to shine on the water, it will reflect an emerald-like color, and it is very quiet, so quiet that I am used to the hustle and bustle of the city. "How deep is it?" "I heard it's thirty meters deep. Judging from the transparency, it should be that deep." The driver took a one-yen coin from his pocket, dropped it into the lake, and shone a flashlight on it as it sank.The coin shone brightly and sank slowly, taking a long time to sink to the bottom. I'm a little surprised.The light of the flashlight has been shining to the bottom of the lake, and you can see a few coins scattered at the bottom. Maybe someone wants to see how deep it is like the driver. "Just press the flashlight so close to the water..." The driver was almost stuck to the surface of the water, and a beam of light appeared in the water.In the darkness, only the water around the beam of light was shining.He handed me the flashlight and reminded me not to lose it. I held the flashlight and looked down and around.It's childlike, but fun, like digging a tunnel in the dark.The white rocks at the bottom of the lake are very beautiful, and there are ancient coins from the Edo period among the coins caught in the crevices of the rocks. (Ok?) The thin beam of light hit something like a white stick, but it disappeared after a while.I used a flashlight to illuminate the area, but unfortunately there were rocks blocking it, so I couldn't see clearly.Seeing me like this, the driver squatted down next to me and immediately caught sight of the white thing. "Isn't this a human bone?" I nod.He took the flashlight from my hand and watched it carefully. That's right, at the bottom of the lake was the bones of a man dressed in black. Under the light of the flashlight, the white skull is facing this way as if smiling. I felt nauseous. I... have been drinking water soaked in bones.