After returning from his expedition, Professor Jimenez left a map of "fern cuttings" like a sea chart.The above marks are very detailed, recording all kinds of information that need attention along the way.Zhezhu obtained the map with the help of the American Geographical Association.After a few days of preparation, the group set off for "Fern Cutting Plant".
Along the way, they had to avoid the attack of the jaguar in the dense forest and escape from the prairie wolves. Finally, they came to "Fern Cutting Plant" with a hundred or so Indian porters.
Before them was a vast and boundless swamp.The swamp is covered with impenetrable algae and weeds, with giant ferns growing among the sparse grasses.The fronds of the fern bend into strange shapes, like a palm caressing the sky.
As for living things, there are only a few species of reptiles in the swamp.As long as you dig open the water plants, you will find those little things with webbed.
This is indeed a place suitable for aquatic people to survive.
Five days passed, and the cry of the marsh frog echoed over the dank swamp.Zhezhu and Campos sat by the tent and drank each other across the campfire.They finally set the thatch on fire.Oritake asked Campos:
"Have you not given up on Miss Louise?"
"..."
"The first time I saw her, I knew you were in love with her. That's why you deliberately lost half a million yuan to her."
"Brother, you are Japanese. Isn't the samurai very trustworthy? You should understand my thoughts. I have the obligation to explain everything to her, and I will not break my promise for a little money. I often say to myself, Campos is Like the wind on the prairie, do things with a clear conscience and carefree behavior."
"I'm sorry. I judged the heart of a gentleman with the heart of a villain." Zhezhu apologized frankly to the other party.
"But you're in love with her, am I right? Didn't you say that a man can only meet one true love in his life. I think Miss Louise is the one for you."
"You are very annoying, brother." Campos was a little annoyed.
"Okay, I admit it. I really like her very much, and I can't help myself. It's okay." Campos forced a smile to hide his disappointment.
But it is an indisputable fact that Louise also has an aquatic boyfriend.Did he see the undead, or did Mikami really mutate into a water dweller who can survive in the mud?This question swirls in Campos' mind like a revolving lantern.
"Louise is an infatuated girl, I admire her very much. She has been staring at the water for five days, hardly even blinking her eyes."
"You don't think what you saw was a ghost?"
For the first time, Oritake got to the heart of the matter.
"Do you also think that Mikami is not dead, but has become an aquatic person who can survive in water?"
"Brother, what do you mean?" Campos said angrily, "Don't you often laugh at the saying of aquatic people? Then tell me, why Mikami, who is a human being, went to the swamp to become an aquatic person ?”
"I don't know now, maybe I will know in the future. Besides, you are not the only one who has seen the water-dwelling man. I am still thinking about whether the water-dwelling man really exists."
Ten days later, Zhezhu verified his words, and the seismograph they carried with them detected weak vibrations.Zhezhu ordered the natives to find dead branches to build a pontoon bridge on the swamp.Their goal is the spot where Campos met the Aquaman.Campos remembered five giant ferns growing there.When setting off, Zhe Zhu asked the natives to prepare three 1,000-foot-long vines in addition to their personal equipment.
"Let's go down to the swamp and have a look."
Zhezhu didn't seem to be joking, Louise and Campos didn't understand what he meant.The water here is so deep that even mud turtles who are well versed in water dare not swim here.The three of them didn't bring any diving equipment, so how did they get down there?But the title of Zhezhu Adventure Expert is not a lie.The two followed him across the pontoon to the final destination, beside the five big ferns.
"As I said just now, we are going to jump from here. Don't think about anything, just jump with me. Don't hesitate, understand?"
After finishing speaking, Zhezhu took a deep breath, and jumped into the mud pond with a plop.Under the bloody setting sun, the swamp soil is as charming as the rotting body of a beautiful woman.Seeing that Zhezhu jumped down, the two also flew into the water one by one.After jumping down, they didn't expect the oppressive feeling brought by the muddy water to disappear all of a sudden, the lungs were filled with air, and their breathing was very smooth.
"Mr. Zhezhu, what's going on here? Where are we?" Louise couldn't help asking in the dark. What happened just now made her feel unbelievable.The humid air smelled of mulch, and the surrounding temperature was neither cold nor hot.She reached out and groped around, and found something that looked like carbon moss.
"This is an underground dense forest." The voice of folded bamboo came from a distance, and he continued, "This was a valley with lush vegetation a long time ago, and it was buried underground because of the slippage of the surface. The water flow in the Picomayo River When looking for a river channel, the river water infiltrates into the soft alluvial layer, creating a space between the dark woods underground. This kind of space becomes bigger and bigger, and finally connects with each other, becoming like an ant. This is the big underground labyrinth of the 'Fern Cutting Plant'. Because the upper layer is water, the shape of the space is constantly changing. The algae brought by the Picomayo River will also transform the larger space. The void is quickly filled."
"Did Mikami fall like us? When Campos saw him, he should have walked out of the maze, right?"
"It should be so, but I advise you not to have too much hope."
Zhezhu turned to Campos again and said:
"Didn't you just laugh at me for using the seismograph? When there is a change, the maze will vibrate slightly. I found this place based on the seismograph. The diamond given to you by the water dwellers has valley diamond soil, so I think There used to be a valley below the swamp."
They turned on the flashlight, and sure enough, as Zhezhu said, the gloomy wood stood like pillars, and there was soft soil with moss between the pillars.
The three of them moved forward cautiously, and after walking around for a while, they found a piece of text and a map on a gloomy wood.Seeing those words, Louise was very excited.
Recorder, Japanese Mikami Shiro.
The Argentine government locked me up, and after going through several prisons, I and four political prisoners were driven into the "Fern Cutting Plant".They forced us into the swamp with machine guns.One of the four political prisoners was the famous leftist actress Emilia Vidali.I never imagined that she would end up like this.I can often hear ethereal singing voices, but in the end I couldn't find anyone who sang.The terrain here is very complicated, like a big maze.When I got here, I felt a wave of triumph because my theory was confirmed.There must be a lot of white people trying to invade this land, and I found a lot of white people's bodies in the swamps that had been turned into wax corpses.It was the fossil elements in their bodies that played a role, otherwise the corpse would rot quickly in this environment.I did not find the bodies of the Guaranies, which means that the bodies of the natives were quickly decomposed naturally, leaving no remains at all.
There is little difference in temperature between the four seasons here, neither cold nor hot.Don't worry about the food problem, there are a lot of blind shrimp and algae to eat.There are many big diamonds in the soil, but in this kind of place, diamonds have no value.
Today I found the exit of the maze, went out to have a look, and found that Bolivia and Argentina were building fortifications.I met a man and gave him some diamonds, hoping he would help me send a message to Louise.
Sure enough, it was Mikami!Louise looked at those words and burst into tears.This may be Mikami's suicide note.The location of the "Altar" and the "Iron Gate" were marked on the map on the side, but the terrain of the maze had changed at that time, so the map was completely useless.But in any case, the mystery of the aquatic people was finally solved.
The female aquatic person that Jimenez saw was probably the actress Emilia Vidali.There were still many fossil wax corpses in the swamp, and the frightened professor and his party took those dead corpses as aquatic people.
The three continued to move forward, the road was wide and narrow for a while, and they didn't know how many ways they had walked up and down, and after turning many turns, the vision in front of them suddenly opened up.The light moss shone faintly around them, and they found themselves in a depression.
This place must have been a forest before, and giant trunks that had long since turned into carbonized wood stood around.Faced with such a spectacle, the three of them could only open their mouths in a daze.
"Ah! There are people there!" Louise exclaimed suddenly.
A man lay in the distance.He was dressed in tattered clothes that seemed to be made of leaves, and his figure was as thin as a branch.He seemed to hear the movement and wanted to raise his hand, but because he was too weak, he couldn't move his body.
It's Mikami!Louise used the binoculars to see the man's face clearly.Helplessly, the two of them are separated by a hole, and if they advance rashly, they will only fall into the quagmire.The lover is right in front of you, but you can't get close.Louise was devastated.
At this time, Campos stood up and said:
"I'll go and see, you wait here."
Tears of gratitude welled up in Louise's eyes.Campos took out the vines he carried with him, weaved them into a ladder and placed them on the ground of the pit.There is nothing impossible for Campos, this is his manly principle.
He carried Mikami step by step to the front of Louise and Zhezhu.When he handed the skinny Misami to Zhezhu, he suddenly slipped!Fall into the quagmire.
at this time!The earth fell and the rocks cracked, and the muddy water in the quagmire began to flow.
"Campos!" Zhezhu shouted his name wildly.Campos in the quagmire was pale, he had given up hope, and said to Zhezhu with a smile:
"I can't do it, I'm hopeless. You guys go away, the soil layer above has begun to collapse."
"Mr. Campos, I'm sorry, you did it for me..." Louise cried.
"Farewell, Campos." Zhezhu couldn't bear to stare, tremblingly said.
"It seems that I am always one step away from good luck." Campos said to Louise, "Miss Louise, I wish you happiness."
Oritake carried Mikami and Louise on their backs to find a way out, and behind them came the voice of Campos reciting "Cyjano de Bergerac".That was Cyrano's line when he confessed his love to Roxanne before his death: "In my boring life, because of your existence, I can only listen to the rubbing sound of passing women's clothes."
what!Louise suddenly realized that Mikami was not so important to her, because she had fallen in love with this man who dared to sacrifice for herself... Campos continued to read:
"Philosopher, poet, swordsman, musician, celestial traveler, martyr of love. Campos Voglade is buried here."
Notes:
Notes: