Zheng Baobao shook her head, "I haven't been here long either, so I don't know. You can ask the local folks. How about this, you two rest here, and I'll send some soldiers to scout around!"
"Make sure it's done secretly!" I reminded him.
"Understood, sir!"
After smoking a couple of cigarettes, the matches I brought from Wusi City were almost gone, and my cigarettes were running low too. I was hesitating whether to ask Zhang Xiaomiao to burn some cigarettes for me when Zheng Baobao rushed into the inn, barged into my room, and said in a low, excited voice, "We've got it!"
Twenty minutes later, with only an old man as a guide, the cavalry captain, and Bing Bing, a group of four in plain clothes, we summoned the catfish spirit from downstream. However, we didn't have it carry us directly. Instead, we sent it to wait for us on the opposite bank, three li upstream.
The four of us boarded a small sampan and, rocking precariously, entered the river, heading for the opposite bank.
The enemies on both flanks spotted us. But they probably thought we were fleeing civilians, and there were too few of us. The person rowing was a clumsy old man who fired a few symbolic arrows before ignoring us further. The main reason was that Zheng Baobao's side was also putting on a show for us. When the enemies shot arrows at us, she had people on the city wall shoot arrows at us too, further convincing the enemies that we were merely escaping residents of the city, not spies out to cause trouble.
We successfully reached the opposite bank and immediately merged into the forest. We walked upstream along the riverbank for three li, then returned to the river. Under the cover of the grass, we boarded the giant catfish's back and had it carry us towards the legendary dam ruins twenty li upstream.
The old man knew about the dam. I guessed the catfish did too. As soon as I told it to go to the dam upstream, it didn't even bother asking any questions, immediately assuming a posture ready to be ridden.
According to the old man, the dam was built four hundred years ago. During that time, the underworld experienced continuous heavy rains, and the people downstream suffered immensely. The King of Hell then assigned the Minister of Works to manage the water. After an inspection, the Minister of Works decided to build a dam at a location called "Tiger Leap Gorge," utilizing the mountainous terrain to regulate the water levels upstream and downstream.
The construction of the dam took thirty-four years and involved three Ministers of Works. Upon completion, it effectively served its purpose of flood and drought control, creating millions of mu of fertile land downstream and bringing great benefit to the underworld. The King of Hell was very pleased and personally named the dam. Combining the essence of "Tiger Leap" and "Benefiting the People," he called it the "Tiger Blessing Dam." The old man said there were still traces of the inscription on the dam today.
"Then why did it fall into disuse later?" Bing Bing asked.
"It didn't fall into disuse. It's still operating normally. It's just that in recent years, the underworld has been in constant conflict, and the officials originally responsible for managing the dam have all been conscripted for the war. The dam is now left unattended. By rights, with the severe drought this year, the floodgates should be opened to release water. But we common folk don't understand how to regulate that stuff. We just know there's a big building with many strange contraptions inside, and we don't dare to touch them, for fear of messing things up and flooding the villagers, which would be more loss than gain."
What the old man was referring to was likely the pump house. Even though the underworld's weaponry and equipment were not great, their engineering machinery was quite advanced. In fact, it didn't require much high-tech. As long as one mastered the technology of iron casting and basic mechanical principles, the so-called "contraptions" in the pump house could be manufactured. Assembled, they formed valves capable of regulating floods. I had seen similar structures at reservoirs back in my hometown. The structure was relatively simple, and even a junior high school student could understand the mechanical principles involved.
After leaving the sight of the rebel army, the giant catfish emerged completely from the water, moving at an astonishing speed, much like our small speedboats. It surged forward against the current, and before long, I saw the river ahead narrowing, and the plains on both sides turning into mountains.
After making a turn, a "great mountain" appeared before us – an artificially constructed "mountain" one hundred meters high. The mountain was built with massive stone blocks and had an inwardly concave structure, resembling America's Hoover Dam. This arch-shaped structure could better withstand the pressure of the upstream river water.
"It's so high! How was this thing built?" Bing Bing shielded her eyes with her hand, tilting her head back to look.