As Zhang Yuqiu once again challenged his authority, Wang Jue shook his head helplessly. He failed to notice the glance she shot him and said, "If we were at the hospital, a simple cranial CT scan would confirm it. If there’s no organic damage, he’s likely in a deep coma."

"Then there's still a chance he could wake up?" Zhang Yuqiu kept her tone level this time, merely following Wang Jue's line of questioning.

"That depends on his willpower. However, that shouldn't be our concern right now. The immediate problem is that Wenshu has gone out through that door, and the three of us are locked inside this small cabin, unable to open it." Wang Jue spread his hands toward Zhang Yuqiu, gesturing at the door, expressing his utter helplessness.

"Could this be a trap? Intentionally luring us into this cabin to lock us up," Hou Dayong exclaimed, jumping up and kicking the door three or four times, but the seemingly dilapidated wooden door refused to budge.

"Let me try," Zhang Yuqiu drew the bronze-hilted dagger from her waist and thrust it violently against the wooden door. With a kacha-kacha sound, the dagger sank deep into the wood. Just as Zhang Yuqiu was about to use the dagger to pry the wood apart, Wang Jue grabbed her arm. "It’s better for a man to handle this sort of thing." Saying that, he gripped the bronze hilt, levered it sharply outward at an angle, and an old piece of wood, smelling strongly of agarwood, clattered to the ground from the door.

Instantly, a beam of sunlight shot in from outside. Hou Dayong jumped up again and kicked the wooden door. Before his foot even made contact, the door swung open on its own. Hou Dayong lunged forward, missed the opening, and tumbled head over heels out the doorway. Fortunately, the ground was soft soil, not concrete, or that fall might have been a disaster, resulting in a massive bump on his head.

Wang Jue looked at the bronze-hilted dagger in his hand and sighed. "This thing is actually so effective against them!" Zhang Yuqiu stepped forward, retrieved the dagger, and tucked it back into her waist. "Naturally. Everything has its counter, every object has its nemesis."

"And what is your nemesis?" Wang Jue asked playfully.

"The Man-Eating Nether Worm." Zhang Yuqiu shot Wang Jue a withering look, clearly displeased that he would bring up such topics in this situation. It seemed Wang Jue’s political acuity still lagged behind Zhang Yuqiu’s.

Hou Dayong rolled over on the ground, scrambled to his feet, rubbing his sore arms and legs, and surveyed their surroundings. The backyard was choked with weeds, clearly neglected for a long time. Several flagstones were laid out in a line leading from the inner room’s wooden door toward another small, low structure in the rear yard. Wang Jue suddenly recalled the backyard of Granny Miao’s house, lamenting that this household had the exact same layout. As he started to step forward along the stone path, Zhang Yuqiu suddenly seized his wrist. "Don't go further in. I feel something is very wrong here."

"What's wrong?" Wang Jue turned back to her. "We all saw Wenshu walk into this house and exit through the inner room."

"Wrong," Zhang Yuqiu insisted. "We only saw her walk from the main hall to the inner room; we never saw her come out of that back door, nor did we see her enter that small cabin up front."

"Then what are you suggesting? That she vanished into thin air?" Wang Jue felt increasingly annoyed by Zhang Yuqiu's repeated provocations and was rapidly losing his patience.

"Can you see any traces of footsteps on these flagstones?" Zhang Yuqiu pointed at the slabs on the ground, challenging him, resolved to argue with Wang Jue to the bitter end.

Hearing her words, Wang Jue leaned closer and examined the few flagstones before him one by one. Sure enough, he saw a thick layer of dust coating them, showing no sign of anyone having walked across them. He then straightened up and asked, "If that's the case, where did Wenshu go?"