A decidedly masculine voice came through the receiver: "May I speak with Mr. Liu? This is the police station. There has been an incident with the expedition team heading to Tibet."

Upon hearing "an incident," Mr. Liu felt as if an iron hammer had struck his chest, and his head immediately buzzed. For a moment, he was utterly lost. Fan Debiao and Cai Qingchong, seeing the drastic change in Mr. Liu's expression, merely exchanged bewildered glances, completely unaware of the magnitude of what had occurred, and sat there anxiously. It wasn't until Mr. Liu managed to compose himself that he asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

The voice on the other end paused before saying, "Please come down to the Sanli Street precinct first! It’s difficult to discuss over the phone!"

"We'll be right there!" Mr. Liu snapped, and instructed the taxi to turn around. Fan Debiao thought to himself, Weren't we supposed to go see Big Grasshopper? Why are we heading to the police station? Are we turning ourselves in? But the explanation that followed next made his heart drop just as dramatically—something had happened; it had happened in less than a week!

Once inside the station, the three were ushered into a small office occupied by two officers wearing peaked caps. Judging by their insignia, they seemed to hold relatively high ranks.

Mr. Liu looked at them suspiciously and asked, "You gentlemen are..."

After they saluted him, one officer with a small mustache spoke up: "Let me be direct. The expedition team lost contact inside the Guge Kingdom ruins in Xinjiang. By the time the rescue team from the PLA Labor Corps Unit 113 found them, three days had passed. Out of the five archaeological team members, three have been confirmed deceased, one is missing, and the last member is currently lying in the Capital Hospital. Vital signs are present, but he has no responsiveness—in simple terms, he is in a persistent vegetative state."

Before he could finish, Mr. Liu lunged forward, gripping the officer's collar, and demanded breathlessly, "Damn it! Uncle Diao, where is Diao Dey? How is he? And Wang Feifei, Jackson—tell me quickly! You must tell me now..."

The mustachioed officer shook his head. "Mr. Liu, please calm down. We came here to inform you that the person in the hospital is Ms. Wang Feifei, the Vice President of the French 'Tour' Expedition. The deceased list does indeed include a Frenchman named Jackson. As for Mr. Diao Dey, whom you mentioned, his whereabouts remain unknown to this day. Given the unique geographical challenges of the Xinjiang region, the rescue team has ceased further unproductive efforts; please accept our apologies. Among Ms. Feifei's personal effects, we discovered a photograph of you two together, along with her diary, which is how we learned she was your girlfriend. That is why we decided to contact you... There is one more matter: after our investigation, we found that your friend, Big Grasshopper, who is currently hospitalized, went to the very same location months ago. He was also severely depleted, returning as the sole survivor. He is now critically ill and has been temporarily transferred to a military hospital by the Ministry of State Security."

Before the officer could conclude, Fan Debiao collapsed onto the floor. Mr. Liu, already pulling on his coat, urgently stated, "Take me there now!"

In the corridor outside the ward, people were either standing or sitting. The trio rushed to the door of the room and were about to push it open when two fully armed PLA soldiers, carrying Type 56 submachine guns, blocked their entry.

"Get out of the way! I need to get in!" Fan Debiao roared, moving to shove the soldiers aside. Just then, a voice called out, "What are you doing?"

Mr. Liu turned at the sound of the voice and saw that the speaker was a high-ranking military officer.

"Comrade, my boss is inside. I heard there's danger, I have to go in and see how he is!" Fan Debiao managed to utter this single sentence before reaching out again to push the ward door.

"Stop him," a voice commanded coldly.

The two fully armed soldiers at the door simultaneously raised their Type 56 submachine guns, aiming them squarely at Fan Debiao's chest. Fan Debiao turned back toward the officer and cursed, "What is your meaning? Does having an officer rank make you so great? I don't hold you in awe. If you have the guts, shoot me right now. If you don't, when your shift ends, I'll crush your balls with a brick!"

The officer let out a cold laugh. "I'm keeping you out for your own good."

He then shot a dismissive glance at Fan Debiao and calmly addressed Mr. Liu, "Mr. Liu, since I sent someone to notify you, we naturally intend to let you see him. However, whatever you see inside, I hope you can maintain your composure."

Seeing the officer's grave expression and recognizing that Fan Debiao’s earlier behavior had been overly rash, Mr. Liu, feeling in the wrong, could only nod.

"You may go now," the officer said heavily. "Go see your friend one last time." He then turned his head away, no longer looking in their direction.

"One last time?" When Mr. Liu heard the officer utter that phrase, his heart lurched again. Mr. Liu took a deep breath, and heavily, he, Cai Qingchong, and Fan Debiao pushed open the door to the intensive care unit.

The room was chaotic, with seven or eight doctors and nurses bustling around the bedside. Various lights flashed from monitors, most of which Mr. Liu didn't recognize, save for the electrocardiogram machine that sent shivers of dread down his spine.

"The patient's blood pressure is dropping rapidly!"

"Administer 4000 CCs."

"Ventricular fibrillation is occurring..."

"Prepare the defibrillator! Step back... One... Two... Three..."

Crack... (The sound of the shock)

"Not enough! Three hundred!"

"Step back... One... Two... Three..."

Crack...

"Four hundred..."

Crack...

"Five hundred!"

"Doctor, we can't add more! The patient can't take it!"

"Five hundred! Step back... One... Two... Three..."

Crack...

"..."

Mr. Liu dared not even breathe, much less approach Big Grasshopper for a look. His eyes were fixed solely on the EKG monitor, silently pleading, Wake up! Wake up quickly! ... Brother... you must live.

"Inject epinephrine, five-eighty, step back..."

Crack...

"Beep—" A long, sustained tone sounded; the EKG monitor had flattened into a single, straight line.

At this point, Fan Debiao could hold back no longer. He rushed to the bedside, pulling and shoving the doctors and nurses aside with both hands. "Boss... wake up quickly... It's me... Debiao is here!"

Before he could finish the word "me," Fan Debiao suddenly noticed that the person before him was not Big Grasshopper at all, but an elderly man he didn't recognize. Seeing his head full of silver hair and a face lined with wrinkles, the man looked at least eighty years old. How could this be the sharp-eyed middle-aged man?

"Hahaha—" Fan Debiao burst into several loud laughs. "You’re mistaken! You’re mistaken! This isn't my boss at all! Hahaha—it was all just a damn prank..." Fan Debiao turned, pulled the door open, and saw the tense face of Su Yougui beside the officer's cold expression.

"Yougui, I was wondering why I didn't see you. Didn't I tell you to stay with the boss? How could you just let the boss move to another place? Is it because I didn't take you on this expedition? Do you have to make fun of me? Who is this old man? Send him back. He’s quite unsettling. You scared me half to death. Alright, now that I see it’s not the boss, I can finally relax a little..."

"Brother, the one inside truly is the boss!" Su Yougui’s utterly detestable mouth uttered two words.

"Impossible!!"

"I wasn't entirely sure at first, but the boss told me a few things while he was conscious, which forces me to believe he is indeed the boss."

"What? Say that again?" Fan Debiao violently grabbed Su Yougui by the collar, completely forgetting that he was his friend.

"The person inside is Mr. Zuo," the officer stated flatly.

"Ah—" Fan Debiao let out a low growl from his throat. The hand gripping Su Yougui's collar involuntarily loosened. A wave of dizziness washed over him, causing him to stumble backward two steps. If Mr. Liu and Cai Qingchong hadn't caught him, Fan Debiao would surely have collapsed onto the floor.