I highly doubted where he found the strength to speak with such volume; wasn't he just weak moments ago? I turned back, gave him a look of disdain, said nothing, and proceeded to turn around and sit down nearby.

"As a Lieutenant Colonel, I order you to come with me and search for that deserter." Director Wang struggled toward me, and judging by his expression, there was far more pleading than actual command in his tone.

I stared at him strangely, taking a moment to realize: Ah, the old man actually wanted to beg me to go with him, but maintaining the dignity of his high office, he couldn't bring himself to use soft words. Damn it, I’d already been through enough trouble; I certainly wasn't going looking for more. Whether he lived or died, and any after-effects—what did that have to do with me? I let out a cold laugh and continued to ignore him.

"You still haven't found Old Li..." When the hard approach failed, Director Wang switched to a softer tactic to persuade me. "Old Li naturally knows to head back down the mountain; he’s an old soldier, he doesn’t need my worrying." Even as I said this, a deep worry gnawed at me; so much time had passed, why hadn't he returned yet?

"You..." Director Wang was momentarily speechless at my utter disregard.

As we stood locked in this stalemate, Zhuomayangjin rushed over and asked me, "Mr. Luo, could I borrow a word?" As she spoke, she glanced at me, then quickly darted a look at Director Wang, inquiring if it was alright to let me step away for a moment. Director Wang nodded broadly. I found it quite comical; this Wang fellow really thought he amounted to something. I remained motionless, showing no inclination to move aside with Zhuomayangjin to talk.

"Mr. Luo..." Zhuomayangjin crouched down, looking at me earnestly. "Please believe me, it will only take half a minute of your time. You can decide afterward, alright?" At that moment, a faint ray of sunlight slanted through the window and illuminated her face, casting a moving glow. My heart stirred, and I nodded, rising to walk with her to a deserted corner of the room.

Zhuomayangjin leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Mr. Luo, you must go. Otherwise, all the good things will be taken by the Japanese. Director Wang isn't up to it; he was already hurt so badly by the Faceless."

"Good things? You mean the medicinal effects of the Crystal Black Scorpion?" I countered in an equally low voice.

"No, the Japanese have a greater conspiracy. I followed them as a translator, and I picked up things from their broken snippets of conversation... You have to trust me. Just for the medicinal Crystal Black Scorpions—do you think they would travel all the way from Japan to Tibet? Why are they so interested in you, a deserter? Don't you find that strange? If they really found something earth-shattering, do you think I, a weak woman, even with Director Wang—who is injured—could stop the Japanese? By then..." At this point, Zhuomayangjin let the sentence hang unfinished, but every word struck home. Yes, I could disregard Director Wang's life or death, but if the damn Japanese were plotting some grand scheme here, I couldn't just walk away.

After a brief moment of thought, I nodded: "Fine."

Zhuomayangjin said no more, turning to walk back with me toward Director Wang.

"Alright. I'll go," I said, staring at Director Wang, word by measured word.

Director Wang looked at me with a strained, smiling face and said with some effort, "Now that's a good, obedient comrade." The words made me want to vomit, so I merely glanced at him and stayed silent. "Oh, and Officer Liu is coming with us too," he added as an afterthought.

Officer Liu is going too? I shot a look at Officer Liu. Seeing my gaze, he quickly nodded and smiled affirmatively. What was he going for? Was he worried about lingering effects from the previous infection? But I didn't care enough to ask; if he wanted to go, let him go, as long as he wasn't crying for his mother later.

Xiao Zhou and the others were already scared half to death. Hearing they wouldn't be joining us, they quickly rushed over to Director Wang and me to ask permission to head down the mountain.

After Xiao Zhou and his group departed, we rested for a full day. Only on the morning of the second day did we set out again.

To be honest, I had no idea how to search for the deserter, but the little Japanese seemed experienced. Before setting off, they had Zhuomayangjin relay to us that the deserter shouldn't be far, and we only needed to follow them; there was nothing else to worry about for the moment.

Faced with the Japanese taking the initiative, I was even more convinced of Zhuomayangjin's warnings—the Japanese definitely had a conspiracy.

However, the Japanese themselves denied it. As soon as we stepped out, Yamamoto immediately separated from Zhuomayangjin and engaged me in strained Mandarin: "Mr. Luo... our Yamato nation... very big friendly... help you find deserter..." The underlying message was that I should be grateful. I pretended not to understand his Chinese, looking at him with an expression of confusion. He quickly gestured for a while, even mixing in English to try and make himself clear. I couldn't care less about him. Did he think everyone else was an idiot, believing the weasel's goodwill when visiting the chickens?

Leaving the derelict communications station, I saw Yamamoto and his group first take out a satellite navigation device, then a laptop, and finally a meticulously drawn map. Seeing this setup, they were clearly well-prepared. Once the Japanese produced these items, they immediately formed a circle, murmuring and consulting amongst themselves. I, Zhuomayangjin, and Directors Wang and Liu were all automatically excluded from the circle.

After some discussion, Yamamoto came over and told us to head northwest first, saying it should be easier to search there. Directors Wang and Liu naturally agreed eagerly, and I had no objection.

For the first five li or so, we were constantly climbing higher. As the altitude rose, I gradually began to run out of breath, slowly falling behind the group. Looking at Directors Wang and Liu, they showed no signs of having been injured; they even had the energy to chat cheerfully with the Japanese.

Soon after, I noticed Zhuomayangjin also falling behind the others; she was walking extremely slowly. I quickly caught up to her. "Can't keep up?" I asked her breathlessly.

"No, I saw you falling behind and struggling, and I took pity on you, so I deliberately slowed down," she replied with a playful smile.

I froze, surprised by this side of her, and felt a bit flushed. I stammered, "Oh... oh... thank you..." Then I quickly changed the subject.

Zhuomayangjin was quite conversational; I could tell, because whatever topic I brought up, she could connect to it logically and intelligently.

After some idle chatter, she suddenly asked me an abrupt question: "Technician Luo..." Having grown more familiar, she had started calling me Technician Luo, just like Director Wang and the others. "Technician Luo, have you ever heard this saying?"

"What saying?" I asked.

"Below Kamba Mountain lies the gate to hell, inhabited by the faceless demons." She said it flatly, yet it seemed to hint at something deeper.

Of course, I had heard that. I'd heard local people tell that legend a long time ago. So I told her exactly that.

After hearing my response, Zhuomayangjin smiled faintly and said nothing more. I didn't press her further. She quickly found another topic to discuss.

As we were chatting, a sudden angry shout erupted from the Japanese ahead: "Baka!" Following that was a shriek, and then the group began to retreat in a panic.

"What happened?" Zhuomayangjin and I exchanged a look and rushed forward.