After a moment, Xu Zhiwu looked up and said, "We must return to the Guges ruins... the truth might be revealed immediately."

"Back to the Guges ruins again?" Laba frowned, saying, "One trip already caused so much trouble, and now we have to go again..."

Xu Zhiwu showed a faint air of satisfaction. "Perhaps this time, we won't have to return."

There was an underlying meaning in his words. "Brother Zhiwu, you mean..." I asked him.

"It's just speculation... speculation... not certain. Let's go and see first, and talk about it then," Xu Zhiwu vaguely replied, unwilling to make things clear. I thought to myself that no matter what, I was going to be involved in this matter anyway, so his ambiguity didn't matter; I would find out the answer eventually. Therefore, I stopped asking.

Xu Zhiwu asked Old Li, "Li Zeng, you should come with us too?" His consultative tone was exactly the same as when he forced us to come to Laba's house to guard the Gold Eye and Silver Pearl. Old Li wasn't a fool, so he naturally understood that this manner of speaking, while seemingly a discussion, was actually non-negotiable. Thus, without overthinking, Old Li immediately agreed.

Laba looked at the three of us with deep concern. "If you leave, and I'm stuck with these Gold Eye and Silver Pearls—I just feel uneasy. You know how many robbers and thieves have come to my house recently..."

Hearing this, Xu Zhiwu frowned. "That's a problem too... Hmm... How about this... We'll put it in a bank vault." His words were like a sudden awakening, and Laba realized it with a flash of understanding. "Right! Why didn't I think of that sooner? If I had done this earlier, there would have been no need to trouble Xiao Luo and Li Zeng at all." With that, he looked at Xu Zhiwu with a hint of reproach, "Zhiwu, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Xu Zhiwu chuckled, "I only just thought of it." However, judging by his demeanor, it seemed he hadn't just thought of it.

Old Li and I remained silent. Laba sighed. "It would have been great if you had remembered earlier! Forget it, forget it. Let's hurry and put this menace in the bank now. As long as it's by my side for a second, I can't feel at ease for a second."

So, the four of us big men set off in a grand procession to escort the Gold Eye and Silver Pearl to the bank. Laba handled the paperwork himself. Outside the bank, in Xu Zhiwu's car, while waiting for Laba to come out, I sat in the back seat with the window down. A small, shoe-shining boy, perhaps ten years old, carrying his tool kit over his shoulder, approached with practiced ease, tapped on the window, and asked, "Shoeshine?" His Mandarin was half-formed, and his eyes were fixed intently on me. (This was common when eating at restaurants around the Jokhang Temple square.)

I felt quite uncomfortable under his gaze and said impatiently, "No shine."

The little boy gave a slight smile. "If you don't want one, maybe the gentleman next to you does!" He then turned to Old Li, "Shine, sir?"

Old Li started, momentarily taken aback. "Shoeshine?" He then understood and quickly waved his hands. "No, no need."

The little boy stared at Old Li for a moment, and I expected him to be sensible and leave immediately. To my surprise, he calmly turned and walked over to Xu Zhiwu's side, politely tapped on the window, and repeated his offer. Xu Zhiwu had already seen his previous actions clearly. So, as soon as the boy finished speaking, Xu Zhiwu said, "No, no need."

The little boy went through all of us, asking each person, and after being refused by everyone, he showed no sign of disappointment. With an indifferent expression, he turned back to a spot not far from our car, asking anyone who passed if they needed a shoe shine. Very few people even stopped long enough to hear him finish. There was an indescribable worldliness, a street-smarts air about these shoe-shining children that was repellent, lacking any of the innocence a child should possess. I wondered how their parents let them navigate such a complex, mixed society at such a young age.

A little while later, Laba came out. That wretched child actually rushed forward again to intercept Laba’s path, asking if he needed his shoes shined. Laba said impatiently, "No shine, no shine." Hearing this, the boy stepped aside slightly, gesturing for Laba to pass, but his eyes were locked onto Laba. Laba ignored him and strode toward the car, saying as he walked, "Done."

Laba got into the car and sat in the passenger seat. Just as Xu Zhiwu was about to start the engine and leave, the child clung to the car again. First, he pressed his face against the glass to look at Old Li and me, then quickly darted to the front to peer at Laba and Xu Zhiwu. He then stepped back, counted on his fingers—one, two, three, four. After counting, he glanced at us a few more times, then ran off like a flash of lightning.

How utterly bizarre!

Once Laba secured the Gold Eye and Silver Pearl, everyone's spirits lifted. The constant worry about various factions making moves was gone. We all started chatting and laughing. Midway back, Laba received a call from Nyima, who said he was returning from visiting a friend and asked why Laba wasn't home. "I'll be right back. Wait for us by the door for a moment," Laba told him.

We soon arrived at Laba's doorstep, where Nyima was waiting for us. After Xu Zhiwu parked, we all went upstairs and sat down according to host and guest roles.

Xu Zhiwu cut straight to the chase, telling Nyima that he had found some secrets about the Gold Eye and Silver Pearl but couldn't reveal them yet; they had to return to the Guges ruins first to confirm if his findings were correct.

Having said that, he didn't ask if Nyima would assist or not, simply looking at Nyima with significant meaning. Nyima didn't hesitate and said he would accompany us back to Zhaburang Village, and he would take full responsibility for assisting us with any matters concerning the Guges ruins.

Xu Zhiwu nodded in satisfaction, saying meaningfully, "We all help each other."

Nyima smiled politely. "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare."

Laba had store business to attend to and naturally couldn't join us in Zhaburang Village. Thus, only the three of us—myself, Old Li, and Xu Zhiwu—returned with Nyima.

Xu Zhiwu had already grown wary of Nyima, but he showed not a trace of it on the journey, still chatting cheerfully and intimately with Nyima about everything under the sun, as if there were no barriers between them. Nyima responded fluently and naturally as well. In comparison, Old Li and I were much more restrained and awkward.

Once we arrived at Nyima's place, we ate our fill, drank our fill, and slept. Old Li, Xu Zhiwu, and I still crowded into the same room to sleep. There's nothing much to mention about that. However, in the middle of the night, just as I was sleeping soundly, I was suddenly awakened by a text message (I have a habit of never turning off my phone when sleeping). I opened it, and the content was just one short sentence: "Stop now. The Gold Eye and Silver Pearl are a curse!"

Sleepy-headed, I read it, casually deleted the message, and went back to sleep.

When I woke up early the next morning, I suddenly remembered seeing a message in the middle of the night telling me not to get involved, but after searching through my message history, I couldn't find it. I couldn't even check the number's origin because I didn't save the number. I even began to doubt whether I had actually seen such a message in the night.

I told Xu Zhiwu and Old Li about it. Xu Zhiwu said, "Didn't someone tell you not to interfere back at the Tibetan restaurant too? It's probably the same group of people. I wonder who it is, singling you out to stop—they seem quite concerned about you!"

A chill ran down my spine, mixed with annoyance. It felt like my every move was being monitored constantly. Although I hadn't done anything wrong, this feeling of being spied upon was awful!

"I don't know who it is, playing these ghostly games!" I grumbled. "The more they tell me not to interfere, the more I must look into it. Let's see who they are!"

"Whoever it is," Xu Zhiwu smoothed things over, "let's just go do our own thing." Old Li echoed his sentiment. Speaking of Old Li, I always felt that ever since agreeing to come to the Guges ruins, he had been consciously or unconsciously drawing closer to Xu Zhiwu. But perhaps I was overthinking it.

Even though, as Xu Zhiwu suggested, we should focus on our tasks, I still felt somewhat sullen and mumbled, "Mmm."

Old Li tried to comfort me. "Technician Luo, this person probably means well..." I knew they meant well, but that complete lack of privacy, that feeling of being watched, was genuinely unbearable and irritating! Good intentions don't always lead to good deeds!

During breakfast, Nyima also noticed my gloominess and asked what was wrong. Before I could speak, Xu Zhiwu jumped in to answer for me. "Someone doesn't want him involved with the Gold Eye and Silver Pearl matter."

Nyima looked slightly surprised. "Is there someone else who knows about the Gold Eye and Silver Pearl?"

I knew, Old Li knew, Xu Zhiwu knew, Laba knew, and perhaps the Europeans who were perhaps with the same faction knew too—it seemed almost everyone in the world knew about the Gold Eye and Silver Pearl. What was so strange about that? "Quite a few people must know, right?"

Nyima simply said, "Oh," and went back to eating without another word.

Xu Zhiwu casually, almost as if talking to himself, remarked, "This time, I think we've found the right track."

Nyima immediately picked up the conversation, asking him, "What have you found the right track for?"

Xu Zhiwu said, "The Gold Eye and Silver Pearl—I know its function now. But I still haven't found the entrance. If we find the entrance, we'll know exactly what's going on."

Nyima's face lit up, and the food he had just picked up paused midway in the air as he asked, "Really?"

Xu Zhiwu nodded, then put on a troubled expression. "But I still don't know where the entrance to the world of eternal life is. If I knew that, things would be much easier."

Nyima's expression immediately returned to normal. "That is true."

Xu Zhiwu looked at him earnestly. "Nyima, you must be more familiar with the Guges ruins than any of us. Please help us—actually, it's not really helping..." He paused. "It's not really helping, let's be frank with each other. Aren't you also waiting for the second Gold Eye and Silver Pearl to appear?"

Hearing this, Nyima showed no surprise, answering calmly, "Yes."

Xu Zhiwu continued, "Then we cooperate... One key opens one lock. We already have one key now, and I know how to use it and how it works. All you have to do is take us to find the lock..."

Before he could finish, Nyima interrupted him. "Why are you so sure that I know where the supposed lock is?"

Xu Zhiwu smiled cunningly. "If you didn't know? Would you have been guarding this place aimlessly for over a hundred years?"

Nyima smiled very humbly and said nothing, seeming to tacitly agree.

"How about it?" Xu Zhiwu tempted him persuasively. "Shall we cooperate?"

Nyima's reply was quite direct: "Did I ever say I wouldn't cooperate? If I didn't want to cooperate, would I have returned with you?"

Xu Zhiwu quickly said several times, "That's true, that's true."

Nyima added, "However... I've always said that two Gold Eye and Silver Pearls are necessary, and we also need to find the High Priest of Guge... before we can safely pass through the various mechanisms and enter the core key to true eternal life." Then he added, "Otherwise, why did I tell you to look for the High Priest of Guge when you came last time!"

It seemed Nyima had been calculating his steps all along. I hadn't expected him to be so deep-scheming; perhaps I was too naive.

Hearing this, Xu Zhiwu looked troubled. "Two... One is already causing a chaotic mess with all sorts of people coming out. If two appear, won't everyone have to fight until they're covered in blood and gore? Besides, we don't even know whose hands the second one is in."

Nyima replied, "If I knew where the second one was, would I need to sell my Gold Eye and Silver Pearl to Laba?" His tone carried a hint of looking down on Xu Zhiwu's intelligence.

Xu Zhiwu could certainly hear it, but he didn't mind. "The moves you've made are indeed more astute than mine. Then there’s no need for me to say more. You get what you want, and Xiao Luo, Li Zeng, and I aren't entirely useless—at least we can help fend off those Germans we encountered in Lhasa, right?"

Nyima smiled noncommittally, glanced around at us, and then slowly said, "To tell the truth, I actually don't need you guys anymore..." At this point, his tone shifted. "The goals I wanted to achieve have been met. However, something we studied for so long without a breakthrough, you three figured out the basics with just a little discussion. So, I think cooperation is still necessary."

"Haha..." Upon hearing Nyima's words, Xu Zhiwu burst out laughing, forgetting he was still eating. "Brother Nyima, you truly are formidable. There’s nothing more to say; we cooperate." Then he asked me and Old Li, "Xiao Luo, Li Zeng, what do you two think?"

Li Zeng quickly chimed in, "I have no objection."

Seeing them calculate and scheme, even though I didn't believe in a world of eternal life, I was very keen to broaden my horizons and satisfy my damned curiosity. So, I also nodded my agreement.

As a result, the situation underwent a subtle shift. Xu Zhiwu had always held the upper hand, but Nyima, acting later, seized the momentum.

Preliminary consensus on the cooperation matters was reached, and everyone stopped wasting time on that topic. Xu Zhiwu brought up the incident at the Tibetan restaurant again, asking Nyima about the background of the European young man who spoke Tibetan to him, and he frankly told Nyima about encountering the Germans as well.

Nyima looked slightly surprised. "You encountered other Germans?"