Old Li stood there, mouth agape, staring at the person who had fallen behind me, and he remained frozen even after I stumbled over to him in a panic.

A small shred of rationality remained with me, and I repeatedly called out to him, "Old Li! Old Li…..." Only then did he snap out of it, looking at me with bewilderment. "Technician Luo, what happened? How could it be him?"

So Old Li actually knew the person on the ground? Now it was my turn to be confused. "You know him?"

Old Li shook his head, then paused, then nodded again. "Not know, exactly. I've seen him before. Don't you have any recollection at all?" I turned back to look at the fallen man. His eyes were tightly shut, his face stark white, and his clothes were so soiled that their original color and style were unrecognizable. The only distinguishing feature was his deeply etched contour; his complexion seemed paler than ours. The more I looked, the more familiar the face became—I felt certain I had seen someone like this before, yet my mind was completely stuck, refusing to yield the specific context no matter how hard I racked my brain.

Old Li murmured distractedly, "It seems there are indeed more than just our two groups here… I wonder if the side currently holding the advantage in the shadows will let us live…" I understood his implication. We had already witnessed two deadly incidents; the first involved an outright corpse. Although this man's body still held residual warmth, it meant nothing conclusive. Still, I was deeply perplexed; I truly felt I had encountered this person somewhere before.

I asked Old Li if he shared my feeling. He replied, "Technician Luo, where is your situational awareness? Back when Xu Zhiwu was in Lhasa, remember that time a car ran a red light, and a German man came over to speak with him, taking a look at us while he was at it? I was watching him too… This man is with that German group. It's a pity… a pity that young fellow died up there, his back so mauled. This man here has no chance of surviving either. And neither do we. Stop thinking about getting out of here alive…"

Hearing Old Li’s words, my own mood darkened. Regardless of who this man was, for now, we were all fellow sufferers, caught in the same perilous current of fate. The thought brought a sudden surge of pity. No matter his background, I ought to check on him. If he could be revived, he might offer some insight, which would be infinitely better than Old Li and I waiting here helplessly for death.

"I…" I hesitated, then said to Old Li, "I’m going to check if he’s dead. If he isn't…" Before I could finish, Old Li cut me off. "Understood, understood." He seemed preoccupied with other thoughts, distracted, letting me approach the German man.

I didn't have the energy to ponder what Old Li was thinking. He was no longer as straightforward as he had been at the communication post—even though he was much closer to me now, his depth left me feeling somewhat adrift.

When I was tripped earlier, I had sensed body heat from the German. Now, checking again, I confirmed it. Though he was unconscious, all his other vital signs appeared normal. Yet… there was something abnormal about the depth of his coma. I forced his eyelids open; it didn't seem like a pathological unconsciousness, but rather as if he had been subjected to some kind of anesthetic. It was a feeling difficult to articulate.

My head felt fuzzy. I knew something was wrong with the German’s state of unconsciousness, but I couldn't pinpoint what. It was like that persistent memory of having seen him somewhere before—the specifics remained elusive. My brain was completely muddled, lacking its usual sharpness. Perhaps it was the shock, compounded by the fall from such a height, that had caused some affliction.

I vigorously shook my head to clear some cobwebs and then moved to hoist the German, intending to lean him against the nearby rock face. He weighed perhaps 170 or 180 pounds—not an issue for me under normal circumstances. But the moment I lifted him, my arms felt weighted down by a thousand pounds; I couldn't exert any strength, stumbled, and we both crashed back to the ground.

It seemed my own condition was worse than I imagined. I managed a bitter smile, staggered back to my feet, bent down, grabbed the German by his ankles, and began dragging him toward Old Li. Still feeling severely weak, I turned back to call Old Li over for assistance.

To my surprise, Old Li’s face contorted in terror, and he shrieked, "It's over! It's all over!"

Not knowing what had happened, I was about to ask when a sudden rush of wind tore through the air above us, followed by the sound of countless objects slicing through the void. The Face Monsters! Not just one, but a dense swarm, beating their wings rapidly and diving toward us—a terrifying, dense mass of broad smiles and massive eyes that blotted out the sky, unbelievably eerie and horrifying.

"Old Li…" Remembering how I had scared off the first Face Monster with my knife, I quickly urged Old Li to ready his blade for defense. But Old Li, pale as death, simply shook his head, ignoring the rapidly descending swarm above. Without a word, he came over to help me drag one of the German’s legs, signaling me to hurry and pull him toward the stone wall.

The German's weight seemed to exceed 180 pounds. It took significant effort for both Old Li and me to drag him to the wall. The swarm of Face Monsters was now pressing so close they were almost brushing our hair. Annoyed by the trickery of the first monster, my anger outweighed my fear, even with this multitude approaching. I drew my knife without looking and slashed upwards into the mass. In a daze, I thought I heard a faint chuckle, and the monsters immediately scattered upwards—though not far, hovering two or three meters above us, wings fluttering, countless large eyes fixed hungrily on the unconscious German, as if waiting for something.

It was the same game they played before. I was utterly enraged. Didn't they fear my military-issue knife? Fine, I'd just stab them one by one until one fell! With that thought, I glared fiercely at the swarm, leveled my knife at one of them, aimed deliberately, and slowly raised my hand…

"Don't!" Old Li grabbed me, snatching the knife away in one swift motion. "Technician Luo, do not provoke them under any circumstances." His face was completely drained of color as he spoke.

Old Li's demeanor startled me. No matter how terrified I was, I wasn't reduced to his state… "Old Li, what's wrong with you?" I asked.

Old Li was ashen, his lips completely devoid of blood. "Look…" He had been holding the flashlight, but now his hand trembled uncontrollably as he tried to pluck at the algal growth beneath his feet. He failed several times. Seeing his struggle, I found it strange and bent down to pick a frond for him.

"Look…" Old Li took it, then held it out again. "Look closely." He brought the beam of the flashlight close to the algae and urged me to observe. I leaned in. Under inspection, this was no ordinary algae; it was covered in a layer of fuzzy little barbs. Cocky and ignorant, I saw the barbs and, trusting my tough skin, pinched one between my fingers. I felt no pain at all, but the tiny spines sank cleanly into my flesh! Simultaneously, a very faint dizziness shot rapidly from my hand to my brain, making me instantly feel more woozy. I was horrified and threw the algae off, but it remained firmly embedded in my hand, impossible to shake loose. Finally, Old Li wrapped a piece of cloth around his hand and gently plucked it free from mine. When it came out, my hand felt no pain whatsoever, only a strange numbness spreading through it.

Even so, I was terrified. If the barbs had caused pain when they pierced my skin, that would have been normal. But… they sank completely into my finger without me feeling a thing!

At this point, my face must have mirrored his pallor. "O-Old Li… this… this seems to have… a paralyzing… toxin…" I suddenly understood why I felt dizzy and weak. The barbs from this algae must have silently pierced my skin when I fell from above, administering a subtle dose of anesthetic without my awareness.

Trembling, I realized the ground beneath my feet was covered in this stuff. I tried to find a spot clear of algae to stand, but when I looked down, the ground was a dense carpet of the growth. My body involuntarily began to shake.

Old Li looked at me, his expression clearly saying, Now you understand why I’m so terrified. True despair washed over me. Above, a swarm of Face Monsters; beneath, algae that killed silently. The surrounding stone walls were impossibly slick. We had absolutely no avenue for escape.

"Water… water…" Just then, the German seemed to stir, whispering softly in English, asking for a drink. I looked at his already pale face with immense pity, seeing a mirror of myself—soon to collapse in the same state. A wave of sorrow surged from my core. They say if you survive a great disaster, you live on, but after surviving so many, must I still end up dumped in this desolate wilderness, unknown and unmourned?

"Technician Luo…" Old Li mumbled, "It seems… it seems the monsters are waiting for the German to die…"

Hearing this, I immediately understood. The swarm hadn't attacked because they feared us when I scared them off with the knife; they had retreated to gather their companions, planning to wait until the algae paralyzed us to death, allowing them to feast at their leisure! That was it—what clever, terrifying creatures they were!

"..." The German muttered something else, but I couldn't understand it. I gave a bitter laugh. "We don't understand anything you say besides Mandarin. To travel thousands of miles to China, only to die in a place like this—pitiful… truly pitiful…" In truth, I was pitying myself more than him.

Yet, as soon as my words faded, the German seemed to comprehend, switching to fluent Mandarin: "Water… I need water…"

Water?! A sudden flash of inspiration struck me. With so much water-dependent algae here, even if its barbs carried a paralyzing toxin, water was its life source. If there was water, perhaps all our problems could be solved. Rather than wallowing in self-pity and accepting death, I should try to find a water source, take a chance. Hadn't we walked out of so many dead ends before?

The thought instantly lifted my spirits; I truly felt a glimmer of hope.