I was utterly exhausted. Despite my dislike for Zhuoma Yangjin, her arrival gave me a strange sense of security deep down. On one hand, I loathed how she manipulated me with her schemes, yet on the other, I felt relieved, certain that she wouldn't harm me again.

The situation was complex and fraught with inner conflict, and finally, unable to fight off the weariness any longer, I drifted into a deep sleep. I had assumed sleeping would be simple, especially with Zhuoma Yangjin present; I could have slept for ten days or more if I wished.

But then, something happened that I would never have believed even if someone had struck me down.

It was still in Yunnan, in the most opulent hotel in Chengjiang County. Zhuoma Yangjin was showering me with attention, occasionally recounting old tales of the Guge Kingdom. Growing weary of that, she switched to stories from her time studying abroad, yet she deliberately avoided mentioning her role as a lead translator for the Japanese, terrified of accidentally offending me.

I couldn't be bothered to pay attention to her. I had no inclination left for a woman so full of stratagems and deep cunning; who knew what bizarre traps she might set for me next.

Estimating she had talked enough, I stated flatly, "I need to find Old Li, and Xu Zhiwu."

Zhuoma Yangjin froze slightly, a look of deep disappointment crossing her face. But she quickly composed herself and replied submissively, "I will go call them."

Without looking at her, I added, "Is everything Xu Zhiwu brought with him still here?"

"It's all here." With that, she rose to leave.

However, the instant she moved to stand, two figures in strikingly bright full-dress military uniforms appeared at the doorway. One was tall, the other short, both gaunt, with tightly sealed lips and eyes as dark and somber as deep water. Out of professional habit, I immediately glanced at their shoulder boards, intending to offer a greeting.

Strange—the shoulder boards on both men bore only a peculiar emblem, highly unusual and difficult to describe. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a collection of mysterious symbols, rather than the standard insignia denoting branch or rank for any recognized military classification.

After all, they were fellow soldiers, or at least looked the part. "..." I considered offering a greeting, but after a moment's thought, I could only offer an awkward smile, unsure how to address them.

Seeing their imposing presence and the off-putting atmosphere they exuded, Zhuoma Yangjin quickly turned back to stand by my bedside and declared loudly, "What do you two want?" The moment her voice fell, three or four burly Tibetan men appeared outside the door, poised to rush in and drag the two men out. They cared nothing for whether these men were some damned military officers; if Zhuoma Yangjin gave the order, they would carry it out, even if it meant murder or treason.

I, too, tried to flip over and sit up, but my body remained too weak. I swayed precariously, nearly collapsing again. Zhuoma Yangjin steadied me with a firm hand and then glared fiercely at the two officers, assuming a fiercely protective stance as if ready to fight to the death.

"What are you trying to do?!" Zhuoma Yangjin watched them warily.

"Get up! Go!" The short man completely ignored Zhuoma Yangjin, walked directly to the bedside, and without waiting for me to speak, swiftly grabbed my collar. With the ease of a hawk snatching a chick, he lifted my six-foot frame effortlessly above his head and tossed me onto the sofa.

"Put on your shoes! Go!" The short man's Mandarin was heavily accented with a distinct southern drawl, his tone brooking no argument. But I wasn't a fool; I was, after all, a minor military officer. If anyone was going to shout at me like that, it had to be a superior officer. Who the hell were these two to treat me this way?

"Why should I go?" I crossed my arms over my chest, looking coldly at the short man, assessing him from head to toe.

Zhuoma Yangjin wasted no words. With a gesture, the four burly Tibetans near the door immediately entered, gripping the sabers at their waists with murderous intent. If the two men dared to move again, they would draw steel without hesitation.

The tall man glanced at the four who had entered, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips, and remained silent. He then took two steps toward me, reached into his breast pocket, and pulled out a small, dark olive-green booklet stamped with faint gold characters. He brandished it briefly before my eyes, asking if I recognized it.

I looked at him with contempt. "I am a man of limited experience and have never seen such a thing, nor have I heard of a unit with your shoulder insignia and designation." As I spoke, I subtly signaled Zhuoma Yangjin to call Old Li and tell him we might be in trouble. More importantly, someone was brazenly wearing military dress uniform without authorization! If I had the strength, I’d order Old Li to strip these two men of their disguises.

Zhuoma Yangjin understood and moved to the side to make a call. I continued to watch the two men before me provocatively.

The tall man regarded me with mocking disdain and slowly opened the small booklet. It resembled an officer's identification, but apart from the steel stamp indicating some military region and a photograph of him along with a two-digit serial number, it contained nothing else.

I scoured my memory. There was no military ID like this anywhere in China. I looked up, meeting his gaze with a half-smile. "Indeed, my simple mind cannot recognize this object. But I can tell you very clearly, you will be investigated and prosecuted by a military tribunal! Because—" I emphasized each word, "—you are impersonating military personnel!"

As I finished speaking, I calculated that Old Li should be arriving soon; he was in the adjacent room.

The two men, one tall and one short, simply stared at me, their expressions still filled with mockery and amusement. I genuinely wanted to rush forward and slap them both, just to see if they could still smile. But my entire body felt light and weak, and I had to restrain myself. However, I couldn't just let this go; impersonating the military was a serious offense.

"Tell your men to keep a close watch on them," I instructed Zhuoma Yangjin, then asked, "Where is Old Li?"

Zhuoma Yangjin shook her phone with visible worry, signaling that no one answered.

"Old Li is in trouble!" My intuition screamed that something had happened to him; otherwise, he would never miss a call. That kid kept his phone with him even when using the latrine or bathing—how could he not answer now?

"Fine. Do you have accomplices?" I lazily stretched, bending down to put on my shoes while preparing my limbs for what I anticipated would be a fierce fight.

In this situation, having a woman present was the worst possible scenario—a liability that would only cause distraction and require care, beyond useless weeping. "You should leave. This is not your affair." I stood up after securing my shoes and addressed Zhuoma Yangjin.

Zhuoma Yangjin let out a small laugh and subtly gestured toward the four Tibetan men. "They are here."

"Luo Lian, your file number is **" The short man recited a string of digits. I froze instantly. How did he know that?

"You?" I pointed at him, momentarily speechless. "..."

"Your activities have alerted the higher-ups. Don't think you've been discreet; these past few incidents have caused a stir throughout the entire senior leadership, and you are involved in international matters." I watched the short man, expecting him to deliver even more shocking news.

He clearly saw that I didn't believe him.

He then glanced at Zhuoma Yangjin, asked her to step back, and leaned close to my ear, whispering a few words. Just a few words, but enough to make my jaw drop and steal my voice. He had spoken the secret code we used when encountering emergencies where revealing our identities was unwise—a top-secret phrase known only to a select few.

"You?" I thought he was here to rescue me, but since Zhuoma Yangjin didn't dare harm me here, what rescue was he talking about?

The short man gave a mocking smile and then whispered again, "Our designation. I can give you two minutes to call Lhasa and have your superiors verify our identity. We should at least inform your command structure, so they know whether you live or die."

"You!" I shot up instantly. "What are you people! You think a couple of sentences can scare me?" As I spoke, I secretly adopted a fighting stance, waiting for the right moment to strike. Given my lingering weakness, I couldn't rashly attack.

The moment I moved, Zhuoma Yangjin's four subordinates drew their gleaming Tibetan long knives and surrounded the two men with a sharp whoosh, blades ready. The tall man surveyed them coolly, crossing his arms and remaining motionless, showing no regard for their presence. Knowing how fierce and brave Tibetans were—drawing a blade meant blood—anyone surrounded by four such formidable men would take the threat seriously. His nonchalance suggested he was oblivious to the immediate danger.

Thinking of this, I felt a surge of schadenfreude; there was surely entertainment coming soon. "Where are they?" I asked Zhuoma Yangjin, knowing I meant Old Li. Her expression, however, looked troubled, her eyes fixed on the shoulder insignia of the two men, as if she wanted to speak but couldn't.

Naturally, if I didn't know about troops like this, there was zero chance she would. So, feigning ease, I asked her, "Why don't you step out? This is no place for a woman." Strangely, a perverse part of me felt anxious that she might get hurt. These two were clearly here with ill intentions.

"You should go out." Old Li must have encountered similar trouble, otherwise, he would have arrived by now. Inaction was no longer an option. I started to walk toward Zhuoma Yangjin to push her out the door, knowing her fiercely protective nature meant she wouldn't stand by idly.

The moment my foot landed, the short man reached out to block me. "Sit down!" he commanded sternly. "I've already shown you considerable respect." He gave a push, imbued with incredible force. I stumbled back two steps and fell heavily back onto the sofa, realizing I had encountered a formidable opponent.

"Yangjin, be good. Go outside." I said calmly to Zhuoma Yangjin. Though she had tricked me repeatedly, her current look of absolute readiness to fight these two men deeply moved me, and my voice softened slightly. "I'll find you when this is over. Go now."

Zhuoma Yangjin didn't reply. She began swiftly tying her hair up into a bun and tightening the cuffs of her sleeves.

"Yangjin..." She was just a slight girl; how could she possibly stand against these men? I quickly signaled her, but she acted as if she hadn't seen me. She walked over nonchalantly, gave a few sharp instructions to the four subordinates in Tibetan, stared intensely at the shoulder insignia of the tall and short men for a moment longer, then turned and walked out.

The two men didn't stop her. Once she was gone, the short man commented, "You're not bad, even the Guge Princess has taken an interest in you. Based on that alone, we won't do anything drastic to you. After all, we'll need you to negotiate certain matters with them in the future."

I didn't even look at him, secretly testing the flexibility of my limbs. No matter what, even if it meant death, I had to fight first. Besides, I had four valiant Tibetan guards; what was there to fear?

"I told you to call Lhasa to clarify our identities, but you chose not to. If you want to fight, I won't object. But if you proceed like this, you might end up spending a little more time in a cell," the short man said, watching me coldly.

I looked at him in disbelief, thinking this was the most ridiculous joke I had ever heard. "Jail? You think you represent the military tribunal? Do you take me for an idiot?" The words were barely out when I seized the opportunity and suddenly struck, throwing a punch at the short man's face. But my fist connected only with air. My heart sank, and without hesitation, I followed up with a flying kick aimed at his groin. The two movements were seamless, executed with absolute speed. With my skill, there was no way he could have dodged. As I attacked, the four Tibetan guards had already drawn their flashing blades, holding them to the tall man's neck.

My heart plummeted to the bottom of my stomach, because the kick that he absolutely should not have been able to avoid had also missed.

"You have some skill," the short man said, having already moved swiftly to stand beside the tall man. He watched the four Tibetans casually, his tone detached from any concern for the tall man's fate, and added coolly to me, "Too bad."

I didn't wait for his drivel. I surged forward again, pressing the attack. The short man gracefully sidestepped, dodging effortlessly, and then stated, "Too bad you're about to go to jail."