A familiar voice quickly drew my attention.

I turned my head and saw, amidst the crowd, a hefty man whose shoulders were draped with a towel, standing there rubbing and washing himself as if he were taking a shower in the open air.

I was speechless, thinking that this guy had previously been so indifferent to this 'baptism of the gods,' yet now he was enjoying it like taking a bath, having more fun than anyone!

Looking at his utterly unbearable state, I could only sigh, concluding that I shouldn't participate either; otherwise, if people found out I knew this fatty, it would surely be extremely embarrassing.

However, just then, a soft knocking sounded at the door.

I quickly dressed and opened it to find Kobe standing there.

He dragged a suitcase, still grinning cheerfully as he said to me, "It’s getting late, brother, we need to leave; time to get out of here."

I nodded and replied, "Alright, wait for me to pack up, and then we'll go."

Though I said that, when I returned to the room, I realized I had almost nothing to pack.

There was only one duffel bag, mostly filled with dry rations and exploration gear, and the largest portion consisted of various specimens collected from the underground cavern.

So, to lighten the load, I tossed things like leaking glow sticks and snapped ropes into the trash bin.

Finally, I dug out a peculiar item from my backpack: the pouch of elixirs I had found on the ancient corpse at Lingyu Temple—the Fire Pills inside I hadn't had a chance to use yet.

This was a good thing, but definitely something I couldn't take on the plane. So, after some thought, I placed it beside the pillow on the bedside table, accompanied by a mischievous smirk.

Afterward, I helped Grandpa pack his belongings, and then we went downstairs together.

When we arrived downstairs, two jeeps were already waiting for us.

But Daxiong stubbornly refused to leave, insisting he hadn't washed enough.

We had to have a few of us go up and drag Daxiong into the vehicle.

Then, the two jeeps, facing the drizzling rain, began their journey toward Ürümqi.

Kobe and the others’ next destination was the Siberian region within Russia for UFO observation. It was rumored to be a sacred site for UFO enthusiasts worldwide, where a UFO had once crashed, and alien corpses were allegedly discovered.

In the years following, this area had also become a region where UFO sightings occurred with high frequency.

AChiu told me that the more remote and sparsely populated a place was, the higher the probability of UFO appearances. The vast wilderness of Siberia was the best spot for UFO observation during the summer.

Since the trip to the Russian border required passing through Ürümqi, they offered to give us a ride there so we could catch our flight.

Although both locations were within Xinjiang, driving from Ruoqiang to Ürümqi would take at least a full day.

So, I fully charged my phone and bought a few religious books locally, planning to read during the journey.

Our vehicle gradually pulled away from the Second Floor Hotel, but I couldn't stop looking back at the third floor of the building.

Daxiong, Liang Qian, Grandpa, and I shared the same car. At this point, Liang Qian asked me, "What's wrong? Did you forget something?"

I shook my head and replied with a smile, "There’s a good show coming up later."

Just as I finished speaking, we saw a plume of white smoke erupt from the room on the third floor where I had been staying, followed by a man’s furious shouting.

Since the shouting was entirely in Uyghur, we couldn't understand a word.

"Heh heh! What happened? Did you set the hotel on fire?" Daxiong asked me with a chuckle while pulling on his shirt.

I shot him a look and said, "How could I? I was just testing whether the ancient pills still retained their pharmacological properties. It seems those people from Lingyu Temple really are extraordinary."

Daxiong and Liang Qian looked at me, utterly confused. I explained, "I found the Fire Pills that the Lingyu Temple group carried with them in the underground ruins—those things that smoke and spark when thrown on the ground. Since I couldn't bring them on the plane, I left the pouch with the hotel manager. Considering how 'kind' he was to us, it's just a little parting gift."

Liang Qian pursed her lips and remarked, "That manager is truly greedy. He must have shaken the pouch first to see what was inside, and accidentally triggered the Fire Pill."

I nodded. I had actually anticipated that the manager wouldn't be honest. He was bound to find that pouch when cleaning my room after we left.

If he had been honest and returned it, fine. But if he wanted to see what was inside, he was bound to fall for it.

That Fire Pill was just ordinary gunpowder starter—not a bomb, not capable of harming anyone—perfect for 'repaying' the manager's kindness.

Upon hearing this, Daxiong burst into hearty laughter and said, "That’s the spirit, Xiao Chuan! He brought it upon himself."

"You two really are..." Liang Qian pouted, feeling quite exasperated.

"By the way, young lady, you aren't from Sichuan, are you?" Daxiong took the opportunity to strike up a conversation with Liang Qian.

Liang Qian looked at me instead and said, "No, of course not. I'm... from Beijing."

I was somewhat surprised and said, "Beijing? Shouldn't you be from Sichuan? Your ancestor, King Wei, settled in Sichuan, and when your clan scattered, you should have made your home there too."

Liang Qian nodded, then shook her head, saying, "Most of my relatives are indeed in Sichuan, but my father went to Beijing to teach, so he took me with him."

"Hey, that's great! Young lady, we're practically neighbors," Daxiong leaned closer to Liang Qian.

Sitting between them, I pushed Daxiong aside and chided, "Who’s your neighbor? Aren’t you from the Northeast?"

Without waiting for Daxiong to argue, I asked Liang Qian, "Is your father also teaching in Beijing? Which school?"

Liang Qian looked at me inexplicably and said, "What? Are you doing a background check?"

Daxiong chuckled from the side, saying, "He wants to marry into your family, so he's checking out the father-in-law first."

I gave Daxiong a kick and said earnestly, "My dad also teaches in Beijing. Maybe they know each other."

"Oh, oh, oh! What a cliché pickup line, hey, Xiao Chuan, you’re slipping..." Daxiong was still yelling nonsense from the side.

"Professor of Biology at Tsinghua University..." Liang Qian replied casually.

I was instantly speechless because my father was just a high school teacher, incomparable to someone like that.

Seeing my silence, Daxiong asked, "What’s wrong?"

I shook my head and said, "Nothing... I’m hungry. Got anything to eat?"

"Actually, my dad and yours are old acquaintances; they were classmates in university, the best of brothers. Later, they both moved to Beijing for work. At that time, Tsinghua University needed one more Biology professor, and there was only one spot. Both your dad and my dad had excellent grades in college, and both had a chance at the professorship, but your dad gave the opportunity to my dad," Liang Qian said in one smooth breath.

"So that's how it is..." I had felt a bit embarrassed, but hearing this, I suddenly realized my dad was quite generous, which actually saved me a lot of face.

So I asked Liang Qian, "Does that mean you knew me a long time ago..."

"Of course. It's just your memory that's poor. We were even in the same primary school class. I can't believe you don't recognize me now," Liang Qian said helplessly.

"Impossible! I remember all my primary school classmates!" I retorted.

"Then do you remember someone named Liang Ziqi?" Liang Qian asked.

"Liang Ziqi? Isn't that the little chubby girl? Director Liang's daughter... In the fifth grade, they said she was seriously ill and went to America for treatment... Could it be..." I said with surprise.

"That's right. Except she didn't go to America for treatment then; she went to study. Later, through an introduction from my grandfather's friend, she interned with the National Field Scientific Expedition Team for a few years and earned her International Professional Explorer certificate," Liang Qian stated word by word.

"To be honest, we hadn't heard from you for a long time, and all the classmates thought you had died. I never thought you, little fatty, not only lost weight and changed your name but also became an explorer! Hahahaha." I laughed unrestrainedly, completely ignoring Liang Qian’s expression when she heard the term 'little fatty.'

Daxiong interjected from the side, "I told you, fat people all have potential. Don't look at your Uncle Xiong as fat now; once I lose the weight, I'll be the next Daniel Wu."