At the mention of Zhang Chenguang, A’Shui’s brow creased. “That Zhang character’s mouth is ironclad. You have to understand — tracing people on the dark web by their IP addresses is no simple matter. For a long time, we had no conclusive evidence to directly incriminate him and Song Fan in the ‘broker’ operation. These people are also extremely cunning — they use all kinds of money-laundering techniques, sometimes going so far as to use private lending, art dealing, and even gambling as cover for moving funds. On top of that, their transaction methods follow a fixed set of procedures, and they never transmitted materials over the internet, which made gathering evidence extremely difficult. We caught Zhang Chenguang on Yuzhu Peak, but he refused to talk.”

Ba Yunye clenched her fist. “Then beat him until he talks!”

A’Shui looked pained. “Master Ba, you’ve watched too many early Hong Kong films. We can’t mistreat suspects…”

Compared to Ba Yunye’s clowning, Diao Zhuo was considerably more composed. “So that’s why you risked taking Zhang Chenguang’s thermos?”

A’Shui nodded. “Exactly. If it had stayed in your hands, it might have brought you both enormous danger. Still, I have to thank you — you used your wits to help me find something so critical.”

“What exactly was inside the thermos?” Ba Yunye asked curiously.

“The same kind of thing Long Ge took this time — a memory chip. It contains some statistical data. I can’t go into specifics, but if it had fallen into the hands of those foreign buyers, they could have passed it along through several middlemen and then sold it to organizations or countries with ulterior motives. Those buyers could then use the data to analyze various aspects of our country’s situation. The data is protected by a password — this ensures the personal safety of whoever is making the exchange. If the other party gets hold of the goods and then decides to kill the seller, they walk away with nothing, and without even making any money.”

A’Shui said this with great satisfaction, making a fist and pressing his lips together in a gratified smile. “We retrieved Zhang Chenguang’s fingerprints from the interior of the thermos and from the chip itself. There’s no way he can deny it now.”

Diao Zhuo looked over at A’Shui. “Did he confess?”

“He did — but only admitted to his own actions and refused to name his superiors.” A’Shui shrugged, matter-of-factly. “He didn’t have to tell us. We already knew — it’s He Zhengren.”

“He Zhengren was using this to make money?” Diao Zhuo sought confirmation, “The information he had access to was certainly of considerable value.”

“He Zhengren was the domestic ‘broker’ network’s chief representative. As for how many lower-level operatives he had beneath him — that’s unknown. The information was bought and sold through layer upon layer of intermediaries, with a great deal going directly from him to foreign buyers. That Red Beard was the ‘Asia-region’ representative of He Zhengren’s overseas partner — a mercenary by background.” A’Shui said. “Do you know how much he sold over the years through the route data, photographs, and hydrological survey maps you gathered from those unmapped wilderness zones during your expeditions with Beidou? And all the projects he was involved in before he retired — he converted every single one of those into money.”

Diao Zhuo had already suspected that He Zhengren’s money had questionable origins, but this utterly shameless method of accumulating wealth left him completely staggered. “How did he end up like this…”

“Money is the devil,” A’Shui sighed.

“The armed police managed to rescue us in time because you left markings along the way that they could follow?” Diao Zhuo looked at him.

“Had to. Always leave yourself a way out.” A’Shui smiled.

“Did my elder sister’s vehicle accident have anything to do with He Zhengren?” Ba Yunye pressed urgently.

“Yes.” A’Shui answered in a single word, but it landed like a great weight, pressing down on everyone present. They all paused what they were doing and looked at him. He seemed moved, and said very carefully: “Your elder sister and the others… calling them national heroes is not the least bit of an overstatement.”

Ba Yunye’s heart contracted sharply, and she felt all the blood rush to her head. She could barely breathe. She — who rarely ever cried — heard the four words “national heroes,” and two streams of hot tears poured down her face before she could stop them, utterly beyond her control. Diao Zhuo took hold of one of her hands, and she hastily used the other to wipe the tears away. “Ugh… it’s windy, the dust got in my eyes…”

There was no dust inside the tent. No one said a word about it.

A’Shui continued. “At the time, He Zhengren had only just ‘gotten into the business.’ Through a roundabout path, they had learned from He Zhengren that the research being conducted by another survey team had significant strategic value. So Song Fan brought a gun onto the vehicle, threatened the scientists to hand over the materials, and demanded they identify every location where the data was stored. Professor Rao was tricked into going back to the rear vehicle to check on the situation, while Zhang Chenguang took charge of disrupting the lead vehicle from the front. Song Fan issued more threats, but neither ploy worked — not a single one of the scientists would hand anything over. Given the conditions at the time and the state of the road, you of all people, Master Ba, know best what that stretch was like — seventy-two hairpin bends on the road to heaven. It couldn’t withstand the chaos Zhang Chenguang and Song Fan were creating. The driver eventually lost control, and the vehicle went over the edge. The vehicle snagged partway down, teetering on the verge of falling — Song Fan was still alive, and he began crawling his way out…”

“What about the others?” Ba Yunye asked. “What about my elder sister? What about Diao Zhuo’s father?”

“Song Fan later told Zhang Chenguang that several people inside were still alive, but Diao Zhuo’s father had both legs pinned and couldn’t move; Professor Rao was gravely injured; only your elder sister was hurt relatively lightly and might have been able to climb out.”

Ba Yunye felt a chill run cold and clammy down her spine just hearing this account — she couldn’t begin to imagine what those scientists had endured, being there in person.

“The vehicle could have slid further down at any moment. And your elder sister’s choice was to push Professor Rao out of the vehicle first, then go back to rescue Diao Zhuo’s father and the other colleagues. Song Fan, acting from guilt and fear of exposure, conspired with Zhang Chenguang above and started hurling whatever they could get their hands on at the vehicle. Eventually, the vehicle lost its balance point and plunged down again — and everyone inside… So the only survivors at the time were Song Fan and Professor Rao, though Professor Rao’s injuries were too severe for him to have the capacity to testify against them. And because some people in the team may have been fellow ‘broker’ operatives, just like Pang Hou, this matter was treated as nothing more than an accident all along.”

He paused, then said more gently: “Master Ba, your elder sister, in trying to save Diao Zhuo’s father, may have shouted his name. Diao Jun may not have wanted your elder sister to stay and risk herself, and urged her to save herself instead — but she didn’t leave. Song Fan overheard this, and used it to fabricate the rumor of an affair, claiming an internal conflict had caused the accident. Because of that incident, He Zhengren was completely dragged into the mess by Zhang and Song — they were all bound together on the same rope. He went from being subordinate to those two to becoming their superior, which was twisted enough in its own way. What is deeply moving is that not a single one of the scientists, in their final moments, ever considered handing over the materials. Zhang Chenguang, right up to the moment he was arrested, still didn’t know what research topic those scientists had actually been working on…”

“No affair. No internal conflict…” Ba Yunye murmured the words over and over.

Diao Zhuo sat motionless, gazing blankly ahead of him, the deep furrow of his brow holding back a vast grief and a grief-stricken gratitude welling up from inside. He seemed to see his father walking toward him out of the darkness, offering him the faintest smile — then turning back into the dark, and slowly walking toward the light.

“No wonder my elder sister’s three photographs came from a man’s wallet — in addition to the photographs, there was a family portrait inside. Perhaps Diao Zhuo’s father had hoped that my elder sister could climb out and bring the information back. So he pressed the wallet into her hands. He just hadn’t foreseen that Song Fan and Zhang Chenguang would be so shameless, and that my elder sister wouldn’t make it out in time.”

“Your elder sister… was an extraordinarily courageous person. A true heroine.” A’Shui patted her on the shoulder. “And so are you, Master Ba. If you hadn’t pursued the matter of the three photographs, we would never have questioned Zhang Chenguang’s motive for climbing Yuzhu Peak so many times. If the two of you hadn’t found Zhang Chenguang’s thermos, he wouldn’t have confessed — and would never have revealed the truth about the accident all those years ago to earn credit toward his case. It’s a shame I couldn’t tell you any of this sooner.”

Ba Yunye waved a hand. “Never mind. The fact that you’d been investigating He Zhengren all along means that the nation hadn’t forgotten my elder sister and the others.”

“Zhang Chenguang’s testimony — we’ll cross-reference it with He Zhengren’s account once he regains consciousness. After that, the news will certainly set the record straight on all those rumors of an affair. You have my word.” A’Shui promised her.

Xiang’an passed over a container of freshly cooked instant noodles. Ba Yunye lifted the lid, and the fragrance wafted over her — but she found she was no longer hungry. She pressed on: “What about Long Ge? What’s his whole story? If He Zhengren didn’t die, why did he run?”

“Whether a person is dead or not isn’t something you can determine with just a glance or two,” A’Shui smiled. “Didn’t you yourself just now think Diao Zhuo was dead?”

Ba Yunye held up the steaming container of noodles. “Believe me when I say I’ll dump this right on your face.”

A’Shui surrendered. “Our assessment is that He Zhengren had been contemplating fleeing to America, but wanted to pull off one last big score before leaving. He reached out to Red Beard and the others to make a deal on the China-Myanmar border, after which he would slip into Myanmar and make his way from there to America. But Li Haozhang, the fool, thought he could take He Zhengren’s place — he tried to intercept the goods halfway and have He Zhengren eliminated. That small-time thug’s thinking threw our entire plan to close the net into disarray. And then, out of nowhere, Long Ge appeared and seized the memory chip, making an unorthodox escape through the primeval forests. Because Red Beard hadn’t yet shown up, we decided to hold off on closing the net, and put out a false report claiming He Zhengren had been killed and Long Ge was the suspect. That finally goaded Red Beard into action — afraid that Long Ge would be caught by the police and hand over the evidence, he couldn’t resist personally coming out into the open.”

Ba Yunye asked anxiously, “Will Long Ge go to prison?”

A’Shui looked somewhat conflicted. “I can’t really answer that for you — my jurisdiction only covers the He Zhengren case. How Long Ge’s series of actions will be categorized legally is up to the public security bureau and the courts to decide. But if the chip Long Ge seized is confirmed to contain important evidence and data, then he could be considered to have protected classified materials from being sold off. That might well be recognized as a meritorious act.”

Ba Yunye’s stomach finally felt hungry again. She held up one finger. “I have one last question.”

“Women really do talk so much,” A’Shui said, rolling his eyes.

“Do you actually have a wife and children?”

That question caught A’Shui completely off guard. His mouth opened, then pressed firmly shut.

Diao Zhuo let out a long, slow exhale, patted A’Shui on the shoulder with one hand, and drew Ba Yunye close with the other. “There will be time for that. Everyone is exhausted today — we don’t need to talk about so much. Besides, what A’Shui has told us tonight will take time to absorb.”

Clearly Diao Zhuo was a perceptive man. A’Shui gave a firm, emphatic nod.

“Here, team leader.” Xiang’an reached over and handed Diao Zhuo a container of noodles.

Everyone bent their heads over their food. Diao Zhuo turned to glance at A’Shui, who was eating with noisy, unrestrained enthusiasm — so familiar, yet so strange. Who was this person sitting before them — neither A’Shui nor Ma He? What was his real name? Did he have a wife and children? No one would ever know. Perhaps the next time they crossed paths, he would already be a completely different person. Perhaps they would never cross paths again.