As they pressed on, the group found that Diao Zhuo’s judgment had been correct. Though they no longer spotted Long Ge’s markings, by carefully searching along the way they could still find signs of human habitation and footprints. Having made it this far, Long Ge had likely pushed his stamina to its absolute limit. With his pursuers shaken off, it seemed he had spent a good deal of time gathering food.

Along the route, they also spotted quite a few more grave-cap mushrooms — appearing left and right, greater in number than before, and showing up with increasing frequency — but no one had any interest in wasting energy digging them up.

Ba Yunye noticed an abandoned wild beehive that someone had raided above the remains of a burnt-out campfire, and could not help but marvel at Long Ge’s audacity as a dedicated foodie. The larvae and honey inside would have given him several satisfying meals.

Regrettably, all electronic devices were still plagued by signal interference, and the dates shown on their mobile phones remained a chaotic jumble — at least no longer showing the legendary 2012 doomsday date. The magnetic field in this place was utterly unpredictable; you would never want to come back a second time in your life. As the saying goes, this land simply did not welcome human beings.

After the darkest stretch before dawn, the eastern horizon showed the first pale glimmer of daylight. The ice and snow capping the distant mountain ridges shimmered in a faint blue, while mist drifted horizontally through the forest. All the heart-pounding terror seemed to settle into the calm of the morning mountain breeze — evoking the mood of the great poet’s lines about vast, hazy woodlands and mist-like smoke, and the sorrow-tinged emerald of cold mountain ranges.

The group, who had snatched a few hours’ rest, began to wake one by one. Da Qin’s gunshot wound had kept him from closing his eyes all night and his condition was not good. Aside from finding Long Ge, establishing contact with the outside world so that Da Qin and Pang Hou could receive medical treatment had also become one of the pressing priorities.

Ba Yunye caught some dew from the trees and gave her face a rough wipe, feeling sore all over. Last night’s frantic brawl with the carnivorous rabbits seemed like a dream already fading away. She smacked her lips — there was a bitter taste in her mouth. The only “sweet” thing left for them to eat was apparently toothpaste.

As she brushed her teeth, she looked around and caught a glimpse of Diao Zhuo doing chest-expansion exercises not far away, stretching his muscles and tendons. His broad shoulders and powerful back muscles were, as always, a pleasure to look at. With the toothbrush sticking out of her mouth, she called out indistinctly: “Whoever bought the toothpaste — the mint flavor is way too strong, it’s like eating wasabi!”

Tan Lin was helping apply anti-inflammatory powder to Da Qin’s wound. “I recall you complained at Qiang Tang that the compressed biscuits we bought tasted too pungent, and now you’re complaining the toothpaste is too minty. You’re harder to please than an emperor — how is Squad Leader Diao ever going to manage?”

Ba Yunye gargled noisily, toothpaste foam spraying as she spoke. She was too carefree to care, and instead burst out laughing. “Squad Leader Diao could hardly be appointed to serve an emperor — but serving this Empress Dowager of mine wouldn’t be bad at all.”

The line seemed amusing enough at first glance, but on closer reflection, Diao Zhuo walked straight over and clamped a hand over her mouth.

She struggled a few times and spat out the remaining toothpaste foam. “I haven’t finished brushing yet — you’re not even disgusted!”

“I’ve already been reduced to a eunuch. What’s left to be disgusted about?” Diao Zhuo retorted.

Ba Yunye hurried to butter him up: “Even as a eunuch, you’d be the Head Eunuch in charge of everything.”

The rest of the rescue team members staged a collective revolt: “Don’t drag us into this!”

Ge Mingliang laughed cheerfully. “Once everyone’s done washing up, let’s get moving!”

Xiang’an pinched the bridge of his nose, still half asleep, his expression somewhat blank and dazed. “Last night we all nearly got done in by rabbits. Morale is low — isn’t it about time for Master Ba to rally the troops?”

“Alright, let’s sing ‘Unity Is Strength’ again!” Ba Yunye planted her hands on her hips and was about to launch into song when Xiang’an stopped her. “That song is too stirring — we’re afraid it’ll attract those people. I’m thinking of that song you used to sing in Lazi — how about we sing it as we walk?”

Ba Yunye thought for a moment, snapped her fingers, and began beating out a rhythm with her palms while swaying her head and singing.

Those who had heard it before felt old memories rise to the surface, savoring the lingering impression. Those hearing it for the first time found it fresh and captivating. No one could make out what the lyrics were saying, but they remembered that lively, joyful melody — and Ba Yunye’s animated, exotic eyes, bright and enchanting.

They came upon another burnt-out campfire and several mountain-rat pelts. The clean, efficient way the carcasses had been gutted was unmistakably Long Ge’s handiwork — he was, after all, the one who usually cooked. Judging from the blood on the pelts and the degree of wind-drying, they had likely been skinned less than a day ago. They were getting closer and closer to Long Ge.

“I wonder if the police have collected the bodies of those two people.” Ba Yunye said. “As long as they can link up with Kong Gan and follow the markers we left, they’ll catch up with us within a day. That is, of course, assuming they haven’t been driven mad by the forest illusions and carnivorous rabbits…”

“They outnumber us — they might actually have the advantage.”

“Do you really think someone like Kong Gan would obediently stay put waiting for the police and help guide them? The moment we left, he probably slipped away quietly. He’s probably sitting at home drinking right now.”

“If communications hadn’t been cut off, the police would have found us long ago. Who’d have thought the Beidou Rescue Team would end up being the ones needing rescue — it’s really…”

“I think… I can see Long Ge.” Mid-conversation, Xiang’an’s out-of-nowhere remark made everyone’s hearts jump.

“Where?!” Ba Yunye gasped and craned her neck to look.

Xiang’an frowned and pointed somewhere. “Over there — I thought I just saw him peek out from behind that tree.”

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing, but could only see the same uniform landscape of rocks, trees, vines, and grass. Qi Zi shook his head. “That can’t be right — if he spotted us, especially seeing Master Ba, he’d have come over on his own. Is it possible he still doesn’t trust us?”

“I really did see him.” Xiang’an sounded a little urgent. “He poked his head out to look and then pulled back.”

For some inexplicable reason, everyone felt a chill down their spines. Ba Yunye least of all believed Long Ge would deliberately hide from them, and lowered her voice to ask: “Could you have seen someone else…?”

“Besides us, Long Ge, and yesterday’s gang of criminals — is there anyone else here?” Xiang’an asked, his face drained of color.

“Aren’t there still tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers?” Ba Yunye laughed.

Everyone broke into an embarrassed sweat.

“Let’s go check.” Diao Zhuo was a man of action and walked over on his own. Ba Yunye, unable to stay put, followed along with Ge Mingliang. Behind the tree Xiang’an had pointed to, there was not so much as a monkey, let alone Long Ge.

Ba Yunye turned back to complain: “Xiang’an! You saw it wrong!” But before the words were fully out, she saw that the others still standing in place all wore expressions of terror, staring in their direction, some even pointing toward them with urgent looks.

“What are you all looking at?” she asked.

Everyone began speaking at once —

“Master Ba, behind you!”

“We just saw Long Ge peeking out from behind that tree behind you!”

“It really was Long Ge!”

“His eyes looked very wrong!”

“His eyeballs weren’t moving at all!”

“No expression on his face whatsoever!”

“He didn’t recognize us at all!”

Diao Zhuo and Ge Mingliang looked behind them, but found nothing.

Had Long Ge eaten some poisonous mushroom and gone mad? Ba Yunye broke into a run toward the direction they were pointing at. Everyone else rushed over as well to search, but after a long while, not a single person could be found.

“Strange — we clearly saw him…”

“It really was Long Ge. Just like Xiang’an said — he poked his head out for a look and then vanished again.”

Ba Yunye tugged frustratedly at her hair and asked Diao Zhuo: “Is there some kind of illusion happening again?”

“Everyone spread out and search again. Da Qin, Pang Hou — rest where you are.” Diao Zhuo bent down and picked up a long branch, signaling to the others to use it soon to test whether what they saw ahead was real or illusory, and also to chase away any snakes or poisonous insects that might be hiding in rock crevices or under fallen leaves.

“To fall before the mission is complete…” Da Qin sat down with a thud, laughing at himself. He could only exchange helpless glances with Pang Hou as they watched the others run back and forth searching.

“Can you hold on?” Pang Hou asked.

“Yeah. You?”

“I can’t really walk well, but there’s no other choice.”

“You don’t actually look fat — why are you called Pang Hou?”

“My last name is Hou. I used to be quite heavy…”

“You’ve lost a lot of weight then…”

“… Poor sleep.”

After sitting for a while, the effects of the anti-inflammatory medicine began to creep into his head. Combined with a full night without sleep, Da Qin grew drowsy. The figures of his companions moving back and forth around him seemed to sway like a pendulum — a powerfully hypnotic effect. Just as he closed his eyes to nap, someone patted his uninjured shoulder. He opened his eyes and instinctively turned his head, asking: “Pang Hou, what is it?”

What met his eyes was not Pang Hou’s gaunt, elongated face, but Long Ge’s pale, chubby round face, with thin eyebrows like the court-lady figurines in the Shaanxi History Museum.

Da Qin gave a start, eyes flying wide open as he shot upright and was about to shout, when Long Ge flashed to one side — as though ducking behind him — and disappeared entirely.

“What’s wrong?” Pang Hou stared at him, baffled.

“Did you just pat me?” Da Qin asked, shaken.

Pang Hou shook his head.

Da Qin thought about it — that made sense. Pang Hou was sitting on his injured side, and no matter how long his arms were, he couldn’t reach around the thick tree trunk behind them to pat his other shoulder. If the Long Ge everyone had been seeing was some inexplicable illusion, how was one to explain the very real, unmistakable pat he had just felt on his own body?

He gritted his teeth through the pain, stood up, and walked around the tree. No trace of Long Ge anywhere.

When Pang Hou asked why and heard the explanation, he too was left speechless.

“Maybe I was half-asleep,” Da Qin said. He wasn’t one to believe in spirits or ghosts, and waved it off as if he’d never seen it — but the sensation of that pat, as real as anything could be, continued to nag at him.

When it came to real work, Ba Yunye was entirely self-sufficient and never thought about sticking to Diao Zhuo’s side. Diao Zhuo glanced at her position from a distance, then looked around for the person he wanted to speak with privately. He then walked purposefully after that person until they were in a spot far from everyone else, where he stepped forward to cut him off.

The person he blocked was A’Shui, who showed no sign of panic and stood perfectly still.

“A word, if you don’t mind.” Diao Zhuo’s tone was polite, but his appearance naturally commanded authority without anger. His gaze now locked firmly on the other person, brow pressed into a furrow, eyes sharp — the kind that brooked no refusal.

A’Shui, as always, wore his face mask and hat. He had not removed them even in the most dangerous moments. He pushed up his sunglasses and raised one hand in a “stop” gesture, signaling Diao Zhuo not to waste any more time on him. For the first time in Diao Zhuo’s presence, he spoke — still deliberately keeping his voice low: “I won’t harm any of you.”

“Give me a reason to believe you,” Diao Zhuo said, unmoved.

A’Shui asked in return: “Have I harmed her at any point along the way?”

“Judging your presence in our group by whether or not you have harmed Ba Yunye — I think you’re underestimating my capacity for judgment, Diao Zhuo.”

A’Shui raised both hands in an open, candid gesture. “Squad Leader Diao is welcome to search me — and see whether I’m carrying weapons like those people are.”

Diao Zhuo was not foolish enough to actually search him, and only studied him up and down with a searching, questioning gaze.

The two stood in a standoff as the seconds ticked by. Finally, A’Shui asked: “Diao Zhuo — do you consider yourself a brave and trustworthy man?”

“What do you think?”

A’Shui lowered his raised hands and glanced around to confirm no one else was watching. His right hand reached inside his jacket — as if about to pull something out. He didn’t draw it immediately, but deliberately looked at Diao Zhuo first. The man was completely composed, even radiating a kind of fearless, grand composure in the face of whatever might come.

The corner of A’Shui’s mouth, hidden behind his face mask, curved upward. He pulled the object from inside his jacket and aimed it at Diao Zhuo…