A deep and masculine voice came through the phone: “May I ask if you are Mr. Liu? We’re from the police station. The exploration team that went on an expedition to Tibet has run into trouble.”
Upon hearing the words “run into trouble,” Liu Dashao felt as if a hammer had struck his chest, his head suddenly ringing as though struck by a gong. For a moment, he was completely at a loss. Fan Debiao and Cai Qingchong saw Liu Dashao’s face change dramatically, but could only exchange glances, unsure what had happened. They sat there anxiously waiting until Liu Dashao steadied himself and asked quietly, “What kind of trouble?”
The voice on the other end hesitated before replying, “You’d better come to the Sanli Street police station first. This isn’t something I can explain easily over the phone.”
“On our way now!” After Liu Dashao said this, he had the taxi turn around. Fan Debiao thought to himself, weren’t we going to see Da Guoguo (Big Cricket)? Why are we heading to the police station? Could it be we’re turning ourselves in? However, Liu Dashao’s subsequent explanation made his heart pound—something had happened! In just about a week, something had gone wrong!
When they arrived at the police station, the three were led into a small office where two officers wearing peaked caps were seated. Judging from their insignias, they appeared to be of relatively high rank.
Liu Dashao looked at them suspiciously and asked, “Who are you two?”
After saluting him, one officer with a mustache said bluntly, “Let me get straight to the point. The expedition team lost contact while at the ancient Guge ruins in Xinjiang. It was three days later when the rescue team from the 113th Army Corps finally located them. Of the five archaeologists, three have been confirmed dead, one is missing, and the remaining member is currently in the Capital Hospital. She is still alive but in a vegetative state with no sensory response.”
Before he could finish speaking, Liu Dashao grabbed his collar anxiously asking, “What the hell! What about Uncle Diao, Diao Deyi? How is he? What about Wang Feifei and Jackson? Tell me quickly!”
The officer with the mustache shook his head: “Mr. Liu, please calm down. We’re here to inform you that the person in the hospital is Ms. Wang Feifei, vice-president of the French Tour Exploration Team. Jackson, a French national, is indeed on the list of confirmed deaths. As for the elderly gentleman you mentioned, Mr. Diao Deyi, his whereabouts remain unknown to this day. Due to the unique geographical conditions in the Xinjiang region, the rescue team has ceased further search efforts—we apologize for this. From Ms. Wang Feifei’s personal belongings, we found a photo of you two together and her diary, which is how we learned she was your girlfriend. That’s why we decided to contact you… There’s one more thing. Our investigation revealed that your friend Da Guoguo, who is currently in the hospital, was also at the same location with them several months ago, and suffered similar losses. He was the only one to return, and now he is critically ill and has been temporarily transferred to a military hospital by the State Security Bureau.”
Before he could finish speaking, Fan Debiao plopped down onto the floor in shock, while Liu Dashao had already quickly put on his coat: “Take me there now!”
Outside the hospital room, people were standing and sitting around anxiously. The three rushed to the door of the ward, about to push it open when two fully armed soldiers, holding Type 56 assault rifles, blocked their way.
“Move aside, I need to get in,” Fan Debiao roared, attempting to push past the soldiers. At that moment, a voice called out, “What are you doing?”
Liu Dashao turned around to see a high-ranking military officer speaking.
“Comrade, my boss is in there. I heard he’s in danger, I need to check on him!” Fan Debiao shouted, once again reaching for the hospital room door.
“Hold him back,” a cold voice ordered.
The two armed soldiers at the door immediately raised their rifles, pointing them at Fan Debiao’s chest. Fan Debiao turned back to the officer and shouted, “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Just because you’re an officer you think you’re so tough? I don’t give a damn! If you don’t shoot me now, when you get off work, I’ll smash your balls with a brick!”
The officer sneered, “I’m stopping you for your own good.”
He glanced at Fan Debiao dismissively before calmly addressing Liu Dashao, “Sir, since I had my men notify you, I will naturally allow you in. However, whatever you see inside, I hope you can remain calm.”
Seeing the officer’s grave expression and realizing Fan Debiao’s earlier behavior had indeed been impulsive, Liu Dashao reluctantly nodded.
“Go ahead. See your friend for the last time,” the officer said solemnly, then turned his head away.
“The last time?” When Liu Dashao heard those words from the officer, his heart sank again. He took a deep breath, and solemnly pushed open the door to the intensive care unit with Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao.
Inside the ward, chaos reigned. Around seven or eight doctors and nurses were frantically working around the bed. Various instruments were flashing lights—most of which Liu Dashao didn’t recognize—except for the heart monitor, which filled him with dread.
“Patient’s blood pressure is dropping rapidly!”
“Increase infusion to 4000 CC.”
“Ventricular fibrillation detected…”
“Prepare defibrillator! Stand back… one… two… three…”
“Crack!” (Sound of electric shock)
“Not enough, 300 joules!”
“Stand back… one… two… three…”
“Crack!”
“400…”
“Crack!”
“500!”
“Doctor, we can’t increase anymore! The patient can’t take it!”
“500, stand back… one… two… three…”
“Crack!”
“…”
Liu Dashao didn’t dare breathe heavily, let alone approach Da Guoguo. His eyes remained fixed on the heart monitor as he silently prayed: “Come on! Wake up! Please stay alive… my brother…”
“Administer adrenaline, 580 joules, stand back… one… two… three…”
“Crack!”
A long, continuous tone sounded—the ECG line had turned into a straight horizontal line.
At that moment, Fan Debiao could no longer hold himself back. He rushed to the bedside, pulling the doctors and nurses aside with both hands: “Boss, wake up! It’s me, Debiao is here!”
Before he could finish saying “Ah,” Fan Debiao suddenly realized that the person lying there wasn’t Da Guoguo at all, but an elderly man he didn’t recognize. The man had silver hair, a wrinkled face, and looked at least eighty years old. How could he possibly be the sharp-eyed middle-aged man he knew?
“Haha—” Fan Debiao burst into laughter, “You’ve made a mistake! You’ve made a mistake! He’s not my boss at all! Haha—so it was just a prank…” Fan Debiao turned around, opened the door, and saw the anxious face of Su Yougui and the cold gaze of the officer.
“You! Su Yougui, I was wondering why I didn’t see you around. Didn’t I tell you to stay with the boss? Why did you let him be moved? Just because this expedition didn’t include you, you decide to play a joke on me? Who is this old man? Take him back! He’s creepy. You made me worry for nothing. Now that I see it’s not the boss, I can finally relax a bit…”
“Brother, the person inside really is the boss!” Su Yougui’s reluctant mouth uttered those words.
“That’s impossible!!”
“At first, I wasn’t too sure either, but what the boss told me when he was conscious left me no choice but to believe it—he really is the boss himself.”
“What? Say it again!” Fan Debiao grabbed Su Yougui’s collar fiercely. Although Su was his buddy, Fan Debiao was beyond caring.
“The person inside is Mr. Zuo,” the officer said calmly.
“Ahh—” Fan Debiao growled lowly from his throat, his hand involuntarily loosening its grip on Su Yougui’s collar. A wave of dizziness overtook him, and he staggered backward unsteadily. If Liu Dashao and Cai Qingchong hadn’t supported him, Fan Debiao would have fallen flat on the ground right then and there.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage