"I brought one." Li Guoliang took out a flashlight from his bag, but Zhou Yuanqing snatched it away.

"You lead the way." Zhou Yuanqing stayed close to Li Guoliang, the beam of his flashlight constantly swaying. Seeing that Zhang Hongmei was already far away, he said, "Li Guoliang, hurry up, follow Zhang Hongmei."

The several-dozen-meter-long passage soon disappeared from sight of Zhang Hongmei. Li Guoliang quickened his pace and suddenly entered a spacious area, which resembled a hall.

Li Guoliang quickly shook off Zhou Yuanqing, stood next to Zhang Hongmei, and handed her the recording pen, saying, "This is a recording pen given to me by the leader."

"No need to give it to me, you keep it. I might not have a chance to use it later."

The flashlight in Zhou Yuanqing's hand suddenly flickered, then went out after a few flashes, leaving no light at all.

But then came his excited scream, "Hahaha, they're all mine!"

"Start recording now," Zhang Hongmei instructed Li Guoliang.

"Hahaha, I've finally found this treasure! The world will soon belong to me, Zhou Yuanqing! Hahahaha!"

"I'd better go out first. My supervisor instructed me to leave if you were present. This is for you."

"Okay, be careful."

Li Guoliang shuffled past Zhou Yuanqing, hugging the stone wall. Once outside the cave, he sat down patiently, knowing that the more he knew, the less safe he became. He wondered how long it would take for the people sent by the higher-ups to arrive. His priority was to complete the task assigned by the Party Secretary.

No, I have to hide. If I arrive too early, I'll have to hold them off. With that thought, I hurriedly ran back the way I came. I'll change the marker first; that should keep them searching for a while.

Zhou Yuanqing saw a mountain of gold ingots on the ground and realized he had really struck it rich this time.

"Hahaha, all I'm missing is the Hidden Treasure in My Sleeve! No way, I have to go find it right now, and then I'll collect all the gold here. Hehe, I'll be rich! How could I not succeed?"

"Cui Lin, you know how great it would be if you were with me. Look at me, I'm more handsome and dashing than Zhang Aiguo, and I'm rich, powerful, and influential. Why don't you agree? You're so stubborn. I'll definitely treat you well in the future."

Zhang Shouyi, you'll always be my defeated foe. Heh heh, you're just a prisoner now. Hahahaha, I'm the one who had Zhang Xingguo killed. What can you do about it?

Hahaha, I am the greatest leader, the whole country is mine!

Looking at the deranged Zhou Yuanqing, Zhang Hongmei felt no sympathy whatsoever; he was simply a beast.

Zhang Hongmei conjured a powerful flashlight from her spatial dimension and suddenly turned it on under her chin. She then walked towards Zhou Yuanqing.

"Ahhhhhh! Cui Lin, don't come any closer! Who told you not to submit to me? I am the ruler of this country. If you follow me, you will enjoy endless wealth and glory."

Zhou Yuanqing, who was curled up on the ground, suddenly stood up. "Give me your hidden secrets, Cui Lin. You'd better think this through."

Zhang Hongmei took several steps closer and stood beside Zhou Yuanqing, turning the flashlight on and off repeatedly.

Zhou Yuanqing hid behind the stone wall, curled up, and muttered to himself.

"If you won't give it to me, then go die. You asked for this." Zhou Yuanqing kept muttering, and you couldn't hear any complete sentences.

Zhang Hongmei didn't know what Zhang Shouyi wanted to do with the recording pen. It must have been brought back from abroad, and she didn't know its duration. Not daring to waste it, she turned it off.

Zhang Hongmei thought Zhou Yuanqing was probably having a mental breakdown. She shook her head and left the cave.

"You're out?"

"Hmm, I think he's gone mad. Does Zhang Shouyi have any requests?"

"No, the leader didn't say anything. And the people sent by the higher-ups are arriving soon. What should we do?"

"I don't know either. Why don't we go inside? That way you won't be in a difficult situation."

"OK."

The two entered the cave one after the other. "He only needs one last dose of the medicine before he goes completely insane. Should we feed it to him or wait?"

"I don't know either. We'll see how it goes. I'm just afraid of delaying Zhang Shouyi's plans."

"It's alright, the leaders already know pretty much everything they need to know, and they don't have any specific requirements."

The two approached Zhou Yuanqing, who was still talking to himself, but they couldn't understand what he was saying at all.

She just kept muttering to herself and occasionally chuckled. Zhang Hongmei felt that living like this was worse than being dead.

"Li Guoliang, I think you should get Zhou Yuanqing out of here. It's for your own good."

"Hmm." Li Guoliang grabbed Zhou Yuanqing, hoisted him onto his back, and walked out. Zhang Hongmei followed behind, adjusting her facial expression to feign terror.

They had just reached the cave entrance when they met the three men who had come in. Li Guoliang recognized them immediately; these were the guards of the high-ranking leader—they had even sent their company commander! And one of them was one of their own.

"Hurry up, I don't know what's wrong with Young Master Zhou. He suddenly burst into laughter after entering the cave, and then he started talking to himself. He won't answer no matter how we call him."

Once outside, Li Guoliang put Zhou Yuanqing down and laid him flat on the ground. At this point, Zhou Yuanqing's appearance could be clearly seen. Zhang Hongmei glanced at him and dared not look. Was this still human? His face was ashen, his eyes were open, and his gaze was unfocused.

They couldn't explain what had happened, but they knew that Zhou Yuanqing had forced the young girl up the mountain at gunpoint. They followed him because there was no need to expose themselves. They didn't expect the trail markers to be destroyed. This happened just over ten minutes before it happened. How were they going to explain this when they got back?

Looking at the girl's terrified expression, I knew I wouldn't get anything out of her now.

The company commander of the guard company frowned. "Let's go down the mountain first." After saying that, he picked up Zhou Yuanqing, who was still talking to himself, and left first.

The remaining few people followed behind. This thorny issue needed to be resolved quickly, otherwise how could they explain it?

The company commander of the guard company suddenly turned around and said, "Hu Xin, go check the cave. The rest of you go down the mountain."

Zhang Hongmei followed behind them. She didn't want to go down the mountain like this, but if something happened, it would be suspicious if she stayed on the mountain.

In fact, Zhang Shouyi and Gu Chuanming had previously planned to kill Zhou Yuanqing at this time, but they changed their plans after meeting with the top leader last time.

Zhang Hongmei certainly didn't want to affect Zhang Shouyi. Although she initially wanted Zhou Yuanqing dead, after learning about his mental problems and considering his identity, she felt that letting him live in a state of madness was the greatest punishment.

He was always living in his own beautiful dream, while the reality was that the Crown Prince was a madman. This was enough to drive Zhou Yuanqing, who could have been sober, crazy all over again.

Zhang Hongmei sighed inwardly, thinking how strong this person's stamina was.