After a night's rest, although my spirits recovered somewhat, my physical condition was getting worse and worse. In addition to problems with my mouth and respiratory tract, my face felt burning hot, I was constantly sweating profusely, and my whole body was swollen, with a large pit left when I pressed my skin.

I observed the terrain. When we entered the Ze King's Tomb, we were at the top of the mountain, but now we're almost at the foot of the mountain. That means I have to climb all the way up to the top to find the spot where I threw the knife.

It took me a whole morning to walk just a few kilometers, and I didn't find the grove of trees again until noon.

The marks from when we cut down the vines the day before were still there, but of the six of us who entered the tomb of the King of Ze, only I remained.

Returning to this place, I was already very familiar with everything here. I quickly walked towards the top of the tomb, passing through the dilapidated ground mausoleum.

As soon as I approached the direction of Baoding, I heard voices coming from there, and I was immediately delighted and quickened my pace.

At that moment, a tent had been set up over the top of the mountain, and six white men were sitting around a campfire chatting. Since they were speaking Russian, I couldn't understand what they were saying.

Even so, I still became excited.

These people were all wearing the same uniform. Although I couldn't read the words on it, I recognized the logo on their clothes.

They were all Ivan's colleagues, the same people Song Laosan contacted for the security company.

When I saw them, I excitedly went over and said, "Hello, Privet!"

Upon seeing this, the group of security guards who had been chatting all looked at me warily. One of them asked me in broken Chinese, "Are you Chinese?"

Seeing that their group had their own translator, I took a deep breath and said, "I'm from China. Mr. Song, who hired you, is my friend. My surname is Duan, and I'm also one of your employers!"

The white man looked me up and down: "What's your name?"

"Duan Shenxing!"

"Hello, Mr. Duan!"

When the white man heard me say my name, he immediately came forward and extended his hand to me: "Great! We've been searching here all morning and finally found you! Where are Ivan and the others?"

"The others... have encountered some problems."

Hearing the other person's question, I suddenly felt downcast: "Our journey has been more difficult than we imagined. Apart from me, everyone else has encountered some accidents. Ivan is dead, and the fate of the others is unknown."

After listening to my words, the security guard's expression turned somewhat somber: "Let's not talk about that. Mr. Duan, you must have suffered a lot to escape. Take a rest first, and then tell us what happened slowly!"

As they were talking, they led me to the campfire, said something to their companion in Russian, and the man nodded, picked up a spoon, and ladled a bowl of soup for me from the pot on the fire.

Having been starving all night, I took the bowl and took a big gulp. The scalding hot soup felt like salt being rubbed into a wound, and my throat felt like I was swallowing burning coals. I spat out all the soup.

The security guard thought I was hungry and quickly reassured me, "Mr. Duan, slow down, don't rush!"

I knew my body was very weak. Although eating was a particularly difficult process for me, I still forced myself to drink a bowl of soup despite the pain.

After I finished recounting what had happened, the security guard said, "Mr. Duan, since it has already happened, there's nothing we can do to undo it. Your condition is very dangerous. Let's escort you down the mountain for treatment first!"

"No, wait a little longer!"

I interrupted the security guard: "I still have friends who haven't arrived yet, and things here aren't finished. This isn't over yet."

“We can split the people into two groups. I’ll take you down the mountain first, and then the others can stay here and wait for your friends!”

The security guard handed me a cigarette: "Mr. Song mentioned before that the situation here is complicated, and other people might come here. If they find the treasure you hid, it will be troublesome! By the way, Mr. Duan, where did you put the treasure?"

Upon hearing the strange question about security, my hand, which was holding the cigarette, suddenly froze.

Something's wrong!

When Song Laosan hired security personnel, he couldn't have told them that they came here to rob tombs.

How were these security guards able to locate the tomb robbers' tunnel and know that I brought out the treasure?

When Song Laosan first contacted the security personnel at the forest rangers' settlement, we didn't know the exact location of the Zewang Tomb, so they must have searched along the way after they arrived.

Thinking about this, a bold hypothesis popped into my head.

Could it be that these people, tempted by the money, took the monkey with them during the search, leaving his backpack behind on the shore?

But that doesn't make sense either. If these people really came for the treasure, why didn't they take the backpack with them?

If that weren't the case, how would they know I had so-called treasure?

There is only one hypothesis: they discovered the monkey last night, and in order to get rid of them, the monkey threw away its backpack and ran away, but was still caught. In the end, in order to save its life, it made up the story about the treasure.

Despite my confusion, I calmly accepted the cigarette and pretended to be hesitant, saying, "It seems that this is the only way to resolve this matter. Let's do it the way you suggested."

The security guard smiled and nodded: "Mr. Duan, don't worry. I have brought a positioning device and a satellite phone. As long as we find an open area, headquarters can arrange a helicopter to pick us up. Before that, let's find what you've hidden."

"good!"

I took a deep drag of my cigarette and threw it into the campfire: "Let's get going without delay."

The security guard exchanged a few words with his companion in Russian, then led the two men to their feet and followed me.

I came here to look for Lin Que and Man Jing, but instead of them, I encountered this trouble.

By this time, I was being watched by three security guards, and in order not to arouse suspicion, I had no choice but to obediently lead the way.

When we reached the edge of the woods, the security guard looked at the narrow exit in the vines, deliberately took a step forward, and squeezed out first, blocking my escape route. Only then did he extend his hand to me: "Mr. Duan, be careful."

"Um!"

I smiled and nodded, then placed my left hand on his wrist. The instant we made contact, I gripped his wrist tightly and punched him in the face.

"Bang!"

Caught off guard, the security guard was knocked to the ground by my punch, and I quickly slipped out while the other two were distracted.

"You're asking for it!"

Seeing that I had seen through his intentions, the security guard stopped pretending and picked up a stone to get up.

I kicked him in the chest, and as he fell to the ground, I drew my pistol and decisively pulled the trigger on his leg.

"Bang!"

Gunshots rang out, and a line of blood spurted from the security guard's leg. The two people inside also instinctively dodged.

Amidst that scream, I mustered all my strength and fled, plunging headlong into the dense forest.