It took us nearly two hours to draw the pattern on Fatty's belly, which shows how complicated it was.

Mute Sister checked for half a day and couldn't find out what was wrong with him. His physical signs were normal, and apart from the scratches he made, he only had some light bruises and cuts.  In Pan Zi's words, it was much more serious for him and his concubine to get out of bed.

However, Fatty just didn't wake up. His eyes were wide open like he had died unexpectedly, and it was useless to hit him since he was unresponsive. It took a lot of effort just to close his eyes.

Because many people were there, Mute Sister didn't say anything to me, and I breathed a sigh of relief. But I already knew she would corner me sooner or later, and I wouldn't last long.

Xiao Hua also knew a little about medicine and discussed some possibilities with her, but they were all rejected.  “He's just like a human vegetable.” She said, “We don't have the equipment now and can't test whether he has brain damage.  But for now, he seems to be in a vegetative state. “

I looked at the wounds on Fatty's body and felt my heart swell with emotion.

Judging from the number of b.l.o.o.d.y marks on his stomach, the pa.s.sage inside the stone crevice must be extremely complicated. He couldn't remember it completely, so he could only use this method of self-harm to record the route.

“Vegetable, what kind?  Giant Chinese knotweed?" Leather Bag smiled from the side. “If you eat it, you will die.”

Pan Zi said, “This is Master Three's friend, behave yourself.”

“Yo, Master Three, you can dig a friend out of the ground at random. You are truly Master Three.”  Leather Bag said.  No sooner had he finished speaking than Pan Zi slapped him to the ground.

I didn't have the heart to watch Pan Zi teach his men a lesson and asked Mute Sister, “Is there any other possibility?”

“The problem now is that there are too many possibilities. He's now in a deep sleep, which may mean brain injury, but there's no head trauma, so it may also be caused by asphyxia.  The best case scenario is that he wakes up by himself after a period of time. If he doesn't wake up, we can only take him out to a big hospital.”

Just then, Fatty suddenly turned over, smacked his lips, scratched his crotch and a.s.s, and murmured, “Xiao Cui, what are you hiding from?”

Mute Sister froze and looked at me.  I didn't react either. It took me a long time before I asked, “Will vegetative people behave like this?”

Mute Sister shook her head, suddenly smiled, and held her forehead while laughing.  I suddenly understood what was going on and couldn't help laughing.  Thinking that I would go up and shake Fatty, I was stopped by Mute Sister.

“Let him sleep.” She said, “If it's just the kind of sleep where he couldn't wake up just now, it means he probably hasn't slept for a long time.”

Mute Sister stayed to take care of Fatty while Pan Zi and I left the tent and immediately went to Xiao Hua to discuss countermeasures. Xiao Hua was explaining something to the other people so I asked him and Pan Zi to come to my tent.

As soon as I entered, I couldn't hide my emotions and said to them, “We must go down now!”

“Don't worry.” Xiao Hua said, “The more we know about this situation, the less urgent it is. We must a.n.a.lyze the matter thoroughly before we can decide what to do.”

“How long will it take?”  I said, “Why don't we discuss it as we go down?”

Xiao Hua grabbed my shoulder, pointed to the outside of the tent, and whispered, “I know you are in a hurry, but we also need time to prepare things.”

Pan Zi said, “Little Master Three, we are going down to save lives and must be properly prepared; otherwise we not only won't be able to save them, but may also endanger ourselves.”

I knew what they said was right, so I had to anxiously sit down.  Xiao Hua pointed outside: “Let's go out to discuss it. With this group of new guys, if we discuss it by ourselves in the tent, they will feel suspicious.”

I sighed in my heart and followed them out.  After nightfall, the strange magic lake in the remote mountains became brighter, the moonlight sprinkled pale on the surface, and you could see the cliff on the opposite side. The sudden brightness had a strange effect, which made us unable to see Qiu Dekao's team's situation on the other side of the rocky beach.

Xiao Hua called the others over and spread out the Yangs.h.i.+ Lei drawing and the map from Fatty's stomach on the tent tarp. As we compared the maps, we found that they had nothing in common.  According to Fatty's route, it could be inferred that there was a very complicated system of natural fractures in the rock of this mountain, like spider webs, and one of them seemed to lead to the area where Poker-Face was. But Poker-Face and the others had entered from the route marked by the Yangs.h.i.+ Lei drawing, that is to say, these cracks in the mountain rock were in conjunction with the Yangs.h.i.+ Lei route.

I don't know how Fatty found the right route through so many cracks and forks. Maybe it was his good luck or he tried them out one by one, but obviously, looking for Poker-Face through this crack was the best choice at present.

This meant that I had to enter the confined s.p.a.ce again.  I had sworn more than once that I would never let myself get into that situation again, but fate had other plans.

Xiao Hua said, “There are several points that must be considered. For example, how many days was Fatty trapped in that gap?  It seems like he may have been trapped for several days. Maybe when he had first been trapped, the others were still alive, but now they could be dead.  He was delirious when he was first rescued and asked us to save them, but it may be too late. “

“If Fatty doesn't wake up and explain the situation, our planning is meaningless.”  I said.

“Yes, and anyways, we have to plan everything as if the people below are still alive.”  Pan Zi said, “Whether he wakes up or not, we still have to go down. Life requires seeing people, death requires seeing corpses. “

When I think of Poker-Face's ancient sword, I'm not happy: “But we can't wait indefinitely, we have to prepare now. After five hours, I'll wake him up and we'll set off as soon as I hear the news. If I can't wake him, we'll still set off.”

Pan Zi and Xiao Hua glanced at each other, apparently hesitating.  “We can't waste the information Fatty has brought us,” I said.

Pan Zi lit a cigarette, nodded, and said to several of his companions, “Alright, listen to Master Three.  Go prepare separately and be ready in five hours.”

The kids were excited and nodded immediately. Xiao Hua went with them and Pan Zi gave me another look, like he had something to say.

“What's the matter?”  I asked.

Pan Zi said softly: “Little Master Three, these children have led hard lives. When we think about things, we should leave some room for them. They're not cannon fodder; they're also human beings.”

When I looked at Pan Zi, I suddenly had a strange feeling in my heart and didn't react for a while.  Pan Zi handed me a cigarette: “In five hours, Master Hua and I will take half of the people down. Xiuxiu and Leather Bag will be left up here. If something happens to us, at least there will be another chance.”

I nodded and immediately turned to go pack my equipment. I didn't expect Pan Zi to grab me: “Wait, you can't go down.”

“Why?” I was in a hurry, “I'd rather go down than wait up here. Otherwise, I'll go down with you and Xiao Hua can stay up top. “

“We have no other way. This is a necessary measure.”  Pan Zi pointed to my face. “You are Master Three now, and if you're here there is hope. If something happens to you, it's really over.  If all three of us are dead, who will care about us here? “

I paused, knowing what he said was very reasonable.

Pan Zi leaned in and whispered, “Little Master Three, since you have chosen this road, you should tread it well.” He lit a cigarette for me, then stood up and shouted to the other people, “Master Three said hurry up and don't dawdle, don't you want to get rich?  If you're not ready in five hours, just stay here and starve! “

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