Chapter 445: Mysterious Pattern on Fatty's Belly

We traced the pattern on Fatty's stomach, and it took nearly two hours to finish—a testament to how complex it was.

Sister Ya examined him for a long time but couldn't figure out what was wrong with Fatty; all his vital signs were normal, and aside from the scratches he had made himself, there were only a few minor scrapes and bruises, very light.

But Fatty just wouldn't wake up. His eyes were wide open, as if he had died with regret, and no matter how much we hit him, there was absolutely no reaction. We had to exert a lot of effort just to close his eyes.

With so many people around, Sister Ya didn't say anything more to me. I breathed a sigh of relief, but I already knew that this hurdle with her was only a matter of time—I wouldn't be able to put it off much longer.

Xiao Hua also understood a bit about medical matters and discussed several possibilities with Sister Ya, but all were ruled out. "Even a vegetative state is no worse than this," Sister Ya said. "Without instruments, we can't test whether he has brain damage. Right now, he seems to be in a kind of vegetative state."

As I looked at the strokes on Fatty's body, I felt an infinite wave of emotion. From the sheer number of blood marks on his belly, the passage in the stone path must have been extremely complex. He couldn't remember it all in his head, so he had to resort to this self-mutilating method—recording the route on his own body.

"Vegetative state? What kind of vegetable? A giant fleeceflower root?" Pibao snickered from the side. "Eat that and you'll either become an immortal or choke to death."

Panzi said, "He's a friend of Third Master. Watch your mouth."

"Yo, Third Master can dig up a friend just by scratching the ground. No wonder you're Third Master," Pibao said. As soon as the words left his mouth, Panzi slapped him to the ground.

I didn't have the heart to watch Panzi discipline his men. I asked Sister Ya, "Are there any other possibilities?"

Sister Ya said, "The problem now is that there are too many possibilities. He's in a state of deep sleep. Deep coma can be caused by brain damage, but there's no external head injury. It could also be from suffocation. The best-case scenario is that he wakes up on his own after a while. If he doesn't, we can only send him to a big hospital."

Just as she finished speaking, Fatty suddenly rolled over, smacked his lips, scratched his crotch and butt, and mumbled, "Xiao Cui, why are you hiding?"

Sister Ya froze and looked at me. I didn't react either. After a long pause, I asked, "Do vegetative people behave like that?"

Sister Ya shook her head, then suddenly laughed, covering her forehead with her hand. I suddenly understood what was going on and couldn't help laughing too. I thought about shaking Fatty awake, but Sister Ya stopped me.

"Let him sleep a bit," Sister Ya said. "If he was sleeping that deeply—unable to wake no matter how hard we tried—he probably hasn't slept in a very long time."

Sister Ya stayed behind to take care of Fatty. Panzi and I walked out of the tent and immediately went to find Xiao Hua to discuss strategy. Xiao Hua was giving some instructions to others. I called him and Panzi into my tent.

As soon as we entered the tent, I couldn't hide my agitation. I said urgently, "We have to go down right now!"

"Don't rush," Xiao Hua said. "The more urgent it is, the less we can afford to hurry. We must analyze the situation thoroughly before deciding what to do."

"How long will it take?" I said. "How about we discuss it on the way down?"

Xiao Hua pressed my shoulder and pointed out of the tent, lowering his voice: "I know you're anxious, but preparing the gear takes time."

Panzi said, "Young Master, we're going down to rescue people. We must be fully prepared, or we might not only fail to save them but also get ourselves killed."

I knew they were right, so I sat down anxiously. Xiao Hua pointed outside: "Let's talk out there. If we discuss it in the tent, the new hands will get suspicious."

I sighed inwardly and followed them out. After nightfall, the eerie mountain lake in this remote area became brighter instead. Pale moonlight spilled onto the water, and we could see the cliffs on the opposite side. The night sky was unusually bright, giving off a strange, supernatural feeling, which made it harder to see what was happening on the other side of the stone beach with Jude Kao's team.

Xiao Hua called the others over. We spread out both the Yangshi Lei diagram and the map from Fatty's belly on the tent's waterproof tarp. Comparing the two, we could see they had nothing in common. Based on the route on Fatty's map, the rock layers of this mountain contained an extremely complex system of natural fissures, like a spiderweb, and one of them led to the area where Poker-face and the others were. Poker-face and his group had entered via the route marked on the Yangshi Lei diagram, which meant those fissures in the mountain rock connected with the Yangshi Lei route.

I had no idea how Fatty managed to find the correct path through so many intersecting fissures—maybe he got lucky, or he tested them one by one. But clearly, going back through that fissure to find Poker-face and the others was the best option now.

That meant I would have to enter that oppressive, narrow space again. I had sworn more than once that I would never let myself end up in that kind of situation again, but fate's joke kept reminding me what it meant to be powerless.

Xiao Hua said, "There are several things we must consider. For example, how many days was Fatty trapped in that crack? It could have been just a few hours, or it could have been several days. Maybe when he first got stuck, the people below were still alive, but now they might have already died. When we rescued him, he was disoriented and told us to go save them—maybe it's already too late."

"Unless Fatty wakes up and tells us, speculating on our own is pointless," I said.

"Right. No matter what, we have to proceed as if the people below are still alive," Panzi said. "It would be best if he wakes up, but if he doesn't, we still have to go down. We need to see them alive, or see their bodies."

I thought of Poker-face's ancient knife and felt a pang. "But we can't wait indefinitely. Go prepare now.

In five hours, I'll wake him up. If we get the information, we'll set off immediately. If we don't, we'll still have to go."

Panzi and Xiao Hua exchanged glances, clearly hesitant. I said, "We can't waste the time Fatty gave us."

Panzi lit a cigarette and nodded. He said to the nearby men, "Alright, everything follows Third Master's orders. Get ready—five hours."

Those young guys were excited and nodded immediately. Xiao Hua led them away in different directions. Panzi gave me another look, as if he wanted to say something but held back.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Panzi said quietly, "Young Master, these kids all come from hard backgrounds. When we make decisions, we need to leave them some leeway. They aren't cannon fodder; they're lives too."

I looked at Panzi, and suddenly a strange feeling welled up inside me. For a moment, I didn't react. Panzi handed me a cigarette. "In five hours, Hua Ye and I will take half the men down. You, Xiuxiu, and Pibao stay up here. If something happens to us, you'll have one more chance."

"Why?" I immediately grew agitated.

"We have no other choice," Panzi said. "This is a necessary measure."

"Then let me go down with you, and let Xiao Hua stay up here."

I said, "If I have to wait up here, I'd rather go down."

He pointed to his cheek: "You are now Third Master. With you here, there is hope. If anything happens to you, it's truly over."

I was stunned for a moment, knowing that what he said made a lot of sense.

"Young Third Master, since you've chosen this path, walk it well." Panzi leaned in and said softly, lighting a cigarette for me, then stood up and shouted at the others, "Third Master says hurry up, stop dawdling! Don't you want to get rich? If you're not ready in five hours, stay up here and eat the northwest wind!"