The fat man's idle chatter would surely have drawn discontent, so thankfully, he stopped himself in time; otherwise, Rou Yi would have been the first to beat him up.

But what the fat man said did remind me that the unease I felt on the edge of Kunlun wasn't just because of Han Yu.

Perhaps my choice to have the fat man and the others leave, planning to enter Kunlun alone, was the problem!

If the fat man and the others had left then, and I'd entered Kunlun by myself, it would have been a dead end for me.

This unease felt like an alarm, constantly reminding me; as long as danger appeared, unease would surely arise.

The fainting spell caused by the unease, however, led, by a twist of fate, to the fat man and the others entering the Kunlun Mountains with me.

I closed my eyes and felt my body's condition. The unease spreading in my chest wasn't as strong as before, but it was still there. At least I'm one hundred percent certain of one thing now—Han Yu has definitely found a key location; she's getting closer and closer to the meteorite.

We ate some nang bread and replenished our water.

After resting, we set off again.

My body was still very weak after coughing up blood and passing out, and I needed the fat man and Dodge to help me walk so I could keep up with the group's pace.

The next target we need to find on our path is the "Tiger Rock" mentioned in "Amidst the white wilderness, verdant reflections on Tiger Rock."

No need to say more about "white wilderness." I, Rou Yi, and the fat man agreed on what "white wilderness" meant—it refers to the white snow.

As I understood it, "Amidst the white wilderness, verdant reflections on Tiger Rock" meant that at the foot of the snow-covered mountain, there are lush trees and meadows, and hidden within this greenery is a "Tiger Rock."

We had a disagreement about the term "Tiger Rock." The fat man and I thought "Tiger Rock" referred to a peculiar rock that looked like a tiger, but Rou Yi didn't think so. She believed "Tiger Rock" most likely referred to "a very large rock formation," or even "a very large mountain."

Rou Yi explained that "tiger" symbolizes majesty and power. In ancient China, the tiger was called the king of beasts, and people regarded it as a mysterious and inviolable animal, with the implication of royal power.

Therefore, the symbol of military power in ancient times was made in the image of a tiger and was also called a tiger tally.

In comparison, Rou Yi's explanation might be closer to the original meaning of "Tiger Rock." If we searched for rocks or mountains resembling tigers, as the fat man and I understood it, we'd be searching forever.

So, we focused our attention on majestic mountains that were covered in snow and surrounded by green trees and grass.

While walking, the fat man suddenly made a stop gesture, signaling us to halt.

Immediately afterward, the fat man told us to take cover on the spot.

The fat man reminded us in a weak voice that only we could hear, "Don't move—and don't speak. Find cover and hide. Something is coming toward us."

Although everything ahead seemed peaceful and we hadn't found anything, no one questioned the fat man's judgment. After all, the fat man was a reconnaissance soldier, and his observation skills were much better than ours.

The fat man looked serious, revealing only his eyes from the side of the rock, staring intently at a certain spot in front of him.

We hid behind a rock, not moving. I quietly poked my head out and looked in the direction of the fat man's gaze.

The Kunlun Mountains were full of ferocious beasts and strange phenomena, so we had to be vigilant.

After about a minute, in a dense forest dozens of meters ahead of us, the leaves of a few trees rustled. It looked like some kind of creature had passed by, moving the trunks and branches, causing the leaves to shake.

The shaking of the leaves in the distance extended to the nearby trees, and as the nearby leaves were also disturbed, I finally realized that the thing that was causing the branches and leaves to shake was coming toward us.

"Damn it!? It's really coming this way. Everyone be careful, don't move, and listen to my command!" The fat man panicked a little. His voice was very low. His hand was on the hunting knife in the sheath at his waist, ready to draw the knife at any time.

I took out my gun from my small bag, loaded it, and prepared.

We held our breath and cautiously observed the movement in the forest.

Before long, three people came out of the forest, pushing aside branches.

Only then did we realize that what was causing the leaves to shake wasn't some creature, but these three people.

Dodge noticed a detail. He said silently, "Hey? I recognize the clothes these three people are wearing. This is the Z organization's exclusive wilderness exploration suit. They're from the Z organization."

After hearing Dodge's words, I had a clear idea in my mind. This meant we were getting closer and closer to Han Yu.

The fat man muttered to himself, "Hiss… what are the people from the Z organization doing here?"

Seeing the three people sneaking toward us, carrying things on their backs, it didn't look like a normal organized transfer.

In the few seconds before these three people passed by our location, the fat man immediately formulated a plan.

The fat man's voice was as thin as a mosquito's, very quietly arranging, "These three small fries have come at just the right time. We're worried about not having any information about the Z organization. Listen to my command in a moment. I'll subdue the one on the left, Dodge, you subdue the one in the middle, and Jennifer, you sneak attack the one closest to us. Just knock them unconscious. If the situation is critical, then life and death don't matter."

After the arrangement, we waited for them to fall into our trap.

…

When they were less than a meter away from us, the fat man gave an order: "Go!"