Chapter 20: It Really Was Him

Outside the temple, the storm continued to rage like wailing ghosts, but inside, the silence was eerie—so quiet that even the sound of a pin dropping could be heard. Zhao Qiang and his group still hadn't arrived at the temple. Did they see the message Uncle Li left on the table? At that moment, Uncle Li suddenly turned to the middle-aged man and asked, "How long have you been in this ancient city?" The man hesitated, looking somewhat confused. "I can't quite remember. Probably a few days." Uncle Li pressed further. "Do you know today's date? Who is the current president?" The middle-aged man didn't answer right away. Instead, he took out a notebook from his bag, flipped through it, adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, and said, "I got lost while searching for water. That was June 17th. At most, I've been here for a few days, so it should be around the 20s now. As for who the president is… that's not for me to say. I don't have the authority to determine who is or isn't the president." His cryptic response puzzled me, but Uncle Li seemed to understand something. He immediately asked, "Are you Director Huang?" The man's expression changed to one of shock. He stared at Uncle Li for a long time, speechless. From his reaction, it was almost certain—he was indeed Director Huang. Uncle Li continued, "Actually, we were hired to search for clues about your disappearance." Unexpectedly, Director Huang let out a cold snort. "Came to find me? I don't buy it. Did you really come to find me, or are you after the virus sample?" I was stunned. Virus sample? I turned to Uncle Li with questioning eyes, but he seemed just as surprised as I was. He clearly didn't know much more than I did. Seeing Director Huang's hostility, Uncle Li decided to lay everything out in the open. "Director Huang, I can honestly tell you—we don't know anything about this so-called virus sample. And the current year is not 1980—it's 2010. We were hired to search for your remains in the area where you went missing. We never expected to find you alive, standing right in front of us… and looking almost unchanged." "That's impossible!" Director Huang suddenly interrupted. "2010? I've only been trapped here for about a week! You must be spies from a foreign intelligence agency, trying to steal the virus sample from me!" I could see that arguing any further was pointless, so I took out the pocket watch from my bag. "Is this yours?" I knew that his residual soul was attached to this pocket watch. He must have died. But for some unknown reason, he had been trapped in this eerie ancient city. When Director Huang saw the watch, he immediately snatched it from my hands, gently stroking it as he murmured, "How did you get this? Why would she give it to you?" The three of us were dumbfounded. Watching the tears slowly slide down Director Huang's face, I could tell that he was thinking about someone important. Otherwise, he wouldn't be this emotional. Just as we were at a loss for what to do with the tearful Director Huang, the temple doors suddenly burst open with a gust of wind. Several figures covered in dust staggered inside. I recognized them immediately—Zhao Qiang and his group. But as they walked closer, I noticed something was very wrong! Luo Hai and Ye Zhiqiu were supporting Liu Ziping and Zhao Qiang, struggling to help them walk. Ding Yi and I rushed forward to check on them, and what we saw shocked us—both Zhao Qiang and Liu Ziping were covered in red welts, and in some areas, their skin had already begun to fester. "What happened?" Uncle Li asked in shock. Ye Zhiqiu, pale-faced and panic-stricken, stammered, "I… I don't know what's happening to them. They were perfectly fine when we split up. Later, when we returned to the mudbrick house, the wind started picking up outside. We saw the message on the table and were just about to leave when Zhao Qiang and Liu Ziping suddenly started feeling itchy all over. They scratched at their faces like crazy! Their symptoms worsened so fast that I had no idea what was causing it. We had no choice but to bring them here as quickly as possible." At that moment, I remembered that when we were all in the mudbrick house earlier, I had noticed a small red bump on Zhao Qiang's hand. I had assumed it was just a mosquito bite. But now, things clearly weren't that simple. Director Huang, who had just been immersed in his memories, turned pale at the sight of their symptoms. He suddenly screamed in horror, "They… they've been infected with the YN-12 virus! Stay away from them! We don't know how it spreads yet—it could be contagious!" Ye Zhiqiu and Luo Hai exchanged worried glances and looked at Uncle Li for guidance. Uncle Li had no idea what the YN-12 virus was, but to be safe, he instructed Luo Hai and Ye Zhiqiu to move Zhao Qiang and Liu Ziping to a corner of the temple hall where they could rest. Liu Ziping was still somewhat conscious, but Zhao Qiang was already slipping into a semi-conscious state. After settling them down, Ye Zhiqiu rushed back to Director Huang and asked anxiously, "What is the YN-12 virus? I've never heard of it before. Is it deadly? Will they die?" Director Huang's face turned grim. He pulled us away to a relatively distant spot from Zhao Qiang and Liu Ziping, then began explaining the real reason he had come to Xinjiang for his scientific expedition. It turned out that years ago, Director Huang had been in Urumqi, working on a scientific research project. Just as the project was nearing completion, he received urgent orders from higher authorities. He and several other experts in biology and pathology were sent to this region to investigate a sudden outbreak of a large-scale infection. Upon arriving in the affected area, they discovered that the first to be infected were several soldiers. Their initial symptoms were red rashes all over their bodies—similar to insect bites. But as the infection worsened, the soldiers began experiencing varying degrees of skin necrosis. With no known cause or cure, these soldiers succumbed to infected wounds within a week. At first, the military doctors believed these were isolated cases. But soon, the outbreak escalated beyond expectations. The infection spread beyond the military, affecting local civilians as well. This alarming development drew the full attention of military leadership. Because this area was a former nuclear test site—the location where China detonated its first atomic bomb—it was impossible to rule out the possibility that radiation had caused a mutated virus. After the situation was reported to the central government, Director Huang and his team were assigned to lead an expert investigation into the outbreak. Their mission was to find the source of the infection and contain it completely. But Director Huang never expected that this mission would turn out to be far more difficult than he had imagined… 4o