Chapter Summaries

Song Wang shared good news about the liquor, while Wu Tao Ying met Kong Jianming, a Qingbei University student who took her to a variety show for his own financial motives. After using the restroom, Wu Tao Ying heard an argument nearby and was frightened by what she saw.

• Song Wang and Zheng Chunzhi learned that old customers liked the new liquor, and Song Wang hesitated to criticize Zheng Chunzhi's sales approach when Wu Tao Ying complained about it.
• Wu Tao Ying invited Song Wang to dinner and a movie, but he declined so he could care for his recovering younger sister.
• Kong Jianming returned Wu Tao Ying's handkerchief, invited her to a variety show, and privately planned to win her over so Song Ning would help him pay his debts.
• Kong Jianming and Wu Tao Ying attended the crowded show, where he held her hand as she became caught up in the romance of the moment.
• Wu Tao Ying went backstage to find a restroom, then heard a man and woman arguing after she came out and was nearly scared out of her wits by what she saw.

Wu Tao Ying left a woman in danger rather than risk confronting her attacker, while Xu Changyi was murdered in the hospital by a nurse coerced through threats to her child. As Gu Zheng and Song Ning investigated why the K organization had targeted Xu, they focused on six digits he had signaled, and Song Ning wondered whether they meant something other than a code.

• Wu Tao Ying saw a man restraining a woman behind a pillar but stayed silent and left the auditorium, fearing retaliation.
• Song Ning learned that Xu Changyi had died after someone drugged his IV, and that the nurse responsible had killed herself after her child was threatened and briefly abducted.
• Gu Zheng told Song Ning that the K organization had recaptured many escapees but had still taken great risks to kill Xu Changyi.
• Gu Zheng reviewed Xu Changyi's statement and confirmed that no factory documents were missing, while Chen Liang found no hidden safes or doors at the factory or Xu's home.
• Song Ning wrote down the six digits Xu had signaled and wondered what they could mean if they were not a code.

Gu Zheng investigated Xu Changyi’s movements and determined the attack might not have been connected to the Dawn Project. Song Ning welcomed Chunlan and Changmei into her courtyard, learned that she and Gu Zheng had eaten the Sacred Medicine, and then heard that Zhou Yunzhi was unconscious in the hospital.

• Gu Zheng questioned Xiao Zhang about Xu Changyi’s symposium trip, but Xiao Zhang recalled nothing suspicious beyond a visit to Taipingmen Square and the Great Man Memorial Hall.
• Gu Zheng confirmed the Shizhuang documents were complete and the classified production assignment had been moved, leaving him to investigate why Xu Changyi had been killed.
• Gu Zheng released Chunlan and Changmei to Song Ning, who let them rent rooms in her courtyard and returned Chunlan’s bracelet.
• Chunlan and Changmei explained the Sacred Medicine’s role as a catalyst in traditional medicines, and Song Ning revealed that she and Gu Zheng had eaten two of the pills.
• Gu Zheng arrived at the courtyard and told Song Ning that Zhou Yunzhi was unconscious and receiving emergency treatment at the hospital.

Song Ning learned that Zhou Yunzhi had been attacked and left comatose, while Li Yongzhi had gone missing in Jin City. After examining Zhou Yunzhi, Song Ning diagnosed her as being in a vegetative state and warned that recovery would be difficult.

• Gu Zheng told Song Ning that Zhou Yunzhi had been strangled backstage and that Li Yongzhi had gone missing, then left for Jin City after embracing Song Ning goodbye.
• Song Ning welcomed Song Mei and Song Lan as tenants, then advised Song Wang to buy Tao Ying vanishing cream instead of a bicycle.
• Song Ning searched recent newspapers for news about Li Yongzhi's predicted accident but found nothing useful.
• Han Xiao took Song Ning to the Military District Hospital, where Jiang Chengshi and Zhou Yuanhang asked her to examine Zhou Yunzhi.
• Song Ning explained that Zhou Yunzhi had severe brain damage from oxygen deprivation and was in a vegetative state, with little certainty of recovery.

Song Ning treated Zhou Yunzhi and discussed the six digits Xu Changxing left behind with Jiang Chengshi, while explaining that she wanted a medical license so she could take over a hospital on Beili Road. As the car reached the university gates, someone recognized Song Ning and urgently called out to her.

• Song Ning tried acupuncture on the unconscious Zhou Yunzhi, and the hospital doctors agreed on conservative treatment after a consultation.
• Tan Min arranged an on-call room for Song Ning and revealed that she was Gu Zheng's cousin and that Tan Qingru had told her Song Ning was the girl Gu Zheng liked.
• Song Ning asked Jiang Chengshi to help interpret the six digits Xu Changxing had left, and they considered a safe combination, coordinates, and an address.
• Song Ning told Jiang Chengshi she wanted to get a medical license and take over the hospital on Beili Road, where she said he might someday meet his future Grandma Jiang.
• At the university gates, an unseen person called to Song Ning and slapped the car window, saying they had finally caught her.

Song Ning reunited with Zhang Mingtao and recognized that his dormitory address might connect to Xu Changyi’s six-digit clue. She then asked Principal Li to arrange an early assessment so she could obtain her physician’s license and operate on Elder Zhou.

• Song Ning met Zhang Mingtao, who had enrolled at Capital City Third Normal College and wanted to stay in touch.
• Song Ning noticed Zhang Mingtao’s address contained five of the six digits Xu Changyi had left behind and asked Han Xiao to check whether Building 8 had a Room 320 on the third floor.
• Song Ning learned that Han Xiao had no news about Gu Zheng, then told Principal Li that the Qingbei laboratory project was progressing toward a breakthrough.
• Song Ning asked Principal Li to assess her theoretical knowledge under fourth-year graduation standards so she could obtain her physician’s license sooner.
• Song Ning explained that she wanted to remove shrapnel from Elder Zhou’s back, and Principal Li refused to use Elder Zhou’s operation as an assessment.
• Song Ning offered to operate on Principal Li instead if he needed medical treatment.

Song Ning persuaded Principal Li and Dean Fang to arrange an assessment for her, then joined Han Xiao to investigate whether Xu Changyi’s six-digit clue pointed to a toilet at Third Normal College. Han Xiao found nothing there, so they followed Zhang Mingtao to look around the campus more openly.

• Song Ning asked Dean Fang to help her get an assessment and mentioned that Elder Zhou had recovered enough for his operation.
• Principal Li and Dean Fang agreed to discuss an assessment plan for Song Ning at a meeting.
• Han Xiao told Song Ning that Xu Changyi’s guesthouse had been near Third Normal College, and they went to investigate the address and room-number clues.
• Song Ning and Han Xiao found a toilet beyond Room 318 that could be Room 320, but Han Xiao searched it and found nothing.
• Zhang Mingtao met Song Ning in the dormitory and invited her and Han Xiao to lunch, giving them a chance to search the college openly.

Song Ning and Han Xiao visited the printing factory on the Third Teachers College campus while searching for clues connected to Xu Changyi. They smelled chemicals near the factory entrance, which stood directly across from the Guesthouse where Xu Changyi had stayed, leaving them with a suspicious lead to investigate.

• Zhang Mingtao treated Song Ning and Han Xiao to lunch, then showed them around campus.
• Song Ning and Han Xiao learned that the school-named printing factory was run by the neighborhood and had a main entrance on Changhui Street, near Xu Changyi's Guesthouse.
• Song Ning told Zhang Mingtao she had a boyfriend and had met his parents, and Zhang Mingtao hurried away, heartbroken.
• Song Ning and Han Xiao toured the factory and found few workers, idle machinery, and lax security, but nothing obviously unusual.
• Song Ning and Han Xiao smelled strong chemicals near the factory entrance, and Song Ning sent Han Xiao to speak with the gatekeeper.
• Song Ning found that the factory was at No. 64 Wenhua Road, directly across from the Guesthouse where Xu Changyi had stayed.

Song Ning and Han Xiao investigated the address behind Xu Changyi’s six digits and discovered that the printing factory, the school, and Fuwai Hospital were closely connected. Before they could search the area, they learned that the boss and Regiment Commander Lei had disappeared in Jin City, so Song Ning joined Han Xiao’s urgent trip there.

• Song Ning reasoned that Xu Changyi had realized he had uncovered his attackers’ secret and passed her six digits before he lost consciousness.
• Han Xiao and Song Ning learned that Xu Changyi regularly walked through the printing factory’s side gate between seven and eight in the evening, and they considered searching the factory and school.
• Song Ning realized that Fuwai Hospital stood beside the school and printing factory, raising the possibility that the three places were connected to Xu Changyi’s clue.
• Han Xiao learned from Chen Liang that Li Yongzhi had disappeared in Jin City and that the boss and Regiment Commander Lei had gone missing while searching for him.
• Song Ning insisted on going to Jin City with Han Xiao, who agreed and said her luck was better than sending another company.

Song Ning and the others arrived in Jin City and learned that Lei Ming and Dong Yuan had vanished while searching for Chief Engineer Li, who had been kidnapped with his assistant. The group reached the abandoned factory where Wang Honglin had been found, but the many searchers’ footprints had obscured any useful traces.

• Song Ning met Xiong Gang in Jin City before Chen Liang briefed the group on Chief Engineer Li’s disappearance and Wang Honglin’s rescue.
• Chen Liang explained that Lei Ming and Dong Yuan had gone missing during the search, while Gu Zheng and Yang Qi had also vanished after joining it.
• Song Ning asked where Wang Honglin had been found and learned that the site was an abandoned factory district with damaged underground air-raid shelters.
• Han Xiao, Song Ning, Chen Liang, and Xiong Gang joined one team and went to the factory grounds with Captain Chen.
• Song Ning examined the spot where Wang Honglin had been found and saw that countless footprints made it impossible to track anyone from the scene.

Song Ning discovered that a concealed floor trap in the factory had swallowed Regiment Commander Lei, Gu Zheng, and their companions. After she and Chen Liang and Xiong Gang fell into the hidden space, they found three underground passages and chose the middle one to investigate.

• Song Ning noticed that someone had disturbed the dust on a knife switch in the empty factory and found a steel floor panel concealed behind a door.
• Song Ning stepped on the panel and fell into a straw-covered underground space, and Chen Liang and Xiong Gang fell after her.
• Song Ning and the others found marks on the walls indicating that Regiment Commander Lei and Gu Zheng had entered different passages.
• Xiong Gang climbed up but could not reopen the padded steel panels, so the group realized no one above would hear them.
• Song Ning identified the marks for the left and far-right passages, drew an arrow toward the middle passage, and led the others inside.

Song Ning, Chen Liang, and Xiong Gang explored the underground tunnels, using airflow and the smell of toxic gas to choose their route. They found a dead-end vent and a collapsed old shelter behind a recently built tunnel, then retreated to the fork to decide what to do next.

• Xiong Gang found a fork, and Song Ning used a lighter’s flame to judge airflow before the group chose the right passage.
• At another fork, Song Ning identified the rotten-egg odor as hydrogen sulfide and led the group away from the gas toward a dead end with an air vent.
• Song Ning, Chen Liang, and Xiong Gang covered their faces with torn clothing and followed the gas-smelling passage to a massive underground collapse.
• Song Ning noticed that the tunnel entrance had been recently patched, while the collapsed shelter was much older, and Xiong Gang suggested the route could be a decoy.
• The group retreated to the fork, removed their face coverings, and Xiong Gang asked whether they should return to the place where they fell in; Song Ning shook her head.

Song Ning, Xiong Gang, and Chen Liang followed a hidden route through the ruins, using protective gear stored along the way to cross a toxic, flooded stretch. They reached an old air-raid shelter and stopped at an iron door, with its opening mechanism still undiscovered.

• Song Ning found a concealed cabinet containing gas masks and other equipment, confirming that the tunnel served a practical purpose and that the branching passages led to different destinations.
• Song Ning, Xiong Gang, and Chen Liang equipped themselves and followed a faint path through the ruins.
• The three crossed filthy, gas-filled water in plastic overshoes and continued toward the old air-raid shelter complex.
• They found a passage into the shelter and discovered an iron cabinet with dirty overshoes, suggesting that someone maintained the route and that another exit existed.
• Song Ning and the others reached an iron door with no visible handle or nearby mechanism, leaving them searching for a way to open it.

Song Ning, Xiong Gang, and Chen Liang passed a weight-activated door and discovered a vast underground facility where two men in black revealed signs of an organized operation. As the men crossed a noisy iron bridge, Song Ning began balancing across its railing to follow without alerting them.

• Song Ning identified the concealed weight-activated switch, and Chen Liang found iron weights that let Xiong Gang open the door.
• The three entered a huge underground space filled with pipes, equipment, walkways, and multiple levels of railings.
• Xiong Gang spotted a light ahead, then hid with Song Ning and Chen Liang as two men in black emerged and spoke about pressure from their higher-ups.
• Xiong Gang led the group after the men, who crossed a narrow iron bridge and disappeared through a doorway on the opposite walkway.
• Song Ning climbed onto the bridge railing and began crossing it to avoid the noisy iron plates.

Song Ning, Xiong Gang, and Chen Liang infiltrated a large underground base beneath Jin City and discovered a laboratory where Zheng Zhenguo was being held. They withdrew to avoid exposing themselves and concluded that the base might be K’s lair, while Gu Zheng’s location remained unknown.

• Song Ning followed two guards to a keypad-locked door, then hid as two off-duty men left the corridor.
• Xiong Gang found a code clue, and Song Ning used it to unlock the door with the six-digit code 152112.
• Song Ning, Xiong Gang, and Chen Liang entered the base, where they spotted researchers inside a locked underground laboratory.
• Song Ning approached the laboratory and saw Zheng Zhenguo among at least five people inside.
• The three retreated into the darkness, and Chen Liang suspected the base was K’s lair while they wondered which passage Gu Zheng had taken.

Song Ning hid from the guards in a storeroom, then followed two doctors through a coded gate into another section of the underground facility. She discovered signs of captives being held and treated, but someone smoking nearby caught her before she could investigate further.

• Song Ning sent Chen Liang to find the main power switch while Xiong Gang scouted the iron bridge, then waited alone in a dark passage.
• When the lights came on and guards brought Zheng Zhenguo into the Medical Room, Song Ning hid in the adjoining Storeroom as they came to collect medicine.
• After the guards left, Song Ning took a medical shoulder bag and followed two doctors past signs for the Injection Room, Polygraph Room, and Interrogation Room.
• Song Ning entered the next section using the code 152112 and inferred that its coded gates shared a system and that a central control room must exist.
• As Song Ning approached the lit duty room to find the stubborn holdouts, she smelled cigarette smoke nearby and realized someone was close.

Song Ning infiltrated an underground shelter and found several elderly prisoners, including a chained man in critical condition. After the power failed and guards returned, she knocked them unconscious, while realizing Chen Liang, Xiong Gang, Lei Ming, or Gu Zheng might have caused the outage.

• Song Ning anesthetized the two guards on duty and entered the locked room where prisoners were being held.
• She found elderly prisoners in hospital beds, including a man chained to the wall whose condition was extremely poor.
• Song Ning unlocked the prisoners’ restraints and mentioned comrades 055 and 072, prompting someone to stifle a sob.
• The lights went out, trapping Song Ning behind a combination lock, before power returned and hurried footsteps approached.
• Song Ning hid in the duty room, knocked out two returning guards, and suspected her companions had caused the power outage.

Song Ning disguised herself, stole a map of the underground complex, and discovered that its three sectors were connected by only one hidden route among many decoys. She reunited with Chen Liang and learned that Gu Zheng was signaling a coordinated attack at three o’clock, then began looking for a way to warn Gu Zheng and Lei Ming about Sector B.

• Song Ning put on a captured guard’s clothes, found a detailed map, and identified the red routes as decoys and the green route as the real connection between Sectors A, B, and C.
• Song Ning promised the elderly comrades she would return for them, then noticed the corridor lights flashing in a pattern that she interpreted as Morse code for three.
• Song Ning hid as two guards passed and concluded that the lights might signal a coordinated operation at three o’clock.
• Song Ning followed Chen Liang after he dealt with the guards, and he told her that Gu Zheng had taken control of the electrical room and that several groups of hostages were held throughout the underground complex.
• Song Ning showed Chen Liang the map and explained that Gu Zheng and Lei Ming would struggle to find Sector B, then began searching the guards’ bodies for a way to contact them.

Song Ning hid in the storeroom while Chen Liang set off an explosion to disrupt the underground facility, then discovered the captors had moved the elderly prisoners during the blackout. She marked their trail and pursued them through the passages.

• Song Ning gave Chen Liang the lighter and matches, told him to use a long rope as a fuse, and searched the storeroom for medicine and a gun.
• More men in black entered the passage, and Song Ning hid while wondering who they meant by the boss and considering whether Area A held the facility’s communications center.
• Chen Liang’s explosion shook the underground facility, triggered collapses, and knocked out the lights.
• Song Ning returned to the holding area and found the elderly prisoners had been moved, including the critically ill old man.
• Song Ning found a button torn from one prisoner’s clothing, drew symbols and arrows on a wall, and followed the captors’ footprints.

Song Ning followed Yi Gang’s men as they evacuated the captured elderly comrades, then slipped into their group and entered a hidden passage. Elsewhere, Gu Zheng and Yang Qi investigated Area A while Lei Ming and Dong Yuan held back in Area C, and the chapter ended as Gu Zheng signaled for a three-point attack.

• Song Ning slipped through a closing heavy door and followed the captors to a hall where Yi Gang gathered the rescued prisoners and men from Areas A, B, and C.
• Yi Gang ordered his men to leave through a concealed passage, and Song Ning blended into their ranks before the passage door closed.
• Gu Zheng and Yang Qi found Area A’s intelligence, communications, and command rooms, identified Yi Gang, secured the communications room, and sent an account of the underground complex.
• Lei Ming and Dong Yuan discovered Area C’s machine shop, chemical laboratory, explosives warehouse, and armory, and waited because the dangerous stores made an attack risky.
• Gu Zheng flashed a signal for a three-point attack.