“Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” I comforted the man. “We’re the police. How long have you been trapped here? Blink once for each week you’ve been here.”

The man blinked eight times. Xiaotao gasped and cried, “He’s been here two months!”

Evidently, the development of the hibernation drug had been successful. It allowed the man to survive for so long without food and water, and it also appeared that he was still conscious of what was happening to him. But that fact made me shudder. It meant that the man had been lying helplessly in the dark as his body slowly wasted away, inching closer and closer to death every day without the ability to do anything about it. What a horrifying way to die! It was as terrifying as being buried alive!

I noticed that the man’s eyes kept fixating on a particular direction. “Is there someone else in there?” I asked.

His eyes darted up and down.

I quickly picked up a crowbar and rushed to the...