Chapter 170: Mountain Hideout

It was still dark outside, but the muddy water beneath everyone's feet was already freezing cold, and the equipment on their shoulders had become heavier.

Lin Che counted the girl's breaths along the way. The team sometimes moved faster and sometimes slower, but no one took the initiative to stop.

Su Wanqing only paid attention to the flashing dot on the navigation system, and repeatedly pondered the route the girl had mentioned.

Xiao Ran checked the last spare magazine and looked back at Lu Zhao from time to time, without saying a word.

After about ten hours, when the mud on the soles of my shoes had formed a thick layer, the dense forest in front of me was finally torn open.

The girl with a childish voice pulled Lin Che's sleeve and whispered, "There is a path ahead. Just follow the stone steps up."

Su Wanqing glanced at her, tied a red rope to a branch as a mark, took the lead and pushed aside the bushes, stepping on the gravel and pushing it up little by little.

Many of the stone steps were broken, the corners were covered with moss, and there was only a faint smell of rotten wood in the air.

Lin Che discovered that although the girl with the childish voice walked slowly, she always accurately avoided the dangerous loose rocks, and every step she took seemed to know the next landing point in advance.

He didn't say anything, but just tilted the backpack to prevent the girl from falling.

The team walked carefully among the moss, and soon a flat ground blocked by dead branches suddenly appeared in front of them.

Looking up, I saw a three-story holiday villa. The wooden eaves and stone steps were half collapsed, but the main building still maintained its complete structure.

There was a thick layer of dust and grime under the porch, but the door frame was solid and there were no cracks in the walls.

Su Wanqing stopped at the door and signaled everyone to stop checking.

Xiao Ran held a dagger in his hand, walked around to the window and listened carefully, put his finger into the crack of the glass, and in two or three steps he followed the fence to confirm the perimeter.

Lu Zhao turned on the portable terminal and scanned the surrounding signals repeatedly, and whispered: "The terrain is well shielded, there are no heat sources around, and there are no abnormal signals."

Su Wanqing had no time to hesitate. She kicked away the fallen leaves beside the door, stepped into the hallway first, and walked around the corridor and living room.

Lin Che followed closely, supporting the girl with the childish voice and carefully checking every corner.

Although the furnishings in the villa were old, there were no signs of fighting. It was just that they had been covered in dust for too long, and there was a musty smell mixed with the smell of rotting wood.

There was still rusty yellow cold water in the bathroom tank, a layer of dust covered the kitchen, and a few gray mice the size of leopards were running around in panic under the dining table.

Su Wanqing stood in the middle of the main living room, frowning. After a few seconds, she took off the jade bracelet, weighed it in her palm, and pinched it a few times.

As a faint light and shadow passed by, the space inside the bracelet slowly opened, and she steadily took out several large boxes from it. Each of them was filled with building materials, simple generators and batteries, and spare solar panels.

Lin Che and Lu Zhao looked at each other, neither of them spoke, but the girl with the childish voice opened her eyes wide: "Teacher, how come you have everything?"

Su Wanqing simply stacked the boxes side by side without further explanation. She casually handed Lin Che a dust mask and said to Xiao Ran, "Check the water and electricity first. If they can be used, that's the best. If they can't be used, immediately use the backup generator. Don't touch the kitchen and basement for now. Prioritize the outer blockade points.

Xiao Ran, you set up alerts and traps, and install infrared and electric eyes at all entrances and exits."

Xiao Ran took the small toolbox and walked around the villa.

He removed the dirty cloth from the door handle, dismantled the original surveillance probe, and installed the new infrared sensor at the base of the wall.

Each point was camouflaged with bushes and branches, and the signal line was wrapped around the gaps between the floor tiles.

Lu Zhao took inventory of the existing semi-old surveillance system in the main control room. He did not despise it, but upgraded and spliced ​​the interfaces neatly.

Before long, the surveillance video of the entire building was connected to his terminal screen.

Xiao Ran also set up two sets of photoelectric sensor ropes at the back of the villa, facing the half-collapsed slope and abandoned parking lot, and hid all the dynamic alarm devices inside.

Lin Che held the girl with a childish voice and sat down in a corner of the living room. He untied his backpack and took out two items from the food bag and the medical kit respectively.

The girl squatted down holding her backpack: "Can I have some water?" Lin Che handed her a bottle of mineral water. She put the water to her face and carefully looked at the new supplies piled in the room.

“Is everything okay? Did the teacher make any arrangements?” Lin Che simply sighed and put his coat over her shoulders.

Su Wanqing's footsteps were heard from the kitchen. She walked silently into the storage room and looked at the old power distribution cabinet.

The backup generator was immediately started, and several sets of batteries were connected to the main building's power grid. Emergency lights in all rooms lit up instantly.

The lighting was restored, and Lu Zhao began to take inventory of the data using the host computer and external hard drive, flipping through and screening as he went along.

An hour later, Xiao Ran came back from the northwest corner of the villa, wiping the dirt off his face while reporting: "The outer terrain has natural obstructions, but the surveillance network is too old, so it would be more reliable to replace it all. I re-installed five electric eyes on the main road, and added three sonic mines and false target devices. I simply set up camouflage obstacles at the main gate so that no one can easily get in."

Su Wanqing nodded and asked him and Lin Che to check the underground passage again. Lin Che put away his backpack and asked the girl with the childish voice, "Is this the safe place you mentioned?"

The girl shook her head, "In my dream." Lin Che did not ask any more questions and just pulled her downstairs.

On the other side of the corridor, there was a sealed door with a rusted lock. While Lu Zhao was sorting out the data, Lin Che pried open the door latch and found a stone staircase extending northward.

The stone steps were steep, the air was damp and cold, and every step was filled with the coolness of years of soaking in cement.

At the end of the stairs was a semicircular space with bottles and jars of wine lined the walls, with some broken glass still left.

A wall lamp was dimly lit, with gray spots visible. Lin Che carefully searched the four corners and found a metal partition on the ground that blocked the signal.

He kicked the floor tiles and got an idea. The temperature in the corner was very low, and even the moisture was heavier than above.

He turned around and called to Su Wanqing: "This wine cellar can be used. It has natural shielding and independent ventilation. It is a ready-made laboratory."

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Su Wanqing raised her hand to measure the space and thought for a moment. She marked the remaining common supplies one by one, and asked Lin Che to check the load-bearing beams and ventilation equipment, and simply moved the most core instruments and medical beds down. Lu Zhao also brought the terminal in.

The girl with a childish voice quietly watched everyone busying themselves, and asked Lin Che softly, "Will this be our home from now on?"

Lin Che didn't answer directly, but helped her spread out the sheets on the ground: "Home is anywhere, as long as we can survive."

The renovation project had been going on since before dawn. Su Wanqing never stopped. She installed the large water purification equipment and filters into the underground wine cellar and set one-way door locks at both ends of the main passage.

Xiao Ran patrolled repeatedly between the periphery and the second floor. Every ten meters there was a small fake sign he had set up floating in the air.

Lu Zhao was installing the host in the basement and importing the data into the new shell, muttering quietly, "The old data looks a bit strange..." He pressed several times on the terminal screen, and the folders expanded one by one.

His expression changed: "Some files have been rewritten."

Su Wanqing raised her eyes and stared at him: "What's the problem?" Lu Zhao slowly pulled open a line of code and lowered his voice: "There are several files that have tracking programs implanted in them during the transfer process. If you click on them directly, the location signal will bounce back."

He said that he had unplugged a hard drive that had no internet connection capability and isolated it with encryption.

"Save it for now, don't open it."

Su Wanqing frowned and asked him to check all the data brought back in detail.

Lu Zhao was busy for nearly two hours before he let go of the mouse. "The main data is all there, the treatment records related to Dr. Zheng. The data fluctuations at the key time points are all gone. Only some remaining logs are left."

Su Wanqing glanced at Lu Zhao's screen and saw that the file name was incomplete. She didn't say anything, but asked Lu Zhao to isolate the core experimental notes and temporarily seal the rest.

Lin Che just happened to bring over a few spare oxygen cylinders and placed the little girl in the innermost area. He said, "The signals here are completely blocked, so you can rest assured. But you have to find another way to get the negative pressure equipment."

Xiao Ran turned in from the passage, his dirty coat draped over his shoulders, "Everything outside has been dealt with, leaving only an alternative retreat route to the east.

The rest depends on how you arrange it. "As soon as he finished speaking, Su Wanqing glanced around, called everyone into the wine cellar, and explained the division of labor clearly.

"Tomorrow we will continue to replenish the medical area and set up all the vacant rooms for data and backup. We will take turns to rest at night. Once the alarm sounds, everyone will hide on the spot."

The girl with a childish voice sat on the old sofa, holding the pendant tightly in her hand, and didn't ask any more questions, just looked at everyone quietly.

Lin Che helped her straighten her hair and said casually, "Eat something. We still have to work all day tomorrow."

Everyone then felt a little hungry. No one said a word and everyone went to clean up.

The only sounds in the room were low breathing and sparse footsteps.

Su Wanqing put the jade bracelet back on her wrist. She was the last one to come, standing at the door of the basement looking at a row of instruments and equipment that had just been put back together.