She dared not delay, held her breath, and followed lightly by the light of the other person's flashlight, always keeping a sufficient distance to avoid being discovered.

The passages deep inside the cave are narrower than those outside, and the rocks on both sides are wet, with water droplets falling from time to time, the dripping sound being particularly clear in the silent darkness.

The further you go in, the colder the air becomes, and you can faintly smell a bit of moisture.

Xu Xinghe gripped the gun tightly, ready to respond to any unexpected situation.

After walking for a few more minutes, the passage suddenly opened up into a man-made area.

Neatly arranged on both sides of the rock face are cubicles resembling rooms, each with a simple sign hanging at its door, clearly indicating careful arrangement.

The man walked into the innermost cubicle.

Xu Xinghe stood quietly not far away, looking inside.

The cubicle contained a simple wooden table and a chair, with a dark tablecloth on the table, along with paper, pens, and a sealed, waterproof box.

The man sat in a chair, picked up a pen, and quickly wrote something in the light of a flashlight. He was focused, pausing occasionally to think for a moment before continuing to write furiously.

About five minutes later, the man put down his pen, carefully folded the paper he had written on, put it into the waterproof box, and then got up to leave.

Once the man's footsteps had completely faded away, Xu Xinghe immediately went into the cubicle.

She walked quickly to the table, opened the waterproof box, and inside, besides the papers she had just put in, there was a thick stack of notebooks and a few scattered slips of paper.

She quickly flipped through the notebooks and found that they contained entries similar to logs, detailing the daily disguises, the screening of outsiders, and the codes and times for communicating with superiors.

As she flipped to the last few books, Xu Xinghe's eyes suddenly lit up.

Inside, a long list of names was clearly recorded, with each name followed by a code name, task assignments, and contact information. It was obviously a list of members of a spy base!

She didn't dare to delay. She quickly memorized the key information on the list, put everything back in its original state, locked the box, and then quietly left the compartment, running towards the entrance of the cave.

Fortunately, she drank the spiritual spring water every day, which not only nourished her body, but also improved her memory a lot.

Otherwise, she really wouldn't have been able to memorize so much in such a short time.

"You've finally come out!" Upon seeing Xu Xinghe, Yi An, who had been hiding behind the bushes, immediately came forward. "How was it inside? Was there any danger?"

"There's no danger, but I've been delayed a bit, so we need to hurry back!" Xu Xinghe grabbed Yi An and ran quickly towards the man's house. "Those villagers should be heading home soon, we have to get there before them, or we'll be exposed!"

The two took a side path behind them, avoiding collisions with the villagers, and ran like the wind.

Fortunately, the villagers walked slowly, and the two managed to rush back to the courtyard before the man returned, quickly disappearing into their respective rooms.

Xu Xinghe had just lain down on the kang (a heated brick bed) and hadn't even had a chance to catch her breath when she heard footsteps outside the door.

She quickly wiped the sweat from her nose, closed her eyes, held her breath, and pretended to be asleep.

The door creaked open.

The person at the door paused for a moment, looked at the sleeping figure on the kang (a heated brick bed) by the moonlight from the window, confirmed that the person was still there, then gently closed the door and turned to leave.

On the other side, Yi An had just lain down on the bed when she heard the noise at the door.

He lay down with his back to the door, maintaining a sleeping posture, and even deliberately made a soft snoring sound.

The person outside glanced at him, saw that he was sleeping soundly, and did not enter the room, but quietly withdrew.

Hearing the door close, Yi An slowly opened her eyes and let out a long sigh.

He raised his hand to touch his flushed cheeks, but a strange smile inexplicably appeared on his lips.

He found that he actually quite enjoyed the thrill and excitement, as if his heart was pounding, and he also had a faint sense of accomplishment from participating in something big.

He recalled the pistol Xu Xinghe had taken out last night, and her calm and decisive demeanor, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

If Su Xiao really is a soldier, can I use that connection to join the army?

I heard that joining the army not only provides a fixed allowance, but also allows for promotion if you perform well. In the future, you can bring your family members to live in the family compound and no longer have to live a life in the barren mountains.

Once this idea takes hold, it grows wildly like weeds.

Yi'an became more and more excited as she thought about it, until she finally fell into a deep sleep after a long time.

When I woke up again, it was already broad daylight.

The sound of a man and his wife talking could be heard outside the window.

Yi An rubbed her eyes and sat up.

He got dressed and went out of the room, where he saw the man and his wife already busy in the yard.

He looked up at the sky and said, "Why is it so late? I've never slept this late before."

The couple in the courtyard exchanged a glance.

The man chuckled and said, "You must have been exhausted from climbing over mountains and valleys yesterday coming from Lijia'ao, which is why you slept so soundly. Young people have plenty of energy, so it's fine for them to sleep a little longer."

Yi An smiled, said nothing more, and went to wash her face.

A short while later, Xu Xinghe also came out of the room.

After returning to her room yesterday, she stayed up until midnight to make sure the couple was asleep before she dared to quietly enter her space. She then wrote down everything she had noted in the cave, including the list of members and other key information, and organized it into clear notes before carefully storing them away.

She was afraid that if too much time passed, she might miss some details.

"Young lady, you're awake? Come and sit down, breakfast will be ready soon," the man's wife greeted him with a smile, her tone still warm and welcoming.

The four people sat around the stone table in the courtyard eating breakfast.

The table still held a simple meal of mixed grain rice and stir-fried vegetables.

Throughout the process, the man and his wife chatted casually with Yi An, asking about the daily trivialities of Lijia'ao, but rarely spoke to Xu Xinghe, only occasionally glancing at her out of the corner of their eye.

The man never mentioned sending them back to Lijia'ao, as if he had completely forgotten about it.

After finishing their meal, the couple cleared the dishes, still showing no intention of seeing them off.

Xu Xinghe coughed lightly, breaking the silence in the courtyard, "Brother and sister-in-law, thank you for your hospitality last night. We may have to go back to Lijia'ao today."

The man paused in wiping the table, turned around, and looked troubled. “Girls, you’ve gotten up too late. It’s almost noon. Are you sure you want to leave now? It takes most of the day to get back to Lijia’ao from here, crossing mountains and valleys. If we don’t get out of the mountains before dark, the mountain roads are not easy to travel.”

The man clearly wanted to keep them, probably because he hadn't fully confirmed their identities and wanted to observe them further.

Last night in the cave, the man in black mentioned that someone had gone to Lijia'ao, presumably to send someone to investigate their background.

Yi An was born and raised in Lijia'ao, so her identity was easy to verify.

But since I am an outsider with an unknown origin, I will inevitably be the prime suspect.

Xu Xinghe lowered her eyes. Actually, she wasn't in a hurry to leave; on the contrary, she wanted to stay a few more days.

Although we obtained a lot of information last night, we still have no clue about Jiang Linchuan's whereabouts.

This stronghold is so well hidden that Jiang Linchuan might be trapped here.

Seeing that she didn't speak, the man continued to persuade her, "Why don't you stay another day? It's convenient to stay here tonight. I'll take you out of the village early tomorrow morning and give you directions, so it will be safer on the road. The sun is scorching in the mountains at noon, it would be too much of a hardship to set off now."

“Yes, sister, stay another day,” the woman next to her chimed in. “I’ll go pick some fresh fruits and vegetables from the field so you can take them home to eat on the way. It won’t be a wasted trip.”

Xu Xinghe pretended to hesitate for a moment before saying, "Alright then, since you two are so hospitable, we'll stay another day. Thank you for your help."