Chapter 97 One Challenge After Another

After several attempts, Yuan Fang realized that she was indeed not cut out for this.

So they quickly gave up and decided to roll up their sleeves and do something else.

Then he joined another colleague in getting busy, and the team quickly got moving again and began their daily work.

Meanwhile, Wang Dazhi, the village chief who had left early, was now gathering all the villagers in the valley together in front of his courtyard for a meeting.

There are only 6 households in the village, and even including newborns, the population is just over 40!

"As you all probably know, outsiders have come to our village."

When Village Chief Wang said this, his eyes were sharp and full of authority!

“I know, I know. We were the ones who greeted the village chief. Please continue.” The eldest son of the Yang family, who loved to chime in, added as soon as he heard this.

"Old Yang, shut your mouth first. Do you want to hear what I have to say or what you have to say?"

"Yang Xiaoshan, step back quickly and listen to Uncle Village Chief."

"That's right, we'll listen to the village chief."

"Quiet, let me continue. Not long ago, we sat down and talked, mainly to find out why these people came here." He paused here and then scanned everyone's faces.

"What I'm saying is something everyone should understand, and I don't think anyone wants their current life to be disrupted."

“Village chief, we’re barely making ends meet with this kind of life, we can’t afford any more changes.”

“Right, right, that’s right. We’ve just gotten through a bit, they won’t report us, will they?” someone thought to themselves, their tone serious.

"Impossible, what are you thinking? We're not unregistered residents, we're just locals."

Suddenly, a young man spoke up: "Alright, alright, it seems they won't report us for now. They don't care about us three little things right now."

The crowd gasped in surprise as they looked and saw it was Yang Peng, the village hoodlum!

"I just got back from the west. Guess what they went there for?"

Several women were talking quietly as they worked, cleaning up a lot of wild vegetables.

Wang Dazhi knew that what was about to happen would cause panic, so he quickly tried to cover it up: "They are all government officials and fieldwork experts. This is their job."

"Ah. But aren't those coffins to the west? Are they going to dig up the graves and open the coffins?"

"Hiss~"

Wang Shanfeng echoed his father's words, "That's right, the reason that group of people came to our place was because they happened to find it while on their way."

"Quiet down, everyone!"

As the discussion grew louder, the voices of a dozen or twenty men and women could no longer be suppressed.

Women, daughters-in-law, men, and parents-in-law simply cannot hide their desire to gossip.

Having lived here for decades, they had never heard of anything so outrageous.

"That's too much! But are they really not afraid? There are dead people in there, and they don't seem to mind?" Some young wives were terrified just thinking about it, and felt a cold sweat break out on their backs every time they passed by.

Hearing that the group had gone ahead on their own initiative, he was so frightened that he didn't know what to say.

"So they're the experts, and we're just scraping by. Our team leader, Comrade Shi, said they'll be staying in the village for a few days, but everything will be simple, and they won't take up our food or lodging. If we really need anything, they'll compensate us. The only thing I need to remind everyone is that they've already entered that area, so we can't go in anymore."

He paused, thinking about what he had said. "It's a cultural relic protection area. They've put up protective tape. No matter whose property it is, don't go that way, understand?"

"Village chief, we know. We don't usually go that way." The one who spoke was a seasoned veteran, rubbing his hands together. "But I heard that coffins usually contain burial items. There are supposedly many coffins there. Could they have taken all the contents?"

Mentioning this reignited everyone's enthusiasm.

Yes, normally you have to be careful, but when it comes to money, you're not afraid of anything.

"Let me tell you, don't even think about it. Do you think they're just a few young people and old comrades? Of course not. They've come all this way to carry out this operation. Didn't you see the soldiers all around them?"

Wang Dazhi frowned more and more. "I'll emphasize this one last time: you all need to straighten your minds. If anyone gets caught because of this, I will make sure you turn yourself in. Whether you go to jail or be executed is up to you. Think about your parents, family, and children."

"Alright, everyone disperse!"

As the last shout ended, the families led their relatives away.

They walked and talked, discussing those people.

It was noon, in the gaps between the main hall and the temple.

The comrade in charge of guarding the gate finally heard the commotion inside.

He listened carefully and found that the footsteps were not moving, there were only two of them; he quickly turned around and reported the news to the deputy captain!

The deputy captain quickly came over and shone his flashlight inside.

"who?"

"Vice Captain, it's me, Zhang Zheng!"

"Vice Captain, it's Zhang Zheng." He was one of Captain Huo's capable lieutenants.

The vice-captain nodded to indicate that he had heard, then swung his flashlight down and watched as two figures emerged from inside.

"What's the situation now? Why hasn't anyone else returned?"

"Could it be that a lot of cultural relics have been discovered inside, and they can't be transported out?"

Several comrades who heard this speculation showed delight on their faces. Zhang Zheng felt relieved when he saw the researcher next to him sitting down comfortably.

He even thought that the comrade wouldn't recover and almost collapsed.

He wiped his sweat and said in a daze, "No, there are no cultural relics at the end of the passage. It's a path leading to another huge mountain. Elder Shi and the others should have reached the bottom of that sinkhole by now. We found people living there halfway there."

"Oh, what's going on? Explain yourself!"

The vice-captain and the others didn't understand at first, and then it took them another ten minutes to explain the reason.

He then mentioned the purpose of his trip back, "By the way, has there been any news from over there?"

Zhang Zheng already knew the answer after he finished speaking. Looking at the usual number of people leaving, he figured there weren't any.

"Alright, you guys take a rest first, and we'll see how things go after we've adjusted for a while."

The vice-captain really wanted to go with them, but considering the tasks left behind by the two captains, he decided he had to take on the responsibility.

After braving the heavy rain and overcoming countless difficulties to reach the summit, Jiang's team collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

Let the rain and wind wash over your body; there's no one to shield you from the rain at this moment.

They all looked up at the layers of clouds in front of them, which were only about a meter below their feet.

Thick, white clouds filled the entire field of vision, and the dense raindrops hitting the body added a filter to the beautiful scenery.

A gust of wind blew from the mountaintop, and the clouds and mist in the sky swirled and rippled like ocean waves!

None of the 10 people present spoke.

We were all stunned by the beautiful scenery before us!

"Wow, this is absolutely gorgeous."

Jiang Cong was the first to snap out of it, realizing that he had been daydreaming for a moment.

The look of amazement and admiration in his eyes immediately turned into wariness.

Considering that even someone with professional training could be fooled, the situation must be even more serious for the average person.

Team Leader Jiang shouted, "Old Xia, something's not right here! Everyone stop looking and step back!"

"Huh, what's going on?"

"Xia, where are you going?" Xia Ming, who had just come to his senses after hearing the noise, saw Xia move her body as if she was about to lean forward.

Realizing what was ahead, Xia Ming was so frightened that his heart almost stopped beating.

He shouted urgently, "Don't go over there, it's dangerous!"

She tried to grab him, but as soon as she touched his sleeve, her hand slipped through her fingers, leaving Xia Ming trembling with fear.

"Step back, step back, let me handle this, Elder Xia."

Responding quickly, Captain Jiang spotted the situation immediately. Seeing one person moving forward and another trying to pull them, he strode over and grabbed the person by the collar from behind.

The immense force of the constriction made it difficult for Xia Mingjiang to breathe, and his face began to turn from red to blue.

The person also regained consciousness from the pain, "Cough cough, let go!"

"I...I can't breathe."

Seeing that someone had made a move, Old Xia's mood calmed down a bit. Thank goodness.

"What just happened? When I came to my senses, I saw Xia falling down the mountain. Luckily, she didn't take another step forward, or she would definitely be smashed to pieces."

"That's right, it's all thanks to Captain Jiang for waking me up."

"Yeah, did you guys just watch a scene so intently that it felt like your soul was being pulled away?"

"Are you sure there's no problem? I keep feeling like there's something watching me around here." Xiao Du, who had run to Chen Dong's side for the fifteenth time, was feeling uneasy.

At this moment, Du Yuetian was pale, sweating, and had dry lips. He was also swaying unsteadily, clearly extremely weak!

He and Brother Meng originally thought they were incredibly lucky to be able to join the Ailao Mountain operation.

But ever since they entered the mountain, they have been filled with regret.

Not to mention the endless, extremely strong miasma, the countless leeches and poisonous insects, or the complicated route that has been nonstop since we entered the mountains.

Every obstacle is an obstacle, and every obstacle is difficult, but we must overcome them all.

For the first few hours, because of the presence of that group of people, and out of consideration for not bringing shame to their unit, they gritted their teeth and persevered. The four of them encouraged each other, picked leeches together, and cheered each other on.

However, in the latter half of the journey, they began to experience physiological changes, such as hypothermia, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.

The four of them suffered a significant loss of strength and fell to the back of the line.

In contrast, Old Chen and the others seemed to have adapted well, showing no signs of change. Old Chen seemed to know that they had a problem, and glanced back. The previously indifferent people walked towards them, one supporting another as they continued walking forward.

They walked for an unknown amount of time after that. Xiao Du only remembered walking through deep mountains and forests, wading through deep lakes, climbing steep cliffs, and then seeing buildings in the valley below.

Yes, the scene before my eyes is quite horrifying!

His view was originally filled with towering, strange trees and dense forests, but suddenly, a series of culturally rich bases appeared before his eyes.

That feeling brought joy to everyone who witnessed it.

Seeing this, everyone sped up and quickly crossed the outer protective fence, stepping into the real secret base in Ailao Mountain.