When Yan Jing'an kidnapped Jiang Xi last time, he surveyed the surrounding terrain, especially the areas with caves.

He said, "There are two places that can be used as a reference."

“One of them is near that sinkhole in the north, which is a day’s drive from here. And that cave is about three or four hundred square meters, with four or five holes of different sizes inside. Three should be enough.”

"The other one is upstream of this lake at the foot of our mountain. If you continue uphill, you will encounter a cliff. At the top of the cliff, there is a cave. It is not very big, but it is convenient for getting water."

After thinking for a moment, he said to Yan Zheng, "I'll take you tomorrow."

Yan Zheng interrupted him: "No need, just tell me the location, I'll find it myself."

His illness had just improved a little, and if he goes out and catches a cold, I'm afraid it will worsen his condition.

Upon hearing this, Yan Jing'an did not refute, but lowered his head to suppress the melancholy in his eyes.

The next morning, after breakfast, Yan Zheng put on his down jacket, and Jiang Xi prepared some sweet potatoes and hand-shredded dried rabbit meat for him.

Taking advantage of the fact that the water in front of the door had already frozen, he walked alone on the ice.

After yesterday's discussion, Yan Zheng decided to go to the cliff upstream of the lake to take a look today.

The entire hillside in front of the gate was covered in ice, making it extremely difficult to go down the mountain. He walked very carefully, slipping with every step, when suddenly he heard a sound.

Yan Zheng coldly scoffed, "Come out."

After waiting for a while, there was still no movement.

His voice hardened further: "If you don't come out now, don't let me see you again."

A few seconds later, Yan Jing'an jumped down from the tree behind him, wearing the cloak Jiang Xi had made for him, and shook a bunch of snowballs off the tree.

Yan Zheng said helplessly, "Didn't I tell you not to follow me?"

Yan Jing'an knew he had been acting presumptuously, but he still stubbornly insisted, "Time is the most important thing right now."

"How long will it take you to find it by yourself? I know a place and I'll take you there, which will save you a lot of time."

Yan Zheng had no choice but to wave his hand helplessly, knowing that what he said made sense: "You lead the way."

Although he relented verbally, he didn't want him to get too cocky, so he added, "Look at you now, and you're still playing stalking games. Your breathing is louder than a cow's."

Yan Jing'an chuckled, having achieved his goal, and did not refute his criticism.

They walked about two hundred meters along the lake.

There is a waterfall in front of us, like a white ribbon hanging down. The water flows down from a cliff that is seven or eight stories high. Below the waterfall are several huge rocks. When the water hits them, it splashes like pearls and jade and then flows into the lake. The lake surface is covered with broken ice.

Perhaps due to the high water temperature, the area below the waterfall was shrouded in mist.

As Yan Zheng was pondering how to proceed, Yan Jing'an suddenly led him in a different direction.

The two walked through a forest belt along the edge of the cliff, then suddenly made a sharp turn, meandering up the gentle slope on the side of the cliff.

The mountain was covered in snow, and ordinary people would slip and slide with every step they took, but it was not a problem for Yan Jing'an. He used the grappling hook to move up and down freely.

I occasionally feel short of breath and need to stop and rest from time to time.

Yan Zheng followed behind, and was able to keep up with his speed.

The two walked for about half an hour before reaching the top of the cliff. From there, looking down, they could see the frozen river, like a silver-blue ribbon, winding through the mountains in a world covered in snow.

Unexpectedly, there was a lake at the top of the cliff, about the size of a small basketball court.

Everywhere you look, the lakeside is covered with white reeds and withered yellow cattails, crowding each other and vying for the lake's resources. One can imagine that in spring and summer, this place must be lush with aquatic plants.

Yan Zheng's anxiety subsided. The location was high and had water resources. Furthermore, it wasn't in a valley, so there was no risk of flooding.

Although going up and down the mountain is a bit strenuous, a road can be built up on the existing foundation.

Just when he thought it was the end, Yan Jing'an unexpectedly led him to continue walking down.

After walking around the lake for nearly ten minutes, passing through a pine forest, there was a cliff right in front of them. Yan Zheng thought they were already at a high point, but they were still at the bottom of the cliff.

There is still a waterfall on the cliff. It is about ten meters high, and the top of the cliff is covered with tall trees and dense forest.

Through the broken ice on the water's surface and the misty water vapor rising from the lake, one can see the flowing water beneath the ice.

Yan Jing'an took a breath and said, "We're almost there."

The temperature was even lower here. His complexion looked unwell, a bit too red. Yan Zheng said in a deep voice, "No rush, you rest for a while, I'll survey the situation here."

Yan Zheng inspected the bottom of the cliff. There were no obvious large animal footprints in the snow, only small animals such as pheasants and ducks. After confirming that there was no problem, he followed Yan Jing'an and continued walking around the bottom of the cliff.

After walking for about five or six minutes, we passed through a grove of trees and stopped in front of a huge tree.

"arrive."

Yan Zheng quickly followed and looked in the direction of the gaze.

Sure enough, there was a cave entrance on the cliff face to the right.

The location here is quite high. The cave entrance faces south, offering a wide view of the surrounding mountains for dozens of miles, as well as an east-west valley with a silvery-white river running through the middle.

The cave is about three or four meters high, and the entrance is six or seven meters wide. The cave entrance is on a gentle slope, leading slowly down to the valley in front.

They say that looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death, and the same goes for rivers.

The river looks close from the cave entrance, but anyone with a little knowledge knows that even by horseback, it would take two or three hours to get there.

Yan Jing'an said, "The only problem is that fetching water here isn't as convenient as in the original cave. It would probably take about ten minutes to go back and forth."

"But this cave is the right size, and it's located here. The location and altitude are high enough that there's no risk of water accumulation."

Yan Zheng nodded, "That seems to be the case for now. There are no signs of it being washed away by water over the years."

As for why there are few trees in the valley, it is probably because the temperature here is relatively low.

He adjusted the quiver on his shoulder and said, "Let's go in and take a look."

We entered the cave. The ground wasn't very flat. The cave was about ten meters deep, wider at the outside and narrower at the inside, getting smaller as we went further in. There were no signs of any animals living inside. There was just a pile of rocks, with some weeds growing in the cracks between the rocks.

Nobody thought much of it.

Yan Zheng asked, "Which of these two caves do you prefer? Compared to the sinkhole?"

Yan Jing'an thought for a moment and said, "Let's go with this one; it's more convenient for using water."

"Although the cave in the sinkhole is larger, you have to go to a mountain stream about 700 or 800 meters away to get water."

"Moreover, the opening is near the sinkhole. If there is an accident or people panic and don't know where to go, it is easy for them to fall into the sinkhole. Also, there is no need for the three of us to live in a big house."

Yan Zheng nodded, inwardly agreeing with his idea. As for the space, it could be partitioned into several rooms, so it wouldn't be too small.

"I'm going to take another look around the neighborhood. You wait for me here."

Upon hearing this, Yan Jing'an nodded, and Yan Zheng turned and left.

"etc."

Suddenly stopped, Yan Zheng turned around in confusion and saw Yan Jing'an looking at something on the wall with a serious expression, and he was also anxiously brushing the dust off the wall with his hand.

Yan Zheng hurried over and could see some simple black and white line drawings on the wall.

He was startled and quickly took out his lighter to examine it closely.

The scene is easy to understand: there are people, cows, and sheep—no, a group of people surrounding cows and sheep, seemingly hunting.

It's clear that the artist doesn't have much artistic skill; most of the drawings are just simple lines and blocks pieced together.

Yan Jing'an murmured, "It looks like a cave mural."

A strange feeling flashed through Yan Zheng's mind. Suddenly, he thought of something and quickly walked to the pile of rubble deep in the cave wall. He kicked the rubble aside, but unexpectedly, a skull rolled out from it.