Jiang Qiao actually found a mouse hole in the corner of the wall. The key thing is that as soon as she squatted down, a big mouse crawled out of the hole, and by sheer coincidence, she caught it with one hand.

It's fortunate that it was her; she's quick-witted and nimble. If it were someone else, the mouse would have bitten her without a second thought.

Hou Diankui and his apprentice didn't notice anything amiss, and ended up right next to Jiang Qiao, where the little girl was examining a large rat.

He said in a low voice, "What are you doing, child? Throw it away—"

Jiang Qiao laughed and snapped the rat's neck, then threw it aside.

Chunming was dumbfounded. He knew Jiang Qiao was formidable, but he didn't know this girl was so fierce that she wasn't even afraid of mice. Good heavens, he felt a chill run down his neck.

Jiang Qiao didn't have time to care what Chunming was thinking. The hostages were inside, and even she, an outsider, was worried, let alone the family members.

No matter what, we should try our best to save her, especially those thugs inside. They're trained, and if things go wrong, the lives of the people inside could be in danger.

"Master Hou, do you think it's feasible for me to slip some sleeping pills into this rat hole?"

Hou Diankui pondered for a moment, and of course he understood Jiang Qiao's concerns. "It's alright, I'll take care of the rest. I'll set up a small wind-gathering array. You hurry up and release the drugs so that these bastards are all drugged. That will save the People's Liberation Army some trouble."

Jiang Qiao had no shortage of medicine. If the old man could lend a hand, it would be twice as effective. She wasn't worried that the exit of the rat hole wasn't inside the house. After all, it was an ancestral hall where offerings were made, and that's what the rats ate.

Jiang Qiao stuffed all the medicine into the rat hole, and Hou Diankui started working on it, with Chunming helping out.

Jiang Qiao stepped aside to listen to Liu Zhanyu negotiating with the other party. This guy, he couldn't even fool people like this, and he even suggested that the other party could ask for more gold bars.

“I’ve gone to such lengths to help you, so when you leave, leave me a couple of sticks in the house. Those planes aren’t that fast; you have to go through all the approval processes. Do you think those things belong to us and we can just take them away like that? If they end up over there, nobody can take responsibility for that.”

The people inside seemed to be getting impatient with Liu Zhanyu's nagging. "Alright, alright, I know. You help the brothers get more benefits. As long as we can leave safely, we'll make sure you get your share."

Liu Zhanyu continued, "Brothers, are you thirsty? I have some water on me, want some?"

Jiang Qiao saw Liu Zhanyu take back the water bottle and guessed that he didn't dare to drink it. However, there should be water in the house. The children couldn't go all morning without a sip of water, could they?

Jiang Qiao turned her head and saw that the women over there had brought over some dry food. Actually, there wasn't much to eat; it was just cornbread.

Liu Zhanyu called to the woman standing in front of the ancestral hall, "Brother, the food has arrived. Should we have someone take it inside?"

Jiang Qiao heard the shouts from inside: "Put it at the door! All of you back up! Get further away, even further away—"

Jiang Qiao peeked out and saw that these guys were really clever. The door opened a crack, and a little kid poked his head out and carried the dry food into the house.

Jiang Qiao shook her head, turned around and looked again, then couldn't help but laugh, "Master Hou, you're still the best!"

Within the small wind-gathering array set up by Hou Diankui, a whirlwind had already been whipped up, and this wind was heading straight into the rat hole. With this help, what was Jiang Qiao afraid of? He was just waiting to take down everyone inside.

He smiled and gestured to Liu Zhanyu in the distance. Liu Zhanyu's eyes were full of smiles, but his expression remained unchanged.

The people inside were worried that the food might have been tampered with, so they tore off a piece from each person and fed it to the children and the elderly. Only after seeing that they were alright did the two of them sit down to fill their stomachs, while one of them kept an eye on the outside.

"Do you think these people can get us a helicopter? If not, a car will do."

Another person said irritably, "What about the car? Once we're in it, where are we going? There are their people everywhere. It's better to fly; we can decide where we land."

Besides, whether those people will still listen to us is another matter. After we finish eating, quickly tie them all up and hang their weapons on them. I think no one will dare to stop us then, unless those villagers don't want to think about their children and parents anymore.

Seeing everyone in the room asleep with their eyes closed, one of them couldn't help but curse.

"These bastards, still able to sleep at a time like this, I'm truly amazed—"

The other person opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he couldn't get the words out. His mind wouldn't listen to him. Just as he was about to say that the cornbread was poisoned, he collapsed to the ground.

Another person tried to get up to help his companion, but unexpectedly, he couldn't get up at all. His whole body was weak, and just as he was about to grab his weapon, he closed his eyes and passed out.

Jiang Qiao estimated the time outside. This time, she had given a relatively strong dose of the medicine. The room was not ventilated, so with this much medicine, it should take effect very soon.

He sneaked around to the door, listened for a moment, but there was no sound. He gestured to Liu Zhanyu, then kicked the door open and rushed in.

Seeing the people lying sprawled on the ground, Jiang Qiao searched the two men thoroughly.

When the people outside learned that the enemy inside had been dealt with, the villagers rushed over like madmen. Before Jiang Qiao and his men could even enter, the villagers had already stormed in.

Seeing the people lying on the ground, not knowing what had happened, they thought their loved ones had been killed, and one by one they hugged their relatives and cried loudly.

Jiang Qiao blinked. "What's wrong with you all? Why are you crying? They're all fine, they're just asleep. Clan leader, where is the clan leader?"

Song Shutian led the clan chief in. Seeing his clan members like this, the middle-aged man couldn't help but shout, "Stop crying! Our relatives are all fine, what are you crying for?"

The clan chief's words were the most reliable. Upon learning that their relatives were all safe, they were all overjoyed, mainly because this day had been more thrilling than their entire lives.

Song Shutian spoke directly, "Village chief, for safety reasons, we'll start taking attendance later. Each family member will be taken away by their own family. We need to prevent bad people from infiltrating. This is for the safety of everyone in our village."

The clan chief readily agreed, "Alright, let's get right to it. Everyone hurry up and take your families with you."

After saying that, he walked over, picked up his elderly mother, and asked anyone who could help to come and assist.

The group gathered at the entrance of the ancestral hall and, after confirming the names of each person on the village's list, Song Shutian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After confirming the number of enemies with the villagers again, and then comparing it with the number of people they had captured and killed, the count was exactly right. This meant that not a single enemy had escaped in today's battle, so the mission could be considered a success.