The two men returned to their post, where someone who appeared to be their supervisor approached and asked sternly, "What's going on?"

The first guard to go down on duty was about to speak when the second guard interrupted, saying, "A night owl ran by, and they got too nervous and fired."

The leader looked at the first person to go down with suspicion and asked, "Really?"

The man knew that the second person who went down was helping him, so he nodded.

The leader turned to the others and said, "Everyone, stay alert. If we let our guard down, you'll all lose your lives."

Mu Jingheng and Xu Xinning, who were inside the space, could hear their conversation clearly. They became even more certain that there was something wrong with the village, and these people did not look like ordinary villagers.

Mu Jingheng's eyes darkened. What exactly was hidden here?

It's said that western Hunan used to be a bandit stronghold, and it took three years to successfully suppress the bandits.

The terrain in western Hunan is complex, making it easy for people to hide. Mu Jingheng didn't know what these people's purpose was, but he was certain that they were harmful to the country and the people.

Xu Xinning and Mu Jingheng's pranks did not attract the attention of the person on duty, but the so-called leader did not let his guard down.

After he came down from his post, he went directly to a household.

Mu Jingheng and Xu Xinning changed into night clothes and followed immediately.

The man arrived at the gate of a house, knocked on the gate, and kept looking to both sides and behind him. It was clear that he was a very vigilant person.

Before long, someone came out of the courtyard carrying a kerosene lamp.

The man who arrived was a middle-aged man with a buzz cut and wearing a dark jacket. Mu Jingheng recognized him at a glance as the father of the father and daughter. It seemed that this man was no ordinary person, otherwise this so-called leader would not have come to him so soon when he was suspicious.

"Teacher Zhong!"

"Come in and we'll talk!"

The two entered the courtyard and then turned around and closed the gate.

Xu Xinning and Mu Jingheng also used teleportation to enter the courtyard.

The father's name was Zhong Ye, and he was known as Teacher Zhong. He was the only teacher in the village and was highly respected by the locals.

Just as the two reached the entrance of the main room, the door to the east wing opened, revealing a pretty young woman standing there.

"Father!" the girl called out.

Zhong Ye waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, go back to sleep."

The girl glanced at the person who came in, said "oh," and closed the door.

The girl's name is Zhong Ling, the one who "saved" Mu Jinghuai in her past life and wanted to marry him.

Zhong Ye led his men into the main room and carefully closed the door behind them.

"What just happened?" Zhong Ye asked, looking at the man.

"They said they saw a stray cat go off on fire."

"You believe it?"

"They're all on our side, they wouldn't lie to us."

"They are our own people, but they've been living comfortably for too long and are bound to relax. You need to be careful; this is a critical moment, and we absolutely cannot afford any problems."

"I heard the mission over there isn't going well?"

Zhong Ye nodded and said, "I heard that a small team of people were injured and came this way. They probably want to find the troops stationed here."

"Did you say they completed their mission and got what they wanted?"

"Hard to say!"

"What do we need to do?"

"We don't need to do anything, just improvise. We can't let our identities be exposed, otherwise all those years we've spent here will have been for nothing."

How do we get those goods?

"No rush!"

"Okay, got it!"

"Let's go back! It's late."

The man left very respectfully, making sure to close the courtyard gate behind him.

Zhong Ye sat there motionless, staring straight outside, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Xu Xinning and Mu Jingheng didn't leave the space again, and the two thought about what identities would be appropriate for entering the village tomorrow.

As dawn broke, Xu Xinning and Mu Jingheng got up, intending to use this time to figure out the structure of the village.

The village is small, with houses made of earth and wooden houses, but they all look low and dark inside.

Another strange phenomenon is that wooden houses are mostly inhabited by ethnic minorities, while houses with earthen walls are mostly inhabited by people wearing ordinary clothes.

After figuring out the structure of the village, the two entered the space again, planning to enter the village a little later.

It was almost noon when Xu Xinning and Mu Jingheng finally entered the village with their bags on their backs.

The village is quite normal during the day; many people are working, and children are cutting pig feed.

When Xu Xinning and Mu Jingheng entered from afar, many people curiously stopped what they were doing.

Who are these two people?

"Could he be a new educated youth?"

“Our village hasn’t had any educated youth assigned here for a long time.”

"What city kid would want to come to this remote mountain village?"

"Exactly, look at that educated youth Lin. When she came, she was fair-skinned, delicate, and pretty. If she hadn't married the chieftain's youngest son..."

“Captain, you have to call me Captain. You can’t call me Chief anymore.”

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter, as if they had heard a very funny joke.

Xu Xinning and Mu Jingheng first encountered a cute little girl dressed in ethnic minority clothing, who was cutting pig feed with a basket on her back.

The young girl wasn't intimidated by the newcomers and asked in broken Mandarin, "Are you new educated youth?"

Xu Xinning smiled and replied, "No, I'm a medical student. I'm here to find medicinal herbs."

The little girl perked up at the news and exclaimed excitedly, "Sister, are you a herbal medicine collector? My family has a lot of herbs, all of which my mother and I gathered from the mountains. We've dried them thoroughly, making sure they're completely dry."

Xu Xinning was momentarily embarrassed. Should she accept the medicinal herbs or not?

Mu Jingheng immediately said, "We don't accept medicinal herbs."

The little girl's eyes dimmed instantly.

This little girl lives with only her mother. Her father was carried off by wolves a few years ago while saving someone. If her father hadn't saved the former village chief, now the brigade leader, their lives might have been very difficult.

Actually, the little girl's father was an educated youth who was among the first to go to the countryside to support rural development. At that time, the ten-year turmoil had not yet begun. Later, for some reason, he married a local girl and settled down in this village.

Afraid of upsetting the child, Xu Xinning immediately said, "Although we are not medicinal herb collectors, we know people who do, and we can help you sell the herbs for a good price."

The little girl jumped up excitedly: "Really? Let's pinky swear!"

Xu Xinning smiled and extended her finger, hooking it with the little girl's.

The little girl said, "My mother works over there. I'll take you home."

Xu Xinning liked this child very much; her eyes seemed to have the power to heal souls.