As they approached the county town, An Moxue casually asked, "Uncle Ma, what do you think is the best way to keep a secret?"

"You little rascal, you're still too young and haven't experienced much. Isn't this obvious? Murder to cover it up. Is there a better way?" He then shook his head seriously, as if to say, "You're so ignorant."

"Oh! Is that so? Isn't that illegal?"

"They've already done it, how could they not know it's illegal? Maybe they have a lot of power and don't care."

As soon as Old Ma finished speaking, she sensed that the sorcerer's expression had become more serious.

An Moxue ignored him and turned to chat with Old Ma about other things.

Upon arriving at the county public security bureau, An Moxue greeted everyone she met, much to the surprise of the soldiers. "Who is this person? She acts like she's at home at the public security bureau. Look at her now, what is she doing?"

He took the water cup for the guests, washed it, poured himself a glass of water, and went to the police officer taking his statement. He greeted him familiarly: "Uncle Wang, why are you taking a statement today? You didn't go out on fieldwork."

Look at how he answered: "Oh dear, don't even mention it. Your Uncle Wang is having a tough day today, I got picked by the lottery. What can I do?" See how familiar they are to talk like that? "Girl, what brings you here again?" Listen to that, he's a regular at the police station.

"Look, I'm here to assist in the capture of tomb raiders and give a statement. Uncle Wang, could you do it for me first? I have something to take care of afterward."

The police officer, Wang, readily agreed. The two of them worked together, one narrating and the other recording. Occasionally, the one recording would ask a question, and the one narrating would answer readily. To an outsider, it would seem like the two were having a casual chat.

After giving her statement, An Moxue went to the director's office. She knocked and entered. Only Director Li was in the office, looking at some documents. When he saw her, he looked up and asked, "Girl, what brings you here?"

“Uncle Li, I’m here to help you catch the tomb raiders and then give a statement,” she said, then took a bottle of wine out of her backpack and placed it on the table. “This is deer blood wine. You can only have a small sip a day, no more.”

"Where did you get this?" Director Li asked.

She whispered mysteriously, "I went into the old forest a few days ago and stayed there for a while. I bled a deer I caught in the forest." She then looked at the doorway.

This amused Director Li, who then cooperated by putting the wine away. Seeing him put the wine away, An Moxue said, "Uncle Li, I have to go now. I have some other things to take care of. I'll come back to chat with you next time."

Director Li waved his hand at him and said, "Go ahead."

An Moxue left the bureau chief's office and found Old Ma, saying to him, "Uncle Ma, wait for me a moment. I have something to take care of. We'll leave when I get back."

Old Ma replied to her, "Go ahead, no rush, take your time."

An Moxue first went to the post office to collect her subsidy, then found a secluded, deserted place, put on makeup to look like an older woman, and took her bicycle to Er Gouzi's place.

Er Gouzi was a little surprised to see An Moxue arrive so late, and quickly asked, "Big sister, why are you here at this time?"

An Moxue didn't mince words and directly stated her purpose: "I've contacted a group of people, and we'll have some prey soon. Do you want some? I reckon there will be plenty, and there will be big ones too."

Er Gouzi laughed when he heard this, "Big sister, I'll take as many as you have."

"Okay, just prepare the money. If the money isn't enough, the goods are fine too. Also, order me another saddle, it can't be worse than the last one. Have you found me a horse yet?"

Er Gouzi said somewhat embarrassedly, "Big sister, I'm sorry, I haven't found it yet."

An Moxue replied, "Alright, if you can't find it, don't bother looking anymore. I have other connections, I don't need you anymore."

He took out a hundred yuan from his bag and put it on the table. "Here, this is for the saddle."

Then he took out a bottle of deer blood wine from his bag, placed it on the table, and said, "Thank you for the gift. This deer blood wine is very strong. You can only have a small sip a day, and only a sip every few days. You can't be greedy, or your body won't be able to handle it."

Er Gouzi was truly moved this time. This thing was hard to find; it was definitely a valuable gift.

"Big sister, this makes me feel so embarrassed."

An Moxue said nonchalantly, "It's nothing, it's not a big deal, don't worry about it. I'll come find you when I get news in a few days. I'll be going now."

He then left Er Gouzi's place.

...

When An Moxue and her group returned to the village, news of the arrests in front of the educated youth settlement that morning spread throughout the village as the militiamen returned home.

Suddenly, the whole village was talking about this, and at the same time, news of An Moxue breaking the suspect's leg also spread.

After this incident spread, almost no villagers dared to offend her, for they didn't want to lose an arm or a leg; just thinking about it was excruciating.

Back in the village, Village Chief Guo organized a meeting with the villagers, talking about the tomb raiders and emphasizing the need to be wary of outsiders. He stressed that even distant relatives or long-lost friends and relatives should be avoided, as they could implicate others and no one could save them.

Village Chief Guo's political awareness and education of the villagers indirectly reduced a lot of trouble for An Moxue in the future and played a certain role in the stability of the whole village. It was difficult for outsiders to find out about the people and things in the village.

An Moxue returned home, took a machete, went up the mountain to cut some thin willow branches and some fried dough sticks, and put two bottles of deer blood wine in her pocket before going to Old Ma's house.

Before even entering the door, he called out, "Uncle Ma, come out here and see if I've chopped enough strips?"

As Old Ma walked out of the house, he replied to her, "Wait, I'll come out and take a look."

Old Ma came out and saw this: "Alright, that's enough, you don't need it. Didn't we just get home? You've already gone back into the mountains?"

"No, it was cut down on the side of the mountain." Well, this is what makes a mountain; it's only a mountain if you carry it into the mountains, not just the edges and corners.

An Moxue handed two more bottles of deer blood wine to Old Ma. Old Ma took the wine and asked happily, "Is this the deer blood you collected last time you went into the mountains?"

She replied, "Yes, try it. If you like it, I'll make it for you when I catch a deer in the mountains."

"Okay, I'll try it first."

"Uncle Ma, I'll head back now."

"Go back and get a good night's sleep. You haven't been getting enough rest these past few days."

An Moxue turned around and left Old Ma's house. Instead of going home, she took out another bottle of deer blood wine and went to Village Chief Guo's house.

At the village chief's house, the village chief wasn't home; only Aunt Guo was there. Before An Moxue even entered the house, she called out, "Auntie, are you home?"

Upon hearing An Moxue's voice, Aunt Guo readily replied, "She's home. Come in."

As soon as An Moxue entered the house, she took out the deer blood wine. "Auntie, this is wine for my uncle. It is said that women can also drink this wine, but they should drink less. You can drink it with my uncle."

"This is really good stuff."

An Moxue was about to leave after delivering the items when Aunt Ma quickly stopped her, saying, "Wait a moment, I made some sticky rice cakes, here are a few for you to heat up when you get home."

He quickly got up and went to get something. A moment later, he returned with a small basket and handed it to An Moxue, saying, "Go back quickly and get some rest."

An Moxue took the basket and left the village chief's house.