The mountain road is steep.

It took us three hours to walk from the end of the mountain to the back.

This mountain is quite high, and from here, you can still see the glow of the setting sun on the horizon.

The monkey slipped and nearly tumbled down the cliff. He warned me, "Young Master Duan, it will be dark in about ten minutes. There are no paths on this mountain, and it's full of loose rocks. One wrong step and you're dead! Why don't we stay here and rest for a bit?"

"We can't stop! We're very close to the acupoint on the horse's back. While we still have visibility, we must get there! If the Golden Bull Cave is on the horse's back, we'll begin our operation! If we still haven't found anything at the horse's back, we can turn on our lights and continue on our way!"

Lin Que didn't quite understand my decision: "If you turn on a flashlight, isn't that just asking to be exposed? This is a mountainous area; the flashlight beam can be seen from miles away!"

"Based on the timeline, if the Golden Bull Cave is located at the Horse Head position, they will definitely go in to search for the Golden Bull tonight! It took us more than three hours to walk from the Horse Tail to here, which is about the same time they were ahead of us, so they should be in the Golden Bull Cave during the time we were traveling!"

I gestured to the map in my hand: "Of course, we can't be sure that the Golden Bull Cave is really on this mountain. If we can't find the Golden Bull Cave at these three locations, it doesn't matter if we're exposed. We can still use Qu Ruilin's map to explore other areas! Time is of the essence. There's only half an hour left before it gets completely dark. Everyone, speed up and get moving!"

At my urging, everyone sped up their pace once again.

After walking for about twenty minutes, I saw a light in the distance. I quickly raised my arm to signal the people behind me to stop, and then I picked up my binoculars and looked over.

Several hundred meters away from us, there were many stone pillars scattered about. Each of these large stones was two or three meters high, like bare tree trunks standing on the mountain.

The light I saw was coming from the stone forest.

Amidst the flickering flames, figures could be seen moving around.

Jiang Man also noticed the unusual activity in the distance: "Who do you think it is, Qu Ruilin and his group, or the Black Robe Organization?"

"I'm not sure, but I think Qu Ruilin and his group are more likely to be involved."

I voiced my suspicions: "Of the three teams in these mountains, only Qu Ruilin's group is in the open! They don't know they're being watched, so naturally they're not afraid of being exposed."

Jiang Man then asked, "So do you think they set up camp here because they found the Golden Bull Cave or simply to settle down?"

"Sister, I study feng shui, not divination!"

As I spoke, I activated the night vision goggles on my helmet and raised the compound crossbow in my hand: "Everyone, go check the situation. Be very quiet. Don't forget the man in the black robe is still here!"

Jiang Man nodded: "Let's split up. That way, if we're exposed, we can look out for each other! I'll take Lin Que and Monkey on the left!"

"Um!"

I'm going forward now just to confirm whether the group in front is indeed Qu Ruilin and his group, and whether Jinniu Cave is on horseback.

After we split into two groups, I moved down the hillside for a distance and then circled around to the location of the campfire.

Our night vision goggles have thermal imaging capabilities, which made things much easier for me when I was moving around. I could even see the outline of a mouse in the grass in the distance.

Perhaps the group that lit the campfire did not believe that there could be any threat in this desolate and steep place, so they did not send anyone to keep watch.

I climbed up the cliff from their side, took out emergency bandages from my backpack and wrapped them around my feet to reduce the noise when I walked, and slowly moved towards them.

As I got closer, I was finally able to see the situation clearly.

There were more than a dozen people around the campfire on the mountaintop.

Besides the black-robed organization members in camouflage around the campfire, Wei Shengnan and Qu Ruilin were also there.

However, they were all tied up and hung upside down from the stone pillars next to them.

Beside the campfire, a man in his fifties, dressed in camouflage, pried open a can of food with a knife, scooped out a piece, and stuffed it into his mouth: "Damn, you rich kids are something else! Coming out to raid tombs like this is some kind of picnic, you even prepared such a lavish meal, and you even brought fruit!"

I heard this person's voice and narrowed my eyes slightly.

I recognized his voice. When Iron Fist and his gang ambushed us in the woods outside Ping'an Village, they brought this guy with them. At the time, he even advised Iron Fist not to personally attack me, lest he incur Duan Jinyan's wrath.

"Since you know who we are, I advise you not to do anything reckless!"

A member of the Wei family shouted with a ferocious expression, "We are from the Wei family of Shenyang! Our other brothers are in Qingyun Town. If you mess with us, none of you will live!"

Are you threatening me?

The man in black glanced at the Wei family disciple who had spoken, drew his pistol from his waist, rubbed it on the sole of his shoe, and cocked it with one hand, the movement fluid and effortless.

Upon seeing the man's actions, Wei Shengnan immediately struggled, crying out, "Hey! Don't kill me...!"

"Bang!"

Gunshots rang out, and the Wei family disciple was shot in the head. His body, suspended by ropes, swayed precariously, like a teru teru bozu (a Japanese doll shaped like a sunny day).

"I, Cao Xiong, hate being threatened more than anything in my life! So when you talk to me, you'd better think carefully about your words and adjust your attitude."

After finishing his sentence, the man named Cao Xiong put the pistol aside and continued eating his canned food.

When I saw him kill someone just because of a single sentence, I instinctively held my breath.

My heart was pounding as I faced such an opponent.

If it were a fight, I wouldn't be afraid of Cao Xiong, but facing such a ruthless outlaw, I was indeed flustered.

Honestly, I find it hard to be like those criminals with murders on their hands, those on the statistical list, who are always prepared to be buried wherever they die.

When Wei Shengnan saw Cao Xiong kill her own disciple, her eyes blazed with fury: "Cao Xiong, what you've done today! I will make you pay tenfold! If you ever fall into the hands of my Wei family, I will grind you to dust and bury you in the Land of Souls!"

"You'd better have the ability to kill me first!"

After finishing his canned food, Cao Xiong threw the can into the fire, picked up his pistol, stood up, and walked up to Qu Ruilin: "You are a member of the Qu family. My sworn brother died at the hands of your father, Qu Yang."

Qu Ruilin, who had been hanging upside down for an unknown amount of time, was now throbbing with blood: "You despicable scoundrels who aid and abet evil and have no sense of national righteousness, deserve to be killed by everyone!"

Upon hearing Qu Ruilin's words, Cao Xiong raised his gun: "That disgusting face of yours is just like your dead father."