Jiang Man and I gathered together and thought about it for a long time, but we still couldn't figure out how Duan Jinyan and the others could escape from Ping'an Village and open the second gate while protecting themselves.

When we saw those people in Ping'an Village earlier, none of them were wearing gas masks, which means the air quality here is fine. Around 11 p.m., I was also starving, so I took off my gas mask and started eating some hard compressed biscuits.

"Young Master Duan, have some water!"

The monkey fumbled for the water bottle and handed it to me: "I think Duan Jinyan and the others must have been tricked on their way here, otherwise how could they have not shown up for more than ten hours?"

"It's not more than ten hours, it's only six and a half hours."

I took the water bottle, took a sip, and said in a low voice, "As for whether Duan Jinyan is really in trouble, we'll know in a few hours! People are most tired after 1 a.m., and if Duan Jinyan is going to make a move, he'll choose that time."

"That's what I think too, but I don't think Duan Jinyan's approach will be very successful."

Jiang Man chimed in from the side, "The people from Ping'an Village have been sitting around that bonfire for so long, without moving an inch or even patrolling the cave. This shows they're not worried about anyone coming, yet they're convinced someone will! Regardless of where their confidence comes from, these people are definitely on guard. Duan Jinyan's midnight attack will likely be difficult to succeed."

I handed the water bottle to the monkey: "I remember you told me that the people in black robes have a special potion that can keep them in peak condition for several days. In this tug-of-war, Duan Jinyan has the advantage."

Jiang Man countered, "We've seen the methods used by Ping'an Village. Do you think they don't have some special methods of their own?"

The monkey sniffed: "After listening to what you two are saying, I feel like they're all pretty strong, while we're the only ones who have nothing."

I smiled and said, "Don't say that. Don't we still have passion and an unwavering belief in victory?"

"Pah!"

The monkey spat, about to continue speaking, when it suddenly lowered its voice: "Look, there's light over there!"

Even without the monkey saying anything, I saw the flashlight beam coming from the other side and immediately lowered my body: "Take cover!"

Our cave is shaped like a cone, with the area decreasing as you go down. At the bottom is a stagnant pool of water, so the cross-section looks like an inverted trapezoid.

The source of the flashlight beam was high up, at the top of the cave. Because it was so far away, I could only see that area was illuminated by the flashlight, but I couldn't tell how many people were there.

Before I could observe carefully, the flashlight beam above went out, and the cave returned to darkness.

In this pitch-black cave, any light source would be extremely glaring. Although the flashlight beam only lasted for less than five seconds, it was still detected by the Ping'an Village team.

As the sound came from the direction of the campfire, flashlights were quickly shone on the area where the light had come from. However, at such a distance, they could only vaguely see the rocks there, and there was no sign of anyone.

I peeked out from behind the rock towards the campfire and saw four people already holding handheld generators and walking towards the gentle slope beside them.

Seeing that the people above had moved, Jiang Man whispered to me, "Duan Shenxing, do you think the light above might be coming from Duan Jinyan and the others?"

"There are four known teams in this cave: Duan Jinyan, Ping'an Village, Wei Shengnan, and us. Currently, only Duan Jinyan and Wei Shengnan have not appeared. The light above is likely one of them, but I personally lean towards Wei Shengnan's team."

Jiang Man was puzzled: "Why?"

"If that light was emitted by Duan Jinyan and his group, it shouldn't have been at such a high position. This cave is so big, there are many places to hide. And they were ahead of us, so there's no reason for them to lie in wait on the edge, making it harder for them to get close to the Ping'an Village camp. So that light is more likely from Wei Shengnan's group! They just entered the cave and didn't know the situation here, so they turned on their flashlights and turned them off after they saw the firelight from Ping'an Village."

I paused for a moment: "Of course, there is another possibility, that is, Duan Jinyan deliberately sent people up to make a commotion to attract the attention of Ping'an Village. But I think this possibility is very small. After all, the people of Ping'an Village are not guarding the second gate. It would be meaningless for Duan Jinyan to expose himself and lure the people of Ping'an Village away."

The monkey glanced at the four people who had left the Ping'an Village camp and were now sneaking towards them: "Could it be that they're trying to divide and conquer? Duan Jinyan doesn't have many people to begin with. Only if the people from Ping'an Village are separated will they have a chance!"

“We encountered traps left by Duan Jinyan and his men on the previous section of the road. They laid booby traps on our only route. I was thinking that if Duan Jinyan really wanted to attack the people of Ping'an Village, then getting close and throwing a couple of grenades would be the least risky option. But they didn’t do that. I think Duan Jinyan must have some better way, but it’s definitely not this road where we can separate the people of Ping'an Village and confront them head-on!”

I saw another person get up by the campfire and shine a flashlight on the surrounding rocks. I immediately lowered my body and said, "Don't worry about who's up there. Let them fight it out. We'll stay here and see what happens, then we'll reap the benefits!"

After we finished speaking, we all continued to hide in the low-lying area and observed the situation outside.

The place where the flashlight beams had just been turned on was directly opposite us. Four people from Ping'an Village turned on their flashlights and began searching up the hillside, the beams of their flashlights constantly flickering on the hillside.

To ensure a comprehensive search, the group of people moving up the mountain kept a few meters apart from each other as they slowly made their way up.

As those people got further away, I could no longer see what was happening over there, so I took out my binoculars and focused on one of them and the area illuminated by his flashlight.

"Bang!"

Just as I was staring at that person, a thunderous gunshot suddenly rang out in the cave, startling me so much that I almost dropped my binoculars.

"Bang bang bang!"

Before I could react, three more gunshots rang out. I put down my binoculars and saw a man on my right firing in one direction. The flashes of gunfire were constant. Then the man who fired the shot suddenly fell down and rolled down the valley. His flashlight was falling down the hillside like a shooting star streaking across the darkness.