When I heard Pan Xiaodong's question, I thought for a moment and said, "We don't know how long we'll be walking in the mountains this time. Could you please prepare five days' worth of compressed food, as well as power banks, lighting equipment, simple generators, antibiotics, snake venom antivenom, and a medical kit, and a satellite phone with GPS for each person? Is that alright?"

"No problem. These things you want can all be bought with money. They're not rare items on the market."

Pan Xiaodong glanced at his watch: "I guarantee all the necessary supplies will be in place within an hour."

After deciding on the time to go into the mountains, I wandered around the food stalls in the square.

The snacks at these tourist attractions all seem to taste the same across the country. After I finished my rounds around, Pan Xiaodong's supplies were almost ready.

I recalled Old Ma's words and looked at everyone, saying, "We shouldn't have too many people going into the mountains. From now on, we'll split into two groups. Monkey, Manjing, and I will take two bodyguards into the mountains. The rest of you will stay in the hotel in the scenic area and be on standby!"

After I explained the plan, I selected two bodyguards, walked a distance along the mountain path, and then chose a spot without surveillance cameras before plunging into the woods.

There are many small paths in the woods outside the main road, which are probably the routes taken by forest rangers when they patrol the mountains.

In addition to these paths, there are also many fire prevention monitoring devices set up in the woods.

I turned to look at the group and said, "From now on, no open flames are allowed in the team. It will be troublesome if the smoke alarm is triggered."

The monkey looked at the towering trees and scratched its head: "Young Master Duan, where are we going next?"

I glanced at the compass in my hand, pointed to the left front, and said, "Go northwest."

The monkey, who was standing nearby, asked, "Young Master Duan, you didn't specify the exact location. Did you not agree on a specific meeting place with the other party?"

Seeing the monkey hesitate, I glanced at him and said, "Hesitating like that isn't like you."

“I wasn’t hesitating; I was thinking about how to say it.”

The monkey chuckled: "You didn't call them or specify a location, which means they're playing charades with you! They want us to find them based on feng shui, but Yaoquan Mountain is a volcanic crater with the top filled with water. This kind of terrain is called Jade Void Tray, right? So if we want to find someone, shouldn't we head up the mountain?"

“As I said, the people we are looking for are a group of shamans. Although they also study feng shui, they have never said they want to compete with us in feng shui.”

I got straight to the point: "Yaoquan Mountain is a scenic area. There are viewing platforms all around the lake at the top. If the other party sets up camp there and uses any lighting equipment at night, they will be caught by the forest rangers and security guards."

The monkey, seemingly understanding but not quite, continued to ask, "Then why go northwest?"

"Because the northwest direction of Yaoquan Mountain is the extension of the Xing'anling dragon vein. From here all the way to the Xilamulun River in Inner Mongolia, it belongs to the Xing'anling. Only by going northwest from here can we leave the Wudalianchi Nature Reserve and give the other side room to carry out their actions."

I paused for a moment: "So the people who challenge me aren't testing my knowledge of feng shui, they're just testing whether our IQs are up to par."

The monkey snorted coldly: "Didn't they say these people were asking us for help? If they need our help, why are they putting on airs?"

“Besides us, they definitely have other backup options. If we don’t meet their expectations, they will replace us without hesitation. So this process is also a way for us to prove ourselves.”

I then added, "In this matter, they have a choice, but we don't. Wei Shengnan is in imminent danger, and if we want to save her, we can only follow their plan."

...

Although Pan Xiaodong said there were many wild animals in the mountains and forests here, perhaps because people and vehicles pass by the scenic area every day, we only saw two pheasants, one big and one small, along the way, besides wild rabbits and pheasants.

Three hours later, the monkey saw me stop on a mountaintop and pointed to the sky, saying, "Young Master Duan, the sun is still high in the sky. We can still travel a long way before sunset."

"We're not going anywhere. Let's set up camp here. Everyone find a place to rest, and keep a distance of no more than five meters between each other."

I sat on a rock, broke off a blade of grass and put it in my mouth: "We didn't have a specific destination to begin with, so continuing would just be a waste of energy! Of the surrounding mountains, this is the best spot with the best view, so let's wait here until it gets dark."

The monkey instantly understood what I meant: "You want to wait until it gets dark and then use the lights to find the other team?"

I nodded: "The people we're working with this time aren't tomb raiders, so there's no need to hide anything. It won't be hard for us to find them; we just need to guess their intentions. After all, we'll be working together again, so these people just need to know that we're intelligent. There's no need to deliberately conceal anything."

"Alright! I didn't sleep well on the plane last night. Since we're not leaving, I'll take a nap."

When the monkey heard me say that, it took off its backpack, opened its rolled-up sleeping bag, found a sheltered spot, and crawled inside.

I was looking at the beautiful scenery on the mountain when I vaguely leaned against a tree and fell asleep.

I was woken up by my cell phone ringing.

Looking out from my vantage point, endless verdant greenery is illuminated by the glow of the setting sun.

The scenery is beautiful, and the mountains and rivers are magnificent.

When I saw Song Laosan calling, I cleared my throat and answered: "You've arrived in Wudalianchi?"

Song Laosan sounded tired too: "Yes, I just met with Pan Xiaodong's men and we're heading towards the scenic area. How's the situation now?"

I resisted my craving for a cigarette and popped a piece of gum into my mouth: "I haven't seen them yet, but I think I should be able to find them soon. I'm currently deep in the mountains, and I've left all the extra people around me at the hotel in the scenic area. You go there first to meet up with them, and I'll contact you once we've finalized the next steps."

Old Song smiled and said, "Alright, since that's the case, I'll take a break from my busy schedule to take a good bath and get some sleep! These past few days, I've been busy buying medicine and running around looking for the statue. I feel like I've almost lost my soul!"

Just as I was chatting with Song Laosan, Monkey ran up to me quickly: "Young Master Duan, I just went to the toilet and walked around the hill. I found a light in the woods to our east. It looks very conspicuous."

"Let's go take a look!"

Upon hearing what the monkey said, I immediately hung up on Song Laosan's call and quickly ran in the direction he indicated.