Condes Mountains
The dark brown clothes wrapped her whole body tightly. Apart from her petite figure, no other features could be seen.
She already wore a hat with a brim, and she also wore the hood of her outer robe on her head.
It was lowered very low, and the face could not be seen clearly because of the mask, and now even the eyes were not exposed.
The members of the poaching gang all looked at her in unison, without saying a word, still carrying weapons, and watching the bonfire lit in the middle of the cave.
The atmosphere was dim, and it seemed like a scene where some cult organization was conducting a secret sacrifice.
It's really quite frightening.
She swallowed, curled her fingers at her sides slightly, and then dug her fingertips into her palms, easing the tension that arose in her heart.
"Are you the leader of the Cheetah?"
The woman seemed to know what she was thinking and chuckled: "Don't bother guessing, I am Ah Ye."
Sure enough, Ding Can looked up at her: "I want to know why you never show up during the day?"
Many people are curious about this, and it is not surprising that they ask such questions.
Ah Ye continued to walk towards her: "Just think of me as someone with a health problem who can't stand the sun."
Of course Ding Can would not believe such words. It was just that the other party did not want to tell the truth. She was originally a hostage, not to mention that she had no position to force him to tell the truth.
When Ah Ye got closer to her, he suddenly stopped, wrinkled his nose twice, and suddenly asked, "What's that smell on you?"
"What's wrong, boss?" Dave spoke first.
"She has a very light fragrance," Ah Ye sniffed it again before speaking uncertainly, "Is it the scent of flowers?"
Although Ding Can looked calm, she was actually very surprised in her heart. The reason why she chose the "Lotus Blooms at Every Step" prop was because the lotus fragrance left behind when it recorded her steps was very faint.
Ordinary people cannot smell it, which greatly reduces, or rather avoids, the risk of being discovered.
She had been walking with Dave for so long, and not only Dave, but even she, an informed user, hadn't smelled any scent. How could Aye have discovered it?
Her sense of smell is so amazing.
How can an NPC smell the scent of props?
Ah Ye continued to ask: "What is that smell? I have never smelled it on the snowy mountains."
"It's the smell of my mother's washed clothes. There's a flower that grows in my hometown. If you mash its petals into juice and soak it in clean water with the washed clothes, over time, this fragrance will remain."
Aye stared at Ding Can for a while, but finally did not doubt his words.
The smell drifted into the nose vaguely, not strong, and it really smelled like the smell of clothes that had been soaked in fragrance for a long time.
The temperature underground is warmer than outside, so the smell can spread more easily.
After all, she wasn't clever enough to think that the smell came from the soles of her feet.
Ding Can didn't give the other party any more time to think about it. He asked directly, "Where are those upright-eared martens kept?"
"Come with me." After Dave and Aye exchanged stretches, he took the first step.
Ding Can followed him without hesitation and came to the entrance of one of the caves.
Every few meters on the stone walls on both sides, there is a burning kerosene lamp hanging. The light is not very strong and can only barely illuminate the ground for walking.
After walking about ten meters, she saw a simple small door made of wooden boards nailed together. In order to prevent the upright-eared martens from jumping out from a high place, the top was directly sealed without leaving any gaps on it.
But there was no sign of the erect-eared marten around the door, which made Ding Can feel strange. After he got closer, he used the kerosene lamp by the door to see the situation inside clearly.
On the ground near the inside of the wooden door, there was a pile of peeled mink skins.
It can be seen that they have been simply processed and are neatly arranged in several rows. The fur is clean and smooth. Regardless of other factors, just from the perspective of being traded, they are top-quality goods.
Ding Can also roughly estimated the number, which was about a hundred.
I didn’t expect these people to have such strong professional ethics that they are willing to do extra work to improve their service before providing smuggled wild animals to others.
Farther away, on the inner side of the mountain wall, there were about thirty or forty upright-eared martens, all huddled in the position farthest from the entrance.
The lifeless fur of their companion was the most terrifying sight in their eyes. None of them would think of crossing the mink fur and trying to escape out the door.
It was so cruel. Ding Can lowered his eyes and stopped looking. He pulled up his sleeves twice, revealing a bracelet woven from hay on his wrist.
Yesterday, when he was guarding the minks, Dasong was so bored waiting that he found this kind of hay nearby. It was very easy to bend and would not break even if woven many times. He wove it into thin long strips to pass the time.
I thought it was very delicate, so I asked him for a piece to wear as a bracelet.
It was the perfect token of contact with him. She took off the bracelet and handed it to Dave: "After Dasong has seen this, he will help you."
Dave was about to take it, but he saw the girl in front of him retract her hand a little, then curled her fingers to wrap around the bracelet: "What do you mean?"
"You must have some good medicine for wounds here. Give it to Dasong along with this as a gift for cooperating with us."
Ding Can calculated that it took the two of them quite some time to reach the Cheetah's base camp. If Dave returned, Dasong would have to wait even longer.
Dasong had just lost blood and he had only been bandaged briefly without receiving the most appropriate treatment. Now he had been staying in the cold weather and had definitely missed the best time for treatment.
It is legitimate to ask these poachers for some medicine.
"I promise I'll take you along. We'll take care of your daily life here. Just stay quiet and remember, don't play any tricks."
Dave agreed and gave a stern reminder.
Ding Can smiled with gratitude, watched him take the bracelet away, and left quickly.
As for the people in the hall, after looking at the overall situation, she still chose to walk towards Aye. After all, she was the only one who had talked to her here, and she was more familiar with her than the others.
Aye leaned against a rock, raised his left leg and bent it to his chest, with his arm resting on it, rotating a dagger in his palm very rhythmically.
She stopped a few steps away from Aye, sat down on the ground, and asked softly, "Do you usually live here, or do you spend more time in the town?"
"Until the mink fur is successfully transported, we are not considered one of our own. It is better not to communicate too much."
Aye obviously didn't want to talk to her any more.
Ding Can didn't mind her indifference: "Don't think that way. Since we've already agreed, even though it hasn't happened yet, we're all in this together. We have to show the corresponding sincerity."
"How about this, I'll go first. Regarding those two special operations team members who went up the mountain the day before yesterday, if you have any questions, I will definitely tell you everything I know."
Anyway, she can almost fool the other party by artistically processing the information she knows.
Who knew Ah Ye wouldn't buy it: "My brothers have at least fought with them and know some of their attack methods. You've only been with them for a short time, so I don't want to learn from you."
Ding Can followed the conversation, deliberately adding a hint of surprise and admiration in his tone: "You are so powerful, did you force Ye Shan and the others to retreat? I heard that their training is usually very rigorous."
"Just shake them off, but no matter what they do, they won't find this place."
Although he didn't gain any benefits, Aye still looked confident.
In the crowd, a man with a bandage on his forearm couldn't help but speak out: "If Datou and I hadn't used up most of our energy searching for the marten herd, we wouldn't have been forced to evacuate when we ran into those two yesterday."
His words showed obvious unwillingness, and he obviously felt that he couldn't save face.
"Don't talk about it, Lao Wu. We are just not as skilled as others."
Ding Can looked at the person who was speaking now, the man called Big Head.
He has this name, but his head is not big at all. I don’t know what the origin of this name is.
From the content of the conversation between these people, we can at least infer that Ye Shan and Joseph are currently safe.
However, they are not as familiar with the terrain as the poaching gangs. They came underground through a secret entrance, and it is probably impossible for them to find a way to get in here in the short term.
Besides, even if you see a cave entrance, under normal circumstances you would just think it is a naturally formed snow cave.
When exploring snow-capped mountains, you need to be extra careful when encountering snow caves, and try to stay away from them as much as possible after discovering them.
Deep within your sight, there may be an abyss that is unfathomable.
If you accidentally fall, you will lose your life.
"But there are still some members of the action team in town. What if they gather and go up the mountain to conduct a blanket search? What if we are discovered here?"
Ding Can acted as if he was really worried about "Cheetah".
Ah Ye raised his hand and said, "Since we have chosen to set up camp here, we are fully prepared. Even if someone discovers this underground space, we can just abandon it and leave. After all, it's just a place to stay."
Ding Can couldn't help but look at the scene in the cave again. Aye was not worried at all that someone would enter here.
Given that Lao Wu and Da Tou had suffered defeat in front of Ye Shan before, she probably wouldn't have enough confidence to think she could clamp down on the action team with force if a battle were to occur.
So it's about the escape route.
When the enemy attacks, the people here can leave as quickly as possible and make it difficult for pursuers to find them.
There were many places to hide in the underground caves, and the dim light made it difficult to see clearly, which made Ding Can inexplicably think of the saying "a cunning rabbit has three burrows."
Maybe there are other entrances and exits here besides the one that Dave brought her in through just now.
Otherwise the oxygen content would not be so abundant.
"That's good." Ding Can murmured softly.
Ah Ye pointed to a cave in front of her and said, "No one will be in that room in the next few days. You can rest in there. Don't come out unless necessary."
She turned around and spoke to Lao Wu again: "Lao Wu, your arm is injured, so stay home and take care of her. It's getting late, I'm going out first."
"Boss, it's just a minor injury. Besides, I still have to seek revenge on those two people."
Under the bandage on his arm was a knife wound, caused by a short-haired woman from the action team stabbing him with a dagger. The wound almost tore the tendons in his hand. If it had been stabbed again, his arm would have been crippled.
Lao Wu really couldn't swallow this humiliation, so he thought of retaliating and making the woman pay the price.
Ah Ye angrily scolded: "Why are you trying to be so brave now? Doing your own business well is more important than grabbing anything else. Just stay underground and don't come up. Don't make me say it again!"
"I understand, boss." Lao Wu frowned, but did not dare to disobey her.
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