Condes Mountains
"Retreat first." Datou knew that in the narrow corridor, their natural advantage in numbers could not be maximized.
Taking advantage of their underground position, the few of them did not plan to confront the enemy head-on, but instead fled to another small path. After going back and forth a few times, they finally returned to the underground river.
With poachers so close at hand, Ye Shan was unwilling to let go of this opportunity and decided to go all out.
"Go back first and make sure those people don't wake up again."
Although he was worried about his own safety, Ding Can felt very warm and agreed verbally: "Leave them to me and Dasong."
"Let's go." Ye Shan called Joseph, and the two continued to chase forward.
Ding Can and Dasong worked together to drag the unconscious people back to the hall.
There are quite a few equipment left by the "Cheetah" here. Dasong has seen some guns, which are much more advanced than the ones given to them by Mellen.
If a gunfight really broke out, he would only be crushed. He suddenly felt fortunate that he was underground.
Ding Can found several bundles of rope from the wooden box: "Do you know how to tie knots that are difficult to untie?"
"It's a small matter. We used to raise a few sheep. When they were sick and needed injections, we would tie up their limbs so they couldn't move at all."
Dasong took the rope and neatly tied the men into a twist, stuffed large pieces of cloth into their mouths, and then searched them, taking out all the hidden weapons on them and throwing them far away.
He even took the time to look for the tattoos on these people. In addition to the one with a gunshot scar on his chin, there was another person who had a tattoo near his armpit, which did not look imposing at all.
Tattooing technology was average in this era, so getting such a large tattoo would probably be quite painful.
There is still a price to pay to join "Cheetah".
Then Dasong raised his head and saw that the top of the cave was not very flat. It was a stone thorn or hollow structure similar to stalactites. It looked thin, but it could actually bear the weight.
After looking around and finding a suitable stone, he found another rope loop and put it on the stone, and then connected the end to the knot of the rope that tied up the people. The two of them worked together to hang them in the air.
"Is it okay?" Dasong clapped his hands. This way, even if they woke up, they would have to continue hanging and wait for the action team to come and take them down.
Ding Can gave a thumbs-up in affirmation: "Next, we have to do something more important."
"What?" Dasong blinked.
"A stand-eared marten."
He slapped his forehead and said, "Yeah, how could I have forgotten about this? Let's go."
He had just taken two steps when Ding Can called him: "Wait a minute!"
"Is there anything else?" Dasong couldn't wait any longer.
Ding Can helplessly pointed in a direction: "Over there."
Dasong was about to take a step forward when he suddenly stopped and turned back: "Then you lead the way."
"It's right inside."
It was no different from when I came here earlier. Even though there was no one guarding it, no upright-eared martens appeared in front of the wooden fence.
Dasong had already noticed the pile of mink furs leaning against the door with his sharp eyes. He clenched his hands in anger and couldn't help but clench his back teeth.
"They are so unscrupulous."
Not only do they fail to treat the lives of animals they protect as real lives, they also lose the bottom line of being a human being and keep testing the warning line that is already illegal.
There was no heavy lock on the door; just a vine torn from somewhere was tied to the handle.
It’s hard to say whether it’s because he’s too confident or he knows how to understand the psychology of small animals and knows that they don’t dare to even think about escaping.
He pulled the vines off, and the angle at which the wooden door was fixed was no longer horizontal, so it creaked open.
Only then did Dasong see the scene inside clearly. Near the inner side of the wall, a group of upright-eared martens were huddled together closely.
When he heard the noise coming from outside the door, he didn't even dare to make any unnecessary movements. His big round eyes looked over in fear.
The last time we met, I saw her watery, gentle and affectionate eyes. Who could have imagined that the situation would be like this now.
Even just the sight of a human being can evoke fear in one's heart.
"Don't be afraid..."
His voice became lower and lower. He squatted down and tried to stretch out his hands, but suddenly a burst of sharp screams broke out from the group of minks, which was obviously an adverse reaction caused by stress.
The erect-eared martens standing in front were so fur-ruffled that their two raised front legs couldn't stop shaking.
"Okay, okay, I won't go in." Dasong quickly withdrew his hand and took a few steps back to make room for the door.
But the group of minks inside still did not make any further moves.
Ding Can's eyes dropped: "Maybe it's because of the mink fur at the door."
"I'll try." Dasong was afraid of irritating the already frightened martens again, so he tiptoed in, held all the mink skins in his arms, and came out as quickly as possible.
"Let's go a little further outside. I'm afraid they still won't dare to come out."
"Yeah." Ding Can took the small half of the mink fur from his hand, and the two of them walked out of the cave and hid in a dark place nearby. After a few minutes, they finally saw the upright-eared marten poking its little head out.
Then, one after another, the figures disappeared into the cave.
Dasong breathed a sigh of relief: "Now, there are only those poachers left. Let's go over there."
They continued to move towards the underground river.
"I wonder how they are doing now?" Ding Can had seen the skills of Ye Shan and Joseph. To be honest, if it was a fair fight, she was not worried about their safety.
But if the poachers use any shady tactics, that’s a different story.
Dasong felt good. With Ye Shan's ability to adapt to circumstances and Joseph's strength, it would be difficult for others to get the upper hand when the two were combined.
"Let's get a few more ropes. Maybe they'll be useful when we get there."
As the distance got closer, the sound of fierce fighting could be heard.
Ding Can took a few quick steps and found that not all the people inside were fighting each other, and the two fights were far apart.
Right in front of him was Joseph struggling with two of the men in the river, underwater from the waist down.
Although underground rivers can only form flowing rivers because the ambient temperature is warm enough, their source comes from glaciers after all.
As you can imagine, the water inside is freezing cold.
Looking at Joseph and the other three, their faces had turned noticeably pale, and their movements were slower than usual.
I guess I was able to hold on until now because I was holding on for dear life.
The heavy clothes that originally kept him warm would become an obstacle to movement in the water. That was why Joseph, wearing a thin vest, was barely able to still have room to maneuver against his two opponents.
Ye Shan was more than ten meters away. In the dimly lit cave, she couldn't see the specific situation clearly and could only rely on her figure to identify who it was.
The battle was extremely intense, and it could only be seen that Ye Shan was not at a disadvantage.
But after all, they were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. Calculating the time, nearly twenty minutes had passed since they left.
If it drags on any longer, Ye Shan and the others will definitely be the losers.
"Who should we help first?" Dasong looked around, anxious like an ant on a hot pan.
The few people he had knocked down earlier gave him confidence, and he didn't expect the current situation.
"Help whoever you can. How's your accuracy when throwing the rope?" Ding Can looked at the people fighting in the river.
As they fought, large splashes of water were raised, and a distinct layer of pink floated on the water, making it impossible to tell who was injured.
Dasong immediately understood what he meant. "Very good. Didn't I say that we used to raise sheep at home and often used ropes to put them around their necks?"
"Then let's go."
The two men ran quickly to the riverside. Dasong squatted down and quickly made a beautiful loop with the small piece of rope.
Then he let the rope loop grow longer, held the end with his left hand, and grabbed the end closer to the rope loop with his right hand. He turned his wrist and slowly shook it.
Judging from his movements, he didn't use much strength, but the rope loop swung farther and farther, and was very steady, as if a kite was letting out its string.
When he felt the distance was about right, Dasong threw the ball forward.
The rope loop passed over the water surface and just happened to be wrapped around a poacher in the water.
"Success!" Dasong quickly stepped back, tightening the rope as he ran.
Ding Can stood closer and grabbed the rope that had been soaked by the river water. The rope loop was simply tied in a knot, which was more than enough to catch the lamb. After all, the lamb would only think about escaping, which would make the rope loop tighter and tighter.
People can untie the knot with their hands.
To keep the man restrained, the two of them had to keep tightening the rope.
The two men worked together to push backwards, and the man in the river stumbled and fell sideways, hitting the water with his ear facing downwards, followed by large splashes of white water.
A large amount of river water instantly rushed into the ear canal, mouth and nose.
But the more deadly feeling of suffocation at this moment did not come from here.
The man raised his hands and tried his best to grab the rope around his neck, barely squeezing in a few fingertips to prevent his larynx from being cut by the rope.
He felt the grinding of pebbles behind him, scratching his back and causing pain. He knew that he was being carried out of the river.
After kicking his feet a few times, he finally found a stone that was deeply embedded in the ground. He rotated his ankle and stuck the stone surface with the instep.
Then, taking advantage of the brief cushioning provided by the stone, he exerted force with his hands and lifted himself up. The hemp rope rubbed across his entire face, leaving many blood marks on it.
He swung the rope loop at the same time, and Ding Can and Dasong, who were trying hard behind him, both fell on their butts due to the recoil.
Dasong's luck was really bad. Half of his butt hit a rock and he grimaced in pain, but he still did not forget to stretch out his arm to protect Ding Can from behind.
"Are you okay?"
"It's okay." Ding Can quickly got up and reached out to pull Dasong up.
The one who was faster than them was the man who had just suffered.
At this moment, he was soaked all over, and his face was covered with bloodstains. The blood oozing from the wounds mixed with the flowing river water and dripped down.
The man just stood there, and the small piece of land under his feet turned into a small puddle because of the accumulation of water.
The anger that came from the bottom of his heart towards the two people created a miserable scene, just like a ghost that had just crawled out of the water.
Dasong swallowed hard, still in the mood to joke: "Anyway, the rope loop I threw just now was definitely accurate, wasn't it?"
Ding Can took off the plush hat on his head and shook his hair twice. The silver ornaments at the end of his braids collided with each other, making a crisp sound like wind chimes.
"It doesn't seem very honorable to use the majority to bully the minority."
Dasong drew the dagger from his waist and said, "Your description is incorrect. From a macro perspective, we are clearly outnumbered."
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