The afternoon passed peacefully and uneventfully.
Under the guise of strolling around, Xu Xinghe took another walk around the village. On the surface, he was admiring the scenery, but in reality, he was secretly observing the villagers' behavior and the layout of the village.
Night fell again.
Shiwa Village was plunged back into a deathly silence and darkness.
During dinner, Xu Xinghe took the initiative to get up and pour water for the couple to quench their thirst. With a slight movement of her fingertips, she quietly dissolved a small packet of white powder into the water.
This was a potent sedative that Political Commissar Wang had specially given her. It was colorless and odorless, with a strong effect, enough to make someone fall into a deep sleep for several hours.
The man and woman, completely unsuspecting, assumed that Xu Xinghe was simply grateful for their hospitality and readily drank the water in their cups.
Xu Xinghe calmly put the water glass away.
It was around midnight.
It was late at night, and there was no light outside; even the chirping of insects had disappeared.
Xu Xinghe quietly opened her eyes.
She held her breath and carefully got up without making a loud noise.
After confirming that there was no movement outside, she quietly slipped out of the room.
First, she went to the door of the man and his wife's room and gently pushed the door open a crack.
By the faint moonlight from the window, one could see the two people lying on the bed, fast asleep, breathing evenly, their brows relaxed, clearly having been completely knocked out by the drug.
Xu Xinghe moved closer and tentatively called out to them twice, but they didn't respond. It seemed that only a very loud noise could wake them up.
After confirming that it was safe, she turned and walked towards Yi'an's room.
As soon as I pushed open the door, I felt the person on the kang (a heated brick bed) move slightly, but then returned to stillness.
Yi'an was extremely vigilant and indeed slept very lightly.
She tiptoed to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), bent down and whispered, "I've drugged them both and put them to sleep."
Upon hearing her voice, Yi An immediately sat up, her eyes clear and without a trace of sleepiness, and asked in a low voice, "What are you going to do?"
"I need to go back to that cave again," Xu Xinghe said succinctly. "There are some other important things I need to explore further."
“I’ll go with you!” Yi’an said, getting up to grab her hunting rifle.
“No.” Xu Xinghe pressed down on his shoulder. “You have to stay here and watch over them. If they wake up in the middle of the night, or find out we’re not here, they’ll definitely become suspicious and might even notify the other villagers. Take this. If they wake up, use this medicine to knock them out again. We can’t let them spread the word.”
As she spoke, she pulled a small paper packet from her pocket, which contained a sufficient amount of sleeping pills. "The dosage here is more than before, enough to keep them unconscious for more than six hours, enough to last until I come back, and then we'll leave Shiwa Village together."
Yi An took the paper package and clutched it tightly in her hand. "Won't it be too dangerous for you to go in alone? What if you get discovered..."
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Xu Xinghe interrupted him, then pretended to take a dagger out of her bag and handed it to him. "Take this for self-defense. Also, if you encounter any danger, don't worry about me, just run away first. I have ways to protect myself. As long as you don't get hurt or get caught, that's the biggest help I can receive."
She has a space to avoid danger, but Yi'an doesn't; he must ensure his own safety first.
Yi An remained silent for a moment, knowing that she had made up her mind and there was no point in arguing anymore.
He nodded emphatically. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them and wait for you to come back. You must also be careful and make sure nothing happens to you."
"Mm," Xu Xinghe responded, and said no more.
She glanced at Yi An one last time, making sure he was ready, then turned and walked out of the room, disappearing into the darkness outside.
The night was as dark as ink.
Using her memory of the village's layout, Xu Xinghe walked lightly toward the cave in the center of the village.
The villagers were all asleep, and every household had its doors and windows tightly closed. They encountered no abnormalities along the way and arrived smoothly at the entrance of the karst cave in the center of the village.
As soon as she stepped into the cave, darkness enveloped her like a tidal wave.
It's much darker here than outside; you can't see your hand in front of your face, not even a glimmer of light.
Without the flashlights and torches that the villagers used to provide, she couldn't see the path beneath her feet at all.
To prevent falling and to avoid being discovered by the light source leak, Xu Xinghe took out a small flashlight from his space, held it tightly with his palm, and only let the weak beam of light illuminate a small area under his feet. With this little light, he carefully walked in.
The cave was eerily quiet, with only the sound of her footsteps and the occasional dripping of water echoing faintly in the empty passage.
Relying on her memory from last night, Xu Xinghe navigated the winding passageway and quickly found the cubicle where the man in black was writing.
She turned off her flashlight, held her breath and listened carefully for a moment. Only after confirming that there was no movement around her did she turn the flashlight back on and quickly walk into the innermost cubicle.
The cubicle was empty, and the water-proof box on the table remained exactly as it had been when she left last night.
Xu Xinghe breathed a sigh of relief, immediately took out paper and pen from her spatial storage, opened the water-proof box, took out the logs and lists, and began copying them as quickly as possible by the dim light of the flashlight.
Her eyes were fixed on the words in the notebook, her brain was working at lightning speed, and her hands were constantly moving.
She needed to copy down these crucial secrets in the shortest possible time.
Just as she was copying down the second half of the list, a soft footstep suddenly came from the passageway in the distance!
The cave's unique layout made the sound travel exceptionally clearly, with a faint echo, making it obvious that someone was approaching.
Xu Xinghe was startled. Without thinking, she immediately stopped writing, quickly put everything back in its place, closed the water tank, then snapped off the flashlight, and darted into the shadows in the corner of the cubicle, holding her breath.
The footsteps grew closer and closer, and soon they reached the door of the cubicle.
Xu Xinghe quietly raised her eyes and, by the light of the flashlight outside, saw that the person who came was the man in black.
He pushed open the door and came in, casually lighting a kerosene lamp on the wall.
The dim yellow light suddenly turned on, illuminating the entire cubicle.
Xu Xinghe's current position is extremely disadvantageous; a man only needs to turn his head slightly to see her hiding in the shadows!
At the critical moment, Xu Xinghe didn't think twice and instantly entered the space.
At the same time, the man in black seemed to sense something, his brows furrowed slightly, and he subconsciously glanced in the direction where Xu Xinghe had just been hiding.
But it was empty, there was nothing there, only cold rock walls.
He shook his head and didn't think about it anymore.
Perhaps the echoes in the cave created an illusion for him.
He took out paper and pen and began to record today's log, his expression as focused as last night.
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