The couple chatted for a while longer before Shen Yanming finished his meal. After tidying up his lunchbox, he waited in the conference room for another ten minutes or so before Liang Huaxin arrived with his entourage.
"Officer Wen, the men are ready and can depart at any time."
Wen Chaohui nodded: "Divide the troops into three groups and keep a low profile."
Liang Huaxin nodded: "Yes!"
"By the way, Xiao Shen, which group are you with?"
Shen Yanming raised an eyebrow: "Let's go with Captain Qi."
“Alright, you two know each other well, so let’s go to Yunling Mountain. Let’s scout ahead today. Whether we find it or not, we have to be back before midnight.”
We shouldn't be in such a rush, but everyone's getting restless. Since that's the case, let's go take a look. We can always continue tomorrow.
As soon as the words were spoken, the audience shouted in unison, "Yes!"
Shen Yanming slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed behind Qi Xili. Both men wore serious expressions and remained silent. After two or three hours of trekking, they finally arrived at the foot of Yunling Mountain.
Looking at the map, I found that there really weren't any similarities.
Qi Xili's heart sank. Looking at the treasure map, he asked the crucial question: "Is this really where this place is depicted?"
Shen Yanming's temple throbbed, and he looked at Qi Xili with a somewhat complicated expression.
Old Qi noticed that Shen Yanming's expression was twitching, and laughed, "Ha, just kidding. Let's go, let's go into the mountains and take a look. Even if there is treasure, it won't be outside."
Shen Yanming nodded and said coolly, "Captain Qi, you should be more serious about your attitude. There are so many people following behind. Don't let them back down before it even starts."
Qi Xili awkwardly touched his nose, thinking to himself that Old Shen was getting more and more assertive.
He coughed awkwardly twice, "Well, it's getting late, let's go."
The guards behind him were suppressing their laughter, thinking that Captain Qi had finally met his match.
Shen Yanming quickened his pace into the mountains, and Qi Xili, without thinking, instinctively followed. The others did the same. They happened to be taking the path with the grain.
The group wandered in the mountains for more than two hours, and it seemed that they would reach the treasure site after crossing just one more mountain.
Shen Yanming was overjoyed, but then a young man in the team said, "Captain Qi, it's getting dark, shouldn't we go back first?"
After walking for almost five hours, I was starving.
Qi Xili rubbed his rumbling stomach, also considering giving up. In the past, they could simply go hunting in the mountains. But now, there were so few prey in the mountains; if they relied on those meager bits of meat, they'd probably starve to death.
Before he could speak, Shen Yanming took out a packet of milk curds from his bag. "Have some to tide you over. We've come this far already. Let's hang in there a little longer. Maybe we'll make a discovery."
Qi Xili hadn't expected Shen Yanming to do this. He glared at Old Shen, thinking to himself, "You idiot, what kind of world is this? You dare to put food out for everyone to eat? Don't you know to save the good food for An'an and Nuannuan?"
But since he had already taken them out, he could only force a smile and say, "Well, try them all."
The guards' eyes gleamed with greed. For the past two years, the base's food production had been low and prices high, so they'd been reluctant to buy any. They hadn't expected Captain Shen to be willing to share; he was certainly generous.
"Thank you, Captain Shen, you're so generous!"
Shen Yanming smiled and said, "Half of the credit goes to Captain Qi. I really couldn't have gotten it by myself."
The group divided the milk curds among themselves, and as the sour and salty taste filled their mouths, the gluttons immediately understood why Captain Chen had been willing to give them milk curds. Because this stuff didn't taste good!
But once the salty and sour taste subsides, a rich milky aroma bursts on the tip of your tongue.
They were overjoyed, and even Qi Xili looked at them with surprise.
Shen Yanming chuckled awkwardly and forced a smile as he explained, "My little one doesn't like that salty and sour taste, so it's been sitting at home for a long time and nobody's eaten it."
Qi Xili nodded, but what he was thinking was, "You should have said so earlier, I could have just eaten it."
However, the thought only flashed through his mind. After all, it belonged to someone else, and it wasn't up to him to decide who got it or not.
With the milk curds filling their stomachs, the group regained their strength. Turning around the hilltop, Qi Xili looked at the mountain shape before him and asked with delight, "Look, doesn't that look like the place in the picture?"
Shen Yanming pretended not to notice and frowned, saying, "It doesn't seem like it!"
Qi Xili took out a map and turned it around: "Look, this is how you see it. Come on, let's go take a look!"
Everyone was excited when they saw hope. Their initial brisk pace gradually turned into a jog, and then a long run. Half an hour later, they finally reached the first place where stars were drawn.
It was a cave that rose a little over a meter above the ground, about seven or eight square meters in size. It wasn't high, just over a meter, and it was filled with wheat grains. They were golden, very fresh, and plump, just laid out there without any cover.
"My God, there really is treasure!" The guards jumped up excitedly, and Qi Xili also found it hard to believe. The sun had already set, and the cold mountain wind stung their faces. But everyone's hearts were pounding wildly.
Qi Xili hadn't completely lost his mind. He shone a flashlight around the cave but found no footprints or other traces. He didn't know if they had been blown away by the wind over time, or if the other party had taken some measures to avoid leaving any traces of moving.
After struggling for a while and finding nothing, Qi Xili gave up. Shen Yanming breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him stop.
Having discovered the first treasure location, everyone was full of energy. They didn't even mention being cold or hungry, and hurriedly followed the directions on the treasure map to head to the second treasure location.
An hour later, the group found another cave. The entrance was small, only wide enough for one person to bend over and pass through. But the interior was surprisingly spacious, about twenty square meters. However, it was filled with rice grains, so they couldn't immediately tell how much there was.
"Captain Qi, this picture is real, it's real! Since there's food in the two places with stars, there should be more left over."
"Yes, Captain Qi, what kind of deity sent this food? It's wonderful! My God, we're saved! We finally have food."
Qi Xili nodded, smiling, but his eyes were filled with tears.
"Captain, let's go find the next cave."
"That's right, I'm so excited I can't sleep until I find them all. Captain, let's hurry up and get it done before dawn if we're quick."
Shen Yanming almost cried as he listened to their conversation. His arms and legs were nearly frozen stiff. Although it was only minus ten degrees Celsius outside, it was still very cold.
So he coughed to get everyone's attention and then said seriously, "I think we should go down the mountain and inform the team. The longer we leave the things here, the less safe they become. Once they arrive, some of us can transport the grain down the mountain, while others continue searching for caves. That way, we can do both without delay."
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