Qian Xiao asked a few of her cousins who were at home to come and keep her grandparents company tomorrow, so that their safety would be guaranteed should anyone try to sneak over.
The next day, just as dawn broke, Qian Xiao and Sun Kaicheng set off fully armed. At this time, the village was still quiet, and no one saw the two of them go up the mountain.
The two went up the mountain with a purpose: to find someone. There are only so many places where people can hide, and Qian Xiao knew the exact locations. If they couldn't find anyone in these places, they guessed that person hadn't even come up the mountain.
Without anyone else following, Sun Kaicheng unleashed his spiritual power, and the two quickened their pace, having already found most of the places where people could hide before noon.
The two took out the steamed buns they had brought, added some braised meat and pickled vegetables that they had made in the space before, and ate them with warm water.
"You mean this person is really hiding in these mountains?"
Sun Kaicheng took a sip of water: "It's hard to say. There's more than one mountain here, but if people are going to hide on a mountain, this one would probably be the most suitable."
Qian smiled and nodded: "Yes, this mountain is a mountain that the villagers often come to. It is much safer than other mountains, and there are not many big things there."
"After we eat, I'll take you to a place that no one in the village knows about. I think it's the most likely place. The only problem is that the road is difficult to travel, and people who aren't very agile can easily get hurt."
Why didn't you take me there before?
"We're not fugitives, why would we need to find a place to live in seclusion in the mountains? What would we do there?"
"Isn't that some kind of habitable valley?"
Qian rolled his eyes: "There aren't that many valleys suitable for seclusion. It's just that the roads there are difficult to travel and hardly anyone goes there. Plus, there's a cave that's perfect for hiding. The environment is pretty average."
If it were a nice place, she would have taken people there to see the scenery long ago; that place is all rocks and there's nothing to see.
After eating, the two rested for a while and then set off. Qian Xiao led the way, and the two moved quickly. They planned to search as fast as possible so that they could get down the mountain before nightfall. If they didn't get down the mountain, their families wouldn't be at ease.
The road was really difficult to walk on; there was almost no path to walk on. There were protruding stones of different sizes everywhere, and it was quite steep. It was easy to slip and fall, and with the protruding stones on the ground, it was easy to hurt yourself.
"I never imagined there was such a place in these mountains. You can't tell at all from down below. There are places on the mountain where no plants grow."
“This area is small and doesn’t face the village directly, so you can’t see it unless you’re down the mountain.”
Sun Kaicheng used his spiritual power to explore the surroundings. There were very few small animals here, probably because there were no plants or food, so small animals didn't like to come to this place.
He used his mental energy to probe in the direction Qian Xiao pointed. He reached out and grabbed Qian Xiao. Qian Xiao turned to look at Sun Kaicheng, who seemed to be exploring the surroundings and remained silent.
After a long while, Sun Kaicheng gestured for Qian Xiao to sit down and talk. The two of them each found a flat stone that looked like it was big enough for a person to sit on and sat down. Qian Xiao turned on the kettle and took a big gulp of water.
"What's wrong? Did you find something?"
"I saw the cave you mentioned. There were signs of human habitation inside. Were the caves you saw before also inhabited?"
Qian shook his head: "No, it's just an empty cave. The cave is quite low; even adults have to bend over to enter. I haven't seen any traces of wild animals living there. It should have always been an empty, natural cave."
"You saw someone inside?"
"No, I only saw bedding and some simple kitchen utensils."
"I haven't seen any signs of human activity along the way. Could there be another way to get up to that cave?"
“There must be another way. Should we go up and arrest them directly, or should we go down and bring the police from the local station over?”
"I think it's safer for us to go up and arrest them ourselves. There's no one up there right now, so let's go up and hide. When they come back, we can catch them like turtles in a jar."
"That works, but I've observed that it doesn't seem to be just one person living upstairs."
"What? You mean there are at least two people living upstairs?"
Sun Kaicheng nodded: "At least two sets of luggage." If it's just one person, there's no need to prepare two sets of luggage.
"Do you think they have a gun?"
"I don't know, we'll only know after we see the person. Shall we go up now?"
"Go up now. You scout ahead, and once we're close enough, have Shuangdan keep an eye on things. We can't let them get away before we catch them."
"What if the person up there isn't Wang Xuewen?" Could it be such a coincidence that there are other people hiding on this mountain?
"Who cares who it is? Arrest them first. What decent person would run off to live deep in the mountains?"
That's true. Unless you're talking about hunters from the past, there are still many hunters living deep in the mountains who don't even have a registered household. But those hunters live in groups, and very few of them live in caves without houses.
Qian Xiao nodded. That makes sense. What respectable person would live directly in a cave?
The two sneaked to the vicinity of the cave, found a place to hide, and waited for an unknown amount of time before they heard sparse footsteps.
Shuangdan had just warned them that a man and a woman were coming. The man was indeed the person they were looking for, the one who resembled Wang Xuewen. They didn't recognize the woman; she looked to be in her early twenties, with a round face and a slightly plump figure.
When you get closer, you can hear the two people talking.
Woman: "When are we leaving?" Her voice was somewhat muffled, as if she was doing it on purpose, and it sounded strange.
Man: "No rush. I'll take you away after I finish what I need to do."
"Then you'd better hurry, my mother-in-law is nagging me all day long."
"Then you don't need to go down the mountain. I'll take you away after a while. When I go out to do something, you can wait here for me to come back."
"Ah, but I'm afraid to stay on the mountain alone." What if a wolf or something comes up when she's all alone? It's better to go back to the village, at least there are no wolves there.
"Don't worry, I've sprayed medicine around here, no animals will come near. You can stay here, I'll bring back food every day, you can cook for me, okay?"
The woman smiled shyly, not directly answering the man's question: "You rascal, you wish! What ingredients do you have today? I'll cook for you right now."
The man grabbed a handful of flesh from the woman's chest and said, "What's the rush? Feed me first before you eat."
As he spoke, the man picked up the woman and carried her into the cave. The woman cried out, "Oh dear, you scared me! What's your rush?"
"Of course I'm anxious. Be a good girl and I'll give you something delicious to eat in a little while."
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