Hearing what Miao Xiaoxian said, I looked at her with some confusion: "Are you saying we won't be working together from now on?"
"Before the clan chief destroys the Heart of the Forest God, a sacrificial ceremony must be held, which all the elders of the village must participate in. As the Holy Maiden, I am no exception."
Miao Xiaoxian paused for a moment: "Tonight's operation must be foolproof. If I stay with you, I will only be one more person, but if I stay inside the camp, I can be of much more help."
"You'd better not get involved in this."
After hearing Miao Xiaoxian's idea, I quickly stopped her, saying, "If we fail today, we can still run away, but you are different from us. If something goes wrong, you might not even be able to save your life."
"I'm prepared to die trying if I don't succeed. You don't need to try to persuade me otherwise! If we fail to open the Temple of the Evil God this time, there will be no more chances. I absolutely will not allow the villagers in my village to have the same future as me! Rather than that, I would rather die today!"
Miao Xiaoxian looked at me stubbornly: "If you fail, I will definitely stand up without hesitation. You don't need to persuade me, and you can't persuade me anyway! According to the clan leader's instructions, we need to gather at the camp before dark. Now it's almost time, let's talk about the plan."
Seeing Miao Xiaoxian's resolute attitude, I knew it would be difficult to persuade her, so I took a deep breath and said, "I will do my best to make tonight's matter happen. You also need to protect your own safety. Let's all do our best!"
Miao Xiaoxian didn't answer my question, but steered the conversation back on track: "The Zhai tribe's sacrificial rites are numerous and very complicated. I don't know which method the chief is going to use tonight, but when the ceremony is held, he will definitely choose an open space where the moonlight can shine, and start the ceremony when the moon is high in the sky. You can start to snatch it at that time."
"No, that's too risky. According to you, if dozens of people gather together, even if we manage to break into the crowd and even snatch the bull's head, we won't be able to take it out safely. So we need to come up with a safer way."
I don't know if I'll have a chance to see Miao Xiaoxian again today after we parted ways. After thinking for a moment, I said, "I will try to sneak into the camp before the ceremony starts and take the bull's head away in the least risky way. That way, even if we are exposed, it will take time for the people in the camp to gather, so that we will face the least risk when we break out."
"That's one way. Since you're the ones who are mainly responsible for this, we'll do as you say."
Miao Xiaoxian didn't argue with me, but cooperated by saying, "The visibility is too good during the day, making it difficult for you to sneak in. After the sun sets, I'll try to create some chaos to draw the attention of the camp. As for the outcome, that's up to you."
Xue Dong wasn't particularly trusting of this naive young girl: "Your method might backfire, making the people inside even more vigilant and determined to guard the bull's head."
“I’m not that stupid, and I want to achieve this goal even more than you do.”
Miao Xiaoxian looked at me and continued, "The shacks on the right side of the camp are arranged in a ring. The largest shack at the very back is the chieftain's residence and temporary meeting place. The thing you're looking for is most likely kept there. The terrain inside..."
I replied with a smile, "I'll figure out the layout myself. After all, it's a place where I'll be handling things, so it's better to see it for myself."
Seeing my smile, Miao Xiaoxian took a deep breath and looked at me with an unprecedentedly serious expression: "Duan Shenxing, the future of Ping'an Village for generations is in my hands, so... please do your best."
"Don't worry, I won't let this fail, even for my own sake."
I smiled and comforted Miao Xiaoxian for a few moments. After seeing her off, I went with Xue Dong and the others to circle around to the other side of the mountaintop.
Xue Dong's team consisted entirely of soldiers, one of whom was a retired special forces member with extensive reconnaissance experience. He led us around the mountaintop, then hid behind some bushes, whispering, "Although the people from Ping'an Village haven't received military training, their patrol routes are very sophisticated. Three of them are constantly on the move, yet they can completely surround the outer perimeter. We can only avoid their sight by constantly moving. If we stop for more than twenty minutes, we risk being exposed. Moreover, these people have connections; if one is missing, they'll know where the problem lies when they meet."
"An ancient formation. They used three people to occupy the nine palaces in the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, with each person responsible for patrolling the three palaces. In addition, they have placed Gu poison on the outer perimeter, making it very difficult for us to infiltrate."
I looked at the two of them with some worry: "If we keep going around in circles in the mountains, the probability of being seen and exposed is too high. But if we retreat, without Miao Xiaoxian's guidance, it will probably be difficult to come back."
"I have a solution, but I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it."
The burly man who led the way said, "Back when I was in the army, I participated in an exercise. Our mission was to find the enemy command post and then send a signal flare to indicate its location when the main force attacked. When we found the command post, we discovered it was built on a cliff at the top of a mountain. In order to complete the mission, we used ropes to hang ourselves from the cliff. Enemy sentries patrolled the cliff above us, and we endured it all night to complete the mission."
After listening to the burly man's words, I looked at the surrounding terrain and pointed to a corner, saying, "That's a good idea. That location is just the right place to avoid the view from below the mountain. There are still three and a half hours until sunset. Everyone, just bear with it and wait until it gets dark before rappelling down from there. This will also avoid rushing directly into the valley."
After we discussed and came up with a plan, we propped several iron clamps against the cliff and then used ropes to suspend them in mid-air.
This method sounds simple, but once a person is suspended, they can only maintain one position and cannot move. In less than half an hour, my hands and feet became numb, and I felt dizzy.
In this situation, I felt that every second was torture, and the harsh mountain wind dried my lips, causing them to crack in several places.
Two hours later, the lack of blood supply to my brain made me feel dizzy and every second felt like torture. I gritted my teeth and persevered until the sun finally set.
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