The appearance of the hanging water nails in the Miao Jiang Fairy Palace really surprised me.
Surprised as we were, Jin had brought us to this place, so we could only adapt to the situation and keep moving forward.
I gently squeezed Jiang Man's ankle and whispered, "The terrain here should be cone-shaped. This stagnant pool is located at the very bottom of the cone. Moving along the water's edge should allow us to circle around to where the campfire is. You lead the way, but be extra careful. Watch out for any unknown creatures in the water, and also be careful of the underwater cliffs!"
"rest assured."
Jiang Man nodded in agreement, and at the same time unwrapped a layer of cloth covering the lamp head, using the reflection on the water's surface to determine the boundary of the lake.
Although the terrain here is like a suspended nail, the surrounding area is not smooth. Instead, it was modified from a naturally formed cave, so there are elevation differences in the surrounding terrain. The team that lit the campfire was located at a higher elevation than us, which made it easier for us to move.
We circled the water's surface and quickly arrived in another direction.
Looking up the steps, the bonfire was about twenty meters away from us.
To be precise, it wasn't a campfire, but a fuel stove. At that moment, seven or eight people in black training uniforms and three people in civilian clothes were gathered around the stove to keep warm. Hot water was also boiling on the stove.
"They are from Ping'an Village!"
Upon seeing their attire, the monkey immediately recognized them: "Damn it, we're facing a life-or-death situation back there, and these people are leisurely sitting here drinking tea. It's infuriating!"
I looked at the group of people from Ping'an Village ahead, but my attention was completely focused on something else.
They were on a small platform, about ten square meters in size, with nothing special around them. It was just an ordinary cave, and the walls didn't even have any patterns, so it didn't look like there was any exit at all.
According to the monkey, the people of Ping'an Village entered the Miao Jiang Fairy Palace to guard the second gate, but at least within the range illuminated by the firelight of those people from Ping'an Village, I did not find an exit.
Seeing that I remained silent, Jiang Man also noticed the problem: "This is strange. The location of those people from Ping'an Village doesn't seem to be the location of the second gate! Did they not find the gate?"
"I'm curious about that too."
I nodded: "Logically speaking, since they couldn't find the entrance, they should have been hiding, like the other teams nearby. Why would they light a campfire and expose their location?"
The monkey pondered for a moment: "Whatever their purpose, the fact that these people lit a campfire means they're not afraid of being discovered. Could it be to scare people away and keep them from getting close?"
Lin Que interjected, "Impossible. Anyone who dares to enter the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace is a desperate criminal. Who would be scared by a pile of bonfires?"
Jiang Man thought for a moment and said, "I think Ping'an Village did this because they were confident in their abilities. They dared to expose their location firstly to increase the psychological pressure on the teams that came later, and also because they were certain that they had the ability to stop the teams that came later."
I added, "It's also possible that they know very well that the person who has the key won't be able to easily open the second door, so there's no need for them to hide. Perhaps they do know the location of the second door, but even if they found it, they don't have the key to open it. Rather than that, they might as well reveal their identities and go in a direction away from the second entrance."
“That makes sense! This space is pitch black. We could see the firelight from so far away before! Perhaps the people of Ping'an Village want to create a preconceived notion so that later groups, like us, dare not show themselves and can only sneak out.”
Jiang Man paused for a moment: "This cave is too big. Apart from their group, there is no other light. Under these circumstances, other teams have no way to conduct a detailed search of this cave. Once they use a light source, it is equivalent to exposing their position. Then, if the people from Ping'an Village harass them, they can take them out before the other teams find the second door."
After listening to Jiang Man's words, I peeked over there and saw that there was only one wounded person by the campfire. So the people of Ping'an Village must not have fought with anyone else. I lowered my voice and said, "Duan Jinyan and his group entered Ping'an Village earlier than us, but it seems that the two sides did not encounter each other."
Jiang Man responded, "Just like you said, this cave is really too big. Perhaps Duan Jinyan and his group are also lurking in the shadows, waiting for their chance to strike?"
"No matter what, our target is Duan Jinyan. Since they haven't shown up yet, let's wait until they do."
I shrank back behind the rock: "This position is too close to the people from Ping'an Village. Everyone, step back. We need to lie low too."
Immediately, our group retreated about twenty meters and hid in the darkness.
The temperature in this cave was extremely low, and unlike the people of Ping'an Village, we couldn't make a fire to keep warm. To resist the low temperature, we could only do squats and sit-ups in the dark to maintain our body temperature.
We waited for three hours.
Because of the long period of darkness, it felt like the time had passed much longer than three hours.
"Splash!"
In the darkness, the sound of tearing open plastic packaging rang out, followed by the sound of a monkey's voice and chewing: "Young Master Duan, we've waited so long, but Duan Jinyan still hasn't appeared. Do you think they might have triggered a trap on their way here and already kicked the bucket?"
“Duan Jinyan is a seasoned veteran. In this kind of environment, he has more patience than us. If we can persevere for so long, they can certainly do it too.”
I didn't think the monkey's guess was likely to come true, so I stretched my arms and said, "Let's keep waiting."
After hearing my answer, Jiang Man gently nudged me: "Duan Shenxing, if you were in Duan Jinyan's shoes, and you already saw these people from Ping'an Village present, what methods would you use to deal with them, or rather, how would you find the second door and open it?"
"If it were me, I would definitely prioritize taking care of these people from Ping'an Village, otherwise there would be no way to search this cave. As for how to deal with them, I really haven't thought of that."
I shook my head: "Duan Jinyan and his group only have five or six people, while the people from Ping'an Village are twice as many. To be honest, I can't imagine how they can deal with so many people."
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