930 Before Dawn

"What are you afraid of? They are just outsiders. If worse comes to worst, we'll just kill them."

"Can you please use your bloody brain when you talk?" A loud reprimand rang out.

"What do you think they are, the chickens, ducks, and dogs we raise that we can kill at will? They are criminal investigation experts from the province. They are government officials. If they die inexplicably in our county, what will happen then? Will people come directly from Jing to investigate us? Do you remember what the chief said? Do you remember what our main goal is now? We should keep a low profile, an absolute low profile, and try not to let the outside world notice us so that we can complete that mission!"

"Alright, I got it."

"The chief said that we should do away with this place as soon as possible. No information should be left behind to avoid further investigation."

"Are they coming again?"

"We can't rule out that possibility. Come on, cut the crap and get to work."

"I got it."

The people inside were busy as a person quietly entered the cave.

After seeing the situation inside, the man entering thought, Wow, Miao Xihe really dares to do just about anything!

Click! Click!

He secretly took a lot of photos.

"Who is there?"

A loud cry suddenly rang out.

"I've been found out."

Run!

Without hesitation, he turned around and ran.

"Someone's here! Chase after him!"

The three figures rushed out of the cave one after another. One was in front, and two were in the back.

"This is bad! He's been discovered!" The man who had been hiding outside hurriedly left in another direction. Before they came, they had considered this potential situation. To be exact, he was an expert in this field. They thought through everything very well. Moreover, they had even considered what to do if they were overpowered and if Miao Xihe was there.

The jungle was full of weeds, trees, and scattered rocks and stones. Even when passing through in the daytime, extra care had to be taken, let alone at night. The clouds had overshadowed half the moon in the sky, and the dense forest blocked the already scarce cold moonlight. At this time, one careless mistake might mean falling flat on one's face while speeding through the jungle. However, the person running in front was running as fast as a leopard. It was as if the jungle was his back garden. His pursuers were not slow, but they were slow compared to him. The distance between them was growing further apart.

"It is someone familiar with this area!"

Whoosh! The sound of something slicing through the air could be heard.

Thump… Thump… Thump… Something flew into the nearby trees.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Two bursts of fire flared out.

Thump! Thump! The two pursuers stumbled and fell to the ground at almost the same time. They struggled for a few moments but didn't get up again.

"Did they really dare to chase after me with such limited skills?"

"You've killed people!"

A tall and strong man soon appeared beside him.

"You've gone mad!"

"What do you mean by killed? I was just defending myself. If I didn't kill them, they would have killed me. How powerful are the things they have in their hands? I think you know better than me, right?"

"Alright, let's not squabble here. Let's hurry up and leave. When Miao Xihe comes, we won't be able to leave even if we want to." The two of them retreated. After a while, three people approached the area and saw the two men lying on the ground.

"What is this?"

"They're dead."

"They're dead?"

"Yes, it was a bullet. The shots landed in the most fatal position in the head."

"Bullets? So, there were guns!"

"Yes, with mufflers too. After all, we didn't hear anything."

"Immediately gather people and organize a search party to look around. We need to strengthen our defenses and destroy the things in the cave. We can't leave any traces behind. I'll go back to report this to the chief right away."

"Noted."

A figure left in a hurry and soon appeared in the stockade at the foot of the mountain.

In the dark, the biggest wooden house in the stockade lit up.

"There were intruders?"

"Yes, our men have already gone after them. They killed two people. They were shot in the head and hit head-on."

"Is it a trained expert?"

"It was dark when our people arrived, and the other party had already escaped. There were no traces left behind around the area. There were only footprints. They were indeed trained experts, and they probably came prepared to go into the cave."

"Did they go in?"

"Yes, they went in."

Miao Xihe sat there with his eyes closed as he meditated. His thoughts were unknown to others.

"Speed up the cleaning process. It needs to be completely cleaned up. It shall be finished tonight."

"Yes."

"I'll go back to take a look at it after dawn."

"Noted."

Early in the morning, just after dawn, several people stood in the jungle beside the Valley of Thousands of Medicine.

"Chief."

"The smell is still lingering here. Continue to use the chemicals to clean it up."

"Yes."

"The blood has stained the soil over here. Dispose of it." Miao Xihe pointed out the carelessness in detail.

"Yes."

He soon entered the cave.

"The smell, it's still the smell. Even I can smell it. If a police dog or something similar were to come here, they would be able to sniff it out too. Add more chemicals."

"Yes."

"Where are those people buried?"

"At the Burial of Gods Lake."

"Good."

After exiting the cave, he went to the place where the two people had encountered their fates the previous night. Those two people were still lying there. They weren't moved during the night. The blood under them had seeped into the soil and dried up.

"Are there any bullet marks around them?"

"No. There were only two shells."

"They're trained experts," Miao Xihe said after carefully checking the site's footprints.

"The man's speed while running through the jungle was extremely fast, and he was very familiar with his surroundings."

"Is it someone from the stockade?" the person beside him asked.

"That possibility cannot be ruled out."

Miao Xihe looked around again.

"That's right. There were two people here."

"Two people?"

"Yes."

"This smell is..." He suddenly stopped walking and sniffed carefully.

"It's him."

"Who is it?"

"Miao Qingshan."

"Qingshan? Is he back again?" The people next to him were surprised.

"Did he have someone with him?"

"He doesn't know how to use a gun," Miao Xihe said. "Even if he learned after he left the stockade, his shooting skills wouldn't be so accurate. It's the other person who killed these people." He had just determined a person's identity from a little residual scent in the air. That ability was almost comparable to that of a police dog.

"Chief, you're powerful indeed!"

"Does that still need to be said?"

"I'm most worried about how much they know now."

Miao Xihe had been following the traces the outsiders left behind to the depths of the dense jungle.

"There is no need to keep chasing." He stopped in his tracks.

"Huh?"

"They are already far away." Gazing into the deep jungle, Miao Xihe thought that he should have gone there the previous night. They had lost the ability to chase.