Chapter 20: A Clever Rescue…

Fang Dahai shoved the half-grown roe deer he was carrying into his space and carefully approached the clue he had just discovered. He instinctively twitched his nose.

“Bloodstains? No more than two days old.”

After distinguishing the color, Fang Dahai pinched a piece of grass stained with blood, put it in his mouth, and tasted it slightly.

“Spit, spit, spit! Human blood. Heh, as expected from a parallel world, how sinister. Even going hunting in the mountains can lead to trouble. Can’t they change the script?”

He spoke sarcastically, but pretending not to see it… that wouldn’t do. Who was he? A Jinyiwei (Embroidered Uniform Guard), someone who only had others fearing him, not the other way around. He was going to find out what kind of trouble was stirring in these wild mountains.

After tidying up the scene a little, Fang Dahai eagerly began searching for other traces around the area.

As a professional, Fang Dahai knew that tracking in an area with such obvious signs was not difficult. After all, this place left marks everywhere. Look, just by walking a short distance, he had already found footprints from at least four people, along with a cigarette butt and a drag mark. If he wasn’t mistaken, the owner of the bloodstains must still be alive, injured, and taken away by someone.

So, who was the culprit? And who did they take?

Based on what he had seen so far, this area didn’t seem to be a common hunting ground for local hunters. Otherwise, the prey wouldn’t be so abundant. As it was, a single person with just a bow had caught a roe deer and two yellow sheep in just one hour. If the local hunters had come in groups with guns, they’d be getting rich by now.

Did the locals know about the abundant game in this area? From the distance of the hunting spots he had been to and the village downhill, they must have some knowledge, considering it’s not too far—people could even find wild vegetables at a distance.

Then the question arose, why wouldn’t the local hunters dare to come here, knowing it was such a rich hunting ground? Naturally, because there were bandits nearby. Could it be guerilla fighters? No way, the support for the party couldn’t be that weak.

If this assumption held, then the person who was taken away…

Was it the Party? No, not really. The area was still under the Party’s control, and even if the outside situation was bad, the bandits wouldn’t have the guts to act like that.

A hostage? Not likely, because judging from the footprints, the person had come here on their own and seemed to be in a hurry, which didn’t fit the bandits’ usual practice of kidnapping.

If those two options were ruled out, then the remaining choices were few: either it was a hunter who had seen something and was silenced, or it was someone from the city who had made trouble and was hiding out, only to run into the bandits.

Fang Dahai cautiously followed the identified footprints. As his thoughts kept flowing, his reasoning became clearer, and the excitement of solving a mystery grew stronger.

Ah, people… sometimes it’s just like this. He had spent six miserable years as a Jinyiwei, secretly cursing countless times, often thinking of quitting, and when he died in battle, he was eager to be freed. But when it came to situations like this, his excitement would rise again, and he’d rush to uncover the truth. What kind of situation was this!

But nothing was more important than what was happening now! Just look at Fang Dahai’s new discovery.

At a platform halfway up a mountain in the deep woods, a wall made of logs about the height of a person surrounded a small area with ten or so scattered wooden houses. This was the result of Fang Dahai’s tracking.

“There are quite a few people here,” Fang Dahai murmured as he carefully approached, using his sharp eyesight to assess the personnel and setup of this hideout.

“But their security is a bit lax. Only the entrance is guarded. Looks like the terrain gives them a great sense of security.”

Avoiding a conspicuously open area, Fang Dahai squeezed his body into the underbrush and, using the willow branch cloak he had casually woven along the way, hid himself among the green of the mountain, then got even closer.

Upon closer inspection, this hideout’s location was indeed well-chosen, with a mountain cliff behind ensuring their safety. On the left was a steep slope, and on the right, there was a small lake and stream. The entrance was surrounded by a small cleared area. Anyone trying to approach would be exposed to the guards’ eyes.

But this was the general situation. For someone like Fang Dahai, it didn’t matter much. After observing for less than an hour, he had already discovered a fatal flaw in the hideout: they had no well, and the stream on the right was their only water source. He had seen several times people from the hideout fetching water from the stream.

“Really careless. How could they overlook something as big as water storage? Oh, right, the water barrels can’t be produced locally, and transporting them is troublesome. Well, this works out for me.”

Climbing down from the tree, Fang Dahai glanced up at the sky. The clouds in the west had turned red, and it was almost dark. He had to hurry!

As a Jinyiwei, especially one tasked with undercover missions, knowing some basic herbal medicine and how to make tranquilizers was a must-have professional skill. Fang Dahai naturally knew these things. Moreover, because he had only just crossed into this world, and thanks to the benefits of the crossing—improved intelligence and memory—he was among the top in his training group. His knowledge of pharmaceuticals was quite impressive.

With these skills, was it difficult to find some herbs in these deep mountains? Would it fail to make a batch of simple tranquilizers after finding the herbs? Of course, it wouldn’t.

So, after Fang Dahai made his own tranquilizers and tossed them into the creek, it wasn’t long before the men in the hideout, who had just lit their torches and started eating and drinking merrily, had the privilege of enjoying a special treat — eating and then falling asleep.

Oh, not everyone. The two guards at the entrance didn’t get to enjoy it because they had to wait for their replacements to come before they could go eat. But that was fine. Fang Dahai had another option ready for them. See? The faint smoke rising now was just that — preventing them from falling too far behind their comrades inside.

One collective, one dream — that was necessary, right?

After putting the guards at the entrance to sleep, Fang Dahai didn’t rush straight into the hideout but instead waited a little longer. He made sure there were no more sounds of movement inside before cautiously opening the large door. Using a detour, he entered the hideout.

Once inside, Fang Dahai didn’t immediately check everything; instead, he took some more tranquilizer smoke, lit one, and tossed it into each house to ensure there were no mistakes.

This wasn’t over-cautiousness; it was just that he was alone, and without anyone to keep watch, taking this extra step would minimize the risk of a sudden attack.

He was right, because when he cautiously moved toward the central room, Fang Dahai’s ears twitched, and his steps immediately stopped. He had clearly heard the sound of hurried breathing.

This was not a sound that a normal person under the influence of tranquilizers should make! There were definitely still some people inside who hadn’t been affected.

Lighting another batch of tranquilizer smoke, Fang Dahai tossed it inside, immediately sidestepping and rolling, then backing up a few steps, hiding behind a wooden pillar. Just as he barely left the area,

Bang!

The sound of a gunshot rang out, and a bullet shot through the wooden door, hitting the spot where he had just thrown the tranquilizer smoke.

That was close! If his hearing wasn’t sharp enough and he didn’t respond quickly, he would have been hit by that bullet! Too bad, he wasn’t really just 14 years old. He was quite experienced in this kind of game.

After quickly taking an antidote, Fang Dahai silently counted to 20 in his mind, then returned to the door of the central room. He closed his eyes and listened carefully for any movement inside.

This time, there were no more sounds of breathing. Good, the person should have fallen asleep by now. Fang Dahai’s lips curled into a slight smile, and he finally pushed open the door and walked into the room.

The lit torches were still flickering, illuminating every corner of the room. Six rough, burly men, dressed simply, had all collapsed onto the ground. One of them was still holding a hand-held rifle. It was easy to tell that this person had been the one to fire the rifle earlier, and it seemed he was the only one who hadn’t fully succumbed to the tranquilizers.

Confirming that there were no more conscious enemies, Fang Dahai could finally start doing what he came here to do.

What did he want to do? Find people? No, the first thing he needed to do was loot. If he was right, and the kidnapped person was from the Party, would he have the time to loot the hideout after rescuing them? Even if the person was fine and didn’t need medical attention, he’d still be stuck in an awkward situation where they’d have to split the spoils. Rather than that, it was better to finish the job himself and leave with the person. That way, at least his reputation wouldn’t take a hit.

As for whether looting would waste time? Haha, with his experience in house-raiding, how much time could this little hideout possibly waste? The most important thing was that he had space — 35 cubic meters of space — so there was no need to even transport things. Even if there were secret rooms or caves, it would only take a few minutes.

And the loot he collected… 12,800 yuan, 38 small yellow fish, 25 large yellow fish, 3,000 USD, 5,000 GBP, two chests filled with various gold and silver jewelry, five boxes of leather goods, 30 hand-held rifles, and around 5,000 in bows and arrows. For an ordinary person, this was quite a lot, but seeing it in this hideout… Fang Dahai couldn’t help but think they were pretty poor.

Hmm, after some thought, it made sense. Although the country was still in a time of war, this area was near the capital, and there were many military camps nearby. The presence of the army had greatly limited these people’s living space. If they could manage to save up this much, they must have been quite efficient.

Of course, the fact that Fang Dahai could think this way and even give them credit was based on the fact that, though their wealth was not much compared to the big bandit groups, the other things Fang Dahai needed were quite a lot. For example, 30 pounds of cured meat, 2,000 pounds of cornmeal, 3,000 pounds of sweet potatoes, 500 pounds of flour, 50 pounds of salt, 10 pounds of lard, and so on — these greatly enriched Fang Dahai’s material reserves. With the amount of food this family of a few could eat, it would last them two or three years.

He stuffed everything useful he could see into his space, not caring how tightly everything was stacked. His heart was finally at ease.

They say money is the courage of a person, but in this age, food is life! Now he had both, and plenty of it!

Now that he had collected everything, it was time to check out the key figure who had led him here.

At the back of the hideout, the last room, which looked suspiciously like a prison cell, was where Fang Dahai, after smashing open the lock, had his first reaction…

Damn, these bandits are quite professional? They even have a tiger bench!!

And the second reaction was: It seems like he’s gotten himself into big trouble!!

Yes, the person he was looking for was currently tied to the tiger bench, and they were already unconscious. Judging by the wounds on their body, it was clear that this person had been tortured quite severely after being brought here. Without any medical supplies, whether they could be taken out safely was now a problem.

So, what should Fang Dahai do when faced with such a situation?