CHAPTER 346: CHAPTER 325: FAREWELL, NIGHT EAGLE

"Lam recruited new people again?" The soldier seemed very familiar with Lam’s dance troupe and could immediately recognize some new faces. He walked up to a woman, stood on his heels, and tried to lift her veil, but the woman avoided him, causing him to laugh heartily. "I noticed this chick just now, save her for me later."

"Yes, sir!" The man nodded respectfully.

The convoy set off again, but this time there was no music, no dancing. It was just an ordinary convoy moving inward.

Rocks stood steeply on both sides of the valley, and the wind blew, making ghostly noises, much like wailing in Hell. On such a mountaintop appeared two figures, entirely out of place. They moved swiftly close to the ground and finally stopped behind a reef, watching every move below, unnoticed by the searchers above.

"General, they’ve gone inside." A shadowy figure tightened his robe to avoid the wind flapping it. The convoy swayed its way past the tower, heading deep into the valley.

When the convoy was no longer visible, the shadows on the mountaintop began to move. They reached the edge of a ridge about two meters away from the first checkpoint. To pass the checkpoint from the mountaintop, one had to cross a ditch, which was a highly challenging feat, especially on a windy, sandy night. Without climbing tools, it was difficult to cross, and even if possible, there was a risk of a low surface level.

The wind force on the mountaintop was significantly stronger than in the valley. Underground, one might not feel much, but atop the mountain, the wind was almost blinding. Even with windproof goggles, one could only see the fine sand caught in the wind’s power.

Flying directly across to the opposite side was impossible, with laser lights scanning 360 degrees. Even the smallest shadow could be easily detected under such intense lighting.

Xiao Lin lay by the edge of the ridge, just as Miao Shaoqing described; the entire ridge was exceptionally smooth, with few protruding rocks. It inevitably showed signs of treatment. If this were the case, this Fourth Master was truly notorious.

"We’ll climb down."

Perhaps because no one would expect someone to risk entering from the edge of the ridge, the speed of light could not reach here, but the swept residual light brought a faint glow: "There’s a rock halfway up the mountain. Once we reach there, we’ll find a way to get across."

Miao Shaoqing also noticed the protruding rock halfway up the mountain. The distance from their mountaintop to this rock was about seven to eight meters. "General, under the current environment, there could be danger." He had to remind Xiao Lin that this decision wasn’t wise.

"Do you have a better method?" Xiao Lin retorted. He was well aware that it was risky, but it was much safer than entering directly from the main road.

Miao Shaoqing fell silent. From the tower to the backside of this ridge was one to two meters away, and no auxiliary tools were available. Now, only his limbs could be relied on.

"Then let me go first." The rope he carried wasn’t enough to support him on that rock. Miao Shaoqing’s intent was clear: "I grew up in the mountains and have some experience in mountain climbing."

Xiao Lin didn’t plan to argue with him. After receiving one end of the rope, he securely tied it around a large rock, walked to the ridge’s edge first, and tied the other end with a slipknot around his waist: "Watch my descent route; then you come down."

His voice carried no emotion; from this moment on, he was a true Dragon Soul member, discarding all distractions, not even giving Miao Shaoqing a chance. Xiao Lin’s shadow had already disappeared from the ridge.

This was his usual way of doing things. Regardless of the task, he never let the people around him take the lead, especially for such a high-difficulty matter. He wouldn’t casually allow others to go down first. This principle was not just because of the risk, but more importantly, under such harsh conditions, any casualties could cause tremendous trouble. Though he was a military doctor, he wasn’t a god. Without medical equipment for assistance, no matter how skilled, he couldn’t bring the dead back to life.

Testing the rope’s sturdiness, Miao Shaoqing lay down on the edge of the ridge. Xiao Lin descended very slowly, the rope swaying in mid-air.

Every foothold had an unsettling sense of weightlessness. Xiao Lin tried to grab onto the crevice in the rock face with his left hand, but just as his fingers touched the wall, he slipped, with his whole body swinging back and forth in the air. The rope creaked ominously by Miao Shaoqing’s ear, as if it could snap at any moment.

His heart was caught in his throat, and he could no longer afford to worry about Hua Qingyi in the cart. He wanted to go, but the rope couldn’t bear the weight of two people. This was his error. The plan was for him to descend first and then carve out footholds, but his general was more stubborn than he was.

Pushing off with his feet, Xiao Lin swung himself outward. Letting go with both hands, he slid down like an elevator, hearing a snapping sound. When he reached the rock wall, Xiao Lin found a plant, grabbed it, and steadied himself. The sound had indeed been a snapping, and he had a bad premonition. Reaching up with his right hand, he felt a crack in the rope and was several meters from the rock. Looking up, he could vaguely see Miao Shaoqing’s head. Exhaling a breath, he took two sharp surgical knives from his backpack, looked at them with some regret, then thrust the blades into the rock wall.

Surgical knives are light and thin, as everyone knows, and the hardness of the mountains is unimaginably tough. These rocky terrains are barren, and even the occasional grass roots are mere remnants of life clinging to the sandy soil. It required considerable arm strength and Inner Strength to drive a light surgical knife into the rock face!

Only by reducing his body’s swaying could he decrease the friction between the rope and the rock face. Stabilizing his body’s movements, Xiao Lin removed the surgical knife and moved downward bit by bit, each step dislodging countless stone fragments that cut his face and arms. Sweat began to drip from his forehead as his body became overtaxed, his heavy breathing echoing in his ears.

With just one meter to go, he saw the edge of the outcropping rock. Pulling out the surgical knife with his left hand, he braced on one foot, grasped the surgical knife in his right hand, and pushed off with both legs, landing on the rock after placing the other knife on the rock wall.

Looking at the now-useless surgical knives, he still placed them back into his backpack. This was the first set of surgical knives the Military Advisor had given him after becoming a Military Doctor. He cherished them, keeping them close for emergency medical needs. He shook the rope twice to signal Miao Shaoqing that he had reached his destination.

The outcropping rock was merely lodged between the mountains and was unstable, capable of accommodating about three to four people. Xiao Lin removed the rope from his body and crouched down. To his right was a high tower, and they were now positioned at a parallel level with it. From here, he could see some items inside the tower, basic necessities, and crates of military weapons. The quantity was more than enough to blow up a small residential building.

To his right was pitch darkness, where even stretching out his hand, he couldn’t see his fingers. It was impossible to scrutinize at night, like another passage. Possibly a natural feature of the valley, the crack between the mountains was as indifferent as a cold assassin. You could fall in with just one careless step, never to return. The crack led deep into what could be described as the mountains’ belly.

None of this mattered to Xiao Lin. The distance between the mountain top and the opposite mountains was about two or three meters, though from here it appeared slightly more than a meter. The ridges on the opposite side were easier to climb and had more vegetation, providing handholds. But that wasn’t his real goal.

Going down could bypass the first layer of the high tower, constituting a real entry into the base’s area of influence. However, confronting the second layer of defense from above would make it impossible to truly infiltrate the enemy’s heart, so Xiao Lin ultimately gave up entering the base from the mountain.

About half an hour later, Miao Shaoqing slid down beside Xiao Lin, indeed moving faster than he had.

"If possible, I plan to go down from here to bypass the first tower defense and enter the airspace, reaching the second checkpoint. Here is the critical checkpoint for truly entering the base," Xiao Lin said, pointing to a bend on the map. "I’ll go from below, and you enter from above, making us smaller targets. According to information from the underground armed forces, there will be a slave auction this time. The Military Advisor might be among them. If we can negotiate, all the better, but if we must use force, we need to know where the base’s weapons cache is. We need to find this and hide inside the base once we’re in, understand?"

Xiao Lin outlined the upcoming plan to Miao Shaoqing. He wasn’t sure what kind of scene the so-called slave trade would present this time, but according to information, some of these slaves would be Eastern women. It was a possibility, but what were the odds the Military Advisor had become a slave?

With a nervous heart, Xiao Lin began climbing down the mountain. Once past the rocks, the terrain got a bit easier. Meanwhile, Miao Shaoqing swung the rope towards a tree-root-like protrusion on the opposite side, swinging across. Seeing him land safely, Xiao Lin then turned and jumped off the mountain, coordinating with his arms and legs to bounce his way to the base of the mountain.

The wind wasn’t too strong, but Xiao Lin didn’t remove his goggles. Although the tower could scrutinize distant objects, identifying anything below it wasn’t easy. The tower’s base wasn’t guarded, but Xiao Lin believed it was only a facade; there had to be concealed spots within the scattered rocks. (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, you’re welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for it. Your support is my greatest motivation.)