OBS Chapter 119 Is there really someone else nearby?
Chapter 119 Is there really someone else nearby?
"Shh~ Go hide in the bushes nearby."
He Lizheng's third brother He Lin, who was on sentry duty in the distance, ran over and shouted in a low voice.
Hearing this, they quickly picked up their backpacks and ran towards the bushes not far away.
After hiding, He Lizheng asked softly: "What's the matter?"
"I just heard a slight noise over there, so I hid to check. It seemed like two or three people passed by, but they were too far away to see clearly." He Lin said nervously.
He Feng, who was squatting nearby, asked, "They're not soldiers or something like that, right?"
"No, he's not wearing military uniform. He might be a villager seeking refuge in the mountains."
"Then why are we hiding?" He Feng asked puzzledly.
He Lin glared at him and said, "We dug up so much food, what if someone has bad intentions?"
After hearing this, He Feng stopped talking.
Everyone waited quietly in the bushes. When there was no more movement outside, He Lin stuck his head out to check. After making sure that the people had gone far away, he called everyone out.
"Let's quickly dig up the rest and go back quickly." He Lizheng said.
Everyone acted quickly and dug up the remaining kudzu and put it into backpacks.
Then he carried the heavy basket on his back and quickened his pace back to the secluded valley.
Nearing the secluded cave area, they met Li Chongwu who had just come out.
Li Chongwu saw them from a distance and shouted at them.
They were startled by Li Chongwu's shout, and two of them couldn't help but tremble.
Li Chongwu was confused by their overreaction and asked curiously:
"He Lizheng, what's wrong with you?"
He Lizheng briefly told Li Chongwu about what happened just now with the suspected villagers.
Li Chongwu frowned: "Recently, we have also discovered sporadic people appearing nearby. We are now preparing to check around to see what is going on."
"Are there other people around here? If you get any definite information, please let us know."
He Lizheng said anxiously, while thinking in his heart that he had to go back and put the security of their valley on the agenda as soon as possible.
"no problem."
After saying goodbye to Li Chongwu, He Lizheng and his group quickened their pace.
After returning to the secluded valley, everyone unloaded the food from their backpacks, and He Lizheng hurriedly gathered everyone to discuss countermeasures.
They decided to start in the afternoon, with everyone dividing the work and cooperating with each other. Some people continued to collect food, while others began to prepare for the defense of the valley.
~
Li Chongwu and Luo Dashan each led their own patrol.
Although I didn't encounter anyone head-on, I found some special traces, as if they were marks made by someone specifically.
Li Chongwu was the first to discover that, about an hour after walking out of the mountain from their secluded cave, he saw white lime sprinkled on some tree roots.
When they first saw it, they didn't pay much attention to it, but later they found that there was a tree marked at certain distances, and then they realized something was wrong.
They looked carefully around the tree where the lime was spread and found messy footprints. Judging from the size and shape of the footprints, it didn't seem like there was only one person.
After Li Chongwu saw several trees were marked, he said worriedly:
"This isn't a good situation. Is there a group of people active around here?"
"I feel like it's a mark left by someone on purpose. I just don't know if this mark is to help people avoid getting lost, or if it has some other meaning," Li Chonghai said thoughtfully.
"Then let's follow this mark and explore outside."
"Let's call Uncle Dashan and the others over as well. It will be faster if we explore together." Li Chonghai suggested.
They immediately decided to leave two people behind to continue the exploration, while the others would go find Luo Dashan and the others to focus on searching for the mark.
Fortunately, Luo Dashan and his team were not far away, and they were able to get in touch quickly through the secret code of bird calls.
Everyone followed the marks all the way, and felt more and more unsure as they walked.
These marks are spaced about the same distance apart and go all the way out of the mountain.
When you get to the outer area near the deep mountains, there are no more signposts. It seems like the signposts were made by someone who is not very familiar with this deep mountain, but it is also possible that they were intentionally marked to guide the direction.
They searched the area carefully and after confirming that they could not find any useful clues, they returned home.
~
After dinner, Lin Wan sat on the swing chair in the activity area at the entrance of the cave, rocking gently, looking outside the cave from time to time, also wanting to see if she could wait for Li Chongwu and the others to come back.
At this time, everyone was at home cooking dinner or doing housework, and some grandmothers and aunts were sitting on the benches in the activity area chatting.
In addition to being a place for children to study, this activity area has developed into a place for chatting and bonding, similar to the place under the big tree at the entrance of the village.
The children were laughing and playing while the adults were chatting about family matters.
"I don't know when these days will end," Li Chongwu's mother, Huang, said with a sigh.
"Never mind him. We are in this cave now. At least we have a place to stay." Li Chonghai's grandmother, Aunt Zheng, said.
"I just wonder if Li Chongwu and the others can find anything when they go out today?" Someone expressed concern about the situation of the investigation.
As he was speaking, Lin Wan stood up and walked towards the cave entrance. It turned out that Li Chongwu and the others had returned.
Everyone gathered around and asked questions one after another, and Li Chongwu gave a brief account.
"There are really other people around here?" Chen Lian asked in surprise.
"Maybe he's hiding in the mountains recently like He Lizheng and the others," Aunt Zheng guessed.
"It's different from last time. This time I feel something is wrong. Why do we need to leave marks when we hide in the mountains? And why do we need to leave marks at the same distance?"
Lin Wan intuitively felt that these marks were not meant to prevent people from getting lost, but rather to provide guidance with a purpose, just like the reports in modern news that some criminals would scout out locations to look for their targets before committing crimes.
Lin Wan felt that no matter whether it was true or not, it was always better to be cautious.
She asked anxiously, "Uncle Dashan, have you removed the mark?"
"No, we didn't think of getting rid of it." Luo Dashan replied.
Lin Wan's question reminded them that they had not really thought of clearing those marks at that time.
"No matter what the mark is used for, we can't take it lightly. We have to send someone to deal with those marks early tomorrow morning." Li Chongwu said decisively.
"People who are patrolling recently should be careful not to be alone. They must be in groups of two and look after each other." Lin Wan added.
That night, Lin Wan tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, wondering in her mind whether those marks would bring any danger.
On the second day, at dawn, Li Chongwu took a few people and set out to deal with the marks.
Luo Dashan stayed in the secluded cave to lead everyone in morning exercises.
He Lizheng was also worried, so he brought He Yunzheng to the cave early in the morning to inquire about the news.
They passed through the outer cave entrance and entered the gentle slope area, and saw this spectacular scene not far away.
Regardless of gender, age or status, everyone was practicing in the open space between the cave entrance and the gentle slope. One group was practicing archery, and another group was swinging knives at wooden men. The knives were of various kinds.