Chapter 11: Tail‑to‑tail stealth leaves no trace; night scouting the camp deepens the mystery

The purification effect from consuming 100 WP points was immediate.

The gloom deep in the marrow and the irritating phantom sounds vanished instantly.

In their place came a long‑absent feeling of abundant, surging strength.

With four‑fold stamina recovery efficiency running at full tilt, it quickly calmed his violently pounding heart from desperate running and eased his muscle soreness.

Chen Wen drew a deep breath of cool air, his eyes sharp as an eagle's.

He firmly locked onto the strange squad silently advancing ahead in the night.

He couldn't follow too closely.

The Iron Crow Army's perception far exceeded that of ordinary people, especially sensitive to killing intent.

Though he had just purified himself and dispelled the negative effects,

he could not rule out extremely subtle residues or that the enemy possessed other unknown detection methods.

He used the system‑enhanced superb vision to trail them from a distance.

The squad moved slowly; the heavy vehicles struggled over the rugged mountain road, giving him excellent tracking conditions.

He sometimes hid in dense thickets, sometimes lay low behind rocks, moving lightly and swiftly, exploiting the stealth advantage of his four‑fold stamina to the fullest.

【Long‑distance stealth tracking falls under the 'high‑intensity labor' category, Diligence Points (WP) +0.7……+0.7……】

The system's prompt tone sounded again steadily, and WP began to rise slowly but firmly.

Although the consumption was huge, this sustained effort toward a clear goal seemed to yield more substantial returns.

He tracked them for a little over an hour.

The eastern horizon began to show a faint fish‑belly white, and the mountain forest outlines grew clearer.

The squad continued northward in silence, like tireless machinery.

Chen Wen's heart, however, grew ever heavier.

They had penetrated deep into the mountains, and the surroundings became increasingly desolate and perilous.

If the group's destination was extremely far, his meager rations could not possibly sustain him.

Moreover, his mother was frail and his little sister young—how could they endure such a long journey?

Just as he worried, the squad ahead underwent a subtle change.

The officer at the very front, who had previously produced a black metal plate, raised a hand.

The entire unit, together with the soldiers pushing the carts, halted instantly like a precision machine, without a sound.

The officer lowered his head to glance at the metal plate in his hand, then lifted his gaze to a narrower mountain cleft on the left, almost concealed by vines.

The cleft was deep and dark, its end unseen.

He waved again, and the unit changed direction.

They even shoved those heavy vehicles, with difficulty, into that mountain cleft!

Chen Wen's heart leapt in alarm!

He immediately sped up, moving silently to a spot where he could observe the cleft's entrance.

He saw the squad disappear into the dark fissure as if swallowed by the mountain.

Deep wheel ruts remained at the entrance.

Had they gone in?

Was this their lair?

Chen Wen did not rashly follow.

The terrain was too perilous, practically a natural trap—one man could hold the pass against ten thousand.

He patiently lay in ambush, like the most patient hunter, waiting and observing.

Time passed bit by bit; no sound came from within the cleft, and after the squad entered it seemed to have sunk like a stone in the sea.

The sky grew brighter, birds sang in the forest, yet the mountain‑cleft entrance remained deathly silent, unsettlingly so.

Chen Wen's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

This was too abnormal.

Even if it were their base, there should have been sentries or some movement.

After much hesitation, he decided he could not wait indefinitely.

He carefully made a wide detour and found an extremely high cliff.

Using the astonishing climbing ability granted by his four‑fold stamina, he painfully scaled it, hoping to overlook the scene beyond the cleft from above.

When he finally reached the ridge and lowered his body to look down, the sight before him left him stunned.

Beyond the cleft was not the secret camp or cavern he had imagined.

Instead, it was a relatively open valley littered with jagged rocks.

Scattered in the valley were obvious signs of human activity—several long‑extinguished campfires reduced to ash.

Some discarded, heavily worn leather cords and torn cloth.

Even a broken, immovable vehicle lay abandoned, its frame empty.

And the Iron Crow Army squad that had just entered… had seemingly vanished?

No, not completely disappeared.

Chen Wen's gaze snapped to the deepest part of the valley, onto the rock face there.

There seemed to be a huge, pitch‑black mouth, somewhat larger than the one at Black Wind Pass.

The stone walls around the mouth showed an unnatural quality, as if glazed by intense heat.

The wheel ruts stretched all the way until they disappeared into that hole.

Had they entered the cave?

Where does this cave lead?

Chen Wen's heart was filled with great doubt.

The behavior pattern of this Jun Ying troop grew increasingly strange.

They seemed not to be simply marching or transferring, but were executing a certain specific, unknown route.

After carefully observing that mountain valley and confirming that there were no obvious or hidden sentries present.

Only then did he extremely cautiously go down the other side of the cliff and approach the mountain cleft entrance again.

He dared not enter the valley directly, but instead clung to the rock wall on one side of the mountain cleft, held his breath, focused his senses, and carefully perceived.

In the air,

It seemed to retain the extremely faint killing aura left by that troop when they passed.

And the grease smell left by the vehicles. But aside from that, it was still dead silence.

His gaze swept over the discarded items on the ground; suddenly, something caught his attention.

Beside that pile of discarded ropes, a small, brightly colored object was half-covered.

Chen Wen's heart jumped violently!

He recognized that thing!

That was the hair ornament his little sister Chen Wan often wore!

A simple little hair ornament made of red velvet and straw!

It was handmade by their mother for her!

They had stayed here!

They might even have been forced to discard unnecessary items here!

Chen Wen immediately stepped forward

He carefully picked up that somewhat damaged little hair ornament and clenched it tightly in his palm.

Hope and anxiety intertwined and surged again.

It seems the direction is correct!

They were indeed brought through here!

But immediately after

A more unsettling thought arose.

This Jun Ying troop's actions were so strange, heading north all the way, drilling into the mysterious cave deep in the old mountains...

Where exactly are they taking these captives? What is their purpose exactly?

Just as slaves?

It seems unnecessary to go to such trouble, penetrating such dangerous terrain.

Chen Wen gazed at the bottomless giant cave emitting an ominous aura, then looked at the hair ornament in his hand from his little sister.

There was no retreat.

He tidied his equipment, gripped the pointed wooden stick more tightly, took a deep breath, and his eyes became extremely resolute.

Even if ahead lay the dragon's pool and tiger's den, or the netherworld, he still had to charge in!

He no longer hesitated, stepped forward, and followed the wheel ruts left by that Jun Ying troop.

He resolutely walked into the valley leading to the mysterious cave.

Each step grew more vigilant, his senses heightened to four times the extreme, capturing any slight movement.

Just as he was about to approach the huge cave entrance, the purified silver hairpin in his bosom suddenly transmitted an extremely slight yet impossible-to-ignore chill!

【Warning! Detected a high-concentration unknown energy field ahead inside the cave, same source as the killing aura but slightly different in nature! Danger level high!】

The System's warning tone was unprecedentedly urgent.

Chen Wen's footsteps suddenly halted, his entire body instantly entering a combat-ready state.

There is something inside the cave!

And it is more dangerous than the previous killing aura!