Ling Cage: Twelve Talismans? I have everything I need.

Chapter 164 We Met Hongkou
Ertong and the others carried the unconscious Elon, Xuefeng, Jeff, Gaoge, and Gavin, along with Haji and Kunjie, who were dragged in later, a total of seven people, into a stone chamber carved into the mountainside on the edge of the village.

The stone chamber was fitted with a heavy metal door at the entrance, and behind that door was a fence gate, which was obviously a temporary detention area left over from the past, but is now rarely used.

The indoor air was fairly dry, but there were cobwebs hanging in the corners and a faint smell of dust in the air.

"This is it." Er Tong put Elon down against the wall and dusted off his hands.

"This place hasn't had any guests for years."

Nata checked the door's electronic lock; ASH had activated it remotely, and the indicator light was flashing green.

"It's locked. As Zhang Heng said, keep it locked for now. We'll decide what to do when the boss and the others return."

Jiu Ge peeked inside and asked, "How long will it take for them to wake up?"

"Given the effect of the stun grenade, and the fact that Nata went all out," Ertong estimated, "we should see something within half an hour if things go quickly. At most, it'll be an hour or so."

“Then let’s go and report the details to Zhang Heng first,” Nata said into the communicator.

Soon, two Guiyuan warriors on patrol came running over.

"Keep an eye on them," Er Tong instructed the two Guiyuan warriors.

"Don't get close, and don't start a conflict. Although these people are prisoners, we'll follow the rules for now."

"Understood, Brother Ertong." The two Guiyuan warriors responded solemnly, standing on either side of the gate with their guns at the ready.

Er Tong and the others glanced again at the hunters lying haphazardly inside the room, said nothing more, turned and left, their footsteps fading into the distance.

Silence returned to the stone chamber, broken only by the heavy breathing of a few hunters.

After an unknown amount of time, a severe headache and tinnitus pulled Elon back to reality from his coma.

He groaned and struggled to raise his hand to rub his temples, but found his arms unusually heavy and his wrists icy cold.

He suddenly came to his senses and found that his hands were handcuffed to his body with a pair of sturdy metal handcuffs, and his ankles seemed to be restricted as well, but he could still move to a limited extent.

"Uh……"

"My head...it hurts so much..."

Several groans came from beside them, and Jeff and the others gradually regained consciousness.

Elon, fighting off dizziness and nausea, quickly looked around.

Dim light shone through a vent in the door, barely enough to make out that it was a simple stone chamber, containing nothing but the seven of them.

They were captured.

Their equipment was removed, and they were imprisoned in this unfamiliar place.

"Xuefeng! Jeff! Haji! Kunjie! Gavin! Gog!" Elon called out the team members' names urgently in a low voice.

At the same time, he used his handcuffed hands to forcefully shove Kun Jie, who was closest to him: "Wake up! Wake up, everyone!"

“Instructor…” Kun Jie shook his head and sat up, immediately realizing his predicament, and his face turned extremely ugly.

"Damn it! We've been tricked!"

Jeff and Gog also struggled to sit up, stretching their aching necks, their eyes filled with vigilance.

Haji and Gavin leaned against the other wall, Xuefeng still drowsy.

"Where are we?" Gavin's voice was hoarse.

"Where else could they be? They must be inside that mountain base!" Gavin gritted his teeth, trying to break free of the handcuffs, but found he couldn't budge them. "These rats... let's fight them head-on!"

"Shut up, Gavin!" Elon hissed. "This isn't the time to complain. Check yourself out. Are you hurt? Do you still have your gear?"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately began to examine themselves.

The result was obvious: apart from their personal clothing, all weapons, ammunition, tactical equipment, and even communication devices were looted.

"It's so clean it looks like it's been licked..." Haji sighed in frustration.

Jeff was relatively calmer. He carefully examined the stone chamber and the guards at the door, and whispered, "Instructor, they didn't kill us, they just locked us up... It seems we're not in immediate danger. But their purpose is unclear."

Elon nodded; Jeff's analysis was the same as his own.

The opponent displayed strength far exceeding expectations and a bizarre attack method, yet left survivors; there must be a reason behind this.

Elon moved closer to Xuefeng and, by the dim light coming in from outside the door, saw that Xuefeng's cheek was visibly swollen and bruised, with a trace of dried blood still remaining at the corner of his mouth, clearly indicating that he had been hit hard.

"Xuefeng! Xuefeng!" Elon grabbed Xuefeng's shoulders with his handcuffed hands and shook him violently. "Wake up! Can't you hear me!"

Xuefeng's body swayed limply with the swaying, and he made a few muffled murmurs in his throat. His eyelids trembled a few times before he opened them with great difficulty, just a crack.

His eyes were unfocused and unfocused, clearly his mind was still occupied by intense dizziness and pain, and he was in a dazed state.

"Instructor...?" Xuefeng's voice was hoarse and weak.

He tried to focus, but the figures of Elon and his teammates were all overlapping and blurry.

“It’s me.” Elon breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw that he was awake.

"How do you feel? Can you see me clearly?"

Xuefeng shook his heavy head, a simple action that triggered another wave of nausea.

He gasped for breath, "My head... my head is throbbing... my face hurts too... that woman... she really went too far..."

He recalled intermittently the heavy blow to the back of his head he had suffered before losing consciousness.

"Don't rush to think about what just happened," Elon stopped him from continuing to recall, lest it worsen his discomfort.

"Take a moment to calm down and check if there are any other injuries besides your head and face."

Xuefeng did as instructed and slowly moved his limbs. Although his whole body ached, especially the side of his face that had been hit, which was burning with pain, there seemed to be no fractures or other serious injuries.

"It seems... the blow to my face was the worst... everything else is fine."

While Elon and Snow Peak were exchanging whispers, the other team members, who had fully regained their senses, quietly gathered around, sat down against the cold stone wall, and formed a small circle.

Everyone looked ugly.

Kun Jie was still indignant, staring at the two blurry guards outside the fence, and muttered in a low voice, "Damn it! What is this? Are they treating us like livestock, locking us in cages? If you've got the guts, let's have a real fight!"

"Say less, Quinn," Jeff said calmly, observing his surroundings.

"Didn't you notice? From the moment we entered that passage, we were completely manipulated. The lights, the people emerging from underground, and that invisible attacker... we've never seen the methods they used before."

Haji chimed in, "Jeff's right. And they used stun grenades in the end, not hand grenades. If they really wanted to kill us, we'd be dead already."

Gavin rubbed his still-ringing ears and said with a wry smile, "What's the point of saying all this now? The key is, what do they want to do to us?"

This question silenced everyone.

The unknown is the scariest thing.

They found themselves in a completely unfamiliar and hostile environment, their weapons confiscated, their movements restricted, and their lives entirely in the hands of the other side.

Elon listened to his teammates' discussion, his heart heavy as well.

Elon took a deep breath, suppressing his unease, and said to his team, "Stop guessing. Conserve your energy. Since they spared us, someone will definitely come to contact us. We'll see what happens then."

The team members stopped complaining and leaned against the wall, trying to rest and recover their strength. After a while, Haji asked in a low voice, "Do you think... what Mark saw... could it really be Red Hair? Is it... possible that she's here?"

This question lingers in everyone's mind, but no one dares to speak it out easily, fearing that the faint flame of hope will be extinguished instantly by cruel reality.

However, no sooner had Haji finished speaking than Xuefeng, who was leaning against the wall, suddenly raised his head.

He had recovered somewhat; although his head was still throbbing and his face was swollen, he was basically conscious.

“Hongkou…yes! Hongkou!” Xuefeng’s voice was somewhat excited.

He struggled to sit up, looking anxiously at Elon and his teammates around him.

"I remember now! Before I passed out... I heard them talking!"

These words immediately attracted everyone's attention, and all eyes turned to Xuefeng.

Elon's heart tightened, and he quickly pressed, "What did you hear? Explain yourself!"

Xuefeng tried hard to recall, and said intermittently, "That...that, a man wearing a helmet seemed to say something to the woman who knocked me out...saying that 'Jiuge said they are the Wilderness Hunters, and might know that woman named Hongkou, so killing her wouldn't be good'...Yes! That's what they said! I'm sure I didn't mishear!"

Haji slapped his thigh excitedly: "I knew it! Mark wasn't wrong! Captain Red Hair... she really might still be alive! And right here!"

Gavin and Goggle exchanged glances, their eyes rekindling with hope.

If the other party knows Hongkou and shows them mercy because of her, their situation might not be as bad as they imagine.

Although Kun Jie still had a stern face, his tone had softened considerably: "Damn it... if Captain Hong Kou is really here, then we might still be saved."

Elon's heart pounded; the news from Snow Peak was undoubtedly a major turning point.

This not only means that Hongkou may have survived, but also that there is a crucial connection between them and this mysterious ground force.

Just as anticipation filled the stone chamber because of the name "Hongkou," the heavy metal door on the outside suddenly clicked open.

The light suddenly intensified, flooding into the dim stone chamber.

The hunters squinted instinctively.

Behind the metal gate, the sturdy fence gate remained tightly closed, but through the gaps in the fence, one could see the situation outside more clearly.

Several little heads peeked in curiously from the doorway, accompanied by chatter.

"Wow! They're awake!"

"Look at their clothes, they seem a little different from what Sister Hongkou wore when she first arrived!"

"So, this is the same person who came down from that big pot lid?"

"The one with the bruise on his face, did he lose a fight?"

These children looked to be no more than ten years old. With their big, dark eyes, they stared unabashedly at the seven "prisoners" in the stone chamber.

Their eyes were filled with curiosity, as if they were observing something new and interesting, rather than a dangerous intruder.

This sudden turn of events stunned Elon and the others.

They had imagined various scenarios of confrontation with the enemy's high command or soldiers, but they never expected that the first thing they would encounter was a group of children.

Upon seeing this, the two Guiyuan warriors guarding the gate quickly stepped forward.

"Alright, alright, stop crowding around here."

"Zhang Heng said not to come near. Go back quickly, or you'll get scolded."

"There's nothing interesting about these."

The children stuck out their tongues and then pulled their heads back, but their chattering didn't go away; they were clearly still lingering and looking around outside the door.

However, these few simple words of conversation and the appearance of the children were like several boulders thrown into the heart of Elon and the others.

Sister Hongkou!

The name the children used resonated in the ears of the seven hunters.

Xuefeng's eyes widened suddenly, forgetting even the pain on his face.

He looked at Elon excitedly, his lips trembling, "Instructor! Did you hear that? Red Hair! They call Red Hair 'Sister'!"

Haji, Jeff, and the others also looked shocked, exchanging glances.

If what Xuefeng heard before could be attributed to a misunderstanding caused by a loss of consciousness, then...

So now, the "Sister Hongkou" mentioned by these children on the ground is almost irrefutable proof!

Hongkou is not only alive, but right here!

Judging from how the children address her, she seems to have lived here for quite some time and is very familiar with these children!
Just then, a slightly stern voice came from outside the door: "I told you not to look anymore, or I'll really call Principal Qiu Shi if you don't leave!"

The children's laughter and footsteps gradually faded away.

Xuefeng gripped the cold fence with both hands, pressed his face between the bars, and shouted to the two Guiyuan warriors who turned to look at him from outside the door.

"Hongkou! Is Hongkou here? The one with red hair, and another man named Po Xiao, have you seen them before?"

"We know Hongkou! We're her teammates! Could... could you please let us go? Or at least let us see her?"

The other hunters also cast hopeful glances, and even Elon's heart tightened as he watched the two warriors' reactions intently.

However, the reaction of the two Guiyuan warriors was beyond their expectations.

The two exchanged a glance, but instead of showing any surprise or seriousness, they chuckled twice.

One of the Returning Origin Warriors shook his head: "Heh, I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen anyone like you. You just got beaten down and locked up, and now you're trying to curry favor?"

Another soldier chimed in, "You know Hongkou? The kind of 'you know' who threw her and Dawn off the lighthouse to fend for themselves? Now that you're in trouble, you suddenly remember she could have saved you?"

These words immediately extinguished the hunters' newly ignited hope.

Xuefeng's expression froze. He opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but found that his throat was blocked and he couldn't say a word.

Jeff, Haji, and the others were all speechless, their faces burning with embarrassment.

“We… that’s not…” Xuefeng tried to explain, his voice dry and weak.

"What is that?" the young soldier interrupted him rudely.

"Isn't it just your Lighthouse's bullshit rules? Useless people are thrown down to feed the Devouring Beasts. How many have you thrown down since you came to this continent?"

"Do you think this place is a nursing home?"

Another Returning Origin Warrior waved his hand to stop his companion from speaking more vehemently, but his gaze swept over the seven people behind the fence.

“Hongkou and the other woman are now residents of our Dragon Bone Village. How Hongkou is doing, whether she wants to see you or not, is her own business. You should just stay put and not try anything funny or try to build connections here. That kind of thing won’t work here.”

Elon's heart sank.

The other party not only knew about Hongkou, but also knew how Hongkou came to the ground.

Moreover, judging from their tone, they were full of contempt and hostility toward the lighthouse.

After saying that, the two Guiyuan warriors ignored the pale-faced hunters and turned around again.

(End of this chapter)