It doesn't matter if your souls are scattered, as long as you die.

Zhao Tao looked up at the sky; the sun was about to set, and there wasn't much time to wait for them to wake up.

"Can you wake them up immediately?"

"able!"

"Then I'll trouble you, Comrade Liu, to wake them up quickly."

Dr. Liu understood his intentions and concerns, and nodded, "I'll wake them up right away."

He took out a pouch of silver needles from the small cloth bag, pulled out the longest needle, and stabbed the unconscious person next to him.

"Aww~"

The person who had been stabbed suddenly sat up straight, as if he had risen from the dead.

Next, Zhao Tao gave all the unconscious people an injection. After they woke up, he didn't ask any questions, but only ordered, "Let's go back to the valley and spend the night there."

The eight people wanted to say something, but Zhao Tao waved his hand, "Let's talk after we're settled."

Seeing this, everyone shut up and hurried on their way, returning to the valley before nightfall.

Wang Weidong and Dr. Liu cooked together, while Zhao Tao asked the eight people questions in a cave.

"What's going on with you guys?"

Wu Jianguo spoke first, "The four of us went to the west to scout and saw a very large cave. We also heard the sound of water inside, so we went in without hesitation."

I never expected that once I went inside, everything would go black and I would lose consciousness.

When we woke up, we found the four of us tied up in another cave.

"Not long after, a short man wearing a hood dragged Zheng Hongjun in."

"He tied Zheng Hongjun up and left again, then dragged Sun Shengnian and the others back again and again."

Zhao Tao looked at Zheng Hongjun and asked, "How were you caught?"

"Like Jianguo and the others, I went into that cave and lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found myself tied up."

Zhao Tao nodded. He would find some time to check out that cave that could make someone faint tomorrow.

"Then how did you end up outside the cave unconscious?"

"Didn't you, Captain, rescue us from the cave?" Zhao Yong asked, puzzled.

Everyone else had the same puzzled look on their faces.

Zhao Tao shook his head. "It wasn't us. When we arrived, you were lying unconscious in the open."

The eight people looked at each other in bewilderment. Who could have brought them out?

Seeing the eight people looking confused, Zhao Tao said, "Tell me the last thing you remember."

"The last thing we saw was someone putting out smoke at the cave entrance. Inhaling that smoke would make you unconscious. I held my breath for two minutes, but I couldn't take it anymore, so I breathed out, and then I didn't know anything else."

"I only held it in for a little over a minute."

"I held it in for longer than you guys, at least three minutes."

"Haha, three minutes is nothing, I have at least three and a half minutes."

"..."

The discussion about the incident instantly turned into a fierce competition, becoming incredibly lively.

"I held it in for at least fifteen minutes."

Liang Weimin's words silenced the lively scene.

"You're bragging, kid. How can a person go without breathing for that long?"

"For the people, don't boast about something that's so fragile, it's just embarrassing."

Liang Weimin's neck turned red with urgency. "I didn't lie."

"Look, they got caught and are getting angry."

Liang Weimin was truly exasperated; he wasn't exaggerating, and even after fifteen minutes, he was still being conservative in his assessment.

"He wasn't lying. His application to join the police force listed his specialty as 'breathing air'."

Liang Weimin looked at Zhao Tao gratefully; finally, someone had cleared his name.

Since the captain had said so, everyone had no choice but to believe him and looked at him with amazement.

"You're really something, kid."

"Alright, let's end this topic of holding our breath here. Now think about any other details."

Everyone tried hard to recall, but in the end they all shook their heads.

Only Liang Weimin seemed lost in thought, a look that Zhao Tao noticed. "Liang, have you discovered something?"

Liang Weimin nodded. "Captain, I did see something different, but I don't know if I was seeing things wrong, or if I was hallucinating due to oxygen deprivation at the time."

"Tell us what you think, and we'll help you figure it out."

Liang Weimin frowned, deep in thought, "I saw a shadow giving a thumbs-up."

"How tall are you? Judging from your build, are you male or female?" Zhao Tao asked.

Liang Weimin recalled the details of the shadow: "The hairstyle was like a Taoist's topknot, and it was hard to tell if it was male or female. As for the height, the person was squatting, and the shadow was very long, making it difficult to distinguish."

"He just looks very thin."

Zhao Tao carefully analyzed what he said: "Taoist hairstyle, Taoist priest practicing in the mountains?"

He looks very thin; he probably didn't eat well in the mountains...

"Captain, the child I saw that night had a Taoist hairstyle."

He Sankai suddenly spoke, pulling Zhao Tao back to reality. Upon hearing this, he suddenly realized what was going on.

is her!

It must be her!

There were no Taoist priests.

My heart was filled with complicated emotions. He was clearly a sadistic person, yet he first saved a dog, and then he saved a person.

What kind of person is she?

There was a rustling sound coming from the pocket of her coat. She looked down at the map in the pocket, which must have been left by her as well.

The map leads to unknown places; we should be wary.

But now, instead of being wary, he was filled with anticipation, feeling that the end of the map would surely resolve all his doubts after entering the mountains.

Reaching the entrance of the cave, look at the cave opposite; that's the entrance to the tunnel shown on the map.

He was initially afraid of the danger and wanted to wait until tomorrow during the day to go in, but now he doesn't think that way anymore.

Go inside after dinner.

At 8:30 p.m., after everyone finished eating, Zhao Tao took the map and went to the cave opposite.

Following the map, after groping around on the stone wall, I found a round bump and pressed it down.

I pressed it again when it didn't work the first time.

Seeing this, the others volunteered one after another.

"Captain, I'm strong, let me do it!"

"I'm quite strong too, I'll do it."

"..."

Zhao Tao stepped aside, and Sun Hongjun squeezed forward, saying, "Let me do it! Let me do it!"

Zhao Yong looked at him with amusement and teased, "If you can't do a job you've stolen, you'll be embarrassed."

Sun Hongjun patted his chest and said, "Brother Yong, you all know how strong I am. Don't worry, this little mechanism is just a matter of pressing a button."

Everyone chuckled and secretly glanced at their captain, but unfortunately, the flashlight beam couldn't illuminate a large area, so they couldn't see the captain's expression.

With so many eyes on Zhao Tao, as the police captain, he noticed it immediately.

After a quick glance around, everyone turned their attention to Sun Hongjun, who was breathing on his thumb to warm it up.

Amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd, Sun Hongjun raised his thumb and pressed it down.

Work hard!

He's putting in the effort!

His thumb ached, but he couldn't press it. He turned his head awkwardly, scratched his head sheepishly, and silently stepped aside.

Everyone was silent for a moment, then burst into laughter, but the laughter was interrupted by a stern shout from the captain.

"What are you laughing at? Go and try to open the mechanism."

Immediately, everyone stopped laughing. Zhao Yong stepped forward, clenched his fist, and punched the circular protrusion that was supposed to be the mechanism.

My hand hurts, but the round bump doesn't budge.

Zhao Yong also silently stepped aside.

One by one, they stepped forward and tried various methods, but none of them could open the mechanism.