Outside the valley, the night was deep.
Chu You moved silently through the rugged rocks and withered vegetation.
The moonlight was obscured by clouds, with only a few scattered stars providing negligible light, but this instead became her best cover.
She had been searching this area for quite some time.
Based on the map and directions provided by earlier stragglers, she had located the area believed to be the last operational zone of the 103rd Division command post.
But too much time had passed; most traces of battle and human activity had been erased by the forces of wind and rain.
Just as she was about to give up, her gaze was caught by an extremely subtle mark, pressed under an inconspicuous pebble at the edge of a rock crevice.
It was an arrow mark, lightly scratched with a sharp stone, pointing deeper into the valley.
The scratch marks were very fresh, no more than a day or two old.
This method of marking… she was all too familiar with.
It was Lin Mo’s habit.
Back in school, he used these seemingly casual little marks, which actually implicit specific angles and pressure, to guide himself and other teammates during assessments.
Chu You’s heartbeat quickened.
She immediately became fully alert and began searching with even greater scrutiny.
Sure enough, along the subsequent route, she discovered several more similar hidden marks.
These marks were intermittent, sometimes requiring careful discernment to confirm, but they were enough to form a path leading deep into the valley.
“This guy….”
The corners of Chu You’s mouth lifted slightly, her mind much more at ease.
Finding traces left by Lin Mo meant that he had at least arrived here safely and was still thinking clearly.
Following the guidance of the marks, she moved cautiously, avoiding several areas that might have hidden sentries or surveillance.
Finally, her steps halted at the edge of a relatively open valley floor, facing the waterfall that cascaded down the cliff face, gleaming faintly white in the night.
The sound of water roared, echoing in the silent valley.
Chu You did not approach rashly.
She crouched behind a large boulder, observing carefully.
The waterfall itself seemed unremarkable, and the rock face behind it was indistinct in the dim light.
But her keen ears caught a dissonance – amidst the continuous roar of the waterfall, was there an extremely faint echo?
Moreover, the way the mist, churned up by the waterfall, refracted light under the specific angle of the starlight was also somewhat abnormal, as if behind it was not solid rock, but a space with flowing air.
Something was inside there.
Chu You judged instantly.
Furthermore, Lin Mo’s marks pointed here and then disappeared.
This meant he had likely already entered.
…
She observed patiently for a longer time, mobilizing the oracular power granted by Xie Ling’s body – still unskilled but already capable of initial perception the surrounding moisture and liquid flow.
Through the perception of the oracle, she confirmed the existence of a sizable cavity behind the waterfall.
The distribution of air humidity was distinctly different from areas directly exposed to the waterfall’s mist!
No visible sentries or hidden posts were found nearby.
Chu You took a deep breath, decisively darted out from her hiding place, using rocks and shadows to quickly approach the waterfall’s edge.
She didn’t choose the middle section where Lin Mo might have entered, but instead went to the side where the water flow was relatively thinner and rocks offered handholds.
The icy river water instantly soaked her clothes and hair.
Gritting her teeth, relying on her excellent coordination, she dug her fingers into the slippery rock crevices, braving the water’s impact, inching her way behind the waterfall.
After much struggle, just as she felt her strength waning, her arm suddenly met empty space!
She successfully breached the water curtain, lunged forward, and tumbled into a space that was dark, damp, but instantly much quieter.
The roar of the waterfall became a muffled sound here.
She quickly steadied herself, crouching low, pistol already in hand, alertly scanning her surroundings.
This looked like a naturally formed antechamber of a cave, with pooled water on the ground, circulating air, and faint artificial light emanating from deeper within the passage ahead.
Chu You did not immediately venture deeper.
First, she quickly checked near the entrance and soon discovered a new mark left by Lin Mo – a simple arrow drawn in wet mud on the cave wall pointing inward, accompanied by a small symbol meaning “safe,already investigated”.
Sure enough!
That bastard really did come in here! Meanwhile.
Undercity, near the core area, inside ventilation ducts.
Lin Mo, Gao Yuan, and Du Qiang had been crawling through the maze-like duct system for a considerable time.
They as much as possible, chose ducts with larger diameters and stable airflow, seemingly main lines, moving forward while periodically stopping to observe the situation below through grates or slits.
The deeper they went, the more evident the artificial modifications to the karst cave passages below became, the better the lighting, and the denser and more elite the guards.
They saw fixed guard posts equipped with heavy firepower, patrol squads that were clearly elite, technicians hurrying about, and numerous individuals with shoulder insignia indicating mid-to-senior rank officers frequently entering and exiting certain specific passages and doorways.
“Look over there.”
Lin Mo stopped behind a grate at a junction , lowering his voice to signal.
Below was a relatively spacious karst cave hall, converted into something resembling a frontline command post, filled with communication equipment, display screens, and to fight maps, but currently only a few signal soldier on duty, not their target.
Gao Yuan followed Lin Mo’s gaze.
It was an inconspicuous passage on one side of the hall, guarded by a heavy alloy door.
Two exceptionally sturdy soldiers with sharp eyes stood at the entrance.
The aura they emitted… faintly carried a ripple of oracular power.
“The guards are Oracle-users.”
Gao Yuan whispered, “And in that passage, within the last twenty minutes, three field-grade officers and one general-grade officer have entered, and none have come out.”
“Only some company-grade officers and NCOs carrying documents have emerged.”
“Key area.”
Du Qiang was concise.
Lin Mo nodded, pointing to the direction this duct extended above that alloy-door passage: “The duct goes that way. Let’s follow it and take a look.”
The three became even more cautious, practically crawl forward inside the duct towards that direction.
The duct began to feature more branches and complex bends, clearly corresponding to the complex building structure below.
They frequently had to stop, relying on hearing and extremely limited visibility to determine.
Finally, after rounding a large bend and crawling through an upward-sloping section of duct, the auditory environment below them changed significantly.
The regular hum of machinery vanished, replaced by a more quiet but oppressive atmosphere.
Below the duct was no longer an open passage or hall; voices became clearly audible.
Although weakened by the duct and rock walls, one could still discern the stable and beyond doubt tone among them.
Notify everyone: at 10 PM tonight, all officers at the company level and above, report to Briefing Room One for the final phase of the wargame.’
Found it!
Gao Yuan turned his head to look at Lin Mo and Du Qiang, nodding emphatically.
When he had awoken from the dead realm, he had heard Su Xiji speaking, so he could to conclude the person below was Su Xiji…
The three immediately held their breath, pressing their ears as close as possible to the bottom of the duct, concentrating to listen.
Below, another, younger voice acknowledged the order, followed by departing footsteps.
Then, there was a long silence, only the faint, rhythmic “tap, tap” of fingers striking a hard surface.
Su Xiji seemed to mutter something to himself, but it was too unclear .
Then, footsteps sounded, as if Su Xiji was pacing within the cave.
..
Opportunity!
Lin Mo signaled to Gao Yuan and Du Qiang with his eyes: It was very likely Su Xiji was alone down there!
This was a golden chance to subdue him and force the truth out!
A flicker of hesitation crossed Gao Yuan and Du Qiang’s eyes, but it was immediately replaced by resolve.
The risk was immense, but worth taking.
Lin Mo began moving silently, searching for a suitable infiltration point.
Soon, he discovered a slightly larger square maintenance access hatch on the side of the duct ahead, used for connecting to the air circulation outlet below, covered by a grid cover.
Looking through the grid, below was indeed that cave.
A corner of a table covered with a map came into view, and Su Xiji’s figure was visible not far away, with his back to this side.
This is it!
The three moved slowly, like coiled vipers, positioning themselves around the access hatch.
Lin Mo made a few hand gestures to Gao Yuan and Du Qiang: He would go first, creating a surprise attack and control; Gao Yuan second, assisting in suppression and preventing any potential oracular ability from Su Xiji; Du Qiang last, alert for any unexpected situations that might enter from the door or other directions.
The plan was simple and crude, but often most effective in such confined spaces with the element of surprise.
They waited patiently.
Below, Su Xiji seemed to have stopped pacing, returning to the sand table.
The tapping also ceased.
The cave fell into complete silence.
Now!
A fierce glint flashed in Lin Mo’s eyes.
His hands suddenly gripped the edge of the grid cover over the access hatch.
Oracular power instantly surged into his arms, combined with deft force–
“Kacrack!”
A faint sound of metal twisting, and the entire cover was yanked inward by him!”
….
“Move!”
Lin Mo barked in a low voice, his body shooting down from the duct opening like a cannonball, lunging straight at Su Xiji, who still had his back to him!
Gao Yuan followed closely, and Du Qiang also nimbly flipped out of the duct, landing silently and lightly, already holding a sharpened steel bar he had “acquired” from a warehouse,alertly pointing it towards the cave’s only entrance.
Everything happened in a flash!
However–
Just as Lin Mo’s hand was about to grab Su Xiji’s shoulder, and Gao Yuan was about to pounce…
Su Xiji, who had his back to them, as if he has eyes in the back of his head, took a step forward and sideways with an agility completely unbecoming of his age and status, perfectly dodging Lin Mo’s grapple!
Simultaneously, he slowly turned around.
His face held no surprise, no panic, not even a hint of unexpectedness.
The corners of his mouth even slightly curled upwards, outline a chilling radian that suggested everything was under control.
“Finally here….”
Su Xiji’s voice rang out calmly, exceptionally clear and also particularly unsettling in the suddenly pin-drop silent cave.
Lin Mo, Gao Yuan, and Du Qiang, as if frozen by a spell, had their movements rigid halfway, pupils constricting sharply, their faces etched with disbelief!
A setup?!
Before they could react to this sudden dramatic turn–
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
A heavy alloy door on the side of the cave, Camouflaged almost perfectly with the rock wall, was violently slammed open!
A squad of elite soldiers, clad in black special operations uniforms, holding oddly shaped short guns, with eyes emotionless like a machine and radiating strongly from all over the body oracular fluctuation , emerged like ghosts, instantly take up advantageous positions throughout the cave, their gun muzzles target the three!
The aura of these soldiers was far more formidable than any guards they had seen before!
At the same time, the heavy blast door at the cave’s only formal entrance also with a crash opened.
Several severe -looking individuals with shoulder insignia indicating field-grade officers, also possessing oracular power, led another squad of fully armed regular soldiers pouring in, seal off completely their escape route.
Instantly, the three were trapped in the center of an absolute numerical disadvantage and circle of firepower.
A perfect ambush.
They were like flying insects walking right into a trap, crashing headlong into the center of a carefully woven web!
Su Xiji leisurely looked at the three with ashen faces, his fingers still lightly tapping on the edge of the sand table out of habit, as if the sudden sudden change was just an insignificant drill.
His gaze first fell on Gao Yuan and Du Qiang, shaking his head, his tone carrying a hint of strange teasing: “Old Lu ah, Old Lu… and Xiao Yun… you two sure know how to toss about things.
This tone wasn’t like facing enemies, but more like teasing old friends.
Then, his gaze turned to Lin Mo, sizing him up from head to toe, his eyes sharp, as if trying to see through Lin Mo completely.
“108th Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 1st Company Commander, Zhu Yanqing.
Su Xiji slowly spoke, accurately reporting the identity information of Lin Mo’s current persona, “Graduate of Beihe Military Command Academy, excellent comprehensive results for three consecutive years, outstanding oracular talent… not bad, I’ve reviewed your file. A young man with sharpness and guts.”
He paused, then added in an indiscernible tone: “Old Lin from the Training Department has a good memory.”
“Based on the descriptions from those soldiers who were attacked, he quickly locked onto your identity… impressive, traversing the occupied zone to find the command post here, well done!”
“But–” Su Xiji’s tone abruptly shifted, the faint smile at the corner of his mouth instantly vanishing.
At that moment, his eyes became sharp as a drawn military saber.
An intangible pressure, born from hold a top position for a long time and holding the power of life and death, spread out and solidify the very air within the cave.
“This farce ends here.”
The voice was not loud, yet it carried an unquestionable finality.
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