The temple valley is filled with landmines, surveillance, and poisonous snakes—making it difficult for anyone to approach. Even if they get close, it's tough to attack the enemies in the valley. Should the target be inside the valley, they will surely hide in the temple and not co out. This makes any action fraught with significant risk. The difficulty of this mission exceeds Luo Zheng's imagination, but the enemy's seemingly flawless plan to lure them into a trap presents weaknesses that give Luo Zheng hope.
Even the best defense cannot be fully effective without a capable commander, and vulnerabilities are inevitable. If we find the weaknesses and expand their impact, there is a chance for success. Luo Zheng and his team rushed toward the temple, reaching its vicinity before nightfall. Luo Zheng signaled the team to circle around the mountain peak where the temple is located.
The mountain peak is over five hundred ters high, with cliffs on the side facing the valley. At its center, a temple was carved out and built, surrounded by dense trees. The group managed to maneuver to the tripod without imdiately ascending, instead carefully observing the area to ensure there was no surveillance before climbing up.
After climbing about a hundred ters, Mountain Eagle, scouting ahead, spotted surveillance and quickly signaled the group following him. Luo Zheng noticed it was already getting dark and estimated the surveillance might have infrared sensors, which could detect them at night. Climbing the mountain under these conditions would be disadvantageous, so he ordered the team to retreat twenty ters and hide in a patch of forest.
For safety, no one dared to start a fire. They took out compressed biscuits, letting them dissolve in their mouths before swallowing. For survival and the mission, no matter the hardship or difficulty, everyone endured silently. After resting for a while, Luo Zheng drank so water and stared at the now dim night sky, saying, "Tonight, let's stay here. Tomorrow morning, we'll find a way to climb the mountain, avoiding surveillance as much as possible. As for landmines, we can disable them and take them along; they might co in handy."
"Yes." The group whispered in response, closing their eyes to rest.
Luo Zheng couldn't sleep, so he sat back-to-back with Lan Xue, asking gently, "Can you still hold up?"
"It's manageable, but no more than a week; beyond that, I might break down physically," Lan Xue admitted, knowing that icy and snowy conditions are disastrous for won, and few can withstand them.
"Let's aim to take out the target within three days." Luo Zheng whispered, aware that Lan Xue wasn't being entirely truthful, worrying he might get distracted. She ntioned a week, but being able to endure for three days would be lucky. Luo Zheng didn't want Lan Xue to have any lasting physical repercussions, which would be regrettable. He silently vowed to avoid bringing Lan Xue to such frigid places in the future.
That night, they safely spent the night in the forest. The next morning, after eating so dry food, they began climbing the mountain, stopping occasionally to avoid surveillance. Using military knives, they marked the surrounding trees for a guided return trip.
Ghost Hand, who narrowly escaped being blown up by a landmine last ti, focused entirely on the ground, discovering several landmines along the way. The group collectively disabled and took them as backups. Climbing the five hundred-ter mountain took half a day. When reaching the summit, everyone sighed with relief and smiled excitedly.
The cold wind howled at the summit, trees swayed in the breeze, and everyone sat down, observing the valley below. The journey up consud much energy while avoiding surveillance and landmines. Luckily, there weren't any poisonous snakes encountered, minimizing hassle. Luo Zheng moved close to the edge to inspect the valley.
He saw nurous campfires burning, preparing for lunch. The army cooking outside indicated a temporary military presence to protect the temple. So were feeding warhorses and patrolling—a busy scene. The temple was at the foot of the mountain; due to the angle, it couldn't be seen. Luo Zheng roughly estimated the valley holding over a thousand troops.
"It looks like they're preparing to be stationed permanently. What should we do?" Lan Xue approached, whispered.
"No rush, let's observe for a while," Luo Zheng casually replied, raising his binoculars for further examination, hoping to spot so enemy vulnerabilities.
Ghost Hand and others dispersed, assessing the surrounding terrain and risks. Lan Xue used her sniper scope for a while, saying, "It's a dead-end valley; there's only one entry path guarded heavily by a company's soldiers and heavy machine guns with three checkpoints. There's no way to sneak in. The surrounding mountains are steep, cliffs, patrols below that would expose us before descending. The valley spans close to a thousand acres; troops inside are comfortable, producing chaos seems impossible—it's really tricky."
"Indeed." Luo Zheng set down his binoculars, pondering for a mont, then raised them again, his face slightly closed. He pointed in a direction, saying, "Look near the lake; there's a tent. A major is sunbathing besides sothing resembling a dog, which looks like the Mastiff I saw the other night."
"Really?" Lan Xue was shocked, quickly identified the Mastiff Luo Zheng ntioned. After a careful look, she set down her sniper scope, saying sternly, "It absolutely is a Mastiff. Apparently, it exposed us—finding a way to eliminate it is needed; otherwise, it will cause trouble for us."
"I plan to create chaos tonight and see what happens—whether effective is uncertain, but it's worth trying. The enemy already knows we're here, and we lost the advantage; finding the target is impossible. Let's see if chaos can create an opportunity." Luo Zheng whispered, again raising his binoculars.
"That works. How do you plan to proceed?" Lan Xue asked softly, suddenly recalling sothing, delight sparking in her expression. "We've overlooked sothing."
"What is it?" Luo Zheng asked in surprise.
"Communication. This area has surveillance, aning signals can transmit out, showing that geographic conditions here don't interfere. Let try," Lan Xue exclaid excitedly, rushing to her backpack, pulling out a signal device and invisible earpiece.
Since finding no contact with the outside, everyone had packed away signal devices and earpieces. During the chase and being chased by enemies, no one considered the signal issue. Lan Xue promptly activated the signal device, wearing the earpiece, tested, "Hello, can you hear ?"
"Sis, you're still alive?" A female voice shouted, overflowing with surprise and delight.
"Nonsense, what's wrong?" Lan Xue inquired in surprise.
Upon hearing contact with the outside world was possible, Luo Zheng was overjoyed, rushed to his backpack, took out his signal device and earpiece, turned them on, inserted the earpiece, hearing Lan Xing crying with joy shouting, "You damned woman, if alive why didn't you contact ? Had crying for days and nights, nearly blinding with tears. Co back and compensate my eyes. I'm so ugly now; I'm too embarrassed to go out!"
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