Chapter 661: 661: Life and Death in Two Days and Two Nights (Part 18)

Such a cute child, if anything happens to her, it would be such a pity!

“Brother Zuo, since you happen to be here, Ye Lei sincerely invites you to help find Ying Er. I’ll thank you in advance.”

As Di Yelei spoke, he immediately bowed to him.

“Stop! You don’t need to do this. I was originally here on a mission today. Now that you are here, my mission is complete. However, going back into the cave to find Ying Er is due to our personal friendship. Let’s go!”

After saying this, Zuo Xingyu nodded to Di Yelei and turned directly into the cave.

“On a mission? Whose orders is he under? Wasn’t our journey kept very secret?”

Zhang Peng, who was by his side, happened to hear this too.

An idea flashed through Di Yelei’s eyes, but he didn’t say much: “I’m not sure, but it doesn’t matter! Brother Zhang, I want to send Old Man Li and Jiang Xiaocai back to the governmental office first, and arrange for them to be treated by someone. I don’t feel safe letting others handle this, so I thought it would be best if you make the trip. We cannot let them die so cheaply!”

Zhang Peng was a bit hesitant, as he originally wanted to go back into the cave as well. However, he looked back at the five or six people who had come out with him and thought about the others who were still trapped in the karst cave. He couldn’t help but admit that Di Yelei was right.

“Alright! I’ll tell my sister-in-law. I’ll also go get Old He, just in case.”

Both of them knew exactly what they were preventing, but neither of them broke the silence.

“So, you take four brothers down the mountain, and I’ll take Yun Er back into the karst cave.”

Di Yelei carefully arranged the specific tasks: “If someone asks you and you can’t avoid it, just say that Xuan’er was playing and chased after a deer into the cave. Unexpectedly, they got trapped inside and couldn’t get out. As for other things, let’s talk about them later!”

“Alright! This is a good plan; I will go down the mountain now.”

Seeing Jiang Xiaocai, who was still in a coma, Zhang Peng knew that he could not delay any longer.

“Great, let’s each carry out our missions! Yun Er, follow me!”

Di Yelei quickly called to Zhang Yun: “You all should also hurry up and carry the people away.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Two of the group members bound the still convulsing Old Man Li and carried Jiang Xiaocai down the mountain.

The other two followed Di Yelei back into the cave.

This time, when they entered the cave, they took the karst cave route that Old Man Li and the others had taken, and quickly arrived at the place where Di Yelei and the others had found Jiang Xiaocai.

Unexpectedly, they found Zuo Xingyu searching there as well.

Di Yelei pointed at the pool of fresh blood on the ground, “This is where we found Jiang Xiaocai. At that time, Jiang Xiaocai was lying still, as if he was already dead. Fortunately, we all had emergency hemostatic herbs and golden medicament, which temporarily saved Jiang Xiaocai’s life.”

At the moment, two poisonous snakes were coiled on the pool of fresh blood on the ground, spitting out their forked tongues at everyone, making everyone’s scalp tingle.

Zuo Xingyu nodded, understanding Di Yelei’s meaning.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As long as Jiang Xiaocai was alive, identifying Old Man Li could be done in minutes.

However, where was Jiang Dacai right now? Was he the one who kidnapped Ying Er, or did Ying Er escape on her own? No one knew.

“This should be the place where Ying Er escaped from them, right?”

Zuo Xingyu said casually, then picked up a torch and began to search for clues along the rock walls of the cave.

Di Yelei, on the other side, was also doing the same, carefully searching for subtle traces, unwilling to miss any clues.

Most of the people around were government employees, so they all searched for clues meticulously.

Following the cave walls, Di Yelei gradually found traces, and finally, the two torches shone together.

When they looked up, they saw Zuo Xingyu. At this moment, Zuo Xingyu also found this place. The two of them looked at each other and then lowered their heads to look more closely.

“It should be here. Ying Er is a little girl, her footprints are small. The small footprints here and scratches on the cliff should have been left when she escaped.”

Zuo Xingyu explained in detail.

Di Yelei nodded: “Old Man Li and Jiang Xiaocai were fighting here, and Ying Er must have been very scared. She wouldn’t run past the two of them towards the outside. She must have run in this direction.”

As he spoke, he held up the torch and stretched it deeper into the cave, illuminating a small area around them.

“Yes! Ying Er’s footprints appear here for the last time, but where are Jiang Dacai’s footprints? How did he leave?”

Zuo Xingyu’s question made everyone look at each other, seeing caution in each other’s eyes.

“Let’s go back and take a closer look.”

They were all skilled trackers, and they had missed any traces of Jiang Dacai during their first sweep. There must be something they had overlooked.

Everyone stopped talking and went back to searching for clues, trying not to miss any signs.

“Here! Your Honor, come and see if it’s here!”

Xiao Wen nearby called out first.

Everyone gathered around and indeed saw that there was something unusual in the place Xiao Wen mentioned.

There was a small pond, which should have been left by the rising water level in the cave when the tide came in. The water in the pond was small, and it was blocked by a strangely shaped lava rock near the bottom of the cave entrance, which was hard to notice if you didn’t pay close attention.

What attracted everyone’s attention was not the depth of the small pond, but the one-finger-long strange fish in the pond. All of them were dead with their bellies turned up.

“This is a unique fish in the cave. They like to stay in water with the taste of saltpetre. We all call it angela fish. This fish is found only in this cave, and their whole body is transparent. You can clearly see their internal organs and gills. They usually help clean the skin of bigger fish. When a person is injured and enters the water, these fish will be attracted by the smell of blood, and they won’t leave until they are full.”

Xiao Wen explained carefully and even used a tree branch to pick up one of the small fish ashore.

Zuo Xingyu held the torch and carefully examined the surroundings: “There is a strong bloody smell in the water. It seems that Jiang Dacai was indeed bitten by a poisonous snake. During the fight, he may have accidentally or deliberately rolled into this small pond. The injured wound was soaked in water, and he was discovered by these angela fish which fed on his blood.”

“Well! Let’s assume for a moment that he fell into this small pond, was conscious but couldn’t move. By accident, these fish sucked out the venom, and the dilution effect of the water in the pond enabled Jiang Dacai to regain consciousness from his coma…”