My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 21 Rescue (3)

The current environment is a cave, and sunlight can penetrate it, indicating that the location is not too deep. There are no signs of artificial carving here, so were the cave entrances used by Da Shan and Ba Ye original, or were they added later? There are very few visible signs of human activity inside the cave, suggesting that this is likely a temporary location chosen by Ba Ye and his group. Based on previous reports of human trafficking cases, traffickers usually choose familiar and frequently used gathering points for quick relocation. In this situation, has the trafficker encountered some obstacle preventing them from moving? In this era, there are no cars or effective sedatives, so the current time should be the second day of the Lantern Festival. They should be not far from Qingyang County, and very likely still in the mountains not far from Qingyang County town.

Thinking of this, Lin Ziping became somewhat excited, which proved that either Magistrate Ji or Lin Zhong had already taken rescue action. If they knew where he was now, it would greatly shorten the rescue time. But now that he was trapped in the cave, how could he let people know his situation?

The human traffickers Da Shan and Ba Ye, along with Jiang Ye (whose rank is likely higher than Ba ​​Ye's), have now appeared. Are these people outside the cave? Are there other human traffickers involved?

"What are you thinking about?" Lin Ziping snapped out of his thoughts as Ji Xun arrived.

Lin Ziping didn't intend to tell Ji Xun his deductions, so he changed the subject and asked Ji Xun about the situation in the cave: "Nothing much, how's the cave?"

"There's another cave over there, but it's too dark, so we didn't go very far," Ji Xun said dejectedly.

Lin Ziping nodded, which confirmed his earlier deduction.

Suddenly, Ji Xun approached, and Lin Ziping stood there, stunned and motionless.

"There's something on your head." Ji Xun took a dry blade of grass from Lin Ziping's head.

Ji Xundi approached, and Lin Ziping smelled a strange odor: "What's on you? It smells awful."

Ji Xun looked at Lin Ziping with a puzzled expression, thought for a moment, and then held up his sleeve in front of Lin Ziping and said, "It should be this. When Zhao Xiancheng fell, I helped him up and it got stuck to the mountain wall. It was sticky and smelly. I also have some on my hands."

As Lin Ziping approached Ji Xun's sleeve and hand, he saw a dark, grimy mass with mud still clinging to his hand. A guess formed in his mind, but he felt it was unlikely.

“Where did you see this? Take me to see it,” Lin Ziping said.

Ji Xun nodded and led Lin Ziping into the cave inside. The two of them slowly explored along the wall.

"This is it. Go in 55 steps to the right of the cave entrance. Feel it."

Lin Ziping reached towards Ji Xun's voice, and after groping around for a while, he indeed felt something sticky, and when he got closer, he could smell rotten eggs.

Lin Ziping quickly took two steps back, took out a tinderbox. The flame was not very bright, but it was enough to see the black substance seeping from the mountain wall in front of him. Some of it had already accumulated on the ground.

This is oil!

Lin Ziping quickly extinguished the tinder and covered his mouth and nose.

This must be petroleum; it looks similar to what was described in the book before, and it has this pungent smell.

"Lin Ziping, what's wrong?" Ji Xun asked when he saw Lin Ziping extinguish the tinderbox.

"It's nothing. I'm just worried that other people will see the light. Let's go outside. It would be troublesome if those two people who were filming the flowers came in and couldn't see us." Lin Ziping made up an excuse.

"Well, it's dark inside this cave, who knows what's inside."

The two then groped their way out along the mountainside.

"One, two, three..." Lin Ziping silently counted his steps, a total of sixty-two steps according to his own pace.

After they came out, the people who had been taking pictures of the beggars didn't come in, and the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Like everyone else, the two found a clean rock to sit on.

A child came over and asked, "Are you two taking a dump?"

Ji Xun told Lin Ziping that this person was Zhao Xiancheng.

"Going to the toilet?" Lin Ziping asked in confusion.

“Yes, that cave is pitch black, wouldn’t that be perfect for everyone to relieve themselves?” Zhao Xiancheng said.

Lin Ziping thought about the oil inside and planned to go in and take a look later. He wondered how they would get back in if everyone used the toilet at the cave entrance.

"That cave is too dark, and when I went in just now, I smelled a foul odor. I don't know what's inside. If something happens, we can't help each other. I think it's best if everyone doesn't go in alone."

The group spoke softly, but the cave was too quiet. The other children were all watching their conversation, and when they heard Lin Ziping say this, they all looked over.

Ji Xun nodded: "That's right. I just discovered a rock over there. Everyone can relieve themselves behind the rock without being seen. If you need to shout, everyone will hear you. Now I can take you to see it."

Lin Ziping and Zhao Xiancheng got up and followed Ji Xun toward the stone he had mentioned, with the other older children following along as well.

Sure enough, there was a rock about thirty paces away that could block the view of others, and the children who had come along all agreed to Ji Xun's suggestion.

Lin Ziping approved of Ji Xun's suggestion, as personal issues were effectively resolved here, greatly reducing the risk of stepping on a man-made landmine.

The light in the cave gradually dimmed. After Da Shan and Ba Ye left, no one else came in. Lin Ziping went to the cave entrance to check. A stone was blocking the entrance. He looked closely and saw that sparse light was coming through. Lin Ziping tried to see what was happening outside through the crack, but the crack was too small and he couldn't see anything.

"What are you looking for?" Lin Ziping turned around and Ji Xun appeared beside him at some point.

Lin Ziping subtly distanced himself, recalling his childish actions earlier, and felt somewhat reluctant to engage with Ji Xun.

Seeing that Lin Ziping did not answer, Ji Xun asked again, "What are you looking for?"

"There's a gap here," Lin Ziping pointed to the mountain gate.

Ji Xun leaned closer to look and sure enough, light shone through. He used his hands to dig at the mud, and it began to loosen. Lin Ziping saw this and also moved to the other side to dig at the mud with his bare hands. The other children also came over to join in.

More and more light came in, and Ji Xun told everyone to stop: "We can see what's going on outside. Everyone stop quickly, don't let them find us."

Upon hearing this, the children stopped what they were doing, and Ji Xun had clearly become the leader of the group.

Lin looked out through the cave entrance. By this time, the sun had already set. There were four people guarding outside the cave, probably convinced that the dozen or so children wouldn't cause any trouble. They were chatting idly together, and no one was paying attention to what was happening inside the cave.

Lin Ziping pressed his ear against the gap he had dug out, hoping to hear their conversation and learn some useful information, but he couldn't hear anything.

Turning his gaze away, Lin Ziping returned to the cave and sat down on the rock he had found earlier. He had only had a spoonful of porridge that day, and now he was both hungry and thirsty. He rubbed his stomach, touched the bag containing chestnuts, and wanted to take out two to eat. But when he looked at the children around him, he worried that the traffickers would not bring in any more food. He reluctantly withdrew his hand. Sigh, never mind, I won't eat them. I'll just have to resist!