Folk Strange Stories Part 1: The Witch Ancestor of Miao Township Chapter 6 Section 3: The Appearance of Drug Dealers

"Shen Ge, it's too hot and stuffy here. If the drug dealers don't show up tomorrow, how about you, me, and Wang Team request some time off and go to the waterfall to cool down?"

"No way!" It wasn't me who shouted; Song Chunlei finally woke Old Wang up. "Song Chunlei, have you lost your mind? You want to take unauthorized leave during a mission? You must be kidding!"

Before Old Wang could finish scolding, the voice of the squad leader came through the radio, "Attention, all squads. The target has crossed the border and is approaching the Falcon's location. Squads should monitor closely and coordinate with Falcon's movements."

"Weren't we told there was no operation tonight? What's the point of trafficking drugs in the middle of the night?" Song Chunlei grumbled, but neither Old Wang nor I paid him any attention. We began to reapply our camouflage, and Old Wang and Song Chunlei put on night vision goggles.

Two hours later, we received intelligence from the K9 squad, stationed a kilometer away. The target had passed their ambush location and was heading toward ours.

After nearly another hour, we heard rustling sounds coming up the mountain path. The target had finally arrived. Through the night vision scope of my sniper rifle, I could clearly see that there were eleven people in the group. Moat and the undercover agent, Fatso, were in the middle. Aside from these two, each of the horsemen carried a canvas bag slung diagonally across their bodies, which appeared to contain weapons like AK47s.

"Wang Team," Liu Jingsheng's voice came through the earpiece, "Ten people, they don't seem like professional soldiers. Shouldn't be a challenge."

Old Wang replied, "Don't get complacent, don't let our guard down. Keep following them, and when we spot their drug stash, we'll take them down."

As Old Wang finished speaking, Moat's group suddenly stopped. Initially, we thought they had detected someone lying in ambush. I had already aimed at Moat's thigh, ready to fire if things turned hostile. However, to our surprise, Fatso, our undercover agent, stood by the roadside, unzipped his pants, and started urinating. He was still chatting with Moat while relieving himself. Although they were too far away for us to hear clearly, it seemed like he was complaining about the environment here. Moat appeared helpless and didn't dare to offend Fatso, responding to his complaints.

"If his prostate isn't acting up, he's been urinating for quite some time," I whispered.

Old Wang nudged me with his elbow. "Pay attention."

After Fatso zipped up, he walked over to Moat and pointed toward the shadows in the darkness while speaking loudly. I could make out the gist of it: he was complaining about taking so long to reach the drug warehouse, suggesting that Moat was deliberately taking a roundabout route to waste time. Moat didn't explain and walked toward a clump of bushes, pushing aside the blocking weeds to reveal a hidden path. Then he made a "please" gesture.

This path was one I had seen a few hours ago, the same one leading to the waterfall's deadly pool. Fatso followed Moat into the path, grumbling, "How much longer until we get there? Stop saying we'll arrive shortly. Look at how far we've come; Sun Ye is exhausted." The last sentence hit me like lightning. I murmured, "I know where they've hidden the drugs."

Eight voices chimed in over the radio, "Where?"

I replied with a question, "Where did Sun Wukong become the Monkey King?"

Old Wang was getting impatient, "Stop beating around the bush. Tell us."

"Flower Fruit Mountain, Water Curtain Cave."

The mountain path had no obstacles to hide behind except for slightly taller weeds. To avoid being detected by the targets, we waited for five or six minutes before our entire team gathered and slowly walked along the mountain path.

We proceeded with caution, but we didn't see any signs of Moat's group deviating from the mountain path. We continued until we reached the edge of the waterfall, near the wild wormwood grove. Since we had entered the range of the waterfall, my head had started aching again, but I didn't have the luxury to pay attention to it. I just hoped to complete the mission quickly and leave this eerie place behind. I used the night vision scope on my sniper rifle to observe all potential hiding spots in the waterfall area. Once I confirmed it was safe, our whole team approached the edge of the deadly pool.

Tonight happened to be a full moon, and by moonlight, the waterfall and the pool looked deathly gray, emitting an indescribable eeriness. Old Wang's face was no better than the pool's water color. He had entrusted me with the mission, and if we lost track of Moat's group, our entire team would face severe consequences.

"Shen Ge, are you sure about this?"

"We'll find out once we get closer, won't we?"