"No, it mattered. It mattered a great deal!"
Meng Chao's eyes gleamed. "I'm certain that when Tailless Monkey was taken, he was lying here on his back in this exact position.
"Lying down and crawling leave entirely different traces on the ground.
"In the former case, the back is against the floor, creating a larger area of friction and only rubbing away a shallow layer of grease and grime.
"In the latter, the knees or elbows touch the ground. When someone is caught, their fingers will certainly claw and scratch wildly as they struggle desperately.
"Such an enormous difference was impossible for the captors to fake, no matter how meticulously they tried.
"The question is, when someone wanted to crawl through a cabinet, wouldn't it be more convenient to go face-down, crawl on their belly, and wriggle forward?
"Even if Tailless Monkey discovered an intruder and wanted to escape next door, crawling through face-down would have made it easier to exert force and move faster.
"So why was he lying on his back, in such a strange posture?
"Right, had Tailless Monkey ever served in the military?"
Ai Lei shook her head.
"Probably not. I never heard him mention it. He was always so loose and shameless; he didn't look like someone who had served in the military."
She asked curiously, "Does it matter whether he served or not?"
"It does."
Meng Chao explained, "Soldiers sometimes have to pass beneath barbed wire or extremely low bushes and thorn thickets while carrying a great deal of firearms, ammunition, and special tools across their chests. To avoid damaging their weapons or setting off their ammunition, they receive special training to lie on their backs and move forward silently by wriggling their back muscles.
"If Tailless Monkey had never served, he shouldn't have