After escaping from the bottom of the pool, Zhang Heng first returned to the cave and silently dealt with the two squads there. He also saw the mute old man, but soon discovered that the little girl had not returned after dark as promised.
Zhang Heng comforted the mute old man, then went to his own cave to finish making the arrows he had left half-done. Afterward, he scavenged some ammunition and a rifle from the corpses of the two squads. Once he was done, he returned to the hillside, only to find that the little girl was nowhere to be seen.
Zhang Heng found a set of unfamiliar footprints on the ground. Their owner had come alone, but when he left, there was another set of small footprints beside his.
Zhang Heng knew that the little girl had probably been taken away by the visitor.
However, Zhang Heng checked the time and did not rush off to rescue her. If nothing unexpected had happened, the little girl had been taken by the search party. Those people had entered the mountains to hunt him down, so they probably would not make things difficult for a little girl. Once they had asked her about him, they would most likely let her go.
On the other hand, if he rushed over in such a panic, they might connect him to the little girl, making her rescue even more troublesome.
Thus, Zhang Heng ultimately decided to wait a while longer and make his move after the pursuit team sent the little girl back to the cave. Then he glanced at the Starfish on his wrist. There was less than an hour left until midnight.
Zhang Heng headed back toward the pool, and before long, he spotted the drones overhead again. Since he had