"Everyone, avoid making any unnecessary movements. Keep a close eye on the things you brought with you, and follow the steps we discussed earlier, one at a time. I hope everything goes smoothly."
After giving his final instructions, Yao Shunyu and the other five split up. Their mission for the night officially began.
He didn't rush. Yao Shunyu first circled the area near the mountainside from a distance, then headed toward the cave entrance with the character Yao written above it. He kept his distance and stopped at a safe spot.
A brick wall blocked the entrance, leaving only a gap at the very top. The bricks used to build it were just like the one he carried.
He stared at the gap. It was pitch-black inside. The longer he looked, the more it seemed the whole world was spinning, as if a whirlpool were about to swallow him.
Yao Shunyu quickly looked away. He took out his phone, pointed the camera at the entrance, and zoomed in, then in further. At last, he could make it out: a pair of blood-red eyes lurking in the darkness beyond the gap.
"Found it..."
Yao Shunyu breathed a sigh of relief. There was bound to be something wrong inside the cave; he'd been prepared for that for a long time. What he'd really feared was that it would be empty.
He put his phone away and walked up to the cave. From closer by, he could make out more details. The cave had been carved directly into the mountainside, and it looked fairly spacious inside. It couldn't have been easy to dig such a cave into solid rock.
As his gaze shifted, Yao Shunyu noticed something more important: the cave's edges were scored with scratches, as if someone had dug them out