The Bagnia soldiers guarding the Tia Family were highly vigilant. Black-and-White Bear had been caught, and no amount of talking could persuade them.
Fortunately, before Black-and-White Bear was forced to act, more soldiers arrived, and one of them recognized him... he had seen Black-and-White Bear wielding his Mo Dao on the battlefield.
Oh, that was good news indeed... it made Black-and-White Bear abandon his plan to draw his weapon and subdue everyone present.
The place where the maid Martha had brought Black-and-White Bear was a trap. That narrow crack in the rock was her escape route.
It was a clever design. Anyone who forced Martha to lead them to the family's hiding place would surely be a Minisian soldier, broad and burly, and wearing armor.
Only a slender woman could pass through such a narrow crack. If danger truly arose, Martha could seize the chance to escape while leaving the enemy to her allies hidden nearby.
And sure enough, even a seasoned player like Black-and-White Bear had fallen for it.
The trick might have been old, but it certainly worked.
Since this was a trap, the Tia Family's hiding place was naturally elsewhere. Their actual refuge lay two kilometers away, in a narrow valley on the other side of a mountain.
The valley was well hidden, like a carefully stitched wound in the earth, embedded deep between two steep mountain walls.
Its entrance was not an open gateway. Instead, a massive rock ledge jutting diagonally from the mountainside, covered in moss and vines, cleverly concealed most of it. Unless someone walked right up to it, they would scarcely notice the passage behind the ledge.
A stream flowing down from the mountaintop formed a slender silver waterfall here, plunging into a deep pool below. Its burbling provided both a water source