According to the original plan, Lu Chuan and the others needed to advance further today and reach the next campsite.

However, the discovery of two skeletal remains in the valley delayed them significantly.

Now, the group faces two choices.

The first is to end the reconnaissance mission here and take the remains back.

However, the goal of the operation has not been achieved; there are still no clues about the two missing female university students.

The other option is to continue forward, stick to the original plan, and speed up the pace today to reach the next campsite.

But what about the two skeletal remains?

"Director Li, how about this? We leave two people here to guard the remains and take them back with us when we return."

Chen Hu felt that turning back halfway at this point wasn’t appropriate, but leaving the remains here didn’t sit well with him either.

Fortunately, there are plenty of people, so leaving two officers behind shouldn’t significantly impact the subsequent reconnaissance.

However, Li Donglin did not immediately agree to Chen Hu’s proposal.

The dangers within Beiliang Mountain include not just the weather but also wild animals like wolves and tigers.

The risk of danger is minimal when there are over a dozen people together, but leaving two officers alone here worried Li Donglin about potential unforeseen events.

He also had another concern, which he didn’t voice.

That concern was that of the three victims found earlier, one died from a gunshot.

Although ballistic analysis confirmed that the assailant used a homemade shotgun, which isn’t particularly powerful,

it’s certain that the killer is armed.

What if, when the main group moves into the mountains, the left-behind officers encounter the killer?

Although the likelihood is very small, Li Donglin couldn’t ignore the possibility.

"Lu Chuan, if we leave the remains here, will it significantly affect your subsequent analysis?"

Lu Chuan shook his head: "I’ve completed the initial analysis. What’s needed next are instruments to analyze the elemental composition of the bones."

"Leaving the remains here won’t affect the subsequent work."

"Moreover, I don’t recommend spreading our forces thin; sticking together ensures greater safety."

"In that case, let’s go with Lu Chuan’s suggestion; the team shouldn’t be divided, and we should proceed as originally planned."

"We’ll temporarily leave the two remains here and take them out when we return."

With the next actions determined, the group didn’t delay further and hurried toward the next valley.

"Heads up, we might have to travel at night, so let’s stay close together. It’s hard to see the path in the dark, so be careful."

Chen Guoshi has extensive wilderness survival experience.

According to him, if someone indeed took the two girls forward then, they couldn’t have gone far.

"As you mentioned, the supplies in the place where the remains were found weren’t taken, which implies... the perpetrators weren’t planning to leave survivors."

Old Chen, who hunted in the mountains earlier, knew more about the area than Lu Chuan and the others.

"Some people still live in the mountains and primarily hunt for a living."

"Old Chen, isn’t hunting prohibited now?"

"They hunt stealthily; it’s lucrative and quick money."

"Those two discovered, nine out of ten had encountered the wolves."

This is Old Chen’s term for the poachers in the mountains.

"Those people are desperados who definitely won’t spare women if they encounter them."

"Old Chen, do you know any of them?"

"Director Li, you’re joking. Those who deal with the wolves are all desperate criminals; there’s no way I’d know such people."

"They generally don’t leave the mountains and, if they do, always go to fixed places."

"Old Chen, what did you mean when you said those people weren’t planning to leave survivors?"

Lu Chuan asked about what Chen Guoshi had just mentioned.

"Because the supplies mountain people carry are fixed, they bring only enough for the planned number of days.

"More people mean more rations."

"If those two girls really were taken, with no food and the tiring mountain paths, they could hold on for at most one or two days, and they’d inevitably be left behind."

En route, Chen Guoshi shared some of the things he knew.

Behind, Chen Hu was also explaining to Lu Chuan and Li Donglin.

"In recent years, the authorities implemented policies to close mountains for forest growth and prohibit logging and hunting."

"Yet due to the high economic returns, poaching by the wolves continues unabated."

"We’ve dismantled two gangs over the years, but at least two or three groups are still roaming the mountains."

Chen Hu pointed to Old Chen, who was leading the way: "For cases like these disappearances, locals like Old Chen believe they’re the wolves’ doing."

"Aren’t the locals afraid?"

Lu Chuan didn’t quite understand.

If Beiliang Mountain was so dangerous, why were there so many tourists?

And why were villagers acting as guides?

In the front, Chen Guoshi apparently heard Lu Chuan’s question: "Director Lu, we’re not taking the same path as them."

"The wolves take the hunting paths, like the one we’re walking on now."

"We walk the herbal paths, which aren’t the same."

Chen Hu continued explaining: "Mountain people respect traditions; those on hunting paths eat meat, those on herbal paths eat plant-based foods."

"Those who enter the mountains via herbal paths collect wild produce to sell."

"Herbal paths have abundance along the way."

"Hunting paths are different; they are made by animals, not humans, and hunters follow these paths to catch large animals."

Lu Chuan nodded in realization.

These things, he indeed didn’t know.

According to Chen Hu, not everyone knows about the hunting paths.

Old Chen was a hunter before, so he knew of them.

Ordinary people wouldn’t find them or bother looking.

As Old Chen put it, the guide who died half a year ago overstepped boundaries.

Time passed quickly as Chen Guoshi shared the mountain customs.

Moreover, as predicted, the sun had set, and the team hadn’t reached the next campsite.

"I have some rope; everyone tie it around your waist so we can move in a line."

Old Chen had a string of rope on his chest when entering the mountain, though none had known its use until now.

At nightfall, temperatures dropped rapidly, with dew quickly forming.

What was once a dry path became exceptionally slippery.

The rope helped immensely; tethered together, even if someone slipped, it wasn’t a big issue.

Ring ring ring.

The satellite phone in Chen Hu’s backpack rang.

After a short while, an excited Chen Hu reported to Li Donglin after ending the call.

"Director Li, the fingerprints Lu Chuan found have been successfully matched!"