Chapter Twenty-Two: Searching

  Because the equipment for this trip was quite special, we chose to drive ourselves to Shennongjia. Wenlong said he had driven there once before and estimated it would take about 20 hours, so he planned our route. To conserve energy, we also scheduled rest stops along the way, so we drove in shifts, stopping and starting again, until finally arriving at Shennongjia on the third day, where we met up with the first team.

  That team leader obviously didn't expect Wu to come here in person, and was still sleeping soundly in his own tent. He was caught off guard by Wu, who had him right where he wanted him, leaving us with a big laugh. Under the guidance of the first echelon team members, we set up our tents in designated areas. After all the work was completed, we held a meeting at the temporary command post.

  Old Zhou was visibly more annoyed, two weeks of time not only yielded nothing, but also got blocked today, and more importantly, Wu announced that we would take over all the work, while their team could only do logistical support.

  Wu finished giving orders and said to Old Zhou: "Old Zhou, report on your recent exploration situation."

  "Wu Suo, the intelligence was false, and that broken place is also fake. We were all deceived." Old Zhou had been waiting for this day for a long time, so as soon as he opened his mouth, he blocked the back of his words. "Wu Suo, we used the most comprehensive search, what's the result? Nothing was found, let alone any minefields, not even a large piece of open land. Two weeks, we used all our exploration methods, how did it turn out? How did it turn out? If it weren't for false intelligence, would we be able to find nothing?"

  Wu looked at Old Man Su, meaning you go and settle it. Old Man Su coughed twice, interrupting Old Zhou's outburst, then said: "Actually, we've analyzed the situation this time, and we think there's a force in that place that interferes with people's perceptions, so it's not that Old Zhou searched poorly, but rather that kind of place can't be found using ordinary methods."

  Old Zhou retorted, "Impossible! We're all searching by region and we have compasses. It's impossible to lose our direction. The kind of power you're talking about that affects people's feelings? That's just nonsense. When did you start spouting such superstitious stuff?"

  Wu interrupted their argument and said: "Let's take it one step at a time, Old Zhou. What is your current personnel situation like? What about your supplies?"

  Zhou Lao didn't say a word, glanced at the side, and Zhou Lai Meng immediately took over: "The supply of materials is no problem, we have also contacted the local supply station, it can be said that there will be no problems for one or two years. There are no casualties in terms of personnel, and they can set off at any time. It's just..."

  "What's going on?" Wu looked at Zhou Lai Meng's hesitant expression and asked sternly.

  Zhou Lai Meng said with a sudden realization: "It's just that we have two long-range remote control aerial photography helicopters missing."

  "What!" Wu So immediately exploded, "Half a month, ah, half a month you haven't made any progress at all. I won't say anything about this because this mission is special. You didn't have any personnel losses and the logistics work wasn't bad either. Originally, I wanted to commend you, but you actually lost the aerial photography helicopter. Do you know how expensive that thing is? Do you know?"

  Everyone was silent, and I also knew for the first time that the institute actually had such a thing. It seems that in order to explore these ancient civilization sites, these people have not put in less effort.

  Old Zhou said with a scowl: "Wu Suo, this can't all be blamed on us. To be honest, if it weren't for the intelligence error, we wouldn't have suffered such losses either. We've also searched the area where the plane lost contact, but found nothing. It's as if it vanished into thin air. What do you think we should do?"

  "What to do?" Wu So-yu's anger had not dissipated, and he said: "Starting from this month, I will deduct half a year's salary from you. After you return, write me a self-criticism report and tell you that this is light. After reporting to the higher-ups, if there are any further instructions, you will all follow them." He paused for a moment, then continued: "Where did the helicopter go missing?"

  Zhou Lai Meng quickly pointed to a map spread out on the table, and I saw that they had drawn a red pencil circle around that area. The map was very clear, and it could be seen that they had done a lot of work, with every place marked with a pencil and various file numbers written next to them. It seemed that detailed introductions were in each file.

  He pointed at the red circle and said, "What do you think?" This is what he told us. I feel that he wants us to retrieve those two helicopters. It seems like this loss is indeed huge.

  Su Lao Yezi looked at me and then asked Zhou Lao Tou: "Are you sure you've searched this area?"

  Zhou Lao said with a somewhat wilted expression: "I've searched."

  "How did you search?"

  Old Zhou gave me a slanted glance, probably pondering how this young whippersnapper dared to ask such a direct question of a deputy director, but couldn't avoid answering, so he said: "Our organization had all personnel enter the area according to coordinates and conduct an all-around search, but nothing was found."

  I asked again: "How did you determine that you have entered this area?"

  Zhou Lao said with some anger, "We have a compass, is the compass good? This dense forest, how can you determine?"

  I smiled and said to Wu Suo: "Wu Suo, it seems they've taken the wrong path. The area they're searching must not be where the helicopter went missing."

  "What did you find?"

  I thought for a moment and said, "Actually, before we came, I was thinking that maybe we really can't find that place easily. The intelligence Wang Shengjun gave us shows that he also arrived at that place unconsciously. If we consciously search for it, it's very likely that we won't be able to find it."

  "Why?"

  I sorted out my thoughts and continued: "Because that formation must be under the protection of something, now thinking about it, the best protection is to establish another formation on the periphery, this formation doesn't have to be very powerful, just enough to make people lose their way."

  Old Zhou said, "Don't be fooled, what's the point of getting lost? Our compasses are all military equipment, do you know what kind of connections we had to make to get them? Besides, if we really got lost, wouldn't our people not be able to return?"

  I nodded and said, "You're right, but I just want to explain that this formation can confuse the compass because the compass is made based on magnetic principles. If a stronger magnetic substance is placed in this formation, it can cause your compass to deviate from its direction. At the same time, according to intelligence, this formation only controls entry and not exit, meaning if you want to enter, the formation will confuse you, but when you come out, it won't bother you."

  "Don't drag out these useless things." Old Zhou opposed, "You've been talking for half a day, all of which are hypothetical states. Can you produce any evidence?"

  I smiled and said: "So, you say you've searched the area where the plane went missing, can you bring out any evidence?"

  "You..." Old Zhou was a bit tongue-tied. Some things had happened, but it was indeed difficult to prove them with any kind of evidence.

  Wu interrupted us, saying: "Now is not the time to discuss what's real or fake. Now we need to find a way out. If there really is something in there that can lead us astray, then we won't be able to find our way back either. What will we do then? We can't just go back empty-handed, you all know that would be unacceptable."

  I smiled and said, "Wu Suo, to be honest, I didn't have much confidence in finding that place either. That formation, I've never seen it before. But after arriving, Captain Zhou did provide me with a method, so from this point of view, they weren't completely useless."

  Everyone looked at me, I felt their eyes were shining a bit, Wu asked: "What method?"

  "I said: 'Another helicopter has gone missing.'"

  "What?"

  Su Wei reached out and touched my forehead, then said: "You don't have a fever, how did you come up with such a rotten idea?"

  Wu Feng also said on the side: "It's very expensive, that thing is really expensive, have you thought it through? Three months' salary."

  "Those two haven't been found yet, and now you're adding another one? Aren't you just making things more complicated? Big brother, can't we think of some other way?"

  Su Lao Ye Zi felt relatively calm and said: "Xiao Bai, if you have any ideas, let's discuss them together. If we execute it directly, I think it may not be very realistic."

  I looked at them, smiled and said: "You're all too tense, don't get excited, my method is like this. First, we need a helicopter like this, then use sturdy ropes to tie it up, then release it into the missing area, when it falls down, won't there be a rope that points directly to the location of that area?"

  Wu Feng suddenly understood, clapped his hands and said: "Right! We can't trust our eyes, we can't trust the compass, but that rope is definitely tied to that helicopter. If we follow the rope, we'll find that helicopter, and who knows, maybe even the other two."

  I gave Wu Feng a high-five, proud of my own cleverness. Su Yi said from the side: "But we are in a forest area now, that rope is easy to get tangled in trees, and then the plane won't be able to fly to the designated area."

  I was stunned, I really didn't expect such a thing to happen. Damn it, I thought I was quite clever, but how could I not think of this being the forest area, with trees, and all those big trees with dense branches and leaves? Heaven, if you can fly, why grow trees? Now I somewhat understand the sorrow of Zhou Yu when he was outsmarted by Zhuge Liang.

  "Ah, I thought it was a good idea, but this idea is ridiculous. I can come up with three better ideas for one dollar. It's so bad that it's laughable. Haha..."

  He chuckled twice, seeing no one echoing him, and feeling it wasn't interesting anymore. At that time, I really wanted to take out a piece of money and put it in front of him, letting him come up with three options for us to choose from.

  "For three pieces of money, you can save some. " Wen Long, who had been silent all along, stood up at this time, first sarcastically said to Old Zhou, then walked over and put his arm around my shoulder, saying, "Your idea is really not bad, but it's not complete, do you want me to help you make it complete?"

  I was so excited and hurriedly asked: "You can complete it, that's great, how did you do it?"

  Wen Long stretched out a finger and said: "Dive to the bottom of the sea for a meal, no price is mentioned."

  "I said: 'No problem, how to do it?'"

  Wen Long smiled and said: "Two helicopters can do it."

  Su Yi suddenly lay on the table, pretending to cry and saying: "What did I do to provoke anyone? You're all crazy! Just now it was one plane, now it's two planes. My salary for half a year is gone. Who will support me if I have no money?"

  Wen Long patted her and said, "I didn't say both planes would go missing, at most, I said only one plane would go missing." He pointed to me and continued, "It's the one he said had a thread that went missing."

  Su Wei suddenly came to life, jumped up and grabbed my collar, saying: "I heard that your plane is definitely lost, so when you don't get paid for three months, you have to support me."

  "Ah——" I heard many people's tone of ridicule coming from the deepest part of their hearts, which also contained a person's killing intent.

  I raised my hands in surrender and said, "Sister, if we find the place smoothly, do we not have to pay compensation? Does that mean I don't have to support you?"

  "Wu Suo slammed his hand on the table and said: 'If you really find the place, I'll reward you with all the money they deducted from you.'"

  "Hurray!" We let out a cheer of celebration, as if the money was already in our hands.

  The old man had been silent all along, and now he stopped our celebration and asked Wen Long: "What's your plan? Tell me."

  Wen Long smiled and said: "It's easy for the line on the ground to get tangled in trees, so let's pull the line over from the air."

  Clever! I immediately understood Wen Long's method, it's really simple, unfortunately I just didn't think of it.

  "But...," Zhou Lai Meng interrupted, "Our institute only has three of these helicopters. We brought all three with us when we came. Now there's only one left."

  Everyone fell silent, and just as this method seemed feasible, it was about to be stillborn. Wu suddenly slapped the table, stood up, walked back and forth a couple of times, and said very firmly: "I'll report to my superiors."

  That's what leadership is all about, being able to take charge at critical moments, that's a leader. Respect!

  After Wu had a conversation with the person above, he was obviously scolded, but things were accomplished. The top has already dispatched one, and it is estimated that it will take three days to arrive at the camp. During this period, we organized several searches, of course, nothing was found. Wen Long took a trip to the city, saying that he was preparing for search materials. When he came back that day, he brought back a kite reel and kite string. Only then did we know what this guy was thinking.

  Three days later, another helicopter arrived, and I finally saw the legendary long-range unmanned helicopter. Z-5, a Chinese-made unmanned helicopter, was so cool that it blew my mind, although it was much smaller than what I had imagined.

  Wen Long estimated that he had already made preparations, first fixing the wire axis in the middle of one of the elevators, then pulling out the wire and tying it to the rear tail wing and body support rod of the other frame. After checking the situation again, he confirmed that there was no problem before issuing the takeoff command. The two helicopters were operated by Pang San and Xiao Jia, and I only then understood that Comrade Pang San also had this skill.

  Two helicopters took off simultaneously, kicking up a cloud of dust and smoke. We all held binoculars to watch this delicate operation, where one misstep could lead to disaster. The helicopter continued to rise until it was above the treetops before Wen Long issued the flight command. The first helicopter moved slowly forward, heading towards its target, which would make it disappear. Fortunately, it wasn't alone; I had a nagging feeling that we were sending it to its death, and my heart felt a pang of sympathy. The kite string was pulled out continuously, but remained straight as an arrow. As a former soldier, Wen Long was skilled at crafting such devices.

  "Five hundred meters to the destination." Xiaojia's voice came, and we all tensed up. This was a critical moment. "Four hundred meters, three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred meters, fifty meters." As Xiaojia's voice sounded, we couldn't help but tense up.

  "Twenty meters." Xiao Jia reported again. "Stop." I heard Wen Long's loud shout beside me.

  Xiao Jia's hands moved quickly a few times and said: "Stop, fifteen meters away from the target."

  Everyone looked at Wen Long, who was about to reach the target. He suddenly asked to stop for some reason. Wen Long asked Xiao Jia: "Is there any way to land?"

  Xiao Jia adjusted the remote control in his hand, apparently using a machine-mounted probe to search for a landing position. Then he shook his head and said: "It's not easy to handle, there is a small empty space, but it's too small, I'm afraid it's dangerous to land."

  Wen Long said: "Think of a way, you can do it, Xiao Jia."

  "Why did you stop here?" The old man came over and asked Wen Long.

  Wen Long said: "Originally, I also wanted the plane to fly to a designated location and then land. Later, I thought that if we lose control of the landing at that place, the line might be cut off by the propeller, so we may not be able to find that position when pulling the line. Now this position is only 15 meters away from the destination. Fifteen meters, with the naked eye, you can see the general situation, why take a helicopter to take risks."

  The old man patted Wen Long and said: "Good kid, you're right. Xiao Jia, it's up to you now."

  Xiao Jia nodded firmly and began to operate carefully. None of us dared to speak, not even daring to take a deep breath, for fear of disturbing her work. After half an hour, Xiao Jia finally looked up and smiled, saying: "Fortunately, I didn't disappoint you, the landing was successful."

  "Hurray!" We high-fived each other in celebration, and Su Yi even gave Xiao Jia a big hug. I heard her say loudly: "Xiao Jia, you've saved me three months' salary."

  Pang San's voice came: "What about this operation of mine?"

  We just remembered that he was still operating a helicopter. Wen Long hurriedly said: "Descend, descend, descend, hurry down."

  The helicopter landed, Wen Long took down the reel, tied the rope to a tree, and said to us: "Now it's okay, we have a basically straight line. As long as we follow this rope, there shouldn't be any major issues. If we set up coordinate points a bit denser, I think there won't be any problems."

  The old man looked up at the sky and said: "After dinner, we'll set off."