Daisy looked toward the sky and saw that it was already noon. It seemed that due to her efforts, the soldiers were not acting as timid as before. At their current pace, they would be able to climb over the mountain and reach their next destination this afternoon.
"Colonel, where have you been?" Mark asked anxiously as he saw Daisy return to the command area.
"Oh! Something came up. What happened?" Daisy pursed her lips and swallowed a few sips of water. The sultry weather and the battle had made her sweat all over.
"Well, some villagers went into the mountain while we were not looking. I was afraid they would accidentally get hurt by our soldiers." As Mark said this, he thought, 'I've got soldiers at the entrance to the mountain. How did the villagers slip in anyway?'
"Don't they know that this is a military drill base? I can't believe it! Arrange for some soldiers to find them, or we're done for." Daisy frowned and thought, 'Is there something wrong with my plan? Why don't the soldiers follow my orders?'
"Okay, Colonel. We will figure it out." As soon as Mark said that, he sprinted quickly to fulfill the orders. However, he didn't know if he could find the villagers in time.
Daisy felt very uneasy somehow. This had never happened before. People living nearby always knew this was a military training base, so they never rushed into the mountain. It could be that those who had entered the mountain were not natives, so they did not know that outsiders were not allowed in.
The waiting period was extremely long. Daisy not only feared that the villagers could be accidentally injured by her soldiers, she was also afraid that the entire training program would get compromised. Both outcomes were undesirable to Daisy. She hoped fervently that Mark would find the villagers as soon as possible. Although real bullets were not used during the training, the soldiers could use force. The villagers could fortuitously get hurt.
As the clock ticked by, Daisy waited long without hearing from Mark. So she put on her hat again and marched into the thick forest. To increase the difficulty of the training, many small traps had been set up in the forest. The longer the villagers stayed inside, the more likely they were to be in danger. If they accidentally fell into the pitfalls, the consequences would be serious.
As a drill commander, Daisy was the first person who would be held accountable.
As Daisy crept along the path into the mountain, she thought, 'This matter may not be as straightforward as I think. If they were just ordinary villagers, my soldiers would have found them long ago. What if they are hiding from the soldiers?'
Wondering at this, Daisy no longer walked along the mountain path, but chose a more secluded place with lush vegetation to move forward. She found the entire affair very strange. 'I placed many soldiers on guard at the foot of the mountain. Usually, the villagers would never sneak up the mountain without encountering them. They must have done it on purpose. But why would they do that?' Daisy pondered on the answer all the way on the path.
Many plants on the mountain had spines. They stabbed at Daisy's uncovered skin, but Daisy didn't care about that at all and bent to move forward stealthily. 'The grass and the uneven bushes along the road have been trampled. It must be them! They must have just passed from here!' Daisy thought.
Daisy knew those footprints had not been left by her soldiers. They would have moved along cautiously to avoid being found by others. They would never have left visible prints behind.
As a good sniper, Daisy knew what to do to keep her from being spotted, so she was careful and moved slowly along the tracks that they had left behind. At long last, Daisy saw the crowd of rebels, but Daisy didn't expect them to be more than ten people. This was totally different to Mark's observation. They also did not look to be honest people. Daisy held her breath and avoided sneaking out even a single sound, even if ants crept into her clothes.
"Shura, won't we attract those soldiers if we make a trade here?" A footman, who looked to be of young age, whispered as he looked around warily.
"Bah! You prick, shut up. Don't talk rubbish. Don't you know, the closer one is to danger, the farther he is from harm? You think those soldiers are smart enough to figure that out? Even if we are encountered by them, they will treat us as the villagers nearby,"
The middle-aged man, addressed as Shura by the footman, spat disdainfully. He sauntered around proudly. Shura was hardly worried the soldiers in the mountain would find them.
"You are doubtless as bold as people say you are. But where are my goods? Did you bring them with you?" Obviously, the man who just spoke was a gangster, Daisy thought. He looked ferocious and grim. The languid smile on his face was evil.
Don't worry! Now that we have a deal, I guarantee you will be satisfied with my goods. I'm just afraid that you, Yama, don't have enough money." Shura clapped his hands. Soon, a footman brought over a straw basket. Obviously, the goods Shura talked about were in that basket.
"I have plenty of money. As long as your goods are decent, I'll take them all." Yama was still young, so he was pretty arrogant.
"Bring it over and let Yama have a look." Shura sneered disdainfully. Why would he risk his life to come here if he wasn't well-prepared? However, he hadn't expected to see a military drill in operation. That took them a lot of time to sneak into the mountains.
"Yes, Shura." The footman brought the basket in front of Yama and put away the layer of weeds that covered it. He then took out a packet of white stuff and handed it to Yama.
As Daisy saw what was going on, she was so shocked that her eyes widened. She hadn't expected Heroin to be in the basket. Daisy recalled from her military lessons - 'The chemical name of Heroin is "diacetylmorphine', commonly known as the white powder. It is formed by the action of the morphine and acetic anhydride, and its analgesic effect is 4 to 8 times that of morphine.
Heroin has been widely used in anesthesia and analgesia in medicine. However, people are easily prone to be addicted to Heroin, and experience difficulties in giving it up. Long-term use of the drug destroys the immune function, resulting in damage to the main organs such as heart, liver, kidneys, etc. Injecting and smoking Heroin can also spread diseases such as AIDS. Historically, Heroin was used as a psychotropic drug for quitting morphine and finally, it was designated as a harmful recreational drug because of its excessive side effects. Therefore, Heroin, known as the king of the drug world, is one of the most dangerous drugs that is strictly monitored and banned in China.'
It seems pretty good. Is the price the same?" Yama dipped some heroin into his hand and licked it with his lips. A satisfied expression spread on his face. It was not difficult to see he was satisfied with the goods.
"Yes, the same price. I told you, you would be happy with my goods." Listening to Yama's words, Shura was delighted. He would be making a fortune soon.
"Here you are. This is your reward. You may check and see if the number is correct, " Yama said. He motioned to a footman next to him to throw a plastic woven bag over to Shura. Judging by the woven bag and straw basket, the rebels had obviously been very careful in their disguises as ordinary villagers. Unfortunately for them, however, Daisy had discovered their whereabouts despite their cautiousness.