Chen Yuan furrowed his brow, pacing back and forth in the room, his thoughts whirring madly as he tried to deduce the bandits' hideout. The map of Ping'an County and the county annals were laid out together. Chen Yuan clearly remembered that when he had perused the county annals, he had noted the general terrain of Ping'an County.
Suddenly, Chen Yuan stopped in his tracks, turning his head sharply towards Wang Qian:
"How many bandits did you see in total?"
Wang Qian recalled for a moment, then replied:
"About thirty or more."
"Was there any kind of distinguishing mark on them?"
Wang Qian's brow knitted tightly:
"Their clothes were very disheveled, it was hard to make out any markings, but the weapons they held were well-ordered, standard cavalry sabers."
"Standard cavalry sabers..."
Vaguely, Chen Yuan felt he was on to something and hastily asked:
"Anything else?"
"The leader of the bandits wore a mask, making it impossible to see his face..."
