Zhang Xiaobei left Jiang Changhai and hurried to the cave entrance. Although it appeared not far from where he stood—merely five or six li away—actually making the journey turned out to be somewhat laughable.
With Zhang Xiaobei's pace, it took him more than half an hour. Based on his movement speed, the cave entrance had to be at least ten li from where he and Jiang Changhai had been hiding.
When he approached the cave entrance, Zhang Xiaobei could see clearly that it was wide, roughly five or six meters, and about seven or eight meters high, surrounded by trees all around.
What confused Zhang Xiaobei, however, was the absence of any smell of cooking smoke at the entrance.
To say there was none would be an exaggeration—yet the scent was far fainter than what he had detected on his way there.
If the cave sheltered a vile hideout, then why would the smell of cooking smoke diminish as he got closer to the entrance?
Could he have miscalculated?
