We split into two groups and stealthily approached the sentries.
The two sentries were clearly infatuated with the women at the town's flower shop, chatting away.
We had no mood to listen to their lewd talk. My senior and I, each holding a cloth soaked in medicine, bent low and moved towards them.
In a flash, as we reached them, we leaped up, covering their mouths and noses with the cloths. They grunted, their legs went weak, and they slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Seeing that we had dealt with the sentries, the Daoist brothers quickly moved towards the gauze tent. The three of them simultaneously pounced, and through the tent, they attacked the four occupants like eagles preying on their catch.
The sentries' grunts had already alerted the occupants, who were about to emerge from the tent. Suddenly, three shadows lunged at them, and they cried out.
My senior and I quickly moved over, cut through the gauze with a dagger, and covered their mouths with cloths. After a few cries, they too fell silent.
After dealing with these men, we disarmed them, seizing five rifles, one pistol, and a good supply of ammunition.
Surprisingly, they also had some canned beef and several cases of compressed biscuits, all imported from America, indicating preparations for a prolonged conflict.
It seemed Brother Hui had cast a wide net, with his men positioned to intercept us from any direction we might enter.
However, it was a pity he had hired a bunch of amateurs. These casually recruited locals were no match for us.
He had few elite fighters, only a handful of men in black, who were likely guarding him now.
During our time at his camp, I observed that his newly recruited subordinates, numbering around forty, were mostly like Ah Bei when he first joined – useful for running errands and standing guard, meant to intimidate ordinary citizens. Against martial artists, they wouldn't even have time to react.
"What about these guys?" I asked my senior, knowing they would wake up once the medicine wore off.
"They are ordinary people, not truly evil. We'll tie them up and prevent them from disrupting our plans. There's no need to kill them."
I nodded and, with the Daoist brothers, untied their belts, binding their hands and feet. We stuffed their mouths with cloth and laid them on the mats beneath the torn tent. We then sprinkled them with insect repellent to prevent them from being eaten alive by mosquitoes, even if we spared their lives.
The scent of the repellent was strong enough to ward off even venomous snakes.
In Southeast Asia, where mosquitoes are prevalent, the industry for insect repellent is highly developed with many varieties. Brother Hui's camp was deep in the mountains and forests, and each of his men was equipped with two or three types of repellent.
We each put a bottle in our pockets and then made our way back towards Brother Hui's camp, following the path we had taken to escape earlier that day.
Using the scavenged flashlights, we navigated through the bushes. Fortunately, many people had come during the day, creating a clear trail. Unlike our ingress, we didn't have to search as hard, just following the haphazardly bent grass and branches.
After crossing the mountaintop and descending a bit, we reached the foot of the mountain.
Through the sparse branches, we could see the entire camp illuminated by lights. There were many people standing in the open area, and we could also see one or two men in black moving among them, speaking, seemingly giving instructions.
No doubt, they were reinforcing the perimeter and guarding against our return.
My senior frowned, understanding the immense difficulty of infiltrating the camp.
It was around nine o'clock at night, and we couldn't act rashly. Even if these men were not skilled fighters, they were armed with guns. If even one person fired a warning shot, it wouldn't alert the men in black, but the dozens of guns would riddle us with bullets.
My senior signaled us to retreat a few dozen meters to devise a new plan.
My senior: "In the current situation, a direct confrontation is not feasible. It would be best to infiltrate Brother Hui's room directly, control Brother Hui and the men in black, and then the outer perimeter personnel will lose their fighting capability."
"Yes, we cannot engage with the people in the open. Not only are we outnumbered, but the men in black will immediately come to support us, essentially walking into a trap," I replied.
At this point, Little Zhang said, "How about I go out first to lure them away, and you find an opportunity to break in?"
"No, that's too dangerous. These people are inexperienced and will shoot indiscriminately. You'd likely become a target before you even ran a few steps," I quickly rejected his suggestion.
"Little Zhang's idea isn't entirely without merit, but there's no need to lure them. Don't we still have a set of black-clothed men's uniforms? When they get tired later, we can disguise ourselves as one of them and sneak up on a few, creating an opening, and we'll approach the target through that gap," my senior suggested.
When we escaped during the day, Little Zhang and I had switched clothes. Another Daoist brother was still wearing the black-clothed man's uniform.
However, it had many tears from drifting in the water, making it look ragged.
But at night, it wouldn't be noticeable.
It seemed like our only option. However, given that the Daoist brother was injured, sending him down might not be ideal.
Little Zhang said, "Let me do it. You switch clothes with me, and I'll go later."
My senior nodded and took out a dagger from his pocket, handing it to Little Zhang. This was his usual weapon, made of special steel. It was small and exquisitely crafted, incredibly sharp.
"Take this. Remember, strike decisively, leave no loose ends!"
Little Zhang nodded and took the dagger, "I understand!"
Time ticked by. We rehearsed the action plan several more times until we were convinced it was as perfect as it could be.
Now, everyone found a place with a bit more space to sit down and wait for the time to pass.
Thanks to the captured mosquito repellent, we applied it to our exposed skin, saving us from many bites. The mosquitoes in the forest were formidable. The moment they landed, their proboscis would pierce the skin. Even swatting them dead was futile; the venom had already entered the flesh.
After being bitten, a hard lump would form with a hole in the center, from which yellowish fluid would continuously ooze. Besides the intense itching and pain, the skin would fester. No medicine worked until that piece of flesh rotted away. The result was a permanent scar the size of a soybean left on that spot.
Therefore, the best solution was to prevent them from biting you in the first place.
The repellent issued by Brother Hui was produced by Old Thai and was very effective. After application, even mosquitoes several meters away would not fly near.
It was fortunate that we had taken these items with us. Otherwise, if we had stayed in the bushes for this long, even without Brother Hui's intervention, the mosquitoes alone could have wiped us out.
My senior glanced at his phone. It was 11:40. The time was still a bit early; we planned to start our operation at two in the morning.