"Okay."

Xu Fan nodded, then he and Zhang Shicun left the conference room together.

As they went downstairs, they soon saw a Jeep coming towards them not far away.

As it approached, the Jeep braked and came to a stop.

"Get in."

It was clear that this group of people in the car were all Zhang Shicun's comrades.

Obviously, like Xu Fan, they didn't want Zhang Shicun to bear all this alone.

Once Xu Fan and Zhang Shicun got in the car, the Jeep started up again and left the military district.

From the military headquarters to the border area where the Bramble Squad had their incident, there was quite a distance.

It was already past seven, and by the time they all reached the destination, it was around 9:30 at night.

The Jeep had already entered the forest, and in the pitch-dark night, they could only rely on the high beams to see the road ahead.

Fortunately, they were all experienced special forces soldiers; otherwise, they would have overturned the vehicle in this environment.

Shaking and wobbling, the Jeep soon stopped.

By the map's marked location, it was clear they had arrived at the place where the Bramble Squad lost contact that day.

"Get out."

Arriving at the destination, it was time to start investigating. Xu Fan beckoned and took the lead by jumping out of the Jeep.

Stepping on the leaf-covered mud, Xu Fan squinted and surveyed the surroundings.

This area was an uninhabited dense forest at the border, and it was especially quiet at this time of night.

All they could hear were the chirps of insects and calls of birds, occasionally mixed with distant howls of wild animals.

Xu Fan spread out his divine sense as he moved around, starting to search for clues.

This dense forest seemed ordinary, but it was actually the border connecting Huaxia and Myanmar.

Drug traffickers often tried to cross here into Huaxia territory.

The Bramble Squad patrolled this area to prevent such activities.

Now that the entire squad was missing, it wasn't because they encountered drug traffickers' assassins. Xu Fan couldn't help but wonder what they had seen to bring about such a catastrophe.

"This..."

Xu Fan walked to a large tree and his fingers brushed over a deep scratch on the trunk.

The scratch nearly cut the hundred-year-old tree in half, with a smooth cut surface, clearly not made by bullets.

Releasing his inner strength confirmed Xu Fan's earlier thoughts.

The enemy the Bramble Squad had encountered was at least an expert in the Innate Realm.

Following the direction of the scratch, Xu Fan spread out his divine sense and continued searching ahead.

It had already been seven days since the incident, and most evidence, like footprints, had become difficult to detect.

Not to mention, the other party had even deliberately cleaned up traces before leaving to cut off clues.

"Brother Xu Fan, it's really hard to find any clues nearby..."

Zhang Shicun walked over to Xu Fan with a flashlight.

It wasn't that he wanted to dampen spirits, but he had searched this area at least ten times.

Whatever could be found had already been discovered.

However, the clues left behind were of little use.

It was impossible to deduce who attacked the Bramble Squad.

"Don't rush, there will always be overlooked places."

Xu Fan was unaffected by Zhang Shicun's discouragement; he smiled slightly and continued walking forward.

"This?"

Zhang Shicun stood behind and watched Xu Fan as he picked up a fallen leaf.

Could a leaf reveal something?

Curious, Zhang Shicun followed.

"Brother Xu Fan, what are you doing?"

Not understanding what Xu Fan was up to, Zhang Shicun asked curiously.

"Look at this leaf."

Xu Fan smiled and handed the leaf to him.

"This..."

As Zhang Shicun took the leaf, he noticed a small burn hole on it...

This was obviously caused by a cigarette, with bits of ash still visible.

Among countless fallen leaves, how did Xu Fan find this one?

Such meticulous skill made Zhang Shicun feel both admiration and shame.

If it weren't for Xu Fan coming, he probably would never have found these leaves in his lifetime.

Soon, Xu Fan found a few more leaves, all with cigarette burns.

Holding these leaves, Zhang Shicun looked at Xu Fan.

What could these leaves indicate?

Xu Fan explained to Zhang Shicun, "Even though only one person fought the Bramble Squad, it's clear that there were more of them around."

This was the site of the incident. They encountered the Bramble Squad here and quickly started fighting.

They only sent one person to fight, while the others were likely waiting on standby.

When they grew impatient, someone started smoking.

To avoid leaving any clues, they cleaned up all cigarette butts on the ground afterward.

But these leaves, blown by the wind and mixed among the fallen leaves, were naturally overlooked when they hurriedly retreated.

Listening to Xu Fan's explanation made Zhang Shicun's scalp tingle.

One person had wiped out the entire Bramble Squad, and there were accomplices, making it even harder to deal with.

"Don't worry, his accomplices shouldn't be too powerful."

Seeing Zhang Shicun's worried expression, Xu Fan comforted him.

If all of them were experts in the Innate Realm, the Bramble Squad wouldn't have made it this far.

"And look at this."

Apparently discovering something else, Xu Fan walked forward, and Zhang Shicun quickly followed.

They saw another mark on a large tree.

This mark wasn't deep and looked like it was made by a whip.

"This..."

Zhang Shicun recalled that he should have noticed this before.

But this mark alone didn't explain anything.

"..."

Seeing Zhang Shicun's dejected expression, Xu Fan couldn't help but shake his head.

"This mark was made by a whip, right?"

"Yeah, it has to be."

Hearing Xu Fan's question, Zhang Shicun confirmed with a nod.

Xu Fan pointed at the whip mark and said, "Clearly, this whip was meant to strike someone, but they dodged, so it hit the tree."

"From this mark, can you deduce the height of the person being whipped?"

"This..."

Zhang Shicun looked at the mark's height on the trunk and frowned in thought.

The mark was very low, and Zhang Shicun simulated the whip movement, quickly arriving at an answer.

"Less than 1.5 meters, even lower..."

Hearing Zhang Shicun's answer, Xu Fan nodded.

"If it's one of their own, why would they use a whip on them?"

"This..."

Another question came, and Zhang Shicun scratched his head, guessing, "Could they be escorting a group of people rather than being comrades?"

"With such a low height, could it be a child?"

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