The elders, upon hearing this, clapped their hands in praise, "What a brilliant plan, what a brilliant plan. If we hide early, they would hardly foresee it."
Ye Cheng smiled and said, "If we're lucky, the shipping will resume tomorrow, and perhaps we can escape by then."
Li Jiu asked, "What if our hiding place is discovered?" Li Xian replied, "I've already investigated, and the situation at the shipping port is complex, with people gathered from all over. We can hide within the logs, fill the hollow inside with cotton, making it indistinguishable from solid wood, and we might escape detection."
"There's no news yet of the resumption of shipping. They would surely not expect us to be hiding inside a ship. When the news is out, they will surely inspect the ships thoroughly, guarding all around. But by then, we will already be hiding in the timber, living there for some time. They will undoubtedly overlook us as they would never guess we've been lurking all along."
