For increased safety measures, the military unit stationed at the mountain top of Shuikou Village received an order from their superiors and started to increase their patrolling efforts. Shuikou Village was included as a key patrol village. At the same time, the village leader, Zhang Defu, received a call from the town's armed forces department. They said that there might be some movements recently and asked him to pay attention to whether any strangers entered the village.
As the villagers of Shuikou Village were adjacent to the military unit, soldiers from the military unit would often come when the village held a meeting. Hence, they were much more vigilant than the villagers of other villages. After knowing this, the villagers at the entrance to the village leashed their dogs at the entrance. Once there was any movement, they would know at any time.