The carriage quickly exited the inner city. Several fine official horses were waiting at the city gate, led by servants.
Xu Qi An’s group switched to fast horses, passing through the streets and bustling markets of the outer city. In just half an hour, they left the outer city. The six riders immediately increased their speed, rushing towards Mount Dahuang.
“Official horses are fast. We’re approaching 50 miles per hour. Could horses in my past life run this fast?” Xu Qi An mused inwardly.
Was this the difference in Qi content often mentioned in novels?
This guess made sense, as Qi cultivation was essentially a method of breath control.
The group arrived at the edge of Mount Dahuang at noon. They stopped by the official road, tied their horses to tree trunks by the roadside, ate some dried rations, and then took a narrow mountain path into the mountain.
The six of them ran at full speed. After a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the river flowing at the foot of Mount Dahuang.
Searching along the river for a moment, they found several blurred footprints, about three feet long and one and a half feet wide, with four toes.
Lü Qing and her two colleagues took off the packages on their backs, took out explosive packs, and distributed them to Xu Qi An and the others:
“Using the claw prints as the center, we’ll go downstream to throw explosive packs. You go upstream and see if you can force the monster out of the river.”
This was a pre-planned strategy.
The Great Feng Dynasty had very strict control over gunpowder. The formula was kept secret, and all materials needed for manufacturing gunpowder were monopolized by the court.
Even Night Watchmen and constables like Lü Qing only knew a little about the composition of gunpowder.
They could only smell it.
Both sides lit the explosive packs and threw them into the river.
“Boom!”
A muffled explosion sounded, and the river water splashed several zhang high.
Soon, the explosive packs were exhausted. The group stood on the shore, watching the turbid waves roll by. They waited for a long time but didn’t see any monster surface.
“It would be good if we had a mage from the Astronomical Bureau to help,” Xu Qi An sighed.
The Aura Observation technique could locate the monster’s position by observing its monster qi.
Song Tingfeng snorted and said in a low voice, “The mages of the Astronomical Bureau are much nobler than us Night Watchmen. They only take orders from the Emperor. Don’t expect them to be bothered with such a small case.”
The mages of the Astronomical Bureau are very noble. I don’t think so. You haven’t seen their expressions of reverence when looking at me.
Xu Qi An nodded in agreement.
The two groups met up. Song Tingfeng shrugged: “It seems it won’t come out. My suggestion is to go into the mountains and take a look. If there’s something in Mount Dahuang.”
Xu Qi An added, “Let’s check the areas where the unregistered households collect limestone first.”
Lü Qing pondered and nodded.
The two groups entered the mountain in batches, one in front and one behind, separated by tens of meters.
Song Tingfeng gestured towards Lü Qing’s back with his mouth: “This female captain from the government office has quite a figure. Look at that bottom, firm and tight, and those powerful legs could make your soul fly to the heavens. The girls from the brothels may be delicate, but they’re too weak.”
I agree. And these martial women have abs, smooth curves, and taut thighs. Maybe even shallow abdominal muscles… This reminds me of my wife Tifa… Xu Qi An pondered and said, “But it seems she’s used to binding her chest. That’s not good, it can cause breast deformation and sagging.”
Song Tingfeng was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: “You noticed that too. I’ve been lacking an interesting companion like you. Zhu Guangxiao is as dull as ditchwater.”
For men, talking about lewd topics is always an interesting and time-consuming entertainment.
Zhu Guangxiao glanced at him but remained silent.
The unregistered households mainly collected limestone on the main peak of Mount Dahuang. From a distance, the group could see the exposed rock on the mountain body, looking like white patches on a face.
Years of mining had left the towering main peak riddled with holes.
Both groups searched aimlessly in the mountain for a long time but didn’t find anything of value.
While gathering to drink water, Lü Qing said, “Mount Dahuang not only has high-quality limestone but also rich vegetation that can be felled on the spot as a dye. It’s very convenient for unregistered households to set up kilns, dig and burn as they go, and crush as they burn.
“There’s also a river at the foot of the mountain, making transportation convenient. Less fuel is needed, and the lime produced is of high quality. Less effort for more profit.”
Another constable from the government office added, “So the taxes are heavy. If they can’t mine lime anymore, they’ll lose their livelihood.”
So they reported to the government office… Xu Qi An was silent for a moment, then sighed, “Harsh taxes and levies breed refugees. The fat and marrow of the people are the most delicious food.”
Everyone fell silent instantly, no one daring to respond.
Song Tingfeng coughed, changing the subject: “The monster won’t come out of the water, and we don’t have enough manpower to search the mountain. Captain Lü, do you have any suggestions?”
Although he had just been lusting after her body, Song Tingfeng wouldn’t underestimate this woman just because she had a big chest and a nice bottom.
Lü Qing pondered, “We should split into three groups of two. One group goes to find the village heads of nearby villages; another returns to the capital to gather people for a mountain search; I’ll go to the Prefect to request a mage from the Astronomical Bureau to help.”
“That would waste too much time,” Xu Qi An waved his hand and said, “Choose one person to find the village heads of nearby villages, the rest stay here.”
Lü Qing frowned slightly.
Xu Qi An glanced at her: “If we don’t find anything, I’ll be responsible for finding a mage from the Astronomical Bureau.”
He spoke with such confidence… Would the mages of the Astronomical Bureau listen to him?
Lü Qing scrutinized Xu Qi An for a moment, then nodded slightly and dispatched a colleague to gather people.
In less than half an hour, the constable at the peak of the Qi Refining realm returned with an old man.
“This humble one’s surname is Zhang, the village head of Hegou Village outside Mount Dahuang,” the old man bowed somewhat awkwardly, his tone excited:
“This humble one has finally waited for you, esteemed officials. If you hadn’t come, the villagers wouldn’t have been able to make ends meet.”
This matter had been dragging on for nearly half a year.
Lü Qing stared at him, her gaze sharp and her expression stern: “Tell me, where did those last ten or so people who entered the mountain die?”
“In the south…” the village head pointed towards the southern part of the mountain range: “They went in from the opposite direction of the river.”
Song Tingfeng’s heart stirred: “Are there lime kilns over there too?”
After their earlier exploration, they found that the most concentrated area for lime burning was not far from the river. The unregistered households who took a detour into the mountain certainly wouldn’t dare to choose this side to burn lime.
Because if the monster came ashore, no one could escape.
The village head nodded: “A few scattered points, not as many as this side.”
“Take us there,” Lü Qing said sternly.
“Yes!” The village head seemed to be very afraid of this female captain.
The group headed south. The mountain path was rugged, and climbing was extremely difficult. They also had to take care of the old village head, so they weren’t moving very fast.
“It’s here.” The village head stopped on the narrow path, pointing ahead. It was an open space that had been excavated.
Rocks were piled up, vegetation had been cut down, and there were several cave-like kilns used for burning lime.
The group searched the site but didn’t find any valuable clues. This place had already been cleaned up.
Song Tingfeng and Lü Qing looked at each other and shook their heads.
Xu Qi An said, “Let’s take a look inside the kiln.”
The group improvised, lighting torches and drawing their swords, cautiously entering the earthen kiln.
They originally thought it was just a kiln for burning lime and wouldn’t be too deep, but as they walked, Xu Qi An and the others realized something was wrong.
This was no kiln; it was a tunnel dug by humans. It took them the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to reach the bottom.
Song Tingfeng squinted and said, “A kiln doesn’t need to be dug this deep. This is obviously for excavating something. There are no signs of smoke or fire on the rock walls either.”
Lü Qing called the village head over and demanded, “What’s going on?”
The village head was stunned, stammering, “I… I don’t know…”
Xu Qi An held up the torch, observing the rock walls, and carefully examined the ground for a moment. He casually picked up a palm-sized white mineral.
Is this what they’re mining?
This doesn’t seem to be limestone.
Xu Qi An exerted force with his palm, his Qi surging. With a “crack,” the white mineral was crushed into powder in his hand.
He held up the torch and sprinkled the powder towards the flame.
Whoosh!
The torch instantly burst into flames, bright yellow with a dull purple tinge.
Saltpeter?!
Xu Qi An’s pupils contracted.
The sudden burst of flames startled everyone in the stone cave. The sound of Qi being concentrated on swords was heard one after another.
Lü Qing, seeing it was Xu Qi An’s doing, said with a hint of anger: “What are you doing?”