Moon Hai twisted her head and asked Sun Zhong, who was sitting at the very back, "Right, you told us earlier that the mining area was a secret, that only you two knew about it?"
Sun Zhong nodded. "Yes."
"But with such a big sign here, wouldn't they send people to check it out themselves?"
Sun Zhong shook his head and said, "You'll understand when we get inside."
The car drove for another ten minutes before stopping at the foot of a mountain. There was no road ahead.
It wasn't entirely forest, but the original road was now sealed off by tin sheets. Next to the sheets were piled-up杂物, and in large black letters, "Black-Hearted Enterprise" was spray-painted.
Sun Zhong sighed and said, "Since the rumors started, our daily ore extraction has been increasingly obstructed, and it finally became like this."
If it weren't for the fact that mining couldn't continue, he wouldn't have been so eager to resolve this matter. The money he had earned before was almost all spent. If this dragged on any longer, they wouldn't be able to hold on.
"How do we do this?"
Gao Baisong turned back and asked. Sun Zhong bent over.
"We'll walk. It's not far, only ten minutes if we take the shortcut."
"Then let's walk. Once the location is confirmed, we'll return to Shangjing immediately."
The main purpose of this trip was to confirm the location of the mining area, then return to Shangjing to discuss with Li Chonglou, and subsequently, to thoroughly help the Sun brothers resolve their troubles.
Therefore, they needed to confirm their leverage first.
Thus, led by Sun Zhong, the group passed through the mountains and arrived at a mining site.
Upon reaching the site, Moon Hai still didn't understand what Sun Zhong had said earlier. However, after they walked into the mine tunnel, he instantly understood.
"Damn, so many passages? How do you keep track of the routes? Aren't you afraid of getting lost?"
Moon Hai was petrified seeing the rows of mining tunnels. In his original understanding, he had always thought that mining involved digging a single tunnel deeper and deeper.
But what lay before him was like an anthill. Just in sight, there were over a dozen mine tunnels!
Sun Zhong smiled and said, "Of course, we're not afraid of getting lost. I deliberately made it this way."
When he discovered the value of the force metal, Sun Zhong had immediately hired professionals to implement secrecy measures, including the secrecy of information and location.
This was also why many people didn't know where his mineral resources were located.
It should be known that what everyone saw now was less than a tenth of the tunnel entrances. Without a route map, or remembering the route themselves, even Li Chonglou, if he came, would likely be trapped here without his divine eye!
Therefore, Sun Zhong was quite proud of the masterpiece before him.
"Alright, lead the way. And draw me a route map later."
Black Blade urged. Sun Zhong continued to lead. Sun Xing, who had been silently following behind, suddenly put his hands behind his back and slowed down.
If anyone observed closely, they would notice that Sun Zhong and the others normally walked at a pace of two steps per second, but Sun Xing's pace was one and a half steps, clearly half a beat slower.
His position gradually lagged behind. Just then, Sun Xing suddenly bumped into something, got startled, and instinctively cried out.
Those in front, holding flashlights, immediately turned to look. They saw Sun Xing and Sen Lang standing there.
Sun Zhong thought Sen Lang was attacking Sun Xing, his expression instantly became tense, and he hurried over.
"Xing, what's wrong?"
Sun Xing shook his head, but Sen Lang said indifferently, "Why are you walking so slowly? Are you not feeling well?"
Sun Zhong came to Sun Xing's side and asked with a frown, "What happened?"
Sen Lang shrugged and spread his hands. "You ask him. I'm responsible for covering the rear and ensuring your safety, but he kept slowing down and bumped into me himself."
Sun Zhong's face immediately tensed again, but he saw the former shake his head. "I'm fine. Perhaps the light wasn't very good behind me, and I was distracted."
Sen Lang chuckled. "Take him to the front. It gets darker the further we go in, and it won't be good if someone gets lost."
Sun Zhong's heart tightened, and he quickly nodded. "Right! Xing, you come with me to the front. Just follow me."
"This, brother, I want to..."
Before Sun Xing could finish speaking, Sun Zhong pulled him forward forcefully. The others didn't think much of it and continued on their way.
Only Sen Lang, who had been walking at the very back, stared intently at Sun Xing's movements, occasionally showing a thoughtful expression.
At first, Moon Hai thought they would reach their destination in about ten minutes, but this walk lasted for a good half hour! They still hadn't seen the end.
Along the way, they had seen no less than a hundred other tunnel entrances. Only then did Moon Hai truly understand what Sun Zhong meant.
"How much longer until we get there?"
"Soon, after a few more turns, we should..."
As Sun Zhong was speaking, Sen Lang at the rear of the group suddenly shouted, "Get down!"
His voice was like thunder, but Sun Zhong didn't have time to think. He immediately pulled Sun Xing down. However, he didn't see a small stone strike Sun Xing's neck in the dark, causing him to immediately roll his eyes and lose consciousness.
Black Blade also crouched down, while Moon Hai and the other two looked at Sen Lang in confusion.
We didn't sense any enemies?
The next second, a swarm of bats suddenly flew out from within, leaving Moon Hai speechless.
Sen Lang coughed lightly. "My apologies, perhaps I was too tense. I thought there was an ambush."
As Moon Hai, with a speechless expression, was about to say something, Sun Zhong next to him suddenly cried out.
"Xing, Xing! What's wrong with you?"
The expressions of everyone present immediately changed. They quickly crouched down to check on the unconscious Sun Xing, but then they all wore strange expressions.
Only Sun Zhong, who was hit by the stone, didn't understand what had happened. The others, including Black Blade, turned their gaze to Sen Lang.
"Perhaps he bumped his head accidentally when we crouched down just now?"
As Sen Lang finished speaking, Sen Leopard chimed in, "That must be it. I felt his pulse, and he's fine."
Sun Zhong's worried expression immediately subsided. Sen Lang then said, "How about this, you guys go ahead first. I'll stay here to guard him."
"This..."
Sun Zhong hesitated, but suddenly felt a large hand pat his shoulder.
It was Black Blade.
"Leave him to them. We'll go ahead. If anything serious happens, we need to resolve this side first and then take him to the hospital."
Sun Zhong thought it made sense and no longer hesitated. He walked back to the front to lead the way, unconsciously picking up his pace.
The others secretly glanced back at Sen Lang. Although there was no verbal communication, everything was understood in their eyes.
What they didn't even realize was that their cooperation was becoming increasingly tacit and their trust in each other was growing.