When Akshay heard the bullets flying past his head, he was so frightened that he turned pale in an instant.

Aksha turned his head and glanced at one of the people in the back of the pickup truck. He jumped out of the truck without thinking about anything. Aksha also wanted to follow, but Tao Xi pulled him away.

Akshay, who was about to escape, shouted sternly: "You don't want to live anymore!"

Aksha turned his head and glanced at the man who had just jumped out of the car, and was shot right through his left thigh. Seeing this scene, Aksha had already lost his previous thoughts and instead shot hard towards Tao Xi's arms.

Drill inside.

Tao Xi turned his head and glanced at another person who was slightly older and asked proactively: "Has Antero Mountain always been this messy?"

The older man raised his head and glanced at the six people who had already stood up from around the road. He deliberately lowered his voice and replied: "There has been chaos recently, but it won't kill us. Just give us money."

Tao Xi didn't say a word when he heard this, but looked cautiously under the car.

The driver of the pickup truck had already gotten out of the car, and Tao Xi spent $300 in tolls to take the truck to his destination. When the black driver got out of the car, Tao Xi secretly thought that he deserved it.

The black driver didn't seem very nervous, but skillfully took out a handful of scattered dollar bills and a box of cigarettes from his pocket.

Although there were only six people coming up from both sides of the road, Tao Xi did not act rashly. He glanced at the straight dirt road with his peripheral vision and there seemed to be someone staring at the three of them.

This is Tao Xi’s intuition about danger after spending many years in the sewers!

After collecting the driver's money, the six people sent out a person to hold an AK and look around the cab of the pickup truck. When he found that there was no other abnormality, he came to the truck bed and looked at Tao Xi and the three of them.

One glance.

Aksha was so frightened that he lost the ability to think. When the man reached out and grabbed Aksha's chin, he was so frightened that Aksha fell directly onto the bed of the car and kept waving his limbs.

But the person who came to check just left quickly after seeing Akshay's face.

Tao Xi came to a conclusion in an instant. The main purpose of these people blocking the road was not to ask for money, but to find someone!

After the robbers who blocked the road left, the driver of the pickup truck calmly walked to the back of the truck and said to the man who was shot through the thigh: "I told everyone in the truck, don't do it."

Move around! I will never mess with you rookies again! What a bad luck!"

Although the black driver said something unpleasant, he skillfully took out an old medical kit from the car and helped him sit and bandage it. When the man who was shot through the thigh was simply bandaged, the black man

The driver did not let him sit on the truck bed again, but took some money from his pocket

He took out three dollar bills and said to the three people sitting in the car: "We will reach the top of the mountain soon. These three hundred dollars will buy a seat for him to sit on. If you don't give him a good resting environment,

, he will definitely die, and I believe you don’t want to be summoned by the police either!”

Soon there were four people sitting in the back of the pickup truck again. It cost $300 to sit in the bed and $600 to sit in the truck!

The winding roads and dangers of Mount Antero are well-known in Denver, so drivers who can take the route here will charge a very high price. It is not Tao Xikuo, but Tao Xi is afraid that this driver will take advantage of others.

If you encounter danger while riding in the back of a car, you can still escape!

Seeing this, Tao Xi gave a thumbs up to this black driver who charged an extremely expensive price.

Akshay saw those people leaving and did not say anything. Instead, he gave Tao Xi a wry smile and covered his crotch with his hand and sat aside.

Tao Xi, who had gained a glimmer of enlightenment, did not say anything. Instead, when the pickup truck was driving on the dirt road again, Tao Xi intentionally or unintentionally started talking to the older person.

"How many years have you been doing this?"

The senior-looking man curled his lips in disdain: "It's a craft passed down from our ancestors. When I was doing it, the entire Antero Mountains were full of hunters. How could there be any of these bullshit Antero hunter gangs now?"

"Then those people who blocked the road just now are from the Antero Hunter Gang?"

Just when the seemingly very old man was about to answer, the young man who sat on the back of the pickup truck from the car said to him unhappily: "Old Karp! The recent Antero Mountains are not peaceful.

But don't talk nonsense, be careful you can't get down the mountain!"

The man called Lao Garp had an unconvinced expression on his face when he heard these words, but he still held back what he said next.

The young man who stopped Old Karp's words turned to Tao Xi and Aksha and warned: "I don't care whether you two are here to make money or do something else. It's best not to talk too much and just keep silent."

Only by talking can you get home safely!"

Aksha nodded obediently upon seeing this, but Tao Xi did not say anything but looked at the huge platform not far from Antero Mountain.

There were many cars parked on the platform, but few of them were valuable. Occasionally, there were one or two people walking towards the mountain path with shovels and pickaxe handles.

"Hey! It's really troublesome!" Old Garp let out a helpless sigh when he saw the destination. The young man jumped out before the car stopped. Tao Xi looked at the young man's back. The young man

Instead of walking towards the top of the mountain like the others, he headed towards a dense bush.

When Old Garp saw this, he snorted softly: "Bain is a good boy! He always eats alone! Sooner or later, something big will happen."

On the contrary, Aksha saw that the destination was approaching and kept moving towards Tao Xi and whispered: "I...I will follow you...you don't have anything to eat, I do...and I have a tent.

..My father is a gem hunter, and I know how to dig for gems!”

When Old Garp saw Aksha's appearance, he just grinned his big yellow teeth and sneered: "You are not stupid!"

Instead, Tao Xi nonchalantly handed over the pickaxe in his hand: "Help me carry it! I am responsible for your safety, and you are responsible for my food and drink."

"good....."

The black driver who had stopped the car seemed to have not stopped because there were injured people. When Tao Xi and Aksha all got out of the car, the black driver did a graceful drift and turned around and left.

Tao Xi, who got out of the car, turned to look at the people in the car starting to leave. Tao Xi looked at Aksha who was standing next to him and was a little nervous and said, "Let's go! They have all left, why don't you go?"

?”

"Go...go...where"

When Tao Xi heard Aksha's answer, he almost raised the shovel in his hand and hit him on the head: "Digging for gems! Aren't you here to dig for gems?"

When Akshay heard this, he realized his purpose. He first went into a bush and changed into a brand new pair of trousers. Then he took out an old-fashioned compass from his backpack and said carefully: "I...

.I really know how to dig for gems! But...you have to promise...that you won't hurt me!"

Tao Xi looked at Aksha who had gradually calmed down and started thinking about his own safety, patted his shoulder seriously and replied: "Let's go! You believe me, and I believe you too."

"Since your father taught you how to dig for gems, he must have also taught you how to protect yourself when encountering danger."

"Oh! Right!" Akshay seemed to have thought of something. He took out a notebook wrapped in brown paper from the backpack on his back and muttered: "There is a Grand Strand at the intersection of the Antero Mountains and the Rocky Mountains.

River, if you do anything to harm me, I can escape south along the river!"

Tao Xi, who was forcing a smile, tilted his head and said, "Okay! Then let's set off!"

Tao Xi saw the slightly innocent Aksha and shook her head helplessly and followed him, but it had to be said that Aksha was really good at recognizing the road.

With a map drawn on paper and an old-fashioned compass, Akshay actually led him to a canyon.

"Hahahaha! I just said it! What my father taught me is correct. When I was a sophomore, I was lucky enough to see my teacher give me a sample from here." Aksha was excited for Tao Xi.

While introducing, he lowered his head to pick up the stones on the ground and explained various professional knowledge to Tao Xi, but Tao Xi didn't care about these and kept looking at the surrounding environment!

I don't know whether it was because of the map in Aksha's hand or the route, but Tao Xi didn't see the so-called "gem hunter" along the way.

"Why didn't we see anyone along the way?"

"Oh! It should be the South Platte Mining Company. I heard from my teacher that in the past six months, the South Platte Mining Company has been more serious about mining gems in the Antero Mountains. Coupled with the application of large machinery,

Let those gem hunters go further into the Rocky Mountains."

Taosi simply made up some geographical knowledge before setting off. The Antero Mountains are the Rocky Mountains!

However, because it is easier to excavate some more valuable smoky stones in the Antero Mountains, the Antero Mountains are more popular with these gem hunters, and over time the Antero Mountains are separated from the Rocky Mountains.

Akshay's backpack is full of things, including tents, bright flashlights, compressed biscuits, beef jerky, sleeping bags, etc. He has all the equipment for survival in the wild, which makes Tao Xi, who only carries a shovel and a pickaxe, feel ashamed.

.

"If you didn't carry so many things on your back, I would definitely choose that old Garp!"

Aksha was not angry when he heard Tao Xi's straightforward words. Instead, he squatted on the ground and simply shoveled a handful of soil before replying with a smile: "Hahaha, that's right!"

"I'm very happy that you can choose me! If it weren't for my father needing money for medical treatment, I wouldn't use my scholarship to buy these things. My family is not very rich, and I still want to continue studying.

I want to get a vocational master’s degree, and I plan to specialize in oil exploration in the future.”

"I heard from the teacher that it is very profitable. My mother has always wanted to have a study room of her own. Since my father stopped working as a gem hunter on Mount Antero, he really hopes that he can have a forklift of his own.

, so he can continue to make money."

Akshay laboriously waved the pickaxe in his hand while chatting sincerely with Tao Xi.

Tao Xi looked at Akshay who was digging rocks seriously, and he looked very much like a person, but there were some differences. Tao Xi did not speak anymore, but just like Akshay, he waved the shovel in his hand to cooperate with him.

"Eh~"

Akshay suddenly stopped the pickaxe in his hand and turned to look at Tao Xi. Seeing this, Tao Xi also stopped the shovel in his hand.

One stone after another was pulled away by Aksha, and a hollow hole appeared in front of the two of them. Several hexagonal columnar crystals were gathered together and inserted into the hole.

"Is this gem so easy to dig?" Tao Xi asked in surprise when he saw the hexagonal columnar crystals held in Aksha's hand as if they had been smoked.

The frowning Akshay stared at his big eyes and muttered in a low voice: "That shouldn't be the case! According to the plan, we need to dig the veins here to a depth of at least about 3 meters before we can see the gems!"

After saying this, Akshay quickly walked to another location and started digging.

Tao Xi also found a random place and started digging with the shovel in his hand. The more Tao Xi dug, the faster his hand moved, and Aksha's hand moved faster next to him.

Only gems can make a talkative person shut up, and only gems can make Tao Xi, a money man, work so hard.

In the early 1980s, the price of a piece of natural aquamarine was very high because its mining difficulty and vein distribution were not as industrial as gold, and many processes and excavations required manual labor to complete the final steps.
To be continued...