There are dots of firelight under the Tiefuling Mountains, and hundreds of blast furnaces stand in the small town outside the mountains. From time to time, farmers come in and out pushing ore.
Cheng Shilu, who was as strong as an ox, was holding a long-handled copper hammer and walking slowly up the stone path in the mountain. He had already put on a good brocade robe, but the weather was too hot, so he unbuttoned the collar, revealing a brown bear-like figure.
Chest hair.
The villa at the end of the stone path is the private estate of the Cheng family. As soon as they reached the entrance of the villa, a young man ran up to him quickly:
"Dad, you are back. How is the second uncle's situation?"
"Don't you see that I am disgraced? What do you think I can do?"
"Well……"
The young man's expression froze and he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He just chased after him and laughed:
"It's good that dad is fine. It's never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. By the way, on the afternoon when dad left, a Jianghu man came over and found me privately. He said he wanted to buy molten oil and open a large tomb of the former dynasty..."
Cheng Shilu raised his hand and slapped his son on the back of the head, his eyes widened:
"How dare you sell this thing indiscriminately?"
Solvent oil is a forbidden substance approved by the imperial court. When poured on the stone, it can dissolve most of the stone, making it brittle and easy to dig.
Because they were afraid that thieves would destroy city walls, rob prisons, rob tombs, etc., the formula of soluble oil was a top secret of the imperial court, and the people were strictly prohibited from refining it and keeping it privately.
Naturally, the young man knew that he did not dare to buy this thing randomly, so he came closer, raised his hand, and held up three fingers:
"That person's skill is not small, he made this number."
Cheng Shilu paused and asked:
"How much do you want to buy?"
"Thirty barrels is not much. When checking the number with the court, you can fool me by prevaricating."
Cheng Shilu's official identity was as a contractor for the imperial court to open iron mines. Because he had connections between the imperial court and China, it was okay to resell some contraband in private.
But if thirty barrels of dissolved oil are used properly and soaked in load-bearing points, a gate tower in the capital can be brought down in a few days. The risk is definitely not small.
Cheng Shilu wiped the sweat from his bald head and asked:
"Are you sure you are a grave digger? Last time, someone wanted to seek revenge, collapsed a pagoda and killed more than 30 pilgrims. I gave him several large boxes of silver to wipe my butt clean..."
The young man swore firmly: "It must be true. I smelled the smell of death as soon as I met him, and his face was pale. It seemed like he often worked in the fields day and night..."
"Okay, keep your hands and feet clean."
"Dad, don't worry, I'll do it right away..."
…
After Cheng Shilu finished chatting about trivial matters, he stepped back and went straight to a house close to the cliff behind the villa.
Inside the house are the furnishings of a study room, and there are rows of bookshelves along the walls, listing various classic books.
Cheng Shilu obviously didn't have the habit of reading. He put his weapon on the weapons shelf in the center of the room. Then he went to the bookshelf, opened a book, and pushed it to the side, revealing an arch.
Behind the arch is a stone chamber carved out of the mountain wall. There is a secret passage leading to the mine below. It can be regarded as a "back road" prepared by Jianghu people in their residences. When a powerful enemy attacks, they can quickly escape.
Cheng Shilu came to the stone room and lit the lamp. He could see a pair of armor placed by the wall.
The armor is heavy armor, overall silvery white in color, with wolf head shoulder pads and face armor. Its texture shows that it comes from an elite military force, but it has suffered some damage over time.
Cheng Shilu stood in front of the armor, first put on the incense stick, and then picked up a golden bowl from under the armor.
A golden bowl was filled with rice and water, and a white ball, the size of a pigeon egg, was soaked in it. After soaking for a few days, the water in the bowl had turned into a misty white color.
Wow~
Cheng Shilu took the clamp and carefully took out the white beads from the water, as if holding a piece of red Luotie. Then he took the golden bowl and walked to the small bath in the stone room. He poured the water in the bowl into the pool, took off his clothes and robe, and completely
People soaked into the pool and even buried their faces in it...
——
At the same time, at the foot of Tiefoling.
The big black horse stopped in the woods, and the fluffy bird stood on the top of a large pine tree that stood out from the forest, looking at the official road in the distance.
Under the pine tree, Night Terror Hall took off his outer robe and wore a different style of black robe.
Luo Ning stood beside her wearing a curtain hat, holding a bamboo hat and a face towel in her hand, looking up at the villa above Tiefuling:
"I thought Tiefuling was just a small entrance, but I didn't expect the mine to be so big."
"Tiefuling is a mine owned by the imperial court. All the output is turned over and used to make official swords and weapons. Cheng Shilu is just a contractor who helps with the work."
While Ye Jingtang was putting on his clothes, he was also looking at the official road outside the woods.
Last night he noticed Sanniang coming, so he kept an eye on her and was even careful when eating watermelon.
As a result, Sanniang listened for half the night, but did not come over to kill her, and she did not even say anything.
After falling asleep in the Night Terror Hall, I got up early in the morning to change shifts with Niao Niao. I wanted to secretly go and chat with Sanniang.
As a result, as soon as he reached the door of the room, Sanniang blocked the door. She didn't know whether she was afraid that he didn't eat enough and wanted to rush to the second show, or she was aggrieved by Jing Jing and didn't open the door.
Seeing that Sanniang knew that she had been exposed, Ye Jingtang did not force her way in. When it got daylight, Sanniang covered herself up tightly and took the horse first to set off.
Ye Jingtang drove his horse to Tiefuling. He also asked birds to conduct reconnaissance on the road. It was confirmed that Sanniang had been following the horse's hoof prints as a bodyguard.
Ye Jingtang looked back for a few times, put on her clothes, and took the bamboo hat from Luo Nuxia:
"I'll go in, and you wait outside. If something happens, the bird will send a signal."
Luo Ning knew that Cheng Shilu was no match for Ye Jingtang, but she still reminded her seriously:
"The rabbit is afraid of the eagle when it is anxious. Most people die not because of their martial arts, but because they underestimate the enemy. Even if you are dealing with the gangsters in the market, you have to be very energetic."
Ye Jingtang was about to pull up the towel when he blinked again.
?
Luo Ning understood the meaning of this look. She was afraid that the little thief would go to work and have random thoughts, so she did not show a cold look. Instead, like a virtuous daughter-in-law who sent her husband to the battlefield, she stood on tiptoes, holding Ye Jingtang's cheek, and looked at her
He clicked on his lips:
"Okay, let's get down to business and don't have any distracting thoughts in your mind."
Ye Jingtang smiled, pulled up his face towel, took a deep breath, and walked slowly up the stone steps up the mountain with the black lin gun wrapped in black cloth.
Luo Ning followed silently in the mountains and forests while investigating the situation in Tiefuling to avoid being ambushed by someone.
As a Jianghu sect, Tiefuling cannot have no disciples. Preliminary investigation shows that there are probably more than two hundred disciples in the entire Tiefuling, but they all live near the mine at the foot of the mountain and serve as supervisors and managers of the mine.
Zhuangzi on the mountain is the private residence of the Cheng family. There are several disciples patrolling the mountain roads to prevent other people from running up and disturbing the master's cleaning. Other than that, there is no other protection.
The Night Terror Hall came to the door openly and did not walk quickly. He just carried a long spear and walked slowly in the moonlight, waiting for the Tiefiling disciples to come.
But the disciples of Tiefuling seemed to have been at ease for a long time, and their vigilance was too low. They gathered together on the mountain road to comment on the kiln sisters in the city, and the Night Terror Hall even walked to the mountainside without noticing.
Luo Ning was a little speechless about this. Just as she was looking around in boredom, she suddenly found several figures outside a small independent house on the hillside of Tiefuling Mountain.
The house is alone at the edge of the mountain, far away from the house, and there are guards nearby. No torches were lit in the middle of the night, and they were just moving things under the moonlight.
Luo Ning was a little confused, and silently moved closer, only to see a noble man holding a whip in his hand, directing Lifu to carry a pile of barrels to the cart.
It was too far away and the sky was dark, so she couldn't see very carefully. After Luo Ning paid attention for a moment, she saw that Ye Jingtang had already contacted people from Tiefuling, so she stopped paying attention to this trivial matter and hurried up the mountain...