Chapter 425: It cannot be accomplished without several years of effort

Xiao Ningxun said: "Let's go down and see what mysteries there are."

He selected a few people: "You few, guard the door."

"Yes!"

Everyone walked down cautiously.

Xiao Er secured Tuan Tuan on his back: "Miss, hold tight."

"Mm." Tuan Tuan shifted upward, tightening her grip around Xiao Er's neck.

After walking an unknown length of time, Xiao Ran recalled his experiences in Xibei, his heart pounding wildly: "How long do we have to go? I hope there isn't another deadly mechanism below."

As his words fell, Lu Qi, who was leading, shouted: "We've arrived!"

Everyone's hearts eased a little; sure enough, after a few steps, the ground stopped sloping and suddenly became solid.

Looking up, they saw it was actually a natural cavern!

The cavern was over five zhang high and no less than twenty zhang square, its ceiling hung with countless stalactites.

As far as the eye could see, the ground at the center was neatly piled full of pottery jars, dense and countless.

These pottery jars varied in size—large ones like watermelons, small ones like fists— their bodies dark brown, their mouths sealed tight with wax.

Even after the passage of years, one could still see the care taken when they were sealed.

Beside the jars stood a small iron stand, on which lay a small volume wrapped in cowhide.

Besides these various-sized pottery jars, dozens of earthenware vats were lined up on the left side of the cavern, their mouths sealed with clay, their bodies round and as tall as a person's waist.

Lu Qi broke the seal on a large vat, peered inside, and said: "It's gunpowder."

Xiao Ran lifted a small pottery jar: "What a piece of work, so small yet so heavy!"

Xiao Ningxun unfurled the scroll.

The ink traces were still visible.

He read it aloud in a low voice: "Essentials of the Bingxu Armory."

"In the Bingxu year, the Armory Supervision, following imperial orders, secretly made 560 child-mother thunderbolt bombs—130 large, 430 small—and stored them here against national calamity."

He flipped through quickly, his eyes growing brighter: "The child-mother thunderbolt bomb consists of three layers: an outer wrapping of several iron caltrops, a middle filled with several taels of gunpowder, and an inner containing some Drunken Immortal powder."

"The large ones require a catapult; the small ones can be thrown by hand. Below is the method of manufacture."

"A medium-sized bomb either kills or wounds; those who inhale the Drunken Immortal powder hallucinate, laugh maniacally, and are subdued from exhaustion."

"Drunken Immortal powder?" Xiao Ran raised an eyebrow. "Kind of interesting."

Xiao Ningxun slipped the booklet into his bosom, gazing at the jars before him, murmuring: "Five hundred sixty..."

Child-mother thunderbolt bombs! What a formidable weapon! With these, we could turn the tide of battle at a critical moment.

Tuan Tuan walked around the jars, her big eyes scanning everywhere, wondering: "Huh, what is this?"

In a corner of the cavern lay a pile of tiny granules stacked together, emitting a dim blue light.

Sparkling treasure!

She happily walked over, squatted down, picked up a grain—hard and solid—held it to her nose to sniff; it had no smell.

Xiao Er, who had been following her closely, shouted urgently: "Miss! Don't eat it!"

Tuan Tuan replied in a crisp voice: "I know!"

These little things are really pretty!

Pick them up, pick them up! But they're not easy to grab!

She looked around; between two large jars was stuck something like a sheet of paper.

She reached in with her little hand, pulled out the paper, and ran to Xiao Ningxun: "Third Brother! Look! What is this? Is it still usable?"

Xiao Ningxun took it, looked it over, and smiled: "This is sheepskin paper; written on it is the sequence for opening the Nine Palaces lock on the door."

"And here it says: if the mechanism fails, strike the forehead of the dragon's head, and the gate will open immediately."

"Tuan Tuan, you're really lucky! By accidentally bumping into it, you opened the lock; otherwise, no matter how good the things in this cavern are, we couldn't get them."

He knew his sister's habit of picking up things wherever she went: "This is useless now; take it."

"All right!" Tuan Tuan happily took the sheepskin paper, wrapped the granules from the ground inside it, and stored them in her own embroidered pouch.

Xiao Ningxun pondered for a moment: "Take all these small pottery jars with us."

"The large jars are too heavy and require a catapult, so we'll leave them for now."

Besides Tuan Tuan, the others took off their outer garments, tied them into bundles, and stuffed them full of the small pottery jars.

It took several trips to move all the small pottery jars out.

Before departing, Xiao Ningxun gave one last look at this secret cache sealed away for who knows how many years.

The remaining 130 large jars stood silently; we'll come back for them if the chance arises.

"Third Brother, hurry up!"

Xiao Ningxun withdrew his gaze and turned to leave.

As they passed through the iron gate, the guards pulled the branches and vines back into place, erasing any trace.

The passenger boat set sail again, drifting downstream.

The next day, they abandoned the boat, went ashore, and switched to a carriage.

Five days later, at evening, everyone finally returned to the Xibei Main Camp.

Relatives and old friends reunited, gathered together, feeling especially excited.

Tuan Tuan happily lunged into the Emperor's embrace: "Imperial Uncle! We're awesome, right?"

Xiao Jieyun bent down, lifted her, his dragon face beaming with pleasure: "My Count Wenhui and Princess Jiayou truly live up to their names!"

Xiao Ran protested: "Father Emperor! That filthy, stinking ditch—I jumped in without a word, yet Father Emperor doesn't praise me?"

Xiao Jieyun laughed heartily: "Good, good, good! You also made an indispensable contribution this time! When we return to the capital, I will award merits and rewards—you will certainly not be left out!"

Xiao Ran grinned: "Thank you, Father Emperor!"

Amidst laughter and chatter, a guard ran into the main tent: "Report! A large army has come from the direction of Jingcheng, as seen from the thousand-mile mirror; it is less than thirty li from the main camp!"

Xiao Yuanhang's face darkened: "A large army? How many people?"

The guard hesitated: "About fifty thousand, with many cavalry!"

The tent fell silent.

Cheng Ru'an anxiously looked at Xiao Yuanhang; with the great enemy before them, her husband would have to go to the battlefield again.

Xiao Ningxun bowed and said: "I have two treasures I wish to present to His Majesty."

Xiao Jieyun raised an eyebrow: "Treasure? Bring it over to look."

Xiao Ningxun took out the Mountain River Mineral Marrow Atlas from his bosom and presented it with both hands.

Tuan Tuan looked and said: "Imperial Uncle, this is also from that treasure cave, you know! It was found by Third Brother!"

Xiao Jieyun held her as he sat down, opened it, and after looking at just one page, his gaze immediately fixed.

He flipped through the pages rapidly, and the more he read, the graver his expression became.

When he saw the eight characters on the last page—"Nine-fold refined iron, capable of breaking heavy armor"—he abruptly lifted his head and looked at Xiao Ningxun.

"Yuanhang, take a look."

Xiao Yuanhang bowed to receive it, likewise only glancing a few times, and his hand gripping the atlas tightened.

Xiao Jieyun could not hide the turmoil in his heart, murmuring: "Ore vein map, top-tier forging technique. Truly priceless treasure! This is indeed a true national treasure!"

Xiao Yuanhang slowly closed the atlas: "His Majesty is quite right. However, mining, surveying veins, building furnaces, smelting, training artisans—none of this can be accomplished in just a few years."

"But at this critical juncture, we cannot wait."

Xiao Ningxun smiled faintly: "Besides rescuing people this time, we also have other gains that could alleviate this urgent crisis."

The Emperor looked at him: "Could it be that you will gain yet another treasure on this trip?"

Xiao Ningxun stepped aside and gestured: "His Majesty, Father, please follow me."