Chapter 561: Empty-handed

Only then did the group finally start to discuss it, unable to hold back any longer. The main reason was that this harvest was truly hard to accept.

He Liang was heard saying:

"Is this really all there is? What the hell were these people guarding so hard for? If you ask me, they'd be better off going home to farm; at least farming lets you live a decent life."

Wang Shuai also frowned and said:

"It really doesn't make sense. Guarding a gold mine with no gold—what the hell are these people doing here day in and day out?"

Just as the two finished speaking, Wu Dong pointed to the crater below, which was filled with severed limbs and arms, and said:

"Is it possible that the gold is hidden somewhere down there?"

After Wu Dong finished speaking, everyone subconsciously looked toward the crater together.

However, the entire crater wasn't very large; one could take it all in at a glance, and it really didn't look like a place where things could be hidden.

After a while, Wang An took the initiative and said, "Let's go. Let's go down and take a look. We can't just go back like this after working all afternoon."

As they spoke, the group walked down together.

When they reached the crater, everyone's expression became unpleasant.

The main reason was the severed limbs and minced meat visible everywhere, almost covering the entire ground. With every step they took, they would almost certainly bump into or step on something.

Moreover, while they hadn't felt much while on the slope, once they reached the bottom of the pit, the smell of gunpowder, blood, and viscera mixed together, creating a thick, nauseating stench that made one want to retch.

Fortunately, although everyone's complexion was poor, they didn't vomit, but Feng Chengmin started retching again.

Unfortunately, Feng Chengmin had already vomited once before entering the crater, so there was actually nothing left in his stomach.

This led to Feng Chengmin's dry heaving sounds almost never stopping; he just kept retching, on and on.

To be honest, this kind of scene and environment really made one feel numb all over and tight in the chest.

It felt as if the entire crater was filled with endless wronged souls recounting their grievances; with every step, one felt a sense of invisible pressure and oppression.

In fact, the reason for this was simply that the crater was too small; the wind from outside couldn't get in, and the air inside couldn't get out, giving people the illusion of being trapped inside.

The most annoying thing was that the two ore crushers were still running, constantly emitting a very loud noise.

It had to be said that the quality of these two diesel engines was truly excellent; neither the detonators and dynamite explosions nor the landmine explosions had affected their operation.

Wang An stepped forward and directly cut the throttles of the two diesel engines.

Finally, the whole world fell silent! And once the noise stopped, everyone's expressions seemed to relax quite a bit.

Without needing anyone to call out, the group started searching the crater.

The gold-panning method used by this ore-stealing gang was the same as the one used by Wang An and the others.

However, they used gold-panning sluices made of wooden boards, which were much easier to use than the tree-bark sluices Wang An had made, mainly because efficiency was higher when more people were working.

Not far below the sluices were five crucibles used for smelting gold powder; the crucibles weren't large, about the size of a hard hat.

Making a crucible wasn't complicated; it only required three materials: clay, graphite, and kaolin.

There was nothing much to say about clay and graphite; they were things almost everyone knew. If one didn't understand, one only needed to know that clay was a type of soil, and for graphite, one only needed to know that pencil leads and dry cell battery cores were both made of graphite.

As for kaolin, it was actually a type of clay, the raw material for firing porcelain.

Remember, it was soil for firing porcelain, not soil for firing pottery! Next to each crucible stove, there was a manual blower, also known as a "bellows."

A bellows was actually just a wooden box with a pull rod; in the countryside during this era, basically every household had one.

However, although the working principle of the "bellows" was very simple, this thing only worked well if made by a skilled carpenter.

In other words, there was a certain level of technical skill involved in making this thing.

Because two bellows that looked identical could have different air output volumes.

Simply put, this thing was used to blow air into the stove, allowing the fire to reach a higher temperature.

To be honest, one really had to admire the wisdom of the ancestors for managing to invent such a magical object as a manual blower.

Of course, this series of explosions had already blown four of the five crucible stoves away, leaving only one; the crucibles in the other four stoves had been blown quite far away.

The area wasn't large, so the group finished searching quickly; they even rummaged through the four shattered crucible stoves.

However, the gold was still not found! Not only was the gold not found, but even the gold powder panned out wasn't found! Having finally adapted to the surrounding environment, Feng Chengmin finally couldn't help but voice his first complaint. Feng Chengmin said weakly:

"It's truly damn impressive; where the hell did these bastards hide the gold?"

Wang Shuai, upon hearing this, echoed:

"Yeah, in a place this small, could it have grown wings and flown away?"

Sun Nian pointed to the mine tunnel and said:

"Could they have hidden the gold in the mine tunnel?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at the mine tunnel, but one could tell from their expressions that they didn't hold much hope for it.

Because the entrance to this mine tunnel was very large but not deep; one could see to the very end of the tunnel at a glance.

Overall, this mine tunnel looked like a section of the mountain's side that had been dug out.

And in this recessed area, there were many small tunnel entrances; these small tunnels weren't deep either, the deepest being only four or five meters, and they could also be seen to the end at a glance.

It was clear that this gold mine was a typical linear vein, and with many veins, it was definitely a rich mine.

Because these small tunnels were what remained after the ore had been dug out.

Although no one held hope for these mine tunnels, holding the attitude of "treating a dead horse like a living one," everyone still walked into the tunnels one after another to check.

The mine tunnels were very shallow, so a few minutes later, everyone walked out one after another, shaking their heads as they did so.

Very clearly, everyone had come up empty-handed! When the group gathered together again, Wang An frowned, took out cigarettes from his pocket, and distributed them.

After lighting one and taking a puff, Wang An looked at the smoke in front of him and fell into complete confusion.

Of course, everyone was confused; only the two non-smoking ladies, Zhang Shuya and Sun Nian, were still constantly looking around.

At this moment, the entire crater was terrifyingly quiet, save for the sizzling sound of everyone smoking! After finishing his cigarette, Wang An habitually flicked the butt away. Watching the butt fall into the lake, Wang An was suddenly stunned! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 562 =====