Chapter 1054: Discovering Priceless Jade

He Yuzhu flashed and shrank, hiding in the shadows of the wall corner.

The group of people outside had already erupted into chaos.

A shrill voice was the first to howl: "Oh no! The family's savings of several generations are all gone! Who the hell did this? We just went out to fight a battle, and when we came back, not even a single hair was left!"

That person rushed toward the next room while howling: "Quick, quick, quick! Go check the other warehouse!"

Before long, a soldier came running back, crawling and stumbling, his face as white as paper and his lips trembling: "Bomao Sang! The armory is empty too! Tanks, cannons, engineering vehicles... everything is gone, not even a wheel is left!"

The short, thin middle-aged man called Bomao Sang turned around abruptly, his eyes red enough to drip blood, and he shouted hysterically: "Who the hell did this!"

After roaring this, his body tilted as if to collapse to the ground, and the bodyguard at his side hurriedly caught him.

The bodyguard leaned against his ear and whispered a reminder: "Bomao Sang, the two main warehouses have indeed been emptied. But we still have several jade mines outside, and the warehouses at the mines are piled with quite a bit of gold and raw jade stones just mined. As long as those are still there, we have the capital to make a comeback. Should we hurry and send people to check?"

Mao Sang's chest heaved violently, he took several deep breaths, clenched his fists, and said in a low voice: "I will go myself! You hurry and mobilize five hundred men for me, go to the gold mine first, then check the mines one by one! If the things at the mines have also been taken by someone, our family is completely finished. By then, you will all be left with nothing to eat, and what will I use to support you?"

"Yes!" the bodyguard replied, turned around, and ran off, shouting at the top of his lungs to assemble the men.

Not long after, Mao Sang walked out of the warehouse with a dark face, every step carrying an irrepressible rage.

He Yuzhu, in the shadows, curled the corner of his mouth slightly.

He had originally been worrying about not being able to find the specific locations of those few mines, but this was perfect—the enemy was voluntarily acting as his guide.

Four or five hundred people soon gathered in the open space of the manor; pickup trucks, old cars, and motorcycles were crammed together, and the sound of engines buzzed in a chorus. Some soldiers climbed into the truck beds, others hopped onto the back seats of motorcycles, and the chaotic team rushed out of the manor gate with a roar, like a swarm of hornets whose nest had been poked.

He Yuzhu spotted a truck at the rear, slid to the bottom of the vehicle by hugging the ground, gripped the chassis crossbeam with his palm, and then entered the space.

The convoy plunged into the deep mountains; the mountain roads were narrow and bumpy, dust filled the sky, and the vehicles in the back choked on the dust kicked up by the vehicles in front, making it impossible for people to open their eyes.

After driving for a full five or six hours, the convoy finally slowed to a stop.

Before them was the core placer gold mine of the Kechin Enkong Family—the mountainsides on both sides of the valley were dug into pits and bumps, as if they had been gnawed by dogs.

Thousands of miners were scattered along the riverbank, bending over to pan for gold, the murky river water flowing slowly past their feet.

This mining area could produce about two tons of placer gold for the Enkong Family every year.

The convoy stopped directly at the entrance of the mining area warehouse.

The manager at the mine saw the big Boss arrive in person and trotted up to greet him, his face piled with fawning smiles: "Boss, you were here just last month, why did you run such a long way again today?"

Mao Sang glared at him fiercely and barked, "Cut the crap! Clear out all the crude gold stored in the warehouse and get it ready to be loaded! I don't feel at ease leaving it here anymore!"

The manager dared not say another word, turned his head to call the workers, and pushed open the warehouse door with a clatter.

Inside the warehouse, rows of iron buckets and coarse cloth bags were stacked neatly; the bottoms of the buckets were heavy with crude placer gold, the gold grains mixed in with black sand, feeling heavy enough to drag the hand down upon grabbing a handful. A rough glance showed at least seven or eight hundred catties.

Mao Sang scanned the area and ordered in a low voice: "Take it all, don't leave a single catty."

The manager was full of confusion: "Boss, according to the old rules, aren't these placer gold supposed to be sent to the border refinery to be purified and cast into ingots?"

Mao Sang let out a heavy breath: "The two big warehouses at the manor were emptied by someone! The other party might not have set their sights on this place yet. If this batch of gold is also lost, our family is completely finished!"

The manager's face turned pale instantly: "Boss, what kind of ruthless character have you provoked?"

Mao Sang snorted coldly: "Who could I have provoked?"

As soon as he finished speaking, his brain felt as if it had been struck hard by something, and his eyes turned cold abruptly: "I understand! It must be that bastard Milai! He deliberately killed my nephew, lured my main force away, and worked from the inside out to empty the manor's warehouses!"

The manager scratched his head: "Boss, I saw those two warehouses with my own eyes. With so many supplies, especially the large batch of timber, if they really wanted to move it all away, it would take hundreds of train cars to finish hauling it. How did Milai move it away without a sound?"

Mao Sang sighed, his voice dropping low: "I can't figure out the trick to this either."

The manager looked up at the sky: "Boss, it's almost noon, should I arrange some food?"

Mao Sang waved his hand: "Just gnaw on some dry rations on the road. You don't need to worry about me, just keep a close eye on the gold mine. Now that the family's assets have been depleted by more than half, everything depends on these few mines to hold us up."

He Yuzhu glanced at the bit of placer gold being carried out of the warehouse, feeling not a ripple of emotion in his heart—he didn't look down on this little bit of stuff at all.

The team didn't delay there any longer; after a simple rest and resupply, Mao Sang led the soldiers to board the vehicles again and set off toward the next large jade mine.

By the time the convoy reached the mining area, the sky had turned completely dark.

This was the old Mowanji mining site, located in a valley of a tributary of the Wulu River.

On the hillside, pits of all sizes were densely packed, covering the mountain like pockmarks, and the ground was covered with yellowish-brown mining waste.

A small, murky river meandered through the bottom of the valley, the water as muddy as sludge.

The mined ore was pushed by excavators to a relatively flat open space, where a large, simple wooden shed had been built; that was the raw stone warehouse.

Low shacks were scattered around the shed, packed densely together; these were the living quarters for the miners and the stationed soldiers.

The entire mining area had a post every five steps and a sentry every ten, guarded as strictly as an iron barrel.

Night had completely shrouded the valley, and everything was pitch black, with only a few electric lights illuminating the warehouse area; in the dim yellow glow, flying insects circled the lights, flickering like ghost fires.

Mao Sang jumped off the vehicle, his face still looking extremely ugly, and called over the mine manager; the group walked straight toward the raw stone warehouse.

The warehouse was built of rough wood, with wooden boards nailed between the posts, the gaps between the boards wide enough to stick a finger into, and the roof covered with rainproof asbestos tiles, barely enough to block the wind and rain.

The manager pushed open the wooden door, and a damp, earthy, fishy smell rushed toward them.

Inside the shed, it was packed solid with large pieces of Mowanji raw jade stones.

This batch of raw stones had thick rinds, a black wax-like texture, and surfaces covered in coarse sand grains; the small ones were over a dozen kilograms, and the large ones were as much as two or three hundred kilograms, one lump next to another, looking no different from ordinary black stones on a riverbank.

But no one knew how many priceless treasures were hidden inside these black lumps.

Mao Sang stepped into the shed, his gaze scanning the piles of raw stones inch by inch, and his hanging heart finally relaxed a little. As long as this batch of jade was intact, the family still had bargaining chips to make a comeback.

He Yuzhu had already quietly climbed down from the bottom of the truck.

He smeared his face pitch black, took advantage of a moment when no one was looking to knock down a lone guard, stripped off the other's military uniform to wear, and silently blended into the interior of the mining area.

Mao Sang was exhausted in body and mind from the journey, so even though the conditions here were extremely crude, he decided to stay at the mining area for the night.

This happened to give He Yuzhu an opportunity.

In the early hours of the morning, everything was silent, with only the sound of insects chirping and the river flowing, and he quietly snuck into that simple warehouse.

He turned on the System Scanning Function and probed the mountain of ore one by one.

A few seconds later, the system's prompt sounded in his mind.

He Yuzhu asked in his heart: "System, among this batch of raw stones, are there any valuable goods?"

The System responded: "Yes, and it is of immense value, sufficient to support the System in completing its upgrade."