Chapter 81: Strange Mine Pit

Zhu Ge Qing Ming and the others saw this scene and only thought that Lu Fan had an expert behind him, seemingly having some grudges with Ling Yao, the instructor of Tianyuan Academy, but they couldn't guess anything else. However, two terms, "Yue Ruye" and "Xuan Yin Pavilion," were deeply imprinted in their hearts.

Especially Zhu Ge Qing Ming, who racked his brains and thought hard. Unfortunately, with his knowledge, he had never heard of them.

"Alright! My business is finished. Three days later, at the Preaching Assembly, Han Zhen, you guys come together; how much you can understand will depend on your opportunity and comprehension!"

Lu Fan's voice fell, and he turned to leave. Just then, several loud laughs came from outside the house.

"Nephew Han Zhen, how is the rune refining ore cart refined? Your Uncle Fu can't wait!"

Fang Hong and several other mining big shots from Shanjin Town pushed the door and entered, one by one pot-bellied and ruddy. A few days later, they seemed to have gained some weight.

"Eh! Young Master Lu is also here; this is really great!"

Fang Hong saw Lu Fan, looking happy, and hurriedly stepped forward. He didn't even have time to look at the three rune refining ore carts, as if he had come specifically for Lu Fan, directly grabbing Lu Fan's hands, looking very intimate.

Lu Fan frowned, his gaze slightly puzzled, and he stepped back calmly, pulling out his palm.

This made Fang Hong look embarrassed, but he was an old fox; he just smiled slightly and returned to normal. He looked at Lu Fan with a smile, the thick joy in his eyes not dissipating by half.

Han Zhen stepped forward, laughing and saying: "Uncle Fang, what is going on? Looking at you like this, it seems you are not here for the rune refining ore cart!"

His round, fat face was full of smiles, but the suspicion in his eyes was extremely obvious. Fang Hong had taken the initiative, but he was using Fu Long's banner.

Seeing Lu Fan was so enthusiastic, seemingly surprised, but it always gave people a very strange feeling, as if he had been prepared.

Fang Hong was slightly stunned, then shook his head with a bitter smile, patted Han Zhen's shoulder, looking as if he had been seen through by the brat. He didn't hide it and laughed:

"Nephew is truly not simple; your Uncle Fang's little tricks really couldn't be hidden from you! To tell you the truth, we are here to ask for your help this time!"

As soon as his voice fell, he nodded at Fu Long on the side. The other party walked out reluctantly, looking bitter: "Young Master Lu, Nephew Han, a mine pit under my name has had some strange things happen; I ask you to help me, to solve my worries of many days!"

"Oh? Uncle Fu seems to be quite troubled recently! Little nephew is very curious, what exactly happened to make you look so worried?"

Han Zhen heard about the mine pit and immediately became energetic, looking curious.

Fu Long coughed twice, seemingly calming his mind, and spoke slowly, revealing the strange things he had encountered in the past ten days or so.

It turned out that a small, inconspicuous mine pit had recently had strange things happen one after another. Dozens of miners had disappeared in a few days, making people panic. Fu Long had originally planned to buy enough rune refining ore carts to replace ordinary manpower.

But at this critical moment of handover, such a big accident happened. He couldn't suppress it, and it even affected other mine pits. For a time, there were many opinions, and the surprise brought by the rune refining ore carts disappeared for the most part, leaving only worry.

"Strange things happen in the mine pit; could it be that the tunnels in this mine pit are complex, even connecting to natural caves, leading to these miners getting lost?"

Han Zhen heard this and guessed boldly. He had heard his father mention such things; most were individual miners being curious and accidentally getting lost. Afterward, there were basically traces to follow, and the chance of survival was quite high, which couldn't be considered a big deal.

Fu Long nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with Han Zhen's guess, but his face was somewhat gloomy, and he was hesitant to speak.

"Hey! Brother Fu, what kind of attitude is this? If you have something to say, just say it. We are here to help you find a way; you look like this, how can we help you?"

Fang Hong frowned, his words slightly strange, seemingly with a tone of reprimand.

And the others echoed, and their words were even slightly severe, not at all like peers speaking, as if their status was vastly different.

Lu Fan saw this strange scene clearly, as if looking at a fire. As for Zhu Ge Qing Ming and Ge Hui and Qian Shirong, they naturally saw it clearly. After all, they were Rune Masters, and their Spiritual Power was naturally stronger than ordinary people; they naturally saw the strange scene of Fang Hong and the others clearly.

Only Han Zhen, who was usually shrewd and intelligent, seemed not to have seen it, seemingly deeply trapped in the strange things Fu Long had mentioned. Youthful temperament, and it was something he was so interested in, so he naturally cared.

"Uncle Fu, just say it; little nephew is very interested in the strange things in your mine!"

Han Zhen looked hopeful and even slightly longing.

Fu Long's face turned ugly upon hearing this, but Fang Hong gave him a threatening look, and he gritted his teeth and could only say: "I asked a few Martial Masters to go in and look, and they never came out. With no other way, we brothers discussed it, and it seems only Rune Masters can help me. But the group in the Rune Master Guild can't be invited, so..."

Fu Long stopped here, his gaze fixed on Lu Fan. He was hesitant to speak, but the meaning was clear.

"So that's it, I understand!" Lu Fan nodded slightly, walked forward with a light smile, patted Han Zhen's shoulder lightly, and said: "Strange things happen in the mine; I am also somewhat interested, so it doesn't hurt to go and see!"

As soon as his voice fell, two completely different voices rang out. One was Han Zhen, looking wild with joy and even impatient, saying directly: "Good, good! If Young Master Lu is willing to go, I have nothing to worry about!"

For him, this was an opportunity to broaden his horizons, and he could have some experience and preparation if such things happened in his own mine in the future.

The other voice was Zhu Ge Qing Ming, looking cold and refusing decisively: "Young Master Lu, no! The Preaching Assembly will open in three days; it's better not to go out recently and cultivate your character!"

Fang Hong and the others' expressions changed slightly, all looking at Zhu Ge Qing Ming with ill intent. The other party had taught their subordinates a lesson a few days ago, even forcing them to swallow their anger and lose face. They had long been jealous, and now they were saying this again, which was the opposite of their intentions, so they naturally didn't give a good face.

Qian Shirong and Ge Hui seemed to have realized something, looking uneasy, but finally didn't speak. Lu Fan was unfathomable, and they didn't think they were qualified to speak here.

Lu Fan smiled lightly, looked at Fu Long meaningfully, and then said to Zhu Ge Qing Ming: "Master, don't worry; I have a sense of proportion in this matter. It's just a small mine pit, it doesn't matter!"

As soon as his voice fell, he gave Zhu Ge Qing Ming a reassuring look. The other party came back to his senses; even he saw the strangeness of the matter, how could Lu Fan not know?

Besides, even if these people had other hidden agendas, or even evil intentions, with the strength Lu Fan had exposed, he didn't care at all. How could a small mining town stump him?

Zhu Ge Qing Ming calmed down and said no more. Lu Fan waved his large hand, put the Original Body Dharma Image into the Universe Bag, and then directly ordered Fang Hong and the others to lead the way. Together with everyone, they walked toward the wilderness.

An hour later, Lu Fan and the others arrived in front of a mine cave, surrounded by mud, sand, and scattered stones, and it was slightly damp, clearly having been mined not long ago.

Lu Fan only looked at it a few times, then followed Fang Hong and the others into the mine. Rugged tunnels, narrow and long. These few pot-bellied mining big shots didn't even bring a follower, and walked into the mine shaft openly.

Familiar with the road, it seemed it wasn't their first time here. This was a mine shaft under Fu Long's name, but the one leading the way in front was Fang Hong, and the others followed closely behind. As for Fu Long, he hung at the end, looking reluctant.

Clearly it was a mine shaft under his name, but he didn't have half the demeanor of a protagonist. He was even slightly submissive, not at all like his previous performance.

Lu Fan acted as if he hadn't seen it, and Han Zhen's heart wasn't here, looking left and right, clearly very curious about this mine cave. As for Zhu Ge Qing Ming and the three, they were cautious and on guard.

"Eh, what is this?" Han Zhen suddenly stopped, touched the edge of the dim mine cave, and actually dug out a rusty pickaxe.

"This pickaxe has some years on it, and it's not quite the same as the traces of the mine tunnels around it!" Han Zhen looked puzzled and stared at Fu Long.

Fu Long's face changed greatly upon hearing this, and he stammered: "This mine pit was not originally under my name, it was just accidentally explored two years ago. At that time, there were some artificial traces, seemingly predecessors had been here!"

His face was somewhat strange, but Han Zhen didn't notice it at all, instead nodding, looking as if he had suddenly realized, and said: "It seems to be an abandoned mine tunnel. Those missing miners might have entered the complex mine tunnels, got lost for a while, and didn't come out!"

As soon as Han Zhen said this, Fang Hong and the others immediately nodded and echoed.

"Not bad! Nephew is right, we also thought so!"

"Nephew Zhen is truly intelligent; I really envy Brother Han for having such an outstanding successor; this is something we wouldn't dare to dream of!"

"Yes, yes! Our Shanjin Town has produced a young talent like Nephew Zhen; there is hope for revitalization in the future, and we can rest in peace after we are buried in a hundred years!"

These few old foxes were fawning over a youth; if it weren't for some purpose, no one would believe it.

Han Zhen felt something at this time, and his face was slightly cold. But at this moment, seeing that the abandoned mine tunnel was right in front of him, he couldn't care about these things.

These abandoned mine tunnels were basically old, and even existed before Shanjin Town had developed. The mine pits at that time must have been precious spirit ores, and even abandoned mine tunnels had immeasurable value.

Even the traces left behind had great reference value and had unique inspiration for mining and collection.

"Abandoned mine tunnel, a bit interesting! Lead the way, don't dawdle!" Lu Fan spoke directly, and Fang Hong and the others were pleasantly surprised, unable to wait to rush into the depths of the mine tunnel.

All directions were accessible, and there were many forks. But the few were familiar with the road, and they didn't know how many times they had been here.

In the dim mine tunnel, the fine footsteps, mixed with everyone's breathing and panting, were particularly noisy.

Fang Hong and the others were already panting, but they had no intention of resting. After walking for another hour, they stopped in front of a half-cut mine tunnel covered in spider webs and filled with gloomy air.

Cold winds came from the branches of the mine tunnel, like streams, converging here, and finally drilled into the mine tunnel and disappeared without a trace.

"It's strange here! This mine tunnel clearly reached its end; how come the gloomy wind around only pours inward? Could it be there is another place to go?"

Lu Fan was slightly stunned, walked forward slowly, and said so.

Fang Hong and the others didn't speak at this time, silent. The original hurried look had also disappeared, and they stepped aside quietly.

"Could it be a wind-absorbing cave?" Han Zhen looked surprised, seemingly remembering something, and said: "I heard that in the depths of some mine tunnels, strange suction will be generated, sucking the cold wind from the entire mine vein into it, producing unique landscapes. It might even swallow the entire mine vein, causing it to collapse instantly and turn into ruins!" ===== CHAPTER 82 =====