He stood up alertly, gripped the tiger-tooth stick tightly in his hand, and glanced around vigilantly.

"Who's there?!" Chen Changyuan shouted sternly.

The voice paused for a moment, and then a timid voice came: "It's...it's me..."

A thin figure walked out from behind the bushes, holding a basket with some herbs in it.

Chen Changyuan looked closely and found that it was the village idiot named Wang Ergou.

This idiot is not very smart and often wanders around the village, making a living by digging herbs.

Seeing that it was Wang Ergou, Chen Changyuan breathed a sigh of relief, but the anger in his heart was still there.

"Ergou, were you the one who dug out my Huangjing?"

Wang Ergou shuddered with fear and waved his hands quickly:

"No...it's not me...I didn't..."

Chen Changyuan glanced at Wang Ergou. This idiot usually hangs around the village, picking up trash and digging out bird nests. Why did he come to this deep mountain forest today?

Villagers usually don’t come to this place, so how did Wang Ergou find it?

"Ergou, usually no one from the village comes here. How did you find it?"

Chen Changyuan's tone softened a little. After all, getting angry at a fool wouldn't solve the problem.

Wang Ergou's eyes wandered, he hesitated for a long time, stretched out his dirty finger, and pointed at a red cloth on a tree not far away:

"I...I followed this...here..."

Chen Changyuan looked in the direction Wang Ergou pointed, and his brows suddenly twisted into a knot.

He remembered that he had never tied a red ribbon anywhere except when he entered Qingshanling.

The red cloth was bright and eye-catching, and it was obviously tied there recently.

In other words, someone else also discovered this patch of wild Polygonatum and got there first.

Chen Changyuan's anger subsided by a little, and he said to himself:

"It seems that this place can't be claimed by anyone just by discovering it..."

He calculated in his mind that this piece of Polygonatum sibiricum weighed at least several dozen kilograms, and Wang Ergou's small body and broken basket definitely couldn't hold so much.

So, there were other people here too?

"Ergou, while you're here, have you seen anyone else come here to dig for Polygonatum?"

Chen Changyuan squatted down and tried his best to keep his eyes level with Wang Ergou.

Wang Ergou thought for a long time, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes, and he stammered:

"Brother Dazhu has been here too..."

"Zhou Dazhu?!"

Chen Changyuan was immediately furious. He stood up suddenly and kicked a stone at his feet away.

This is the result he least wants to hear!

But now someone has dug up the Huangjing, and the Huangjing has not been labeled with his name, so he can only suffer in silence.

"You kid, why didn't you say it earlier!"

Chen Changyuan wanted to slap Wang Ergou, but when he saw him cowering, he suppressed his anger.

"I... I'm scared..." Wang Ergou trembled with fear and wanted to run away holding the basket.

"Okay, go back!" Chen Changyuan waved his hand, feeling very aggrieved.

Wang Ergou ran away as if he had been pardoned, and disappeared into the woods in the blink of an eye.

Chen Changyuan stood there, getting angrier the more he thought about it.

I had originally thought that I could make some money from this batch of Polygonatum, buy some supplements for my mother, and buy myself some new clothes, but now it’s all gone!

Chen Changyuan spat and cursed:

"Zhou Dazhu, that bastard, is so damn quick!"

He felt like there was a stone blocking his heart, and he felt very depressed.

He had been eyeing this piece of Polygonatum for a long time, waiting for it to mature before digging it up, but he didn't expect that the bastard Zhou Dazhui would snatch it away.

However, Chen Changyuan is not someone who gives up easily.

The hill is so huge, there must be other treasures.

He reborn not to compete with Zhou Dazhu for those dozens of kilograms of Polygonatum.

What he wants is greater gains and long-term development.

He continued walking deeper into the mountain, pondering as he walked.

In the past, few villagers came to Qingshanling, as they all thought it was dangerous. But now that I have taken the lead and dug up Polygonatum, the news will definitely be revealed.

It won't be long before someone else comes in to look for treasure.

By then, the resources in the mountains will become everyone's cake, and anyone can have a piece of it.

"No, I have to find a way to eat most of the cake myself."

Chen Changyuan narrowed his eyes and thought in his mind.

Qingshanling is rich in resources. In addition to medicinal herbs, there are also game, mountain products, and possibly even mineral deposits.

If you can control all these resources in your own hands, you will be rich!

"Scale, we need to expand it!"

Chen Changyuan slapped his thigh suddenly, scaring away a pheasant perched on a branch.

His first thought was manpower.

If one person fights alone, his efficiency is too low and he cannot take care of such a big mountain.

You need to find some help, preferably someone you can trust.

Several figures emerged in his mind, all young people in the village who had a good relationship with him.

Although these people don't have much ability, they are obedient and hardworking.

"Well, I'll talk to them when I get back." Chen Changyuan had an idea in his mind.

Besides manpower, tools are also needed. Digging for medicinal herbs, hunting, and transportation all require handy tools.

He had to find a way to get some.

Chen Changyuan walked up the rugged mountain road, thinking about "recruiting soldiers and horses" in his mind.

Wang Ergou is a timid kid who is definitely not reliable.

The fool in the village is strong but not very smart. What if he is kidnapped if you give him some sweet treats?

There's also Zhang Laosan, who lives at the east end of the village. He's said to have been a hunter in the past and knows the mountains like the back of his hand, but he has a strange temper and is difficult to get along with...

He walked and pondered, and before he knew it, he had reached the depths.

This place is usually seldom visited by people. The trees are dense and lush, blocking out the sun, and the air is filled with the smell of damp, rotten leaves.

"Hiss..." Chen Changyuan took a breath and was suddenly tripped by something, almost falling flat on his face.

"What the hell is that?" He looked down and was immediately scared to death.

A pile of white bones suddenly appeared before my eyes!

The bones were scattered among the dead leaves, with some tattered cloth still remaining on them.

If you look closely, you can vaguely make out that it is a military uniform from the warlord period.

Chen Changyuan's heart was pounding and his back felt cold.

This Qingshanling area is really weird. There are actually such things!

He plucked up his courage and walked carefully around the bones.

There was actually a hunting rifle next to the skeleton's hand bones!

"Good guy!" Chen Changyuan's eyes suddenly lit up.

This is a treasure!

He quickly squatted down and took a closer look.

The hunting rifle was rusty and the buttstock was rotten, and it broke into pieces with the slightest touch.

“What a pity…”

Chen Changyuan sighed. It seemed that this hunting rifle was completely scrapped.