The learning activities in the village are in full swing.

After resting for a few days, An Moxue was almost fully recovered, with only some light bruises remaining. That day, she received a message from the county public security bureau asking her to come over.

An Moxue obtained a letter of introduction, packed a large sack full of hazelnuts, pine nuts, mushrooms, and dried vegetables, wrote a letter to the army commander, and rode in Old Ma's mule cart, swaying and bumping, to the county town. When she got off, she told Old Ma that she wouldn't be going back that night, but would return the next day.

An Moxue carried a sack of things into the police station.

In the director's office, An Moxue, Director Li, Political Commissar Zhang Jing, and a leader surnamed Liu sent by the provincial military were sitting together. Director Li was telling her about the progress of the case over the past period, saying that Jiang Shi had been found.

When they found him, he was severely injured and unconscious. He died after being taken to the hospital despite all efforts to save him.

We couldn't get a single word from him, so the matter has reached a stalemate. We couldn't find any other breakthroughs by continuing the investigation, so we had to put it aside for now.

An Moxue had anticipated this and was not surprised. If it had been easy to find, her parents wouldn't have lost their lives.

Leader Liu from the provincial military unit also stated that although there has been no progress in the case and no effective leads have been found, they will not give up and will continue to investigate. He also instructed An Moxue to be careful, to be wary of those around her, and to avoid going to remote places.

Then Director Li said that Wang Hai, Li Dong, and Yu Hui would be sent to a reclamation farm for ten years.

An Moxue accepted the gift and handed Zhang Jing a letter and a sack of things, telling him, "Uncle Zhang, the big bag on top is for you. Don't forget to take it out when you get to the army. Give the rest to the commander and have him pass it on to the others. It's not much, just a token of my appreciation."

Zhang Jing was genuinely surprised to see such a large bag of things. He hadn't expected there to be so much, and was about to refuse: "Mo Xue, is this all the stuff you've gathered this autumn? If you take this whole bag, what will you eat? How about this, I'll take a small portion as a token, and we can share it when we get back. You can keep the rest for yourself."

An Moxue's eyes were full of pride: "Uncle Zhang, you underestimate me. I've kept enough for myself, and there will be more next year. I'll pick more next year, and when the time comes, I'll mail it to you."

Zhang Jing thought for a moment. This child had always been generous since he was a child. "Okay, then I'll accept it. I'll thank you on behalf of the uncles and elders in the army. When I get back, I can't let them take your things for nothing. You wait, I'll send you tickets later. I'll have them pool together some tickets for you. You don't lack money here, but it's better to have more tickets so that your life will be more convenient."

Knowing she couldn't refuse, An Moxue readily agreed, "Okay, Uncle Zhang, I'll wait."

Zhang Jing liked An Moxue's poised and generous demeanor: "Moxue, Uncle is taking the train back to Kyoto tonight. Let's have lunch together."

“Alright, Uncle Zhang. How about this, I'll treat Director Li, Comrade Liu, and you all to lunch together. It's to express my gratitude for all of you these past few days. You've worked so hard for me, so I'll just do my bit to show my appreciation. Please don't refuse.”

Everyone knew she was well-off, so they readily agreed, saying they could find the money elsewhere later; there was no need to go against the younger generation's wishes.

The meal allowed Director Li and Leader Liu to gain a better understanding of An Moxue, a younger woman who was knowledgeable, cultured, and resourceful—a rare talent.

Zhang Jing could see that Director Li and Leader Liu appreciated An Moxue, and he couldn't help but smile, looking proud and smug.

After the meal, Leader Liu left her contact address and phone number, saying that she could contact her if needed. An Moxue thanked her and accepted the offer.

After separating from the three people, An Moxue went to the vicinity of the ruins and asked some local elderly people about the situation there.

Only then did I learn that a large family with the compound surname Nalan once lived in those ruins. Later, when war came, all the people in those ruins went to fight and eventually all sacrificed their lives. No one came back. The ruins were destroyed in several battles and eventually became what they are now.

For many years, there have been legends that the ruins were a death trap, and no one dared to do anything there, fearing that their family line would end.

So that ruin was left idle and ignored. No one ever went there, afraid of being tainted by bad things, and that's how it ended up like this. That's why my mother only told her the location of the ancestral land and the ancestral graves, without mentioning the ancestral home. Was there a reason for this, to avoid scaring her?

After visiting the ruins, it was getting dark. An Moxue returned to the ruins and found a secluded spot near a metal detector to sit down.

The consciousness entered the space, found a kerosene lamp, a miner's lamp, a Luoyang shovel, an entrenching tool, a short-handled pickaxe, a pickaxe, a whirlwind shovel, a spade, a metal detector, and a stack of burlap sacks, and put them together. It also took a boxed lunch with three vegetarian dishes and one meat dish, and an apple, and started eating.

At eight o'clock in the evening, it was already completely dark, and few people were out and about. An Moxue lit a kerosene lamp and walked around the areas where the metal detector was activated, checking for any abnormalities.

After defining a general area, they searched for the best location to dig, where the metal detector signal was strongest. They determined the location to be next to an old wall, where the soil looked like it was easiest to dig.

An Moxue placed the kerosene lamp not far from her, first put on gloves, then took out a shovel and dug a circle with a diameter of one meter. She kept digging down until she reached a depth of more than one meter, when it was no longer convenient to turn the soil up.

She jumped onto the ground, found a hard spot, nailed the traction pin to the ground, found a rope ladder, tied it to the traction pin, and lowered the rope ladder down through the hole.

She put away her kerosene lamp, put on her headlamp, and jumped down. Since the area was no longer suitable for using a shovel, she put away her shovel and took out a whirlpool shovel, an entrenching tool, and burlap sacks. First, she used the whirlpool shovel to swirl the soil out, and then used the entrenching tool to put the soil into the burlap sacks.

After repeating this process, they dug another meter deep and encountered yellow mud. The mud was sticky and difficult to dig with their tools. They put away the whirlpool shovel, took out a short-handled hoe, and dug a few times, but it didn't feel right in their hands, so they put it away. They then took out a pickaxe and dug a few times. This one worked. After digging a few times, they used an entrenching tool to shovel the soil into a burlap sack.

When they reached about three meters, they took out a metal detector to check the area and looked around. They found some steel pipes in the space, tied them with ropes, and propped them up around the pit to prevent collapse. Then they continued digging until they reached about four meters from the ground, at which point they could no longer dig.

Put away all the tools, re-secure the steel pipes, take out the safety ropes and rope ladders and tie them together, and clear the ground until there is no dirt left to dig.

She took out a handheld cutting machine from her spatial storage and began carefully cutting along the perimeter of the cave floor, bit by bit. When she was halfway through, she paused, then cut it in half. With a crisp "snap," half of the cave floor collapsed. She took out a powerful flashlight and shone it down, revealing a basement beneath An Moxue.