When we arrived in Qingyun Town, it was through Jintu Mining that we were connected with the county, and Director Zhang personally escorted us there, so the whole process went very smoothly.

When Niu Degeng learned that we were going to invest and build a factory here, he immediately said that he would personally take us to inspect the site.

My claim that I needed to go into the mountains to select a site was just an excuse to find a burial site. Naturally, I couldn't really let Niu Degeng come with me. In the end, Niu Degeng couldn't persuade us otherwise, so he had to call the forestry station and ask him to select the most professional forest ranger to accompany us into the mountains.

Qingyun Village usually has almost no outsiders and no hotels or similar establishments. Fortunately, the town government had some spare dormitories, so our group all stayed there.

That evening, Niu Degeng had the canteen prepare a sumptuous dinner to entertain us. Although there were no delicacies, the dishes were all local river fish and vegetables, which had a unique flavor.

Perhaps because of our help, Niu Degeng drank half a jin of baijiu that night, and was so moved that he cried with tears streaming down his face. He held my hand the whole time and kept saying that he was thanking us on behalf of all the people in the town.

After dinner, we gathered in the dormitory and chatted.

I lit a cigarette and said to everyone, "I already talked to Station Chief Liu of the Forestry Station at dinner. Tomorrow morning, we'll meet at the Forestry Station, and he'll find a forest ranger to accompany us into the mountains."

The monkey said with a worry, "The problem now is not getting into the mountains, but that we don't know the exact location of the Immortal Palace, while Duan Jinyan and his group have already obtained information on Ping'an Village. I'm worried they'll get there before us!"

"Now is not the time to worry about these things, or rather, these are things that we can't solve just by worrying about them, but I don't think Duan Jinyan will act so quickly."

I told the monkey my analysis: "Ping'an Village has multiple branches, and one of them is in the city. If Duan Jinyan could find the location of Miao Jiang Immortal Palace in such a short time, this place would not be as peaceful as it is now."

Jiang Man reminded her, "But a large group of people have already arrived in Qingyun Town. What if these people are from Ping'an Village?"

“I don’t think so. Ping’an Village’s duty is to protect the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. Even if they take some action, they should focus on defending the entrance to the Immortal Palace, rather than attracting attention in the town.”

I waved my hand and said, "What we need to do now is to think of the good side of bad things, instead of scaring ourselves. Everyone should get some rest, we have to go up the mountain tomorrow!"

Lin Que then interjected, "We're going up the mountain to find the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. Bringing a forest ranger along would make it inconvenient to take action even if we find the place."

"Although Duan Shenxing's previous promise was just an excuse, Jintu Group's heart for charity is genuine, and there is also a special poverty alleviation fund. Qingyun Town is indeed too poor, so I will raise Duan Shenxing's previous promise with the board of directors and strive to make it a reality."

After answering Lin Que, Jiang Man continued, "Our current goal is to find the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. If we do find it, there are many ways to get rid of the forest rangers. Duan Shenxing is right; the most urgent thing is to take action first."

After chatting for a while, everyone dispersed. I was about to go to sleep when I realized I was out of cigarettes. I vaguely remembered seeing a small shop on the roadside when I came here, so I got dressed to go buy some cigarettes.

As soon as I stepped outside, I was startled to find someone sitting in the dark corridor.

Manjing, who was resting in a chair, heard the noise, turned on his flashlight and smiled at me: "Big brother, you're not resting?"

I recognized Manjing and rolled my eyes at him: "What are you doing sitting in the corridor in the middle of the night? It's kind of scary!"

Manjing replied in a simple-minded manner, "It's because those people in black robes have been watching you lately. I was afraid they would attack you in the middle of the night, so I stood guard outside the door."

I patted Manjing's arm: "You're taking this too seriously. Although Ping'an Town is remote, this is the town government compound. Even if the men in black robes are crazy, they wouldn't dare to cross the line of this society. Go back and rest!"

Seeing me walking out, Manjiang stood up and asked, "Brother, it's so late, are you still going out?"

I gestured with the lighter in my hand: "I drank too much tonight, so I'm going out to buy a pack of cigarettes and some food while I'm at it."

When Manjing heard that I was going out, he immediately followed behind me, saying, "I'll go with you."

Seeing that Manjing was about to follow, I didn't stop him and walked to the only main road outside.

Because this mountain area was a mining area in earlier years, the power supply facilities are relatively complete, and there are solar-powered streetlights on both sides of the road.

I originally thought that in a remote town like this, the shops would have very few items, but after going in, I found that I had overestimated the shops.

There were no glass display cases in the room. Inside the entrance, there was a bar counter made of mud bricks, and two wooden shelves against the wall, but they were empty except for a few boxes of chewing gum.

When I entered, an old man was leaning back in his chair reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Seeing his leisurely appearance, I said speechlessly, "Grandpa, do you think your shop can make enough to cover your electricity bills just by selling chewing gum?"

"The shop is closed! If I hadn't been so engrossed in reading, it would have closed long ago!"

The shop owner didn't even look up, simply waving his hand and saying, "We're all sold out. You can leave now."

I was speechless: "Your inventory is way too low! You sold out in just one day?"

The shop owner was equally helpless: "This town is full of elderly people left behind, and every family farms. You can count the number of people who can receive a pension on one hand. Who has spare money to buy things every day! But today, I don't know what happened to the town. A group of people came, like locusts, and bought up all the edible things in the shop."

"We're out of food, but do we have any cigarettes?"

I pulled out a hundred yuan and put it on the table: "Give me a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes!"

The shop owner laughed: "Nobody in this town buys this kind of cigarette. The most expensive one we usually buy is Yuxi."

"Then let's have a Yuxi River!"

I took out three hundred yuan, thought for a moment, and then added two more bills: "Two packs, please!"

The shop owner took out two packs of cigarettes from below: "We don't have that many left, only two packs, fifty-one packs."

I frowned immediately: "Fifty? Are you ripping me off?"

“You’ve traveled this road too. Do you know how long it takes us to get goods to the county town? In Qingyun Town, even the police pay this price for cigarettes.”

The shop owner waved his hand impatiently: "Buy it or don't, it's up to you!"

"Okay, I'll buy it!"

The thought of having to wander in the mountains for several more days made me put the two packs of cigarettes in my pocket, and then I asked, "Do you have any other cigarettes in your shop?"

The shopkeeper held up a plastic bag and gestured: "They're all sold out. These two bags are the only ones I found in the corner while I was tidying up. But I still have some loose tobacco leaves. Do you want them?"

"It's better than nothing, take it all!"

After buying cigarettes, I also bought the last few packs of chewing gum. Just as I was about to leave, a male voice came from behind me: "Hey bro, what are you doing here?"