When Xue Dong heard Jiang Man's question, he shook his head blankly: "I don't know much about this matter. This team is a prospecting team that we borrowed from Jintu Mining. Moreover, their equipment is quite valuable, so it is reasonable for the prospecting team to have guards. As for whether they have guns, I don't know."

I overheard their conversation and chimed in, "Now that Monkey and his group have all disappeared, what's the point of us discussing whether they were carrying weapons?"

"At least we can confirm whether they are safe."

Jiang Man shone her flashlight into the car window: "There was no glass shards inside the car, and the bullet hole is wider on the outside and narrower on the inside, which is consistent with the marks of a shot fired from inside the car. However, there is only one bullet hole in the entire car, and the other damage is just scrapes. This means that when they encountered danger, the people inside the car only fired one shot, but the other party did not return fire. Since there was no gunfight and there was no blood in the car, it can at least prove that there were no casualties when they encountered the incident."

I didn't feel relieved by Jiang Man's words; instead, I felt a sense of dread: "If your analysis is correct, do you think it's a good thing that Monkey and his gang could all disappear without a trace after using guns?"

Before Jiang Man could answer my question, my phone rang. Seeing that it was Song Laosan calling, I answered, "Hello?"

Upon hearing my voice, Song Laosan asked, "Xiao Duan, have you returned to Qingyun Town?"

When I heard Song Laosan say that, I licked my lips and asked, "What, did you discover something over there?"

"You know what, there really is one."

Song Laosan agreed: "I have led people to investigate the old site of Qingyun Town for half a day. I thought I would not find anything, but just when I was about to leave, I found a large amount of stolen soil in a ravine. It is preliminarily determined that the people who dumped the soil dug something up, at least a chest from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods."

I countered, "How can you determine the age without even seeing the tomb robber's hole?"

"Tang tombs smell sweet, Song tombs smell astringent, Ming and Qing tombs have a lot of lime particles, Shang and Zhou tombs have a strong fishy smell, Qin and Han tombs have cinnabar that sinks in water, Spring and Autumn and Warring States tombs don't need to be smelled, as they contain green clay. I still know the basic rules."

Song Laosan paused for a moment: "After I discovered this stolen soil, I spread out my people and searched the surrounding area, but we didn't find anything. These people probably dug a tunnel far away and then dumped the soil here. My knowledge of feng shui is not good enough to find the tunnel in a short time, so I thought I would call you. If you are in Qingyun Town, you should come and take a look. The soil is still moist, which means that it was dug out not long ago, at most no more than twelve hours ago."

I sent the monkey to the old site of Qingyun Town because I suspected that it was the true location of the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. Now, after hearing that Song Laosan had discovered the theft of soil, I became even more convinced of this idea: "Have you informed Qu Ruilin and the others about this?"

"Not yet, I called you first."

Song Laosan smiled and said, "Didn't I say I was going to repay your kindness? If you're in Qingyun Town, come and take a look as soon as possible. Qu Ruilin and Wei Shengnan are on their way here now. Once you've seen the situation here, I'll notify them. As for what you can discover from these stolen soils, that's up to you."

I countered with, "Where exactly are you located?"

Song Laosan replied, "There is a strangely shaped mountain near the old site of Qingyun Town. You will see it when you get there. I am to the northwest of this mountain. Walk about one kilometer and you will see a ravine."

After I ended the call with Song Laosan, I said to Jiang Man, "Song Laosan just called and said he made a discovery at the old site of Qingyun Town. I wonder if someone has already discovered the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. We'll split up now. I'll go to the old site of Qingyun Town, and you stay here to continue investigating Monkey and the others' whereabouts."

"I'll go with you."

Jiang Man thought for a moment and said logically, "According to you, if someone really found something at the old site of Qingyun Town, then this matter is very likely to be connected with the disappearance of Monkey! Think about it, if those people really found something, they would definitely be on guard around the area. If the people they sent out happened to see Monkey and his caravan leading a convoy in that direction in a grand manner, wouldn't they stop them?"

Seeing that Jiang Man had spoken, Xue Dong also stepped forward and said, "Mr. Duan, I just spoke with the people from Jintu Mining. President Xie has already used his personal connections to get several police dogs from the city's police dog base, but it will take at least five hours for them to arrive. I will take people to search in the surrounding mountains first! It's not safe to go into the mountains at night, so let Miss go with you."

"Alright, then take good care of yourselves."

I know that after Qu Ruilin and the others arrive in Qingyun Town, they will definitely contact Song Laosan. I don't have much time to use, and we are only looking for the tomb raider's hole now, not preparing to go into the tomb. So it's not inappropriate to have Jiang Man come along.

Thus, Xue Dong and his men split into two groups. He sent out all seven strong men around him to protect Jiang Man, while he himself, along with the security personnel arranged by Jintu Mining, stayed in the woods where the convoy was located, searching for Monkey and the others while waiting for Jintu Mining's support.

The place we searched earlier was the end of the road the monkeys had cleared; the road beyond that point was impassable by vehicle, and we had to proceed on foot.

Li Changyou, who had been to the old site of Qingyun Town before, still served as our guide. After walking about three kilometers, Li Changyou climbed over a hillside, looked at the terrain ahead, and suddenly stopped: "Huh?"

I noticed Li Changyou's curious expression and turned to look at him: "What's wrong?"

"That's strange, the terrain here has changed!"

Li Changyou pointed ahead: "Remember when I told you? The old site of Qingyun Town government was in a village. That village used to be in that ravine over there, but that ravine is gone now!"

I looked in the direction Li Changyou was pointing, and under the moonlight, there was indeed a plain a kilometer away from us. Compared with the surrounding densely vegetated mountains, the plain looked barren.

Jiang Man analyzed, "Could it be a natural disaster like a mudslide that filled in that ravine? Wasn't it said that the Qingyun Town government relocated because of the terrain problem here?"

"I can't see anything from this distance," I waved my hand and said, "Everyone, hurry up and go check it out!"