Chapter 183, exclusively published on Jinjiang Literature City: Rescue and Mineral Vein
In some unnamed mountain.
Huo Jiajun's personal guards sat inside the hoverbus, looking out the window at the dim light outside, and sighed inwardly.
"How are your injuries?" Huo Tiankuo asked his wounded men after hanging up the call.
The group moved their arms or legs and grinned, saying, "Boss Lu's medicine works very well; we're much better now."
"I just don't know how long it will take before we can leave here."
"It will take at least half a day to get here from Yunlu Village."
"Oh, who would have thought our luck would be so bad."
Others shared the same sentiment.
It's just bad luck.
They were hunting peacefully when a sudden earthquake struck, which then triggered an avalanche.
They ran back desperately, barely managing to get into the bus just before the avalanche hit. Before they could even start moving, they were completely buried under the rolling snow. The bus was even dragged down and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop in front of a pile of rubble.
Aside from a small number of minor scrapes sustained during their escape, most of their injuries were caused by the bus rolling over and hitting hard surfaces; the most serious injuries involved broken bones.
Fortunately, I survived.
They didn't know how deep the snow was above the bus, but judging from the sheer force of the avalanche, it was conservatively estimated to be two or three meters deep.
When it was first buried, the entire bus was plunged into darkness because the light was completely blocked.
If it weren't for the fact that one of their personal guards had bought some glow sticks at the Lu family's general store and happened to have them with him, they probably would have had to navigate in the dark.
"We've buried it so deep, I don't know if Boss Lu will be able to find us easily."
"Could it be that the bus was crushed by the snow before we found it?"
When they were buried, they all heard the bus creaking and groaning under the pressure of the high voltage and the impact.
It's really frustrating to think that if you manage to escape an avalanche but then die because your car collapses.
Huo Tiankuo reassured him, "Don't worry, I've already asked Brother Lu. The bus is very sturdy. As long as we don't open the doors, it won't collapse."
He glanced at the time displayed on his communicator. "I'll eat something first to recharge, so I don't hold Brother Lu back when he arrives."
They had been hunting in the mountains since morning, and were struck by an earthquake and avalanche around noon. More than an hour had passed, well past lunchtime.
Hunger can affect a person's physical strength and judgment. Instead of wasting time thinking wildly, it's better to take this opportunity to adjust your state of mind.
The others, after being reminded, also belatedly realized they were experiencing intense hunger.
As soon as Huo Tiankuo took out the food, a group of his personal guards immediately lined up to receive their share.
Eating only nutritional supplements was tasteless, so to change their mood, Huo Tiankuo brought out some cabbage stewed with venison that the women had made before they set off.
The soldiers slurped down their food, remarking as they ate, "We never expected to have a hot meal after an avalanche."
Food can heal the soul. After taking a bite of this stewed meat dish, the soldiers, who had been on edge all along, gradually relaxed their furrowed brows and became more at ease.
After eating their fill, some of the guards felt drowsy and decided to take a nap so they could recover their strength faster.
Seeing this, Huo Tiankuo didn't stop him and leaned back in his seat to close his eyes and rest.
"Boom!"
After an unknown amount of time, the bus suddenly began to shake slightly.
The guards, who were either fast asleep or simply resting with their eyes closed, were instantly awakened, their eyes darting around warily.
"What happened?"
"Is it another avalanche? Or are there aftershocks?"
Huo Tiankuo also listened carefully to the sounds outside.
After a moment, he looked up at the roof of the car and said, "The sound is coming from above us."
The guards instinctively looked up.
above?
Then it's not an aftershock?
Before the group could make any further judgments, they heard a loud bang, and the snow around the bus suddenly exploded, causing the bus to shake violently.
Immediately afterwards, some blinding light shone in from outside, and the bus, without starting, floated up from the blasted snow crater.
Huo Tiankuo immediately spotted Lu Xuan, who was standing suspended in mid-air directly in front of them.
The others quickly noticed and exclaimed excitedly, "It's Boss Lu!"
"I thought there had really been another earthquake."
"He came so fast!"
"Wait! Why is Boss Lu floating in the sky? He can fly!?"
"Wow! It really is! Could he really be a god descended to earth?"
The guards' eyes lit up, but Huo Tiankuo immediately thought of using gravity-based abilities.
The bus was quickly placed on the snow next to it. Huo Tiankuo told the others to wait inside the bus while he got off and met up with Lu Xuan.
He even took another look at the time.
Only an hour had passed since he made the distress call. Both Lu Xuan's speed in arriving and the speed at which he found them were faster than ten minutes.
Huo Tiankuo couldn't help but ask, "How did Brother Lu find us in such a short time?"
Lu Xuan said, "I have my own methods."
It's actually not that simple.
With just one multi-functional life detector, the coordinates of organisms within a ten-kilometer radius can be scanned.
Even if they were buried under two meters of snow, or even ten or eight meters deeper, he could still pinpoint their location and blast them out immediately.
Lu Xuan glanced at the Weather Companion and said, "Let's not talk nonsense for now. Aftershocks are coming. Let's leave here first."
Although there is no need to worry too much about aftershocks after the levitated bus escapes, there is no guarantee that a second avalanche will not occur.
Let's stay away for now.
Lu Xuan and Huo Tiankuo got into the bus together and started the engine to leave.
Before leaving, Lu Xuan caught a glimpse of smoke rising from several spots on the distant mountains, where the snow seemed to be much less than in other places.
Something flashed through his mind, but as the bus sped back, he temporarily suppressed his guesses.
...
Huo Tiankuo spent a total of five days on this trip. Apart from the misfortune of encountering an avalanche at the end, the results before that were very encouraging.
Based on a 60% success rate, they obtained a total of over 35,000 jin of meat, one-third of which was beef, which is usually unavailable through hunting.
Huo Tiankuo first paid for the rental fee of 50 jin of supplies for one day, and then exchanged 30,000 jin of meat for three bottles of evolution fluid.
The remaining 5,000 jin will be divided into three parts: one part for the 30 guards who have worked hard for many days, one part for the guards who stayed behind, and the last part for the disaster victims.
Lu Xuan watched as Huo Tiankuo carefully put away the evolution fluid and asked, "General, how do you plan to distribute these elixirs?"
Huo Tiankuo said, "My deputy and I will each take one, and the rest of the personal guards will draw lots to determine their quotas."
As for the disaster victims, he did not intend to give away the elixir.
It's not that I'm reluctant to part with it or that I'm stingy, but rather that possessing a treasure is a crime.
It might not be a good thing for ordinary disaster victims to possess magical abilities; on the contrary, it could become a source of trouble in the future.
He wasn't Lu Xuan; he lacked the confidence to protect the disaster victims indefinitely, so he might as well not have asked in the first place.
Lu Xuan reminded him, "The elixir has a three-day side effect, so it's best if the general and the deputy general don't take it at the same time."
Huo Tiankuo nodded to indicate that he understood, "I will take it separately from my deputy."
Huo Tiankuo once again expressed his gratitude to Lu Xuan for the medicine, and said, "Whether or not I obtain the immortal technique, I will tell you."
Lu Xuan nodded, "I wish General success in acquiring immortal techniques." Preferably special ones.
As soon as Huo Tiankuo left, Lu Xuan took out a drone, set the destination, and launched it.
What is the streamer going to do?
[Could it be that they're going to monitor Huo Tiankuo and see what kind of superpower he's awakened?]
[Huo Tiankuo already said he would notify the anchor, there's no need for surveillance.]
Are your eyes just for show? Didn't you see the coordinates the streamer just set?
What are the coordinates?
[It seems to be near the mountain where the avalanche just happened?]
Not everyone noticed the unusual thing about the other mountain that Lu Xuan discovered before he left.
They were even more puzzled when they heard that they had to go back to the avalanche site.
Since we've already come back, why bother sending the drone over again?
Lu Xuan told them what he had discovered.
【Huh? Smoke coming out in the middle of winter?】
It's unlikely to be a wildfire this season.
Is it possible that an avalanche also occurred over there, and the so-called 'smoke' was actually snow vapor ejected by the avalanche?
Lu Xuan said, "You'll know what it is once you see it for yourself."
He turned the drone up to its maximum speed and flew to the vicinity of the destination in just half an hour.
A considerable amount of time has passed since they returned, but the smoking areas remain, and as the drone gets closer, the number of smoking spots increases significantly.
When the drone finally crossed the mountain peak and arrived at the inner part of the mountain, it found that there were neither avalanches nor wildfires.
There are only a dozen or so natural hot spring pools of varying sizes scattered among the mountains.
Live stream viewers: !!!
【Ahhhh! It's a hot spring!!!】
Although no particularly valuable supplies were discovered, hot springs are still a great resource!
Lu Xuan had already guessed, but he was still pleasantly surprised to see the considerable number of steaming hot springs.
I even regret not going in person because I was worried it would be a false alarm.
If he goes there, can he go in and soak right away?
Is there anything more comfortable than soaking in a warm hot spring during the coldest winter?
·
Wow! Is this a hot spring?
Wu Yinyin, Ye Ping, and the other women looked at the steaming pool in front of them with curiosity and surprise in their eyes.
Su Ying stretched her hand into the pool and, feeling the scalding water, exclaimed in surprise, "It really is hot!"
"It's not just the hot spring that's hot; the temperature around here is also very high. It doesn't feel like the coldest season at all." Wu Yinyin couldn't help but fan her cheeks with her hand because of the heat.
Not far from them, young men were also marveling at the other hot spring pools, while excitedly building greenhouses around the pools with suitable temperatures.
With hot springs nearby, the surrounding temperature is indeed not as cold as outside the mountains.
You can still see your breath clearly when you breathe, and the temperature is still below minus twenty degrees Celsius; it's still cold.
Soaking in an open-air hot spring at such a temperature creates a huge temperature difference between the top and bottom, resulting in both extreme cold and heat – not a pleasant experience.
Therefore, by enclosing the pool in a greenhouse, one can enjoy both hot spring bathing and scenic views without any compromise.
The greenhouse was quickly set up, and the men's and women's pools were arranged on opposite sides of a rocky hill.
People of all ages and genders who were close friends took off their outer clothes and biological garments, wearing only thin inner clothes, and eagerly gathered together to eat soup.
Almost the instant they were submerged, a series of sighs filled the greenhouse.
"Phew—that feels so good!"
"It's a bit hot, but it really feels good. It feels like my bones have been softened by the soaking."
Lu Xuan, Zhang Chengming, Li Jing, Xiong Mao, and others were soaking in the same pool, with a tray in front of them filled with wine and snacks.
A group of people were soaking in the hot spring while eating and drinking, looking incredibly relaxed.
Zhang Chengming took a sip of wine from time to time and sighed, "Life is too comfortable these days. Who would have thought we were fleeing famine?"
The others nodded in agreement.
Looking at the hazy sunlight through the falling snow, and listening to the sounds of Lu Chen, Zhang Dafu, and other children splashing and playing in the pond next door, everyone felt that life was so beautiful they could ascend to heaven at any moment.
Only Xiong Mao looked somewhat displeased.
"It's not quite the same for a group of grown men to soak in a hot spring. I'd rather soak in one with my wife."
Completely oblivious, Li Tuo, focused on eating, casually remarked, "Then you can bring your wife here for a soak next time."
Li Jing, Zhang Chengming, and others who already had wives were also tempted after hearing this.
Taking a hot spring bath with your wife sounds really wonderful.
However, a heated room with no privacy on all sides is not suitable for a couple to soak in a hot spring. They would definitely need to use curtains to block the view, so as not to see anything they shouldn't see, cough.
Viewers in the live stream, who overheard a few people whispering, said: "We just want to see what we want to see!"
[Host, quickly switch the camera back!!!]
[Exactly! What's the point of just showing us the snow outside?! Are you a sore loser?!]
We're tired of seeing snow for over a month; we want to see the streamer go on a hot spring bath!
[Muscles, wet body, handsome man emerging from the bath, get ready to scream! Hurry up!]
From the moment Lu Xuan discovered the hot spring pool, most of the fans in the live stream were waiting to feast their eyes on him soaking in the hot spring.
And what was the result?
Good grief! They were already in the water, but the streamer ridiculously pointed the camera outside, so all they could hear was the sound of water and the wind and snow. They couldn't get any visual enjoyment and had to rely entirely on their imaginations!
What do people do?
Lu Xuan remained unmoved. "What are you looking at? I'm already being kind by letting you hear the sound. Don't be too greedy."
Audience: ? ? ?
Is this what we call greed?
We didn't even ask you to take off all your clothes to show us. You're wearing your underwear while soaking in the hot spring, and we can't even see you. Who's being more unreasonable here?
Lu Xuan sat comfortably in the hot spring, one arm resting casually on a pile of stones by the pool, while the other hand held a wine glass and gently swirled it.
Her long, loose hair was half-dampened by the steam from the hot spring, and her well-defined muscles were faintly visible beneath her white undershirt, which was soaked through by the pool water.
If viewers saw this scene, many would probably get nosebleeds.
Unfortunately, Lu Xuan didn't give them that chance, so the audience could only continue to fill in the blanks in their minds.
He said calmly, "You're making a racket in my eyes. If you keep this up, I'll just turn off the broadcast."
Live stream viewers: ! So, who really went too far?!
...
Soaking in hot springs should not be done for too long, so the villagers came out one after another after soaking for 15 minutes.
There was no rush to go back immediately afterwards.
Since it's a rare opportunity for everyone to get out together, why not take a stroll around the neighborhood, see if there are any other resources besides the hot springs, and maybe even have a picnic in the greenhouse?
After lunch, we went to the hot springs again in the afternoon. Many people, especially young couples, made plans to come back another day to soak alone.
Lu Xuan did not participate in their conversation.
He left the area filled with hot spring pools alone, carrying a small detector, and came to the other side of the mountain.
Pointing the probe at the ground, the detector quickly emitted a 'beep beep beep' alert, and the display screen showed data on the type and size of the mineral vein.
It is a small tungsten mine with reserves exceeding 30,000 tons.
Lu Xuan curled his lips into a smile.
He had previously thought that there was a higher probability of mineral veins near some hot springs, and he never expected to actually discover them.
At this point, the audience no longer had time to complain about not seeing a handsome man emerge from the bath.
Another mineral vein has been discovered!
[Again? Has the streamer discovered other mineral veins before?]
[Are you a newcomer upstairs? During the extreme heat season, the streamer discovered a small agate mine in an underground cave, and the villagers collected a lot of agate, which became a considerable fortune after the cataclysm.]
[Is the streamer going to mine cryptocurrency? Private mining shouldn't be allowed in the ancient world, right?]
[Our Star Alliance is the best. The first discoverer of any unclaimed mineral veins found while exploring desolate planets has the right to mine them and can legally obtain a portion of the mineral revenue.]
Lu Xuan said unhurriedly, "As long as I don't tell anyone, who will know that I discovered a mine and started mining it?"
The mine has been found, wouldn't it be a waste not to dig it?
Moreover, the ancients had limited knowledge of tungsten, and even if they occasionally mined it, they treated it as a miscellaneous ore.
Even if Huo Tiankuo discovered his actions, he would only find out that he was digging for worthless ore, so what's wrong with that?
No problem at all.
Audience: !!!
However, to avoid putting Huo Tiankuo in a difficult position, Lu Xuan still did not intend to be discovered by him.
Mining is a simple business, but if you make it too big, it's hard to keep quiet about.
But he had no intention of having the villagers do this kind of heavy physical work, nor did he plan to harvest it himself.
When I pulled out the mineral vein detector a few days ago, the Black Gold Blind Box also gave me a mining robot, so this will come in handy.
The Star Alliance's mining robot is small in size, only half the height of Lu Xuan's, and makes very little noise when it is working. It also has an embedded storage space that can hold 1,000 cubic meters of ore.
Lu Xuan and the other mining robots started working and quickly dug an underground mine tunnel in the extreme event. Then they found a boulder nearby and used it to completely block the half-meter-high mine entrance.
The sound of falling earth and rocks, which could still be heard inside, was almost instantly drowned out.
Unless someone with enhanced hearing listens closely, they cannot hear a sound at all.
As the mining robots dig deeper, even this slightest sound will completely disappear.
There were no signs of any other living creatures nearby. Even if the Huo family army came here, they would never have imagined that there was a mine hidden underground, and that a mining robot was working hard in the mine.
What Lu Xuan had to do was wait a while before coming back to collect the robots and the large amount of tungsten ore.
The price of unrefined tungsten ore is not high, ranging from about 30,000 to 50,000 points per ton depending on its quality.
It certainly can't compare to amethyst ore, which costs at least 20 million per ton.
However, the only amethyst ore he had was a hundred or so grams that he could occasionally pull from blind boxes, and the largest he had ever gotten was no more than one kilogram.
All that's accumulated so far doesn't even weigh fifty pounds.
Tungsten ore is different; the entire vein, totaling 30,000 tons, is waiting for him to mine.
Even if we don't excavate everything, it shouldn't be difficult to excavate several thousand or tens of thousands of tons, right?
Conservative estimates suggest they could earn at least 300 to 500 million.
Lu Xuan was quite satisfied with the outcome of his trip, having unexpectedly made a fortune while soaking in a hot spring.
-----------------------
A note from the author:
Today's thank-you list:
Reader "Floating Dreams and Tide" added 50 units of nutrient solution to the water.
Reader "Scarlet" watered the plant with 25 nutrient solution.
Reader "Azhan" added 10 units of nutrient solution to the water.
Reader "Azhan" added 10 units of nutrient solution to the water.
Reader "Azhan" added 10 units of nutrient solution to the water.
Reader "Mu Xiaohe" added 10 units of nutrient solution to the water.
All the other little angels who received nutrient solutions also received lots of kisses! [kiss]
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