To be on the safe side, Qiao Yu carefully selected four sentry posts and asked Hei, Yan, Dian and Qiang to stand guard there, while she herself patrolled around, trying to make sure that they could react to any movement and use the slight shaking of leaves to sound the alarm as soon as possible, and then she would notify the people transporting the ore to evacuate.
But perhaps it was because it had been so long since Yue and the others escaped that the tribes weren't that interested in hunting them down. They also probably didn't realize that there were other tribes lurking here, just to get the slag they didn't want.
Therefore, all the arrangements made by Qiao Yu were completely useless, and everyone successfully transported the slag onto the ship.
Seeing the moon setting in the west and the morning star appearing in the sky, Qiao Yu immediately ordered: "Retreat."
Although there was still some slag that had not been transported away, everyone felt sorry about it, but Qiao Yu had warned them in advance, so no one dared to delay. They packed up their things as quickly as possible, picked up the half-filled wicker baskets, quickly evacuated the slag yard, and ran to the river.
Man, Liushui and several team leaders followed the rear guard, vigilantly observing the movements around them and trying their best to cover up the traces according to Qiao Yu's instructions.
Qiao Yu and the four sentries went to the other side and dragged leaves on the ground at the end of the path where the stalls were set up, leaving some traces to confuse the view.
After everyone got on the raft docked by the river, Qiao Yu and the other four also got on the boat. The raft slowly sailed away from the river bank, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Done!
Even when they were in the river, no one dared to make a noise. They paddled the raft forward desperately until they met Xiaoli, Yue and the other two on the other side where they had been hiding. Only then did the atmosphere become relaxed.
"What do you think their expressions will be when they find out the slag is gone? I can't help laughing just thinking about it."
"Haha, that's right. They must be shocked. Someone actually stole something they don't want. Is this person crazy because of poverty?"
"No, no, no, I think they must suspect they've missed something. These unwanted slags must be treasures, otherwise no one would come to steal them."
"Now that they know this stuff is a treasure, they will definitely not throw it away again. Thinking that they can no longer steal slag, my heart feels empty and painful..."
…
As the sun rose, the tribes in all directions woke up from their slumber.
Dashi arrived at the smelting plant yawning, and together with his companion Wu, began to process the slag burned out from yesterday's smelting.
The two men loaded the slag into a basket and carried it unsteadily to the slag yard. As they walked, Wu chatted with Dashi about gossip: "Yesterday, the Jiangyuan tribe sent people to plead for the queen. Do you think the king will release the queen?"
"Should be?" Dashi yawned listlessly again, saying without much interest, "If not for the little prince, then for the Jiangyuan tribe. Feng is dead anyway, so what's the point in pursuing the queen's guilt now?"
"Oh, Ji Zhan won't miss this opportunity. He will definitely drag the queen down, right? Back then, the queen angered Ji Zhan's mother to death, and now she has killed Feng. Hey, this queen from the Jiangyuan tribe is a powerful figure."
Dashi glanced at him and said, "I advise you to shut up. You said she's a powerful person. If she knew you were gossiping about her behind her back, what do you think she would do?"
Wu was startled and looked around. When he found that there was no one around, he felt relieved.
He was about to speak when the big stone in front of him suddenly stopped, causing him to stagger and almost fall.
He was about to burst into a curse when he saw Dashi, who had dozed off with his eyes half closed, suddenly open his eyes as wide as copper bells and point at the slag heap, saying, "This...this slag...how come it's gone?"
Wu then looked ahead and saw that the slag heap, which had been piled up like a small mountain, had actually become flat ground.
If it weren't for the slag they had dumped on the flat ground, which was completely different from the other flat ground covered with grass, they would have thought they had gone to the wrong place.
"Who did it?" Wu asked doubtfully, "I haven't heard anyone say they want to remove the slag from this place."
Dashi was shocked at first and thought this was a big deal, but when he heard Wu's doubtful and nonchalant tone, he wondered if he was making too much of a fuss.
That's right. No one wants this slag. Who would transport it? Besides, there's no other tribe within a 20-30 li radius except the Jiangyuan Tribe. The Jiangyuan Tribe is their subordinate tribe. How could they have the nerve to do this? The Shui Tribe was a lesson learned.
So the slag must have been transported away by people from our own tribe.
They clean up the slag in the morning. They get up early, clean up yesterday's slag, and then do other things. Perhaps the slag was removed yesterday afternoon.
"We'll know when we go back and ask." He resumed his lazy attitude, and together with Wu, he poured the slag in the basket there, and walked back carrying the empty wicker basket.
The two returned to the mine and asked about this matter. Yu, the person in charge of the smelting plant, widened his eyes and asked, "Is this true?"
As he said that, he ran to see the slag dump with his own eyes, and listened to Wu and Dashi talk about what the slag dump looked like in the past. He quickly reported the matter to Ji You.
Ji You was in charge of their smelting plant. Yu was Ji You's confidant and could report any problems directly to him.
"Check, check for me. See who took the slag away." Ji You was furious.
He knew that bronze swords were powerful weapons, so he never entrusted anyone with the task, but handled everything himself. The people working in the smelting yard were all his trusted subordinates, hand-picked by him.
Without his order, these people could not transport away even the useless slag.
Yu immediately investigated and reported back to Ji You, "King, everyone says it's none of their business. I've interrogated the six men who transported the slag separately, and they all say it was piled there yesterday. After refining the bronze sword for so long, the slag piled up like a small hill. Now, it's gone overnight."
"I've carefully examined the tracks nearby. There are two tracks. One leads to the mine, but it breaks off after only a short distance. The other leads to the river, but it also breaks off there."
He glanced at Ji You and said, "I don't think it was done by people from our tribe."
Ji You's face looked very ugly.
He also didn't think it was done by his tribe. After all, they had smelted the bronze by accident. The slag had been burned, but nothing had come out of it. Why would anyone in the tribe steal it? If they were to steal, they would have gone to the mine and stolen the unsmelted ore, not the slag.
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