Cheng Rui spoke immediately, his tone not very polite.
"Uncle Xu, how can you be so carefree? What kind of occasion is this? You still have the mind to listen to the lesson? You can sit in a perfectly good classroom and not listen, but you come here to be serious?"
"Xiao Rui, don't be rude!"
"Well,"
Battalion Commander Xu then realized they were still in the mountains, and embarrassedly scratched his head.
"Sister-in-law, what you said is so good, it's much more interesting than what's taught in class."
Cheng Rui immediately praised him without thinking.
"That's right. Can my sister be the same as them? Theirs is pure theory, while my sister's is based on reality. It's all practical experience that my sister has summarized herself."
"Okay, okay,"
Even someone as shameless as Jian Dan couldn't stand it anymore.
"Battalion Commander Xu, shall we rest for a bit, or continue on our way?"
"Rest for twenty minutes, take turns on guard duty, and continue advancing after twenty minutes."
The others quietly dispersed, and Cheng Rui and his brother secretly breathed a sigh of relief, helping Jian Dan to sit down on a rock.
"Sis, take a rest. Are you tired? Let me massage your legs."
"No need, no need, I'm fine. There's water and food in the basket, you can take it yourselves."
She felt a great sense of accomplishment. Look, this is the little man she raised, how thoughtful he is!
After resting, everyone proceeded with even greater caution.
After walking another ten miles or so, they finally discovered something. Battalion Commander Xu and his men frowned deeply as they looked at the simple route map in their hands.
"This guy's not honest! How far have we gone? Damn it, bastard, I'm coming back!"
Jian Dan took the child and walked around the neighborhood, then lay down on the ground to listen, her expression somewhat unwell.
The two brothers knew she had always had excellent hearing, but they were also somewhat puzzled.
"Sis, what did you hear?"
Simple but uncertain, shook head.
"Let me take another look. I have a feeling this isn't a lab, it's more like..."
She didn't finish her sentence. Right now, it was just a suspicion; she needed other evidence to corroborate it. If it were true, then the matter would truly be no small thing.
After walking around for a while, they finally found a hidden path. If it weren't for the trampled marks on the weeds, they would never have found it. Immediately, everyone became even more cautious.
The path was quite long; it took them more than half an hour to walk it. At the end of the path, the view suddenly opened up into a large open space. It was clear that the ground had been specially cleared, with very few weeds.
On one side was a row of simple wooden huts, with some common tools such as carts, shovels, and iron bars scattered haphazardly beside them.
Opposite was a cave, the entrance of which was not large, just enough for two people or a small cart to pass through. The weeds at the entrance were pressed firmly against the ground, the cart tracks were very clear, and black granular powder could be vaguely seen on the ground.
Simple's gaze darkened slightly; it seemed he had guessed correctly.
"That's a small wooden cabin? Can you do experiments in there? Aren't you afraid of burning it down?"
"There's a cave there that no one lives in. It looks like they're transporting things in there? What could be more important than people?"
Battalion Commander Xu's face darkened.
"How many people can live in these little shacks? Let's check if there are any other permanent buildings around here?"
Jian Min pursed her lips, gently approached the wooden house, and carefully observed the ground. She would occasionally bend down and pick up things from the ground to look at and smell them. Finally, she found a sheltered spot, took a match, and lit it.
When he returned, his face had darkened.
"Battalion Commander Xu, take a look,"
She opened her palm, and her fingers were covered in light, faint black marks; they were quite dirty.
What he saw was a small patch of black in his palm.
Battalion Commander Xu is a true veteran who is willing to use his own allowance to buy medicine for the soldiers he takes in. He is wholeheartedly devoted to this camp.
He frowned, pinched a small amount between his fingertips, and spoke in a tone that seemed to defy belief, his voice trembling.
"This is... coal?"
"Why don't you give it a try?"
He glanced at it briefly, then turned to go experiment. When he returned, his expression was somewhat complicated.
"Sister-in-law, could this be an illegal coal mine?"
"Illegal mining is certain, but we don't know how many people are involved, whether it's underground or open-pit mining, how long it's been mining, or how much it can be extracted. What should we do now?"
The main issue is that anyone daring to so openly mine in the mountains is probably not an ordinary person; their background is definitely not ordinary either. It's uncertain whether they have weapons. If we're going to make a move, it has to be swift and decisive, without giving them a chance to contact the outside world. Otherwise, it will become a real problem.
Battalion Commander Xu paced back and forth, clenching his fists.
"In this deep mountain forest, there are no other convenient routes down the mountain. Even if they have mined it, would they just leave it like this? Haven't they transported it down the mountain yet?"
Or perhaps they never intended to transport it down there in the first place, and that if they encountered burning wood after mining it, even though the purity was uncertain, there was still a possibility of a large-scale fire breaking out.
The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. Before he could finish speaking, he was already covered in a cold sweat.
"sister in law!"
Simple was a little surprised.
"This can't be serious, can it? What kind of deep-seated hatred would warrant such a fuss, just to burn down the mountain?"
While wildfires are indeed a potential hazard, Jian Dan still feels that the motivation is more likely to be profit. However, there's no point in discussing this now.
"What should we do then? Should we probe the situation first, or go back and report?"
“Going back would take a long time, and we can’t guarantee that we won’t be noticed. There’s no one here right now, they’re probably all inside. We know nothing about what’s going on inside. If we can’t guarantee our safety, it’s best not to alert them.”
“I think so too. Let’s discuss a plan first.”
"Although we all brought weapons, but,"
Battalion Commander Xu's brow remained furrowed.
Using guns is the worst possible course of action.
Cheng Rui and two of Battalion Commander Xu's men returned quietly.
"Battalion Commander, the cave is full of coal, and there's no one guarding it, but over there..."
He pointed to the cave,
"The cave has two exits. The other exit is very small and hidden. There are signs of transportation, but it is heavily guarded. We were afraid of being discovered, so we couldn't figure out where the coal was transported to."
"Look, they've extracted coal and are sending it into the cave!"
Jian Dan and Battalion Commander Xu both stood up and peered over. The cart was pushed out from a direction they couldn't see, which should be right where they were standing. It went straight into the cave, and after a full ten minutes, the carts came out one after another and returned along the same route.
"Sister, look at the people pushing the cart. They're all hunched over. They're moving very slowly. If they keep going at this pace, the cave must be at least 300 meters long. It would take them that long to push the cart in, unload it, and then come back."
"A cave over 300 meters long,"
Battalion Commander Xu gasped.
"It's still more than half a mile away. If this is filled with coal, damn it! These bastards have ruined so much. We can't delay any longer!"
"Sister-in-law, let's make a plan and get ready to do it!"
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