After listening to Yevgeny's words, Song Laosan frowned and looked at me: "If this old guy wasn't lying, it means that there really is an ancient tomb in these mountains, but he doesn't know the exact location of the tomb. So, where do you think Wei Shengnan and the others went when they set off early this morning?"
“Just now in the courtyard, those people saw us and opened fire, and they’re holding Yevgeny in solitary confinement. They don’t seem to be lying.”
I was equally baffled: "The problem is most likely with Qu Ruilin. He has also learned the art of feng shui for tomb location. With the Qu family's ability to see into the earth, it's not difficult for him to find ancient tombs by relying on the terrain. Hu Shahu's tomb is different from the demon monk's tomb. It must have used normal feng shui to locate the tomb, so it's not hard to find."
"The theory is correct, but it is difficult to implement in practice."
Old Song licked his lips: "We're in a mountainous area here. Looking at the map, there are continuous mountains for hundreds of kilometers around. Moreover, the ecological environment here is much more complex than in China. Wild animals roam the forests. If they rashly go into the mountains, wouldn't they be courting death? Since there are only two people in that courtyard, why don't we go back, grab them, and interrogate them?"
"It's too late. We didn't know how many people were in the courtyard before, so we were more cautious. With so much time having passed, the news has probably already spread."
I waved my hand in refusal, opened my wallet, took out 30,000 rubles, and handed them to Yevgeny. I had Ye Peng translate for him: "To prevent the news from leaking out, we cannot let you leave. But from now on, we will give you 5,000 rubles every day as compensation until we leave here."
Yevgeny took the money and thought for a moment: "Those people were probably planning to use drones to scout the terrain, because when they left this morning, I heard someone say in Russian that they should assemble the drones and take spare batteries with them."
Song Laosan glared at him: "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Yevgeny responded naturally, "At first I just thought you were all bad people, but now it seems you are quite different from those people."
"You'll change your stance once you get the money? You're such a snob!" Old Song rolled his eyes, then said to me, "We're so used to the old ways that we've forgotten about these technological methods! They can launch drones and scout an area of over ten kilometers in no time. Since that golden tomb was blasted out during quarrying, all they need to do is find the quarry! The mountains here are covered in lush vegetation, so a barren quarry should be easy to spot!"
Song Laosan's words reminded me that when we were searching for the Demon Monk's Tomb, Wei Shengnan had prepared a lot of advanced equipment.
Seeing that the other side had already entered the mountains, I couldn't help but feel anxious: "Could we also get our hands on this equipment?"
Song Laosan nodded: "It's possible, but I'm afraid there won't be enough time. The civilian drone market in Russia hasn't developed yet, and it's unclear whether Komsomolsk-on-Amur has civilian drones with long endurance and long flight range for sale. The security company I contacted might have such equipment, but it would be difficult to deliver it here in the short term."
"How about we split up?"
I took a deep breath: "It's now confirmed that the artifacts in the City Development Memorial Hall came from the quarry. This means that once Wei Shengnan and her team find the quarry, they can find the tomb without even needing to perform divination. They're using drones to search, which is much faster than ours. If we continue to delay, I'm afraid they'll gain the upper hand. I think we should go into the mountains first, and you can stay here to handle the equipment issues. We'll meet up again once the equipment is in place."
"No, that would be too troublesome. We already have a shortage of personnel. If we split up again, if you encounter any danger in the mountains, the people outside will be unable to rescue you."
Song Laosan rejected my suggestion, thought for a moment and said, "Let's go into the mountains together, hire Sasha as our guide, and I'll contact the support team to ask them to bring the necessary equipment. Hopefully, we can make it in time."
"Can."
I knew time was of the essence, so I didn't argue with Song Laosan about these things.
The monkey drove the car to Sasha's house, and then had the other two security guards take the injured people to the town's hospital. Sasha also accepted our conditions and agreed to lead us into the mountains as our guide, but we agreed that once we were inside, we would have to follow his instructions.
After everyone made the decision to go into the mountains, Sasha went out to borrow a gun.
Russia does not prohibit guns, and Sasha quickly borrowed several hunting rifles and gave us some basic firearms training.
While I was practicing with a blank gun, Song Laosan returned to the yard with a strange expression.
I noticed his expression was off and asked, "Didn't you go out with Zhou Peng to buy supplies? Why are you back so soon?"
"Xiao Duan, there's something strange that I've been thinking about for a long time but can't figure out, so I came to talk to you about it."
Song Laosan licked his lips: "Qu Ruilin just called me."
I narrowed my eyes: "Why did he call you?"
“He said he was in Russia with Wei Shengnan and knew that I was with you. He also advised me that the Four Gates were of the same origin and that if you were to find Duan Jinyan first, it would only disrupt this short-lived peace and make the situation in the Four Gates more complicated.”
Song Laosan scratched his head: "Qu Ruilin wants me to tell him the approximate location of Hu Shahu's tomb so that they can find Duan Jinyan first."
I was completely confused: "Didn't they already go into the mountains?"
“Yes, at the time I also thought they were calling to test me after we snatched him away, but when I thought about it, it didn’t make sense. If Qu Ruilin really suspected that you or I did this, he shouldn’t have contacted us in the first place.”
Old Song was confused himself: "Do you think it's possible that the kidnapping of Yevgeny was really unrelated to them?"
I instinctively retorted, "Impossible! This is definitely a smokescreen they've thrown out! Otherwise, why would those people have drugged us and managed to kidnap Yevgeny? Did you show Yevgeny photos of Wei Shengnan and Qu Ruilin?"
"I saw it. Yevgeny said the woman he saw looked a lot like Wei Shengnan in the photograph, but he was guarded by his own people at the time, and he didn't interact with the Chinese, so he didn't have a deep impression of her."
After my reminder, Song Laosan nodded thoughtfully: "The equipment we need is ready. The two security guards are on their way back and will be back at the farm in half an hour. Then we can set off."
After saying that, Song Laosan went to make preparations, while I put down my hunting rifle and fell into deep thought.
I have always believed that the people who targeted us in the town and detained Yevgeny were Wei Shengnan and her group.
Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for them to call Song Laosan, and the content of the call is illogical.
I even had a slight doubt as to whether the phone call that Song Laosan mentioned was actually real.
With that in mind, I picked up my phone, typed out a text message, and sent it out.
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