Chapter 1526 Damakan (1/2)

Li Du was laughing at Da Mao at first, but then he got unto the dirt track as well. He flew from the motorcycle and almost lost his breath when he fell.

”This damn rotten road!” He could not help swearing.

Liu Zi chuckled and said, ”Pretty good, young master Li. If it was raining, I would say that with your motorcycle-driving skills, you would die halfway.”

In an hour, they drove less than ten kilometers. They had to push the motorcycle up certain parts of the road because the slope was too steep.

The road was full of dust. There was a lot of dust around all the sites. It was the inevitable result of mining the ore and digging the land. A thick layer of dust would be accumulated after a long time of such activity.

The most annoying thing was, stones were often hidden beneath the layer of dust and dirt. People might think that the dirt would reduce the impact and it would hurt less when they fell from the motorcycle. However, there could be stones on the road, waiting for the luckless riders.

On the way, they came across a fleet of land rovers, all of which were so bulky that the cars couldn't make it and were stuck halfway.

When Li Du and his men appeared, someone came forward to stop them and bowed low while he said something unintelligible in an agitated voice.

”Korean.” Zhong Dapao stopped. ”Is there anyone who speaks Chinese or Myanmar?”

Next to the man who bowed was the guide, who spoke Myanmar and could communicate with Zhong Dapao.

Listening to the other side, Zhong Dapao sneered. ”Buy our motorcycle? In your dreams, pal. Actually, if you are willing to pay a hundred thousand dollars per unit, we are willing to negotiate.”

The guide looked sulky and said a few more words.

Zhong Dapao guffawed, turned to Li Du and said, ”This fella is trying to bully us. He doesn't know the identity of Master Pao.”

Liu Zi lifted his jacket, revealing an Uzi submachine gun.

The guide and the Korean man trembled and hurriedly backed off to the side of the road.

This was just a small incident, and they continued their journey. After wading and crossing hills and passing several checkpoints, they finally saw Damakan, which looked like a stockade-surrounded village.

Zhong Dapao said that the market in Damakan did not have many quality goods, and took Li Du directly to the market to see the small private stalls, where the good stones that were mined by the bosses usually ended up.

Damakan was not the same as Longken and Old Hpakant. The market there was less crowded and was mostly based on the mine as a unit, which was one of the reasons why Zhong Dapao wanted to take Li Du into the mine.

The first stop was called Arakan mine. The villages there served as living quarters for the miners following the discovery of jadeite veins.

Entering the mine, they stopped the car. A few of them stayed back to look after the car and the weapons. The others went past the security at the entrance of the mines and got in.

”Arakan is an old mining area. It has mostly been depleted. People make a living by picking up jade fragments left by the miners,” explained Zhong Dapao.

Li Du said, ”Then why did we come here?”

Zhong Dapao said, ”Don't worry, there are very few intact jade stones here, but there are many good fragments. Look at these fragments, what do you think about them?”

There were tall and short buildings in the mining area, in addition to the teahouse, restaurant, and red-light district. Most of the houses had shelves in front of them, and on the shelves were ore fragments.

Li Du looked at it and nodded. ”Is this a fragment of ore? How can almost all of them have jade? Yes, the color of the stone is good, and the base is bright… not bad, not bad.”

Zhong Dapao said, ”Yes, all these pieces of ore are like this. So you can imagine how fine the quality of this mine was before.”