402 The Mine (1/2)

The mountain was deep and the forest old. Nature Village was built in an isolated region, a village that practically mushroomed overnight. Naturally, it had many differences with planned villages that were constructed by the government.

The impossible traffic and the lack of people meant a lack of development. The natural environment was mostly preserved around this village. In fact, at some untouched locations, there were not even trails for vehicles to pass, and they could only be traversed with bicycles or on foot.

The group trekked for almost an hour through the mountains. The neighboring trees became older and more numerous. The originally levelled ground became overgrown with brushes, and that greatly impeded their movement. It was still fine for the few young people, but for Master Five, who was quite old already, even with a young man specifically looking after him, he was hungrily gasping for air.

”I'm getting too old for this. My legs are not what they once were.” Finally, Master Five led the group to the mouth of an abandoned cave. He wiped away the sweat from his face and sighed. ”I still remember…”

Talking about the man's past was a waste of time. Ye Shuang could not help but roll her eyes. Along the way, she had been given an earful about Master Five's history, and she believed that she had reached her maximum capacity. After giving a few casual prompts to satisfy Master Five's yearning for the past, Ye Shuang left the group to poke her head into the cave. It was completely dark, and the visibility range was less than ten meters.

Ye Shuang turned her head around to ask, ”Are the military arms hidden in here?”

One of the young men turned to look at Master Five, and after the latter nodded, he walked over to explain, ”Yes, they're in here. This is an old mine—no one can even remember what kind of minerals were mined here. The mining trails are complicated, and those who are not familiar with the trails will definitely get lost inside. It is very inconvenient to move through the mine, and the mine itself is a natural defense against firepower because the cave would collapse upon itself.”

With the geographical advantage and the limitation on firepower, one could imagine how difficult it would be transporting the military arms in and out of the mines. If not for the aid from the locals, it would be very hard to move things in and out of this place.

The young man came prepared. As he spoke, he took out a flashlight from his travel bag. He switched it on and led the way through the mine. ”The outside of this place might look abandoned, but the mines are covered in traps. Even though the traps are roughly made as they're meant for wildlife, those who aren't familiar with the terrain might get injured and end up stuck inside the mines without help.”

Ye Shuang followed the young man into the mine. Her eyes scanned the path that the young man took. Just several meters from the ray from the flashlight, she spotted several patches on the cave ground and wall that looked rather unnatural. Even though she had no idea what type of traps they were attached to, she knew that they were nasty traps.

After Master Five reached the plateau, the trekking became much easier for him. Even the heavy breathing evened out quite a bit. He placed his hands behind his back and strolled through the mine like it was his backyard. With the ease that he moved through the tunnels, it appeared that he knew this place very well.

Han Chu was not given a flashlight, but he had his phone. With the flashlight function from the phone, he could still look after himself. ”What kind of mine is this?”

”What kind of mine do you think it was?” Master Five joked with him.

”That is very hard to say.” Han Chu frowned and shone the light around him. ”From the arrangement of the equipment, this looks like a coal mine.”

Master Five did not say anything, but the young men around him were already having fun at his expense. It was then that Ye Shuang said, ”Brother Han, you got it wrong. The air in here is a big clue that it's not a coal mine.”

One of the young men turned to Ye Shuang with interest. It was not because he thought Ye Shuang's sense of smell was impossibly strong, but he was impressed by her talent. Then he nodded and said, ”This is indeed not a coal mine.”