Bruce did not dare to delay, and quickly ordered his men to carry out two hundred thousand-year caterpillar fungi. They glistened golden, dazzling the eyes of everyone who saw them.

  After the delivery was completed, Bruce kept his promise and personally led the two to the mine.

  The mine was located in a valley west of the Pisha Palace, surrounded by mountains on all sides, extremely hidden.

  At a glance, Han Jiuqiu took a fancy to an open space deep in the valley. The earth energy fluctuations there were extremely strong, clearly hiding rich crystal veins.

  "This is the place." Han Jiuqiu said.

  Bruce’s heart skipped a beat—this valley was exactly where he had secretly hidden the Return Crystals!

  But he had already spoken, so he could only bite the bullet and nod: "Good! Good! This place it is!"

  Watching Han Jiuqiu and Qiu Fuchun standing in the valley, smiling at each other, Bruce suddenly felt that he had been completely outmaneuvered by these two outsiders.

  Meanwhile, Han Jiuqiu and Qiu Fuchun looked at the land under their feet, which was full of endless treasures, and both understood—

  The Silicon-Rich Crystal veins were right under their feet, the Return Crystal raw stone was already in their hands, and with two hundred thousand-year caterpillar fungi as a foundation, the money they had spent was not a loss.

  Qiu Fuchun personally instructed the workers to cut off all the energy lines in the veins that might connect to Jiu Ge. On the other side, Han Jiuqiu led his men to set up camp and defenses, arranging layers of vigilance, and then ordered the miners to dig deep down.

  In just a few days, pieces of ice-like stones were dug out from under the ground.

  The two exchanged a secret glance, with calculation in their eyes.

  If they could transport all the ores at once, even without kidnapping or robbing, they only needed to kill all these guarding soldiers, drive the laborers on the road, and bypass the Pisha Palace—it was not impossible.

  It’s just... these soldiers were loyal to Bruce, which was a bit of a pity.

  Qiu Fuchun and Han Jiuqiu secretly made up their minds: first try to persuade the soldiers to surrender—those who surrendered would be spared; as for the laborers, they had no intention of harming them. The most important thing was to see how much ore the mine could produce.

  According to the previous intelligence, the reserves must be quite large. But how to transport all the ores at once would still require hard work—there would inevitably be some kidnapping and robbery involved.

  A true man does not stick to trivialities.

  They worked like this for two months, and finally, at the end of the mine tunnel, they saw the same kind of crystals as those in Wen Liuyou’s courtyard.

  Those crystals were black and shiny, but lacked the flowing dark light.

  That girl Mo Ye had once said that this kind of light and shadow was called data.

  Qiu Fuchun was just about to think that they could start shipping the ores, but the miners had their own rules—first, they had to find out the reserves, then estimate the value, and wait for Bruce to pay the money before starting to mine and ship.

  In this way, the plan of killing and looting that the two had previously plotted was directly ruined.

  Another month passed, and the reserves were finally confirmed.

  The skilled miners arranged the mining area neatly like a museum, then rested on the spot, and the guards stood fully alert.

  Bruce really offered a very reasonable price—this sum of money was enough for the people of Pisha City to live comfortably for three generations.

  Qiu Fuchun couldn’t help thinking secretly: If that’s the case, the people living in Pisha City are quite happy?

  Then let them... be happy for a few more nights.

  When Bruce sent the price list, Han Jiuqiu and Qiu Fuchun took their leave first on the pretext of going back to raise money.

  The two sides agreed on a three-month deadline. The two pretended to leave the city, and after getting rid of the spies following them, they sneaked back into Pisha City quietly under the cover of night.

  "He was unkind first, so don’t blame us for being unjust!"

  The two squatted on the roof, splitting the plan properly, planning to act together for mutual care—after all, neither of them had ever done kidnapping before; tonight would be their first time.

  They put on night clothes, wrapped their faces in layers of black cloth—three layers in total—then, under the moonlight, selected several wealthy families with gilded tiles on their roofs.

  They chose one of them and climbed over the wall into the left courtyard’s boudoir.

  The room was filled with a strong fragrance—exactly the Mawusheng incense mentioned in the books. It must be the young lady’s residence.

  Qiu Fuchun and Han Jiuqiu secretly thought: A young lady would be easier to deal with.

  But then they thought again: Those who are too easy to deal with are more likely to go wrong.

  Sure enough, for their first job, the two brothers met a weirdo.

  "You’re finally here!"

  A clear female voice came from the room. Then, a young lady dressed in gold and jade stood up, and unexpectedly burst into tears, sobbing, "I’ve been waiting in this deep boudoir for two years—I’ve been waiting for this day for a full twenty years!"