The carriage quickly left the inner city, and several good horses were waiting at the city gate, led by the white slaves.

Xu Qi'an and his group changed to fast horses and crossed the streets and markets of the outer city. They left the outer city in just half an hour. The six riders immediately increased their speed and rushed towards the Great Huangshan.

"Official horses run fast. It's almost fifty yards now. Could my horse in my previous life run this fast?" Xu Qi'an muttered in his heart.

Is there a difference in the spiritual energy content often mentioned in novels?

This guess is reasonable because the natural instinct of qi cultivation is a type of breathing technique.

The group arrived at the edge of the Great Huangshan at noon, stopped by the official road, tied the horse rope to the tree trunk by the road, ate dry food, and took a winding path into the mountain.

The six people ran wildly and arrived at the river flowing at the foot of the Great Huangshan after a quarter of an hour.

After searching along the river for a while, they found several vague footprints, about three feet long and one and a half feet wide, with four toes.

Lv Qing and her two colleagues took off their backpacks, took out the explosives, and distributed them to Xu Qi'an and the other two:

"Using the claw prints as the center, we will throw the explosives downstream, and you will go upstream to see if you can force the monster out of the river."

This was a plan that had already been decided.

The Great Feng Dynasty had very strict management of gunpowder, and the formula was kept secret. The materials needed to make gunpowder were also monopolized by the court.

Even Nightwatchers and fast hands like Lv Qing only knew a little bit about the ingredients of gunpowder.

They still smelled it out.

Both sides lit the explosives and threw them into the river.

"Boom!"

A muffled explosion sounded, and the river splashed several yards high.

Soon, the explosives were exhausted, and the group stood on the bank, looking at the rolling waves. After waiting for a long time, they did not see the monster floating to the surface.

"If there were the astrologers from the S天监 to help, it would be great," Xu Qi'an sighed.

The art of divination could lock the position of the monster by observing the demonic energy.

Song Tingfeng "heh" and whispered, "The astrologers from the S天监 are much nobler than us Nightwatchers. They only obey the orders of the emperor. Don't expect them to work on this small case."

The astrologers from the S天监 are very noble? I don't think so. You haven't seen the look of reverence they gave me.

Xu Qi'an nodded.

The two groups joined together, and Song Tingfeng shrugged his shoulders. "It seems that it won't come out. My suggestion is to go into the mountain and see if there is really something in the Great Huangshan."

Xu Qi'an added, "Check the area where the lime collectors live first."

Lv Qing nodded thoughtfully.

The two groups entered the mountain in batches, one after the other, separated by tens of meters.

Song Tingfeng looked at Lv Qing's back and pursed his lips. "This female chief of the prefecture is really something. Look at her buttocks, tight and strong, and her legs are powerful enough to make your soul fly out of your body. The girl from the brothel sector may be watery, but she is too weak."

Agreed. And this kind of female warrior has vest lines, smooth curves, and tight thighs. She might even have shallow abs... This reminds me of my wife, Tifa... Xu Qi'an pondered and said, "But she seems to be used to binding her chest. This is not good and will cause breast deformation and sagging."

Song Tingfeng was taken aback and laughed loudly, "You really noticed it. I need a companion as interesting as you. Zhu Guangxiao is a dull gourd who can't even fart three times with a stick."

For men, talking about dirty things is always an entertaining way to pass time.

Zhu Guangxiao glanced at him and remained silent.

The lime collectors mainly collected in the main peak of the Great Huangshan. The group saw the exposed rocks on the mountain from a distance, like white spots on a person's face.Years of mining have left the towering main peak riddled with holes.

After wandering aimlessly in the mountains for a long time, they found nothing valuable.

While drinking water together, Lv Qing said, "Mount Huangshan not only has high-quality limestone, but also abundant vegetation that can be cut down and used as dye. The lime burners can easily dig and burn the limestone, and the transportation is convenient due to the nearby river. It's cost-effective and profitable."

Another catcher from the yamen added, "That's why the taxes are heavy. If they can't collect lime, they lose their livelihood."

So they reported to the yamen... Xu Qi'an fell silent for a moment and sighed, "Excessive taxes and levies breed refugees, and the fat of the people is the most delicious food."

Everyone fell silent instantly, and no one dared to speak up.

Song Tingfeng coughed and changed the subject, "If the monsters don't come out, we don't have enough manpower to search the mountains. Lv Catcher, do you have any suggestions?"

Although he had just been lusting after her body, Song Tingfeng didn't look down on her just because she had a large chest and a perky butt.

Lv Qing considered and said, "We split up into three groups, two people per group, and go find the village heads of nearby villages. Then we'll go back to the capital to gather more people to search the mountains, and I'll go to the prefect's mansion to ask for help from an astrologer from the Bureau of Astronomy."

"That's too time-consuming," Xu Qi'an waved his hand and said, "Choose one person to go find the village heads of nearby villages, and the rest stay here."

Lv Qing frowned.

Xu Qi'an looked at her and said, "If we don't find anything, I'll go to the Bureau of Astronomy to find an astrologer."

He said it with great confidence... Can the astrologers from the Bureau of Astronomy really listen to him?

Lv Qing scrutinized Xu Qi'an for a moment, then nodded slightly and sent someone to invite the astrologer.

In less than half an hour, the catcher who was at the peak of the Refining Qi Realm returned with an old man.

"I'm surnamed Zhang, the village head of Hegou Village outside Mount Huangshan." The old man bowed in a non-standard manner and spoke excitedly, "I've been waiting for you for so long. If you hadn't come, the villagers wouldn't have survived."

This had been going on for almost half a year.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "p𝑎wread.com".

Lv Qing stared at him with sharp eyes and a dignified expression, "I ask you, where did the last ten or so people who entered the mountain die?"

"They died in the south..." The village head pointed to the south of the mountain range, "They entered from the opposite direction of the river."

Song Tingfeng's heart stirred, "Are there lime kilns over there too?"

After the recent exploration, they found that the most concentrated area for burning lime was not far from the river. The lime burners would not choose this area to burn lime if they had to take a detour into the mountains, because once the monsters came ashore, no one could escape.

The village head nodded, "There are a few scattered here and there, but not as many as over here."

"Take us there." Lv Qing said in a deep voice.

"Yes!" The village head seemed to be very afraid of this female catcher.

The group walked towards the south, the mountain road was rugged, and it was extremely difficult to climb. They also had to take into account the old village head, so they didn't walk very fast.

"This is it." The village head stopped on a narrow path and pointed ahead. It was a cleared area with piles of rocks, vegetation was cut down, and there were several cave-like kilns used for burning lime.

After searching the area, they found no valuable clues. This place had already been cleared.

Song Tingfeng and Lv Qing looked at each other and shook their heads.

Xu Qi'an said, "Let's go into the kiln and take a look."

They gathered materials on the spot, lit a torch, and cautiously entered the earth kiln with their swords drawn. They thought it was just a kiln used for burning lime and wouldn't be too deep, but as they walked, Xu Qi'an and the others realized that something was wrong.

This was not a kiln, but a tunnel dug by human hands. It took them the time it took to drink a cup of tea to reach the end.Song Tingfeng narrowed his eyes and said, "The kiln doesn't need to be dug this deep. It's obvious that something is being excavated here, and there are no traces of smoke on the stone walls."

Lv Qing called the village head over and asked, "What's going on?"

The village head was at a loss and stammered, "I...I don't know..."

Xu Qi'an held up a torch, observing the rock wall and carefully examining the ground for a moment. He picked up a palm-sized white mineral.

Is this what they are mining?

This doesn't seem to be limestone.

Xu Qi'an exerted force with his palm and his qi surged. With a "crack" sound, the white mineral was crushed into powder.

He held up the torch and sprinkled the powder into the flame.

Whoosh!

The torch instantly burst into flames, with a bright yellow color mixed with a dim purple.

Saltpeter?!

Xu Qi'an's pupils shrank.

The sudden burst of flames surprised everyone in the cave, and the sound of unsheathing swords was heard one after another.

Lv Qing saw that Xu Qi'an was up to something and asked with a hint of anger, "What are you doing?"