How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Chapter 124 Tomb in the Mountains

"He's made his move," Zhang Xun reported. Ever since Guo Zixing went to give Master Huang some pointers, he had been keeping an eye on his movements. He had seen him sending his son out of the city and dealing with his second wife, never having a moment of peace. However, he had recently calmed down.

"Oh? What is he going to do?"

“Master Huang recently recruited a group of strong men, saying he was going to go hunting in the mountains. But I don’t think it’s that simple. He seems to have ulterior motives.”

"What do you think he wants to do?"

"The people he recruited might be acquaintances of ours, the ones who used to be thugs at the Dongyang Cotton Mill, and the ones who happened to be the ones who arrested Qingru."

Guo Zixing asked in confusion, "What does Master Huang want with them? Could it be that he intends to use this as leverage to curry favor with those Japanese?"

"It doesn't seem like it. I've inquired carefully, and the group he hired includes a feng shui master and a master alchemist. They don't seem to be hunting; they seem more like tomb raiders."

"Tomb raiding? Is there still that big tomb near our Sifang City?" Since arriving in Sifang City, he had not heard of any ancient important figures' tombs here.

"I don't know about that. I've never heard of it before."

Guo Zixing frowned and pondered, "Keep an eye on them first. Let's play the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. No matter what it is, we'll have another handle against him."

Guo Zixing calculated that although Boss Fan of the mine had left him money and people, rebuilding a town was not so simple.

Besides, he only realized after looking through the military budget that one million silver dollars was only enough to support an army of ten thousand men for a year. If Master Huang could give him one million to support his troops, then he would not care about the fact that Qingru was almost humiliated.

As they were talking, Qingru brewed a pot of tea and came in. "There are quite a lot of files today. Why is there more and more robbery in the streets?"

"Perhaps it's because it's a lean season and some people aren't having enough to eat. By the way, I haven't heard you mention the textile mill lately. Don't you want to know what happened to it?"

Qingru asked in surprise, "There have been so many things going on lately, I haven't been able to keep up. But why did you suddenly bring up the yarn factory? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to ask if any of the guards knew how to rob tombs."

"Tomb raiding?" Qingru suddenly remembered that she had been feeling like she had forgotten something and hadn't told Guo Zixing. It turned out to be the cave tomb they had encountered in the mountains.

"I forgot to tell you, when we escaped from the textile factory last time, we accidentally entered a cave. There was a cemetery inside, and a small snake came out with me. But it disappeared after we got home, so I haven't told you about it."

"There are so many things?" Guo Zixing was stunned; Qingru had never mentioned any of this.

"Sorry, after we got back we were busy sending telegrams and then went to Wushan Mine, which made me forget about this."

Guo Zixing regained his composure and then asked, "Is there anything unusual in that cemetery?"

Qingru recalled carefully, "In that cave, they first found a small mound, which was ordinary and nothing special. Then they found an iron gate connected to the mountain, so they concluded that there was an ancient tomb inside. But they still couldn't dig it open. Then I was rescued, and I don't know what happened after that."

Listening to Qingru's words, Guo Zixing pondered in his heart, could it be that there really is treasure hidden in this mountain cemetery that even he himself did not know about? I wonder when Master Huang found out about it, and this time he took the risk of digging up the grave to make up for his compensation?

Thinking this, Guo Zixing asked, "If our people go again, can you lead the way?"

"Of course," Qingru agreed readily. "Why would we do something like this? Doesn't Commander Guo have enough military funds?"

Guo Zixing chuckled, "No, that's not true. It's just that Master Huang has been busy recruiting talent lately, and it happens to be one of those people who arrested you. I just wanted to find out more about them."

Qingru felt relieved. "I see. Should we go ahead of them, or follow behind and see what happens?"

Seeing her excited expression, Guo Zixing said, "You should go to Zhang Gong's place first and get a bulletproof vest. Make sure you're well prepared so that we can follow Master Huang's side as soon as he makes a move."

"Alright." Qingru replied happily, finally able to vent her anger. As long as Master Huang's crime of tomb raiding was confirmed, she would definitely bring them to justice.

Guo Zixing felt a little guilty, but it was quickly overshadowed by his grand ambitions. To him, a little woman was nothing compared to his career.

After discussing the process, all that was left was to wait for Master Huang to take action.

After learning about the ancient tomb in the mountains, Master Huang was no longer in a hurry.

"Has Qian'er been sent out yet?" Master Huang asked while sipping his tea.

"Young Master went out, and I escorted him all the way to the ship back to Shaoxing before returning. I don't think there will be any problems."

"Yes, have someone keep a close eye on things, lest they cause any more trouble."

"Yes." Finally, the steward added, "Master, is there really an ancient tomb on Qingdai Mountain? Should we ask someone to scout ahead before we go?"

"Do you think I hired those people not to scout the way?"

The butler thought for a moment and understood Master Huang's plan. "You mean..."

"Hmph," Master Huang said smugly, "These people have been idle since the cotton mill closed down. They'd love to have this opportunity to make money. Let them go and scout ahead. As for whether they'll live to see the day they earn it, I can't guarantee that. After all, the mountain roads are treacherous, and who can guarantee that nothing bad will happen?"

The butler suddenly realized, and at the same time broke out in a cold sweat. "Master is very insightful."

"Alright, you don't need to flatter me. Just do a good job and you'll get your share of the benefits."

Master Huang took a sip of tea, then opened the simple map that Madam Song had given him. At that time, Madam Song had hurriedly left after hiding the treasure, and only had time to draw a simple geomantic map from memory. He simplified it and marked the locations before handing it over to Li Daguo, Ruika and others at the yarn factory.

Not knowing the exact location and not having the key, he wasn't afraid of them getting there first.