Saving System: Calm Down, My Fleeing Host!

Chapter 297 - 289: Building Stone

At this moment, Ah Zhong, dressed in a sturdy outfit, came to the door on the second floor and knocked.

The sound was three long knocks followed by two short ones.

"Come in!"

Hearing the sound, Gu Ming knew his own people had returned and replied in a low voice.

After Ah Zhong came in and closed the door, Yang Zihuan impatiently asked, "How is it? Where did those traffickers sell the abducted children?"

Ah Zhong clasped his fists respectfully in salute, looking at Yang Zihuan, "Replying to Vice Minister Yang, according to the people I just followed, the children were not sold to local wealthy families. There might be some trickery involved."

"What’s going on?"

Gu Ming keenly noticed the depth in Ah Zhong’s tone.

"This may not be an ordinary child trafficking case. I followed those people into a luxurious mansion. The mansion was heavily guarded, and fearing discovery, I did not dare to rush in recklessly, instead waiting until after dark to investigate.

The results were quite bizarre. I had been waiting outside, with brothers guarding the back door and the corner gate. During this time, no children went out, nor were any suspicious items transported out. But after entering, I found no trace of the children. I suspect they transferred the children through a concealed passageway."

Upon hearing this, Gu Ming’s brows furrowed deeply. Why are these people secretly capturing so many children?

And why so meticulously?

This matter exudes an unusual eeriness.

"Could it be that a large household collected the children to secretly train them as Hidden Guards or Death Warriors?"

Yang Zhihuan speculated.

Zeng Quan shook his head, "I’m afraid it’s not that simple. If an Aristocratic Family wanted to train Hidden Guards or Death Warriors, they could do it openly. Luoyang City is not like the Capital City where there are taboos. Here, it’s within their control, and there’s no need to be so mysterious."

"Ah Zhong, have people continue to watch that mansion, and by the way, investigate which Aristocratic Family it belongs to."

After Ah Zhong received the orders and left, Gu Ming said to the other two, "We need to check the background of the local contacts again. There must be some clues we missed."

"I’ll arrange it." Yang Zihuan, unable to bear the idle days, volunteered to investigate this matter.

Immediately, Gu Ming’s gaze met Zeng Quan’s, seeing him nod to indicate understanding. He said no more.

Indeed, it’s necessary to thoroughly investigate the three major Aristocratic Families. Hopefully, he’s overthinking.

This matter can’t be rushed in investigation; the most important thing now is to find the Little Crown Prince.

When they found the kidnappers, there was no girl holding a baby as mentioned by the children, because without any trace of the Little Crown Prince, Gu Ming suggested they continue the transaction in hopes of catching them in the act, but unexpectedly lost the people, complicating the situation further. They can’t act recklessly now.

The whereabouts of the Little Crown Prince need to be tracked down, and the fate of the sold children followed up on.

Gu Ming rubbed his temples, realizing more manpower is needed; Luoyang City’s matters might be entangled with some secrets.

Were it not for the involvement of the Little Crown Prince, he truly wouldn’t want to clash with these people at this critical moment.

To be safe, perhaps it’s necessary to use the strength of Fuxi Castle to contain them a bit.

If Cheng Xiaoxiao were here, she would definitely scorn and laugh at them, saying, "The child you are looking for is in my hands, but you don’t know whose child you are chasing after."

Why are you making such a fuss for nothing?

At this time, Cheng Xiaoxiao, wearing a down jacket inside and a thick cotton-padded jacket outside, was struggling to walk on the snow-covered ground full of thorny traps, one step deep and one step shallow, sweat dampening the fringe of her forehead.

They were now located on a mountainside at the edge of the inner circle of Daxing Mountain, moving forward with difficulty.

Initially, everyone was afraid of encountering wolves, or bears, but after walking for two hours without meeting any living creatures, they gradually let down their guard.

Finally reaching the mountain top, it was half an hour later.

To their delight, the further they went inside, the higher the temperature rose.

Now, the temperature in Yuan Yang City during the day was around minus ten degrees, and in Taohua Village, it was also about minus ten degrees. However, where they were now, it was roughly around zero degrees.

After simply eating some dry food, they walked quite a distance further, and the temperature seemed to keep rising, each of them now sweating profusely, gasping for breath, almost unable to wear the thick coats on the outside anymore.

"Captain, how about a rest?" Cheng Dawei suggested, wanting to take off his clothes, but didn’t dare due to the captain’s presence.

This time, Cheng Xiaoxiao didn’t have Cheng Beiniu lead the team, leaving him to stay behind in case anything stirred up with the Han Family.

They also brought Fang Zheng, Quan Bin, Tie Niu, and Yang Fan.

At this moment, the excited system was already exploding in Cheng Xiaoxiao’s mind.

The depths of Daxing Mountain were indeed a dormant volcano, which is why temperatures around Daxing Mountain were higher than elsewhere.

Even the snowflakes here were smaller than outside, truly a great place.

Cheng Xiaoxiao stopped, "Alright, everyone take a break, have some dry food to replenish your strength."

While resting, her mind was constantly communicating and searching with the system to find a suitable construction site.

This time the system consumed a good amount of energy, continuously scanning and analyzing the underground rock layers, hoping to find a suitable site.

The geology here had accumulated over unknown years, rich in minerals. We can see all kinds of minerals in nature: some are hard, some soft; some vibrant in color, with various shapes and many types, forming the material foundation of the earth’s crust.

Going deeper would inspect the rock layers, composed of one or several minerals, but it doesn’t have the basic characteristics of a mineral. The difference between rock and mineral is like the difference between an airplane model and the materials used to make these models.

Just as the components of rock are minerals, the components of the airplane model are tires, wings, engines, and other parts.

According to the system’s description, the shape, color, and grain size of the rock, Cheng Xiaoxiao thought it resembled metamorphic rock more than sedimentary rock.

The widely used marble in architecture in the previous life was a type of metamorphic rock.

Marble has low hardness, is easy to carve, and is very beautiful after polishing, commonly used for crafts and building materials.

In ancient times without reinforced concrete, using marble to build an Underground City was ideal.

"This place is indeed a good spot, much warmer than outside," Quan Bin couldn’t help but marvel.

If an Underground City could be built in such a place, they could indeed escape calamity during a snow disaster and cold wave.

Yang Fan looked around with a complex mood, "Yes, after living in Yuan Yang City for so many years, I didn’t know the inner depths of Daxing Mountain looked like this. Previously, Daxing Mountain had many preys, many large beasts, and it wasn’t safe to venture deep."

It was also his first time entering the inner circle of Daxing Mountain, having walked for more than half a day from Taoyuan Village, the originally dense forest was nowhere to be found.

Though the snow still flew in profusion, the size gaps between trees showed that the inner vegetation was decreasing, the snow accumulation was getting shallower, and the rocks steep, overlapping in many unusual shapes.

Truly a magical place.