"Over here, madam, please follow ,"
The soldier eagerly led the way, taking Su Pan’er to the mountain behind.
It was midsumr in June now, with radiant sunshine. The back mountain was a sea of refulgent colors, mainly purple and red, surrounded by greenery.
The group quickly approached and saw a cave not far ahead, crowded with people near the entrance, all pointing and discussing the contents of the cave.
"Make way, everyone make way! Didn’t you see our madam coming? Make way!"
The soldier seed very excited, pushing several people out of the way, then turning back to Su Pan’er to explain: "Madam, please look."
Su Pan’er’s full attention was already drawn to what was in front of her.
These were...saltpeter and sulfur, right?
The sight of the substance made her eyes twitch non-stop!
"You found these things in this cave?"
Su Pan’er casually asked, yet her heart was forever engrained with the answer. It’s no wonder the mountain village had clay cannons, so here was where they had developed the black gunpowder.
"Right inside this cave. There are many more materials like these. The brothers brought so out for madam to see. If madam needs more, I’ll have the brothers fetch so."
The soldier said, preparing to give the order.
"Wait!"
Su Pan’er quickly stopped him: "I’ll go in and have a look with you. You don’t need to bring any more out."
With that, she stepped into the cave.
The man-made cave practically hollowed out the mountain, with a space inside large enough for a basketball court. It was divided into one large and four small caves, stuffed with items like saltpeter and charcoal, scattered without any order. Upon seeing this, Su Pan’er felt a headache coming on.
Could these people, living in such a chaotic environnt, not fear causing an explosion?
"Who was originally in charge here?"
Su Pan’er casually asked as she moved around.
"Madam, it was originally guarded by a gang of mountain robbers. However, due to our swift action, the robbers here have yet to get any news. When we ca over, they were cursing, saying that no one had co to take over. Fortunately, we caught them off guard and subdued them, thus taking over this place. Our people are keeping a close eye on the craftsn originally working here."
"Oh, really?"
Su Pan’er felt a chill run down her spine!
It was a good thing that they caught them off guard. Even if she had doubled the manpower, it would’ve been impossible to capture this place if they had been able to use the clay cannons!
Once she had finished inspecting the surroundings, Su Pan’er finally walked out of the cave.
"Where are those craftsn? Where are they?"
"They’re waiting outside. Madam, please."
The soldier quickly led Su Pan’er out of the cave, directing her towards an area thick with bamboo and wood. About twenty craftsn, with faces as blank as their lifeless eyes, sat there. All were as black as charred wood, covered in disorderly hair, adorned in clothes that were black as oil rods. When they saw Su Pan’er approaching, they remained motionless.
Su Pan’er scanned the people and finally focused on an elder man.
"Are you their Master?"
The elder man slightly lifted his eyes, but said nothing.
"Was it you who was responsible for the production of firecrackers or Ponder inside there?"
It was not surprising that Su Pan’er asked this question, for there were quite a few firecrackers randomly piled up inside the cave.
"Since the madam knows, why bother asking?" Eventually, the older man spoke up.
The arrogant attitude irritated the soldier next to him.
"Impudent! How dare you speak to our madam in such a way? We kindly saved you from those mountain robbers and this is the thanks we get? Is there no rule of law left in this world?"
"Saved us? Aren’t you a part of those mountain robbers?"
The elder man was sowhat surprised.
"Of course not!"
The soldier proudly declared: "As of yesterday, those mountain robbers were decimated by us. Those who could be caught were captured. They no longer posed any threat."
The craftsn quickly beca excited, causing a ruckus amongst themselves, and soon, tears began to flood their faces.
The elder man’s eyes also reddened, bowing down to Su Pan’er.
"I am blind, insulting the madam. Please accept my apology and forgive ," the old man pleaded.
"It’s alright, you are not to bla if you didn’t know."
Su Pan’er waved her hand dismissively. Then, pointing towards the cave: "I observed the unfinished materials inside. You have Kusnezoff Monkshood Root, croton seed, Common Threewingnut Root, seahorses, and so on. This is the formula for ’instant suffocation on blood contact’ poison, right? Additionally, there’s tung oil, soy flour, gum rosin, etc. Once completed, it forms the ’Flying Explosive’ specifically designed for burning in series, right?"
The elder man and others were greatly shocked: "How...how did you know madam?"
"Don’t ask how I know. "
Su Pan’er shook her head with a smile: "Actually, your current production thod doesn’t have a huge flaw, except, the products you make are not very stable, and the failure rate is too high. You agree with , don’t you?"
"Yes, yes..."
The elder man completely changed his previous arrogant manner, standing up and folding his hands towards her: "Could it be that the madam has a better thod?"
"Of course, there are better thods. But the secret thod should not be spread."
Su Pan’er squinted her eyes to look at him.
As expected, the master showed a disappointed look.
Su Pan’er chuckled and then changed the subject.
"If Master wishes to know, promise one thing, and I will teach you this thod. Moreover, I promise you can pass it down from generation to generation within your family, wouldn’t that be wonderful?"
The elder man pondered for quite so ti, then carefully asked, "What exactly am I agreeing to?"
"Very simple, during your lifeti, you must never teach this technique to outsiders, and you will serve ."
Su Pan’er spoke straightforwardly, with no inkling of beating around the bush: "This, is a fair trade. If you accept, I will teach you everything about this key process. If you don’t agree, we’ll act as if this conversation had never taken place. Tomorrow, I’ll arrange for people to send you down the mountain. Please give it so thought."
After speaking, she turned and left.
The corner of the elder man’s mouth moved several tis, but in the end, he said nothing.
Su Pan’er walked to another corner, stopping only to instruct the corporal: "Assign more guards to watch those people. Report imdiately if anything abnormal happens, with no room for mistakes. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand. I will arrange it right away."
The soldier hurriedly set off to follow her orders.
Su Pan’er turned and continued her journey back.
Uncle Xiao, who was with her, seed to be at a loss for words: "Madam, we were not aware that there were so many people here before and hadn’t planned for them. If we are to feed an extra twenty or thirty people, our daily grain consumption will increase significantly. I am afraid our grain reserves on the mountain will be exhausted within half a year. How can we make up for this? Do we also have to rob people like these mountain robbers?"
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