Shui Miao sprinted rapidly and arrived at the crossroads, where the gunfire had already ceased. There, he saw Wang Xiaomi staring at the ground with a look of terror on her face. She had just changed the magazine, and a few meters into the cave in front of her lay the corpses of two monsters, their heads blown open by her precise shots. Within a three-meter radius, their brains and green blood splattered everywhere.
“Xiaoshui, we should leave quickly. There might be more monsters inside the cave, and I don’t have many bullets left,” Wang Xiaomi said. She didn’t carry many bullets on her, only six rounds left in her pistol. If there were more monsters, she was worried she wouldn’t be able to handle them. If her shooting skills hadn’t been decent and she hadn’t reacted quickly, she probably would have been killed by these monsters already.
“…”
Xiaotudou also ran out and, upon seeing the two monster corpses, was startled and quickly covered his mouth.
Shui Miao raised his hand, placing a finger in front of his lips to signal everyone to be quiet. He listened carefully for a moment but heard no unusual sounds. “Xiaomi jie, just now Xiaotudou and I only saw two large monsters and the two smaller ones inside the bronze coffins. I think there should be no other large monsters inside the cave. Why don’t we take this opportunity to inspect the other bronze coffins to see what exactly is inside?”
With the large monsters dead, Shui Miao thought it would be best to eliminate the smaller ones as well to remove any potential future threats. Once the small monsters were eradicated, this place would become entirely Shui Miao’s domain. He truly desired to remain here and cultivate. If he could break open more large stones to allow earth’s spiritual energy to flow in, this place would surely transform into a paradise for spiritual cultivation.
“Senior apprentice, there are so many bronze coffins here; there must be more monsters than just these. We should leave now and come back later with more people,” Xiaotudou said. Seeing the monster corpses made him feel uneasy all over. The stench emanating from their bodies made his head spin and caused him to feel nauseous.
Xiaotudou took a few steps back because his cultivation of earth qi made him especially sensitive to odors.
Shui Miao and Wang Xiaomi, however, felt significantly better.
“No, this cave is our secret. No one else must know about it. Only the three of us should know about this place,” Shui Miao sighed inwardly, thinking how naive Xiaotudou was and wondering how he could ever become the head of the Taoist temple in the future.
At this moment, Wang Xiaomi, with a serious expression, said, “Xiaoshui, I’m a bit worried that some of the bronze coffins in this cave might contain large amounts of poison, which turned people into monsters. In other words, I suspect these monsters were originally humans. Moreover, we’ve already breathed in the air here, so we might have been poisoned. If we recklessly open more bronze coffins, wouldn’t that pose too great a risk?”
Wang Xiaomi’s concerns were not without merit.
However, Wang Xiaomi still did not make the decision herself but left it to Shui Miao.
“Fine, but we must kill those two small monsters first,” Shui Miao strode straight into the cave, and Wang Xiaomi quickly followed. Xiaotudou pinched his nose and followed them inside.
Upon entering the cave, Shui Miao discovered that the bronze coffin from earlier had already been pushed halfway open, and the two small monsters were no longer inside. He quickly looked up and noticed more openings in the cave ceiling, which looked quite complex and whose destinations were unknown. “This is troublesome now. We killed two large monsters but let two small ones escape. When we come back next time, we’ll definitely face endless troubles!”
“Senior apprentice, why don’t we smash the large rocks to flood this place? That way, we could drown them all!” Xiaotudou thought that since they wouldn’t have another chance to return next time, they might as well break open the large rocks now, thereby enriching the spiritual energy of this area within the Taoist temple.
Wang Xiaomi shook her head. “That won’t work. I just noticed that their hands and feet somewhat resemble those of a lizard. I estimate they are monsters that are good at diving underwater. Water won’t be able to drown them. There’s moss in this cave, and obviously, the moss is their food, which further proves they are not afraid of water. We are not well-prepared now. We should come back next time with more equipment. We can definitely kill them all, even capture them alive. Right now, we’d better take the bodies of the two monsters we just killed and get them out. First, if we are poisoned, we can use their bodies for testing. Second, removing their bodies will prevent the small monsters from knowing we killed them. Also, if we leave the bodies here, how can we drink the water from the dry well once it fills with water?”
Moss!
Shui Miao’s eyes lit up as he thought that if the small monsters relied on moss for food, then he would have a way to deal with them in the future.
“Alright, let’s leave now.” Shui Miao turned around and quickly walked out. “Oh, there are some plastic bags in my backpack. Let’s use them to pack up the monsters and hoist them up.”
“Plastic bags are not good. Use these rubber bags from me…”
“I’ll keep watch…”
Xiaotudou couldn’t stand the smell of the monsters and put on a gas mask. Shui Miao and Wang Xiaomi also put on masks, packed the monster bodies into bags, and transported them to below the rope, tying them up with one of the ropes. Then Shui Miao and Xiaotudou suddenly found that climbing up was very strenuous. They tried several times but could only climb up to about five or six meters high before they were too exhausted to continue climbing!
Luckily, Wang Xiaomi had received professional training, and she climbed up first.
One hundred and fifty meters deep, even Wang Xiaomi was exhausted.
Half an hour later, Wang Xiaomi and Xiao Liu managed to pull Shui Miao and Xiaotudou up.
Finally, they pulled up the monster bodies together.
Looking at the bulging plastic bags, Xiao Liu and others thought they were something valuable. When they touched the bags with their hands, they naturally associated them with human corpses. Without anyone chasing them away, they instinctively got scared and walked away on their own.
Shui Miao directly called Director Zhang and asked him to come in person.
At this point, Shui Miao could only think of Director Zhang.
Director Zhang had already gone to sleep when he saw the call was from Shui Miao, so he quickly got up and came over.
Seeing the monster bodies, Director Zhang was a bit taken aback. After understanding the situation, he personally took the monster bodies away and immediately called in a forensic expert overnight for examination.
The three of them, Shui Miao, Wang Xiaomi, and Xiaotudou, went to the hospital together to check if they had been infected or poisoned. The results were all normal, so the three returned home that night. The next morning, the three of them went to the city to buy an engine, ropes, pulleys, and other tools. They set up equipment above the dry well, making it convenient to go down into the well. Moreover, Shui Miao was also preparing to hoist up all the bronze coffins.
At noon, Director Zhang came again, wearing casual clothes and driving his private car. He picked up the three of them, Shui Miao, Wang Xiaomi, and Xiaotudou, and immediately asked about who else knew about this matter. When he learned that not many people knew, he took out several X-ray films and handed them to Shui Miao, saying, “According to our forensic expert’s examination, these monsters have the same bones and organs as humans. However, their blood, skin, appearance, and some minor organs differ from humans. The forensic expert boldly speculated that these monsters were humans a hundred years ago, but why they underwent such significant mutations in such a short time remains a mystery. Since this matter is of great importance and directly affects human evolution, we cannot take it lightly. Now, there are two paths before us. One is to report to the higher-ups and let the state handle this matter, in which case this land will no longer belong to you, although the state will provide some compensation. The second option is to keep it a secret. I will try to find some connections and establish a biopharmaceutical company here, using the unique immune cells inside these monsters’ bodies to develop drugs suitable for treating human diseases. Once successfully developed, we will gain huge profits. However, the premise is to ensure confidentiality. If this matter leaks out, the government will surely intervene forcefully.”
Director Zhang made himself very clear; all Shui Miao and his team needed to do was make a choice.
Xiaotudou and Wang Xiaomi both looked at Shui Miao, leaving the decision to him.
Shui Miao thought for a moment and shrugged. “There’s no better choice. We have the money and the people. Why not do it ourselves?”
“Alright then! I’ll go back and contact some old classmates to help out.” Feeling that the day for Chen’s family to rise again was not far off, Director Zhang was very excited. He continued, “Wang Xiaomi, you must ensure secrecy here. If these guards are unreliable, replace them. We don’t need too many people here. Once the biopharmaceutical company is established, you will all be shareholders.”
Director Zhang knew that Wang Xiaomi and Shui Miao were close, but relationships aside, interests still needed to be secured. Without interests, it would be impossible to achieve true unity and cooperation.
Wang Xiaomi, however, remained very calm. After thinking for a moment, she nodded. “I think we should assign them to manage the southern site. Xiaotudou and I can handle things here. What do you think, Manager?”
Wang Xiaomi turned her head to look at Shui Miao.
“One must not have the heart to harm others, but one must be cautious. Xiao Liu and the others shouldn’t know too much. Xiaomi jie, you can handle this as you see fit,” Shui Miao said directly to Director Zhang without hiding anything from Wang Xiaomi. “Uncle, what about those gold ingots? Are they real?”
“Yeah, they are real…”
Director Zhang hesitated slightly, thinking to himself that such matters directly related to money shouldn’t be discussed in front of everyone. If Wang Xiaomi and Xiaotudou wanted to share the money, wouldn’t that be troublesome? Pausing for a moment, Director Zhang looked seriously at Wang Xiaomi and Xiaotudou and said, “You must keep this small fortune you’ve acquired a secret. If it gets out, not only will all the gold ingots be confiscated, but you might also be charged with tomb robbing. Also, Shui Miao, I’ve already had experts appraise the gold ingots you gave me, and they are genuine. However, the price hasn’t been estimated yet. Once they are sold, I will directly transfer the money to your account, which can be used to start the biopharmaceutical company.”
“Great! Thank you, Uncle. When the time comes, you just need to give us seventy percent. The rest can be considered our gift to you, Uncle.” Shui Miao liked to settle accounts clearly. Since his uncle had helped him greatly, he naturally couldn’t let his uncle suffer.
“Tsk, are you treating me like an outsider now?”
Director Zhang scoffed, waved his hand, and said, “I don’t want a penny. When the company develops, you just need to give me thirty percent of the shares in the biopharmaceutical company.” Director Zhang had his own plans. He could see that Shui Miao was a person who valued his friends highly. He might end up distributing the shares to everyone. Rather than giving so much to others, he might as well claim thirty percent first to help Shui Miao maintain his position as the largest shareholder.
“No problem, fifty percent is fine.”
When it came to money, Shui Miao was very generous towards people he trusted. He also knew that running a company was no small matter. Being young and inexperienced, he completely relied on Director Zhang for help. Giving up fifty percent of the equity was simply not a big deal to him.
“Hehe, you said that!”
Director Zhang observed their expressions. Seeing that Xiaotudou and Wang Xiaomi were both smiling and seemed indifferent, he felt reassured about Shui Miao’s two friends.
“General Manager, the village secretary is coming with a group of villagers, armed with sticks and clubs!” As soon as Director Zhang finished speaking, Xiao Liu, who was on watch, rushed over in a hurry.
“What does he mean by this?”
Upon hearing this, Shui Miao immediately got out of the car, and Wang Xiaomi and Xiaotudou followed.
“That’s interesting. Could it be that he wants to cause trouble?” Director Zhang stayed in the car, sneered coldly, lit a cigarette, and started smoking. “Shui Miao, you guys don’t go over there. Just talk by the car, let me hear what the village secretary of Jing Shui Village wants to do?”
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