Thirteen Hidden Dangers Page 1

  －－－－－－－－

  －－－－－－－－－

  Thomas was the first to rush onto the riverbank, kneeling on the ground with a handful of river sand, his mouth agape and eyes shining brightly. In the end, he almost fell to the ground, probably because it was hard to digest, otherwise this guy would have grabbed a few handfuls of golden sand and stuffed them into his mouth.

  Thomas was excited, and the others were not much better off. Zhang Shun crouched on the beach, refusing to get up. Long Guozhang stroked his beard, seemingly laughing at something, while even Chen Ping, who had seen a lot of the world, held the gold sand and muttered to himself, his eyes shining with golden light.

  Satisfied, too satisfied, everyone was stunned by the riverbank radiating golden light. Not only were they treading carefully, as if afraid of stepping on gold, but even their voices had become much softer.

  Among the crowd, only Li Mo slightly furrowed his brow, not because he was indifferent to the river bay in front of him, but because the surrounding terrain made him somewhat puzzled. After all, more than a hundred years had passed, and the location of the gold mine he knew, apart from the river bay, there were no other references. Now, although the sand grains on the river beach contain a lot of gold, compared to the real mineral vein, these can only be considered as appetizers.

  And as long as he didn't find the real ore vein for a day, his plan couldn't be implemented for a day. So at this moment, he was more concerned about where the gold vein in his memory was located.

  As the crowd slowly recovered from their joy, Li Mo gathered everyone together and told them his thoughts. According to him, these people must locate the real gold mine within a month, with Thomas, who inherited his adoptive father's rich experience in finding mines, being the most crucial one.

  Now, not only Chen Ping, but also Thomas has regarded Li Mo as a real master of turning stones into gold. Upon hearing that the gold sand was just residue brought out by underground water in the large mine, everyone took another cold breath. Especially Thomas, who rolled up his sleeves and wanted to take Li Mo to find the mine without saying another word.

  Fortunately, Chen Ping was not as excited as the others and quickly calmed down. He considered that they had been out for several days and the ship must be very anxious, so he suggested dividing into two groups. One group, led by Thomas, continued to search for ore veins in the vicinity and made preparations for building a camp, while the other group immediately set off with the main force to transport all the materials and machinery needed for mining from the ship, striving to extract the first batch of gold as soon as possible.

  Li Mo accepted Chen Ping's suggestion and finally decided to have Zhang Shun and Long Guozhang take three people to stay behind, protecting Thomas to continue searching for the ore vein, while the others immediately turned back to meet with the main force.

  Under the impetus of joy, several people quickly returned to the ship, but Li Mo did not immediately announce the news, instead gathering key personnel in the captain's cabin.

  The cramped cabin was packed with people, apart from Li Fu and his family members, Chen Ping and the people who escaped with him took up most of the space. Since Li Mo revealed his hand, Long Guozhang and Chen Ping became his own men, these people also expressed their willingness to follow, now they have become the main force in Li Dashi's hands.

  To ensure safety, Chen Ping also deliberately left a few people to block the cabin door and passage, just in case. Until everything was ready, Li Mo told everyone that they were going to stay here for development and informed them of the gold mine news.

  Gold, indeed the most tempting thing in this world, is even more so in Li Mo's plan, a big cake to lure talents and build a team. Under his persuasion, even Li Fu, who has always been steady and serious, was convinced to stay here for now and not insist on taking Young Master to England as required by Li Guo Zhang.

  The core personnel did not object, and Li Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief. The rest were just ordinary people on the boat.

  "Master, I think it's still a bit early." Just as he was about to ask everyone if they wanted to stay, Chen Ping, who had gradually become Li Mo's right-hand man, suddenly turned cold and shook his head in disapproval.

  "Why?" Li Mo asked back.

  Chen Ping thought for a moment, then continued: "Didn't you say, Young Master, that if we want to develop here, we must first ensure that the gold mine is kept secret? So I think it's time for us to take action too!"

  "Take action?" Li Mo immediately understood Chen Ping's meaning. In fact, the two had already studied countermeasures on their way back after returning to the boat. To ensure that the secret of the gold mine was not known to outsiders, some people, especially those like the guy who was going to rape Chrysanthemum, must be thoroughly eliminated.

  As Chen Ping spoke, Li Mo felt that he was still too conservative, because Chen Ping not only suggested clearing away some unstable factors, but also proposed killing all those who wanted to go back, and this proposal was passed unanimously by everyone, even Xiao Qiao, for the sake of Young Master's safety, chose to nod.

  However, Li Mo is still Li Mo. He's not afraid of killing people. In a chaotic world, one has to use chaotic methods to survive. His ancestors have already made this clear. Although he knows Chen Ping's words make sense, as a time-traveler from the rule-of-law era, especially a technical expert who used to be able to enter and exit the Republican camp freely, he still can't bring himself to harm innocent civilians.

  Finally, under everyone's gaze, he chose a compromise approach, which was to temporarily not announce the gold mine news and wait for those who wanted to leave to depart before speaking out.

  Although Chen Ping and Li Fu still thought it was unreliable, they didn't say anything more in the face of Young Master's persistence.

  That night, Zhao Long led the way and took action. Several people who had looted and insulted others in the cabin were thrown directly into the sea. Since everyone originally hated these people, it didn't cause a big reaction until the next morning when Li Mo led everyone to gather on the deck, told them his decision, and offered two options.

  One is to stay with him, and two is to sail back.

  Li Mo was still worried, after all, including Xiao Qiao, there were less than three hundred people on the boat at this moment. If too many left, they might not even have enough people to pan for gold. However, he soon felt at ease and instead became suspicious.

  Since the news of the gold mine has not been announced yet, except for one person who is still hesitant, all others have chosen to stay, which makes Li Mo very curious. It's said that Chinese people are the most homesick, how can they all stay? Is it because the young master's aura is too strong?

  Li Mo soon knew the answer, because these people were mostly poor fishermen who often lived with their families on the boat. After being captured by Rudolf, they didn't have much family left. Moreover, at that time, the Qing dynasty had many miscellaneous taxes and corrupt officials were rampant in the countryside, so going back was just waiting for death.

  Since I've come out, whether it's passive or active, I might as well take a chance. Moreover, this life was saved by someone else, and even if I were to sell myself to Young Master Li, everyone chose to stay.

  Since everyone chose to stay, Li Mo began to arrange the mining work. Only then did the crowd realize that Young Master Li had found a gold mine and they all jumped up, secretly rejoicing that they hadn't chosen to go home.

  Due to the narrow and rapid river channel from Ska Gui to inland, large ships cannot pass through at all. Moreover, without animal power assistance, it was a great headache for Li Mo to transport goods and machinery to the bay. Fortunately, Chen Ping had rich experience and proposed using wooden rafts and manual towing, which finally transported the ship's goods to the riverbank.

  Under everyone's concerted efforts, the camp was quickly set up. As row after row of low wooden houses were built, everyone was filled with joy. Only Li Mo stood alone on the riverbank, watching Thomas teach everyone how to pan for gold, feeling a little worried.

  －－－－

  －－－－

  Li Mo stood alone on the riverbank. These days passed quickly and were very fulfilling, but for some reason, he always felt a little anxious in his heart.

  ...??