619: Chapter 614 Quietly Collecting Recyclables

C City, the Millennium Porcelain Capital.

The plane landed at Lixi International Airport, and the humid air, mixed with the fragrance of earth, rushed towards him.

Shen Yan did not bring any luggage, only carrying a simple backpack. He walked out of the airport and directly took a taxi.

"Master, take me to the best hotel in the city."

The driver sized him up through the rearview mirror. Dressed in casual clothes, he didn't look like a big boss.

"The best? That would be Grand Hyatt Mansion. It costs several thousand a night."

"Take me there.", Shen Yan's voice was calm and steady.

At the Grand Hyatt Mansion Hotel, the lobby manager's eyes flashed with a barely perceptible scrutiny upon seeing Shen Yan's attire, but professional demeanor kept his smile intact.

"Sir, do you have a reservation?"

"No, I need a suite."

Shen Yan took out his ID card and proceeded with check-in.

Just then, his phone rang.

It was Chen Guangke.

"Yan Zi, you've arrived in C City? I just saw the news saying C City will have extremely heavy rain for the next three days, the kind that happens once in fifty years. You need to be careful!"

Shen Yan walked over to a floor-to-ceiling window and looked at the dark clouds gradually gathering in the distance.

"I know."

"Also, those two brothers from the Qi family are truly something else. News from Anxin Capital indicates that the five hundred million Ning Ke invested is like throwing money into a printing press. Qi Sheng Group's stock price hit its daily limit today!"

"As expected.", Shen Yan said lightly, "They are sharks. Once they smell blood, they always go crazy."

"What about you? What scrap are you running to C City to pick up? Is there really some great treasure?"

"Perhaps.", Shen Yan looked out the window, "Or perhaps, it's just a pile of dirt."

He hung up the phone.

The front desk attendant handed him the room key card and ID card, her attitude much more respectful than before.

She had clearly heard the words "five hundred million," "printing press," and "Qi Sheng Group" during that phone call.

Looking at the plainly dressed man before her again, she felt like he was shrouded in a mysterious aura.

It turned out that truly important people were all this reserved.

Shen Yan didn't linger at the hotel.

He changed into more durable outdoor sportswear and took a taxi to the old goods market in the west of the city.

This was the place with the strongest local atmosphere in C City, full of hardware stores, labor protection shops, and secondhand stalls.

He spent an entire afternoon buying everything he needed.

Non-slip hiking boots, a windbreaker, a trenching shovel, high-strength nylon rope, a sample collection box with excellent sealing, and even a small geological hammer.

Being fully prepared was his consistent style.

The System's intelligence provided an omniscient view, but the one executing the mission was, after all, flesh and blood.

The next day, the sky became completely overcast.

Wind swept the dark clouds, circling above the city, and the air was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

The television, radio, and mobile news were all continuously broadcasting heavy rain warnings.

The orange alert quickly escalated to red.

Shen Yan drove the rented SUV away from the city center, heading towards Jiulong Mountain in the south of the city.

Outside the car window, raindrops the size of beans began to fall, quickly turning into continuous lines.

The wipers were set to maximum frequency, yet it was still difficult to see the road ahead.

The closer he got to Jiulong Mountain, the more bumpy and muddy the road became.

The abandoned site of the ceramic factory was long overgrown with rampant vegetation, leaving only a few broken walls and ruins, resembling the skeletal remains of silent behemoths in the wind and rain.

Shen Yan parked the car on a relatively stable high ground, put on his raincoat, fastened his headlamp, and walked into the ruins.

The location given by the System was very specific: near a gully behind the old factory area.

He stepped deeply into the mire, the rainwater constantly sliding down his face.

The sound of the wind, the sound of the rain, and the faint roar coming from the distant mountains intertwined into one.

Just as he was about to reach the target location, two figures flashed across the beam of his headlamp.

The two men were also wearing raincoats and holding shiny machetes, vigilantly looking around.

Shen Yan immediately slipped behind a broken wall to hide.

"Damn it, in this hellish weather, is Boss Cheng crazy? He insists we guard this godforsaken place.", a burly bald man grumbled.

"Less nonsense, we're paid to do a job.", said the other, a tall and thin man, "The boss said this land is about to be developed, and recently some reckless people have been trying to steal old kiln bricks. Keep a close watch."

"Stealing bricks? Who the hell risks being washed away by a flash flood to steal a few broken bricks? I think those surveyors from the previous two days discovered something, and the boss wants to keep it all for himself."

The bald man spat, "Whatever, if anyone dares to come over, break their legs first."

Whose men were these?

Shen Yan's brow furrowed slightly.

This guy, who had been at odds with him since the auction, was haunting him.

It seemed that quietly "picking up scraps" was impossible now.

Shen Yan did not force his way through.

He took a wide detour, climbing up to a higher small slope from the other side of the mountain.

The view here was excellent, overlooking the entire gully.

He took out his binoculars and stared fixedly at the area marked by the System amidst the fierce wind and rain.

Time passed second by second.

The rain grew heavier, as if the sky had sprung a leak.

The soil on the slope began to loosen, and occasional gravel rolled down.

Rumble—

A deafening sound, like thunderclap right up close.

Shen Yan's pupils constricted.

He saw a section of the mountainside not far away suddenly collapse under the scouring of the heavy rain, like a piece of cake soaked and ruined.

The mudslide, carrying trees and huge rocks, roared and rushed down the valley.

The two guards shrieked and scrambled towards higher ground, dropping their machetes without even knowing where they went.

Now was the time!

Shen Yan's gaze, like a falcon's, locked onto the gully that had been widened and deepened by the mudslide.

Mud churned, waves towered.

But right in that murky yellowish-brown, a barely perceptible color flashed.

That color was indescribable.

As if the sky after the rain cleared, washed by the cleanest lake water, solidified into form.

Celadon!

A shard of chai kiln!

It tumbled along with the mud, on the verge of being swept into the river channel further downstream.

Shen Yan no longer hesitated.

He tied one end of the nylon rope tightly to a sufficiently thick old tree, wrapped the other end around his waist, and then leaped out, sliding down into the gully amidst the rushing torrent.

This was almost a suicidal move.

The icy mud instantly submerged half his body, and the immense impact pulled at him, as if trying to tear him apart.

The rope around his waist was pulled taut, emitting a grating sound.

He desperately grabbed a protruding rock to steady himself, his eyes frantically searching through the murky water.

Found it!