78: Chapter 78 Makassar: An Encounter with an Old Miner

From Palembang to Makassar, the flight time is over two hours.

Li Xin sat by the window, watching the clouds outside.

The plane passed through a thick layer of clouds, and sunlight leaked through the gaps, casting golden light on the sea surface.

A middle-aged man sat next to him, wearing a plaid shirt and gold-rimmed glasses, holding a newspaper.

Seeing Li Xin looking out the window, he put down the newspaper and asked in English: "Traveling to Makassar?"

"Yes." Li Xin turned his head, "And you?"

"On a business trip." The man smiled, "I work in geological exploration, going to Sulawesi to check on a project."

Li Xin felt a stir in his heart, but his face remained expressionless.

"What kind of project?"

"A gold mine." The man lowered his voice, "There are several old mining areas in Sulawesi, opened during the Dutch colonial period and later abandoned. Our company wants to see if they are worth restarting."

"Any luck?"

The man shook his head.

"Checked a few places, the grade isn't high, and the mining costs are too high. The boss isn't very satisfied."

"Where are you going next?"

"Tana Toraja." The man said, "There's an old mine there, rumored to be the deepest one dug by the Dutch. But the road is hard to travel, you have to go into the mountains."

Li Xin tapped his finger lightly on the armrest.

"Is the scenery good there?"

"The scenery is nice, but not many people go there." The man glanced at him, "You want to go?"

"I'm an amateur photographer, I like to photograph pristine places."

The man thought for a moment, took out a business card from his bag, and handed it over.

"This is my business card. If you go to Tana Toraja, you can look for a local guide, I know one named Agus. He is a good person and very familiar with those mountains."

Li Xin took the business card and said thank you.

At noon, the plane landed in Makassar.

Li Xin left the airport, hailed a taxi, and went to the bus station.

From Makassar to Tana Toraja, it takes seven or eight hours by bus; the road is bad, all mountain roads.

He bought a ticket and got on the bus.

The bus was very old, the seats were hard, and the air conditioning wasn't cool.

He sat by the window, watching the scenery outside, looking at the different exotic landscapes.

Halfway through the journey, the vehicle stopped in a town for a break.

Passengers got off to stretch their legs, use the restroom, and buy snacks.

Li Xin also got off, bought a bottle of water by the roadside, and stood in the shade to drink.

Li Xin suddenly heard someone shout, "Agus, it's time to go."

At that moment, he saw a young man nearby respond.

The young man was also drinking water, looking to be in his early twenties, with dark skin.

Li Xin glanced at him, feeling the name sounded familiar, and then remembered — that name on the business card, Agus.

"Are you Agus?"

The young man was stunned for a moment.

"You know me?"

"Someone gave me your business card." Li Xin took the business card out of his pocket, "Said you are a guide in Tana Toraja."

Agus took it, glanced at it, and laughed.

"That's a business card from a long time ago. I'm working in Makassar now, I don't really take guests anymore."

"Then can you take me to Tana Toraja? I want to go into the mountains to take some photos."

Agus hesitated for a moment.

"What are you going to Tana Toraja to photograph?"

"Scenery. Heard the mountains there have a lot of character."

Agus stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded.

"Alright. I happen to be going back to my hometown, I'll take you with me. But it's agreed, we only look at the outside, we don't enter the old mining area."

"Why?"

"Because the old mining area is not safe." Agus lowered his voice, "The mine tunnels over there have collapsed; if you go in, you can't get out."

Li Xin nodded and didn't ask further.

The two of them got on the bus and sat together.

Agus didn't talk much, but he was a straightforward person.

He asked Li Xin what places he had been to, and Li Xin said Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, traveling and photographing everywhere.

"You traveled to so many countries alone?" Agus was a bit surprised.

"It's freer alone."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Afraid of what?" Li Xin smiled, "Afraid of people or ghosts?"

Agus laughed too.

"That's true."

The bus drove for three hours and arrived at a village.

Agus got off, and Li Xin followed.

The village wasn't big, a few dozen households, all stilt wooden houses.

A few children were playing by the roadside and ran over when they saw Agus.

"Brother Agus!"

Agus patted their heads, turned to Li Xin and said, "Stay at my place tonight. I'll take you into the mountains tomorrow."

"Thank you."

Agus's home was a wooden house, not big, but clean.

For dinner, his mother made rice, grilled fish, and stir-fried greens.

The food was delicious, Li Xin ate two bowls, then put down the bowl.

"Agus, that old mining area you mentioned, in which direction is it?"

Agus pointed to the north.

"Cross that mountain, walk for about half a day."

"Can we go tomorrow?"

"Yes. But the road is hard to walk, are you sure you want to go?"

"Sure."

The next morning, Agus took him into the mountains.

The road was very difficult; in some places, there was no road at all, and they had to crawl through bushes.

Agus walked very easily, like walking in his own backyard.

Li Xin followed behind, walking until he was panting, but he didn't complain once.

He took photos while walking, like a true photography enthusiast.

After walking for about two hours, they arrived on a hillside.

Agus stopped and pointed ahead.

"We're here. That's the old mining area."

Li Xin looked in the direction he pointed.

There was a pitch-black cave entrance on the hillside, surrounded by weeds.

He raised his camera and took a few photos.

[Ding... Scan complete. Approximately 160 meters directly below the current position, a large gold vein discovered. Gold reserves: approximately 85 tons. Belongs to an ownerless mine, 100% Extraction possible.]

[Extraction complete. Obtained 85 tons of gold. Cumulative: 253.3057 tons.]

Li Xin lowered his camera, turned to Agus and said, "The lighting is good here, can you help me take a photo?"

Agus took the camera, stepped back two steps, and took a picture of him.

Li Xin stood next to the cave entrance, with his back to the hillside, smiling naturally.

The shutter clicked.

"Let's go, let's go check over there." Li Xin took the camera and pointed to a ridge in the distance.

Agus followed.

"Aren't you going in to take a look?"

"Not going in." Li Xin shook his head, "Didn't you say it's not safe? Just taking photos outside is enough."

Agus glanced at him, a hint of surprise in his eyes, but didn't say anything.

The two walked along the ridge for two hours, and Li Xin took over a hundred photos.

The system collected gold mines three times in the background, totaling nearly 50 tons.

By the afternoon, the cumulative total had reached 303 tons.

Li Xin stopped, sat on a rock, and took out his water bottle to take a sip.

"Agus, is there a waterfall around here? I want to take some photos of water."

"Yes. Walk east, about an hour, there is a waterfall."

"Let's go see."

The two walked east.

The road became increasingly difficult; in some places, they had to use both hands and feet to climb up.

Agus walked in front, and whenever they encountered a difficult spot, he would turn back and pull Li Xin up.

After walking for about forty minutes, the sound of water came from ahead.

Looking closely, it was a waterfall.

Not big, three or four meters high, water rushed down from the rocks, splashing white spray.

Below the waterfall was a pool, the water was very clear, and the stones at the bottom could be seen.

Li Xin stood by the pool and raised his camera to take a few shots.

[Ding... Scan complete. Approximately 28 meters below the pool, ancient sacrificial ruins discovered. Gold reserves: approximately 12 tons. Type: gold artifacts, gold Buddha, gold coins. 100% Extraction possible.]

[Extraction complete. Obtained 12 tons of gold. Cumulative: 315.3057 tons.]

He squatted down, cupped a handful of water, and washed his face.

The water was very cool.

He stood up, shook the water off his hands, and turned to Agus.

"This place is really nice. How did you find this waterfall?"

"Came here with my grandfather when I was a child." Agus said, "He said there used to be a village here, but it moved away later."

"What did your grandfather do?"

"Gold panning." Agus smiled, "But didn't pan any money. He said the gold in the mountains had long been dug out by the Dutch."

Li Xin nodded and didn't ask further.

The two sat by the pool to rest for a while, then walked back.

When they reached the village, it was almost dark.

Agus's mother made dinner, Li Xin still ate two bowls, then returned to his room.

Lying on the bed, he opened the system panel.

[Cumulative refined gold: 315.3057 tons.]

[Gold required for next upgrade: 500 tons.]

Still 184.7 tons short.

He closed the panel and took out his phone.

Chen Hu sent a message: "Boss, there is a volcano hiking route in Bali, Mount Agung, the scenery is nice. Do you want to go take a look?"

Li Xin replied with a "Good".

Bali. Next stop.

He turned over and closed his eyes.

Outside the window came the sound of insects, one after another.