73: Chapter Seventy-Three: Seeking refuge by changing camps, embroidered shoes await orders.

Sure enough, Guo Jianjun spoke up: "We all saw with our own eyes how fierce that Big Wild Boar was yesterday."

The others nodded one after another, all feeling the same way.

He looked up and swept his gaze across the three of them, his tone deepening: "That beast was injured and seemed to be bleeding quite a bit. I estimate it won't run far; nine times out of ten, it's holed up in the nearby mountains, wandering back and forth."

Thinking of the power of the Big Wild Boar last night, Zhao the Second felt lingering fear: "Guo Jianjun, what you say is true. Animals have territorial instincts; it's possible that this place is the Big Wild Boar's territory."

Guo Jianjun nodded: "That's exactly what I mean. That's why I want to say that starting today, the four of us should travel together. If we go our separate ways like before, and someone runs into it alone, no one will be able to handle it."

Boss Zhao nodded: "Alright then. We had a pretty good harvest yesterday in the area bordering Boss Zhou's territory. Since we have to change camps anyway, why don't we just go there?"

Guo Jianjun smiled: "Great minds think alike; that's what I was thinking too! As long as we dig on our side, Boss Zhou and his people won't have a damn thing to say."

Zhao the Second laughed: "That's true. We might even turn a misfortune into a blessing; we might end up with a much better harvest there than here."

To be honest, Zheng Jing didn't really agree with everyone going Gold Panning together. But since everyone had already agreed, he couldn't very well voice his opposition directly.

After thinking for a moment, he spoke up: "Brother Jun, I have no objections to changing locations, but I'm just worried that if the four of us crowd together for Gold Panning, we might bump into each other's mining spots, which would make working inconvenient."

Zheng Jing's words were very tactful, but everyone understood the meaning. If four people are Gold Panning together, setting aside whether the harvest is good or not, what happens if they run into a spot with gold or silver, and two or more people discover it at the same time? Who does it belong to?

"Jingzi, you're overthinking it!" Guo Jianjun waved his hand with a smile to reassure him: "For one, we're only gathering together temporarily to avoid danger for a few days. In a few days, we have to go to Rong City to pick up Kuizi from the hospital. By the time we come into the mountains next time, the wild boar issue will basically be over. We won't be working bunched up together for long, and since we're all brothers, it's not worth causing conflict over such small profits."

"Secondly, you haven't been to that border hill, so you don't know its scale. I worked there with Boss Zhao all day yesterday, and we didn't even finish walking the edges. With just the few of us digging for a short time, it's impossible to bump into each other's spots or crowd the area."

Boss Zhao nodded in agreement with a laugh: "It's normal that Jingzi hasn't been to the area bordering them. Let me tell you, that place is huge. We can completely dig our own spots, just don't go too far away; as long as we can hear each other if someone shouts in case of an emergency, that's enough."

Hearing this, Zheng Jing quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been genuinely worried earlier that if everyone was going to be mining together long-term, and those guys were all bunched up together all day, his secret of possessing the Radar System would sooner or later be exposed!

Anything dug up from a depth of no more than fifty centimeters could be passed off as sheer luck, but the Radar System in his mind had a detection depth of up to one meter!

If he encountered a mineral deposit, he certainly wouldn't let it slip by, and over time, his yield frequency would be far higher than the others.

This was a depth that the metal detector simply couldn't sense. If he kept digging things up from depths exceeding 50 centimeters one after another, no excuse would be enough to cover it up...

Another thing was that if everyone was Gold Panning together, he would still have to hold the metal detector and pretend to scan everywhere, unable to be as relaxed and carefree as he usually was when wandering around looking for mines relying on the system.

Fortunately, the intentions of Guo Jianjun and Boss Zhao were clear: everyone was just gathering together temporarily for a few days, not staying together forever.

So, Zheng Jing nodded: "In that case, I have no objections either."

Seeing that everyone had no objections, Guo Jianjun finalized the decision on the spot: "This hill is dangerous due to the wild boar, so it's not suitable to stay here long. Pack up your things quickly, and let's drive to the mining area at the border."

"Let's go, move out!" The few of them didn't say anything more and started packing up separately.

Fortunately, most of the supplies and tools were already stored in the car, so everyone didn't need to exert much effort. They just needed to collect their respective laundry drying outside and move the teapot and iron pot used to boil water on the simple stone stove.

Only Zheng Jing needed to do one extra thing—go to the side of the creek and retrieve the dirty clothes he had left soaking in there because he was lazy!

Once finished packing, the iveco finally started on its way.

Saying it was "on the road" was actually a bit of an exaggeration. This area of abandoned mine pits didn't have any proper roads for vehicles at all. The ground was covered in wild paths created by people walking into the mountains and vehicle tires grinding over the years. It was full of potholes and jagged rocks, making it impossible for ordinary cars to traverse. Only a vehicle like the iveco, with its high chassis and strong off-road capability, could barely bump its way through the mountain forest.

Guo Jianjun held the steering wheel, driving extremely cautiously the entire way. The mountain road was narrow and steep, with dense forests and earthen slopes on both sides; the slightest carelessness could easily lead to scraping or getting stuck.

Zheng Jing secretly estimated that at this slow, leisurely speed, it was probably not much different from the walking speed of a normal person.

After bumping along for more than half an hour, the car finally came to a slow stop, and the few of them got out one after another and stood steady.

Zheng Jing looked around, and suddenly understood. The scene before him was almost exactly the same as the place where they had been Gold Panning before; as far as the eye could see, it was an endless expanse of abandoned old mine pits.

Mine pits of various sizes were scattered across the hillside, varying in depth. The bottoms of the pits and the surrounding slopes were already overgrown with messy weeds and clustered bushes, and there were also many low pine trees rooted among them, lush and green, obscuring most of the old traces of mining.

Guo Jianjun reached out and pointed to a clear creek beside him: "Jingzi, everyone else knows that this creek is the dividing line between us and Boss Zhou's group. The rule is very simple: this side of the river is our territory, and there's no problem with how you Gold Pan here. Once you cross the river to mine on the other side, we are in the wrong."

Zheng Jing looked down. The creek wasn't deep and was clear to the bottom, with a width of just over a meter. It couldn't be considered a big river, but it had become the clearest, most natural boundary river for the two teams.

Looking at the creek before him, Zheng Jing couldn't help but say softly: "So there's a creek serving as a boundary river; I thought it was just a line drawn in the middle. How did Kuizi foolishly cross this little river to go mine on the other side last time? No wonder it caused a conflict."

Boss Zhao, who was beside him, sighed helplessly upon hearing this: "That's why I say, in that incident last time, we were indeed in the wrong first. Otherwise, we wouldn't have let Boss Zhou and his people off so easily, regardless of how many people they have."

Guo Jianjun waved his hand: "Let's not talk about Kuizi's matter for now. With the method Jingzi thought of, there will be no shortage of opportunities for revenge."

Hearing Guo Jianjun say this, Zhao the Second thought of something and pointed to the pair of embroidered shoes placed on the car: "Jingzi, let's arrange for them to have this item as soon as possible; leaving it here all the time makes me creeped out."

Zheng Jing curled his lips into a mysterious smile: "Don't rush, the right time hasn't come yet!"