His face brightened as he heard this, "Thank you, Butler Liu."
Lowering his voice conspiratorially, he added, "Butler Liu, do you know if anything happened on Qingniu Mountain before the Second Young Master's accident?"
Liu Kai seemed impatient, raising his hand slightly. "Enough with the suspense, speak quickly. I have a lot of work waiting for me."
Upon hearing this, Hou Liu's demeanor changed instantly, and he put on a fawning smile. "Yes, yes, it's like this. Just a few days before the Second Young Master's incident, the village head of Hetou Village, Chen Xiaobei, suddenly obtained a land deed, bringing the entire Qingniu Mountain under his name."
"Oh, and before him, the previous village head was doing fine, but he suddenly died, and then this one took over the position."
After Hou Liu finished speaking, Liu Kai remained silent, lost in thought.
If this were true, the sudden acquisition of a land deed was highly suspicious. If it were fertile land, it might be understandable. But it was a mountain. According to imperial law, land ownership entailed taxes.
Therefore, obtaining a land deed for a barren mountain was illogical. Moreover, the accident happened to the young master shortly after the deed was acquired.
This situation was clearly not normal. As the saying goes, "Without being weighed, it's barely two taels, but on the scale, it's more than a thousand catties."
Liu Kai nodded. "I will send someone to verify this. Thank you."
As he spoke, he handed over a banknote for two hundred taels from his sleeve.
"Er Mao, I will investigate this matter. Until then, I expect to be able to see you at any time."
Hou Liu feigned politeness on the surface, but his mind was already made up: he would take the money and flee immediately. Why would he wait around?
Taking the money, he deliberately adopted a servile posture. "Butler Liu, please don't worry. I'm staying at the Hao Yun Lai Inn just inside the east gate. If you need anything, just send someone to find me."
Liu Kai never imagined that a mere Hou Liu would try to deceive him.
After seeing Hou Liu off, he immediately went to see Liu Xiangnan.
"Marquis, I have important news."
Liu Xiangnan frowned slightly and placed the book he was holding on the table.
"Such haste is unbecoming."
"Marquis, the villager just mentioned that before the Second Young Master's incident, someone obtained a land deed, bringing the entire Qingniu Mountain under his name."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiangnan's expression became agitated.
"Oh, is the information reliable?"
Liu Kai bowed. "Marquis, this matter is crucial to uncovering the mastermind behind the scenes. I believe we should investigate this thoroughly."
Liu Xiangnan nodded. "Good. You handle this yourself. And make sure it's done secretly."
Liu Kai was clearly surprised that Liu Xiangnan would send his long-time steward to handle such a matter.
However, in a way, didn't this signify the importance Liu Xiangnan placed on Liu Kai?
As Liu Kai prepared his men to head to Qingniu Mountain, at that very moment, on Qingniu Mountain.
Sima Wushuang had been enjoying good food and drink for three days. Thinking the time was ripe, he decided to personally inspect the steep slope that day. If the defenses were gone, he'd be eager to descend immediately.
Before dawn, Sima Wushuang stealthily approached the vicinity of the steep slope.
Hiding in the roadside grass, Sima Wushuang glanced over and saw that the steep slope was teeming with people, constantly moving back and forth, with extremely tight security.
Seeing this, Sima Wushuang secretly sighed. The security was even tighter than the previous two days. Could they have detected something?
Could it be?
Sima Wushuang's heart suddenly tightened. Could the Peerless Taoist be up to something again?
But there was no choice. If something went wrong, he would be the one to suffer. Sima Wushuang had no choice but to retreat and circle back along the road.
In these past few days, Chen Xiaobei's focus had been entirely on refining iron. He had obtained some so-called pig iron from Li Han.
The primary issue was that the shape of this pig iron was unsuitable, requiring it to be re-melted and re-cast.
Therefore, Chen Xiaobei set up a makeshift workshop in the woods west of the village, enlisting two village defense team members to constantly stoke the furnace day and night.
The molten pig iron was then poured into specially prepared containers nearby.
These so-called special containers were, in fact, molds made of sand and earth.
Producing standardized stone thunderbolts of consistent size and shape was clearly an impossible task.
Only through casting iron would it be possible to achieve this.
Chen Xiaobei brought a few cast iron thunderbolts home.
He filled them with gunpowder, sealed the small opening with yellow mud, and left a fuse at least a foot long protruding.
With everything prepared, the next step was to conduct an experiment to verify its effectiveness.
However, Chen Xiaobei hesitated for a moment regarding where to test this device.
Finally, he thought of a place.
It was the cave where Sun Jian's subordinates had been held.
He would light the cast iron thunderbolt, throw it into the cave, and hide by the cave entrance.
This way, he could listen to the explosion up close without being harmed and quickly inspect the results on-site.
With the plan decided, Chen Xiaobei took three cast iron thunderbolts and left the village.
The stone cave where Sun Jian's subordinates were held was about three to four li from the woods west of the village, so he reached it quickly after passing through the woods.
The cave was silent at the moment. Even the iron door he had painstakingly made stood alone.
Chen Xiaobei struck a flint, lit the fuse of one of the cast iron thunderbolts, and tossed it into the cave.
"Gurgle, gurgle." After a series of short sounds.
A muffled explosion echoed from the stone cave.
"It worked." This was Chen Xiaobei's first thought. Without waiting for the smoke to dissipate, he rushed into the cave.
As soon as he entered, he was met with the pungent smell of gunpowder.
Moving further inside, he saw fragments of the cast iron thunderbolt on the ground.
However, upon seeing these fragments, Chen Xiaobei smacked his head, suddenly realizing his mistake.
Testing it like this was unreliable! The cave already contained loose stones, making it impossible to ascertain the actual power of the cast iron thunderbolt.
Chen Xiaobei cursed himself for being a fool.
Outside the cave, Chen Xiaobei surveyed his surroundings and finally chose a small patch of woods not far away.
Entering the small woods, Chen Xiaobei selected a large rock, placed the cast iron thunderbolt on it, and then placed several plate-sized stones on top of the thunderbolt.
He then found a safe retreat path, lit the fuse, and retreated.
After lighting it, Chen Xiaobei sprinted twenty feet and hid behind a tree thicker than himself.
After about twenty-odd breaths, a dull roar echoed, shaking the earth.
Chen Xiaobei did not rush forward but waited nearby for the smoke to clear before unhurriedly approaching to inspect.
His eyes widened with joy at the sight.