Chapter 74 - 70: Silver Ring Snake

He went to the expanded area in the secondary bedroom and took out the Level 1 Iron Ore Card.

Fuse and upgrade.

When the light faded, the new iron mine had changed dramatically.

First, the original entrance, which had been supported by wood and stone, was now a triangular frame propped up by four thick, round logs.

Simple grooves were carved into the horizontal beams to secure the vertical posts and prevent collapse.

The mine pit inside was more spacious. The iron ore within shone brighter, with a distinct metallic luster. The purity of the ore was a whole grade higher than before the upgrade.

A wooden shelf had been assembled inside.

On the top shelf were two large bamboo baskets, each holding two pickaxes for a total of four.

On the bottom shelf sat a large earthenware vat filled with fresh water. It had a large lid, and several coarse ceramic bowls were stacked beside it.

Several wooden sconces were nailed to the four walls, holding torches that would allow miners to work safely in the dark.

"The mine seems to have gotten deeper, too." Qin Ziwen stood on his tiptoes, stretching out his arm to barely touch the ceiling of the mine.

Li Tieshan, who had followed him in, picked up a piece of iron ore from the ground. He examined it by the light of a torch. "Sir, this iron ore has a very high purity. It’ll be usable after just a bit of refining."

"Then how long will it take you to make a Beast Trap?"

Li Tieshan considered for a moment. "If I work without breaks, it’ll take sixteen hours of work."

"Alright. Go ahead and get started."

Moving to the window, Qin Ziwen began preparing for his trip up the mountain.

The cave was located on the mountainside. Without knowing the route, making a round trip in a single day would be very difficult.

Furthermore, given the difficult mountain terrain, some areas might be impassable. Unless he could plan the route in advance, he might need to make several trips up the mountain to find the path that saved the most time and energy.

He went upstairs to look for Deng Guang, and after asking Xiao Xuemei, learned he was over by the garage entrance.

He headed over to find him.

He soon spotted Deng Guang in the crowd. Zhao Pu was standing beside him, and the two were talking quietly.

Seeing Qin Ziwen approach, Deng Guang waved enthusiastically.

Standing next to Deng Guang and following his gaze, Qin Ziwen saw that most of the water in the garage had already been pumped out.

Qin Ziwen was a little surprised. "That was fast."

Deng Guang said, "We’ve been pumping for over ten hours. I reckon it’ll be mostly drained by the end of today."

Qin Ziwen asked, "Are there a lot of fish in there?"

Deng Guang said, "I don’t know, but there should be a ton!"

He pointed to a spot under the water to the left of the entrance. "There was a school of fish over there just a minute ago, a huge, dark mass of them."

Qin Ziwen nodded. "Then your haul should be pretty good."

The smile never left Deng Guang’s face. "It’s not bad! I’ll probably get about a tenth of the share. I can’t eat all that fish myself, and it’ll go bad if it sits too long. We don’t have any salt at home to cure it, and with the heavy rain we just had, the air is too humid for smoking or air-drying. You’ll have to help me take some off my hands."

Qin Ziwen didn’t hesitate, knowing it was difficult to preserve food in this weather. "Sure. Just bring any extra you have over to my place."

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH." From the crowd behind them, someone covered their mouth and coughed softly.

The person next to him shot him a look, and the man quickly explained, "The temperature’s dropped the last couple of days. I think I’ve caught a bit of a cold."

Hearing this, Qin Ziwen felt a little uneasy. He took a few steps forward and rubbed his nose.

Zhao Pu, who had been wearing a mask the entire time, pulled three new ones from his pocket and handed them to Qin Ziwen, Qin Ziwu, and Deng Guang.

"Better safe than sorry. Even a viral cold can be contagious."

The water pump’s engine, which had been humming along, suddenly cut out. Someone went over to check on it, and after ten-odd minutes, it started working again.

As the water level continued to drop, you could even see fish leaping out of the water in some spots.

Many of the submerged cars now had most of their bodies exposed, with the water level just a little above their tires.

Some people couldn’t wait, quickly pulling on rubber boots and wading into the water.

Seeing someone go in, many of the elderly onlookers couldn’t hold back. They grabbed large and small buckets—some just basins—and waded in to catch fish themselves.

"Hey! What do you think you’re doing?"

Huang Tao tried to stop them, but no one listened.

On the bank, Zheng Yuan couldn’t stand by and watch. He shouted, "The fish in this water belong to the neighbors who donated gasoline! How can you do this?!"

But the elders in the water turned a deaf ear. As long as they weren’t called out by name, they pretended not to hear.

Watching this scene, Deng Guang’s blood pressure shot up.

His face flushed red. "These people... how can they be like this?"

Zhao Pu’s expression was also grim, but deep down, he had anticipated this scene all along.

As a doctor, he had seen all sorts of people, not to mention all the gossip he’d heard from colleagues.

You could say that a hospital is the best place to witness the true face of human nature—and that didn’t just apply to patients, but to his former colleagues as well.

"Come on, let’s go get some fish, too." Zhao Pu rolled up his pant legs, ready to get in the water.

Suddenly, from the crowd in the water, an old man let out a pained cry. "AGH! I’ve been bitten by a snake!"

The man scrambled back toward the edge.

Hearing that someone had been bitten, the others who were still trying to catch fish scrambled back as well.

Someone asked the old man if he got a good look at the snake.

The old man clutched his hand. "I didn’t get a clear look. It seemed to be black and white. It bit me and took off."

’Black and white?’

After hearing that, the others ran even faster.

Zhao Pu frowned. ’It lives in the water, and it’s black and white...’ "It’s either a white-ringed snake or a Silver Ring Snake."

Deng Guang asked, "I know the Silver Ring Snake is deadly venomous, but is the white-ringed one venomous?"

"The white-ringed one isn’t venomous." Though Zhao Pu said that, he still quietly pulled his foot back out of the water.

After getting out of the garage, the old man who had been bitten hurriedly borrowed a knife from someone nearby. Without even taking the time to sterilize it—only giving it a quick wipe with a piece of paper—he hastily carved a cross into the wound on his wrist.

He squeezed the wound to force out blood, sucked at it to draw out the venom, and even tied a belt around his upper arm.

After doing all that, the old man slumped against the corner of the garage wall, closed his eyes, and leaned back.

"What is wrong with you people! How can there be snakes in the garage!" the old man’s wife shrieked, pointing at Huang Tao.

Huang Tao’s face darkened.

’He had tried to stop these people from going in, and now they were blaming him? Do they really think he’s a pushover?’

With a dark expression, Huang Tao and a few people behind him walked over.

The old woman’s voice trailed off. She looked left and right, and seeing that no one was speaking up for her, she shut her mouth.

Huang Tao shot her a cold glance. "He got bitten, he brought it on himself. You’d better pray it was a white-ringed snake that bit him and not a Silver Ring Snake."

The old woman had heard of the Silver Ring Snake’s notorious reputation, and her face went pale with fright. "How could there be a Silver Ring Snake here? You... you..."

Huang Tao snapped irritably, "It’s not like I put it in there. How the fuck would I know?"

Ever since opening the Carpenter’s Workshop and making a name for himself, he had earned quite a lot.

’But these customers were a real pain to deal with! Some of them acted like they wanted to buy the whole Carpenter’s Workshop off him for next to nothing!’

’Even the most good-natured person would get worn down dealing with this day in and day out.’

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