Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

With a great effort, he smashed a small pit. Huang Zhong's comical appearance at that moment would probably make anyone laugh out loud.

It must be admitted, however, that the damp soil under these fallen leaves becomes incredibly hard after it freezes solid, almost as hard as reinforced concrete, and extremely difficult to break by human effort.

After laughing, a thought suddenly flashed through Wang An's mind, but he couldn't recall it after thinking about it again.

Wang An knew that he must have overlooked something.

Despite pondering for a long time, Wang An was still just a tiny bit short and couldn't remember it.

That feeling is truly awful; many people have experienced it.

For example, when solving a very complex geometry problem, a flash of inspiration might come to you, and you might have a very clear solution in mind, but as soon as you draw an auxiliary line, you completely forget about that solution.

So Wang An's eyes darted back and forth between the pit he had dug and the pit Huang Zhong had smashed.

Wang An was certain that his thought process was related to him and Huang Zhong digging the pit.

At this moment, Huang Zhong said:
"Brother, do you think that old bastard Song Ping didn't actually hide the thing in this pit? Maybe he just passed by it and Song Shuanzhu saw it, and he actually hid the thing somewhere else?"

Wang An subconsciously shook his head and said:

"Probably not. This place is so remote, and there's miasma in this pit. Nobody would come here anyway. Besides, look, there aren't even any animal tracks here. It's a perfect place to hide things."

Given that Song Shuanzhu was facing the threat of death at any moment, and considering that he had searched for the treasure twice without finding anything, it was unlikely that he would lie.

Huang Zhong nodded, looking puzzled, and said:

"Where could that old bastard Song Ping possibly hide something in such a small place?"

After Huang Zhong finished speaking, he bent down to collect the shovels, pickaxes, and other tools, placing them all together. This way, when they came out of the mass grave, they wouldn't have to worry about leaving any tools behind.

Just as Huang Zhong was about to finish cleaning up, he suddenly kicked the dry branches, leaves, and grass that he had just cleared away and said:

"The withered grass and rotten leaves in here are really thick, it must be at least a foot deep!"

At this moment, Wang An was still recalling the idea that had flashed into his mind earlier. Upon hearing this sentence, it was as if he had been enlightened, and his eyes widened instantly!

Then, Wang An suddenly burst into laughter, leaving Huang Zhong completely bewildered. Huang Zhong instinctively asked Wang An:
"Brother, what's wrong with you? Did you inhale too much miasma and poison yourself?"

After a pause, Huang Zhong suddenly leaped to Wang An's side in three strides, grabbed Wang An's arm, and pulled him out of the pit, anxiously saying:

"Brother, let's go out into the desert and get some fresh air."

It's clear that Huang Zhong thought Wang An had been poisoned by the miasma, and that it had clouded Wang An's judgment.

However, with Huang Zhong's small stature, how could he possibly move Wang An, who weighed 170 or 180 pounds?
So, Wang An grabbed Huang Zhong and pulled him back in one swift motion. Then, Wang An laughed and said:
"Xiao Zhong, I know how Song Ping hid the treasure."

Looking at Wang An, who had returned to normal, Huang Zhong didn't press him about the treasure, but instead chuckled awkwardly:
"Brother, are you alright? You weren't poisoned by the miasma in here, were you?"

Wang An rubbed Huang Zhong's head and said with a speechless expression:
"Getting poisoned? It's not that easy to get poisoned. If it were summer, I probably wouldn't be able to withstand the miasma here. It's freezing cold here, and miasma isn't resistant to the cold either." What Wang An said was absolutely correct, because the reason there is less miasma in the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains is because it's too cold here, and the formation of miasma requires a certain high-temperature environment.

The reason why there is still miasma in this dead man pit even though it is so cold now is simply because the miasma generated in the summer has not yet completely evaporated.

After Wang An finished speaking, Huang Zhong just grinned foolishly and didn't say anything, then Wang An continued:
“Xiao Zhong, you said there’s a foot of rotten leaves and withered grass in here, and hardly anyone comes here, and animals don’t nest in here. If you’re hiding something, why would you bury it in the ground?”

Huang Zhong's eyes lit up instantly, and he said instinctively:
"I definitely won't. It's the same whether you bury it under the leaves or in the soil."

Wang An laughed heartily and said excitedly:
"Yes, that's exactly it. I bet Song Ping thinks the same way, hahaha."

Wang An smiled, and Huang Zhong immediately followed suit.

In an instant, the pit of corpses seemed to be haunted by zombies, as two extremely arrogant laughs came from within.

After laughing, Wang An said:
“This time we’ll dig in the dry, loose places on the slope. I don’t think that old rascal Song Ping can hide things down the slope, otherwise the slope will be flooded before it rains.”

The entire mass grave looks like a tilted washbasin.

Because this mass grave is located on the top of a small hill, only rainwater falls into it when it rains; water from other places does not flow into it.

Therefore, although this is a pit, there is no water at the bottom. The rainwater either evaporates or is naturally absorbed by the dead branches and fallen leaves at the bottom of the pit.

However, since "water flows downhill" is a natural law, the slope will definitely be drier than the bottom of the slope.

After Wang An finished speaking, Huang Zhong quickly agreed:

"Yeah, brother, I think that's how it is too. Hey, brother, I'll go get the pitchfork from the plow."

Wang An patted Huang Zhong on the shoulder and said:
"Okay, go ahead and bring the second tooth too."

The "two-pronged tooth" mentioned here has absolutely nothing to do with the ruler used for measurement.

To be precise, this thing should be called a "two-toothed rake" or "two-toothed pickaxe." The rake used by Pigsy has nine teeth, but this thing only has two. Of course, there are also three-toothed ones, which are called three-toothed rakes.

Its main purpose is to turn the soil or dig up manure piles.

Huang Zhong agreed and turned to leave the mass grave.

Wang An stood at the edge of the pit, looked around, and then walked uphill.

In no time, Huang Zhong returned with the two-pronged tool.

Wang An took the fork and, without saying a word, began digging into the withered grass and rotten leaves on the ground, while Huang Zhong, with an iron shovel, kept gathering the debris that Wang An had dug up to one side to prevent it from obstructing their view.

I must say, these two actually work together quite well. (End of Chapter)