The most shameless alchemist in history

"I think I heard that sound, but I was too sleepy, so I thought it was thunder." Bee Sting nodded; she had heard it too.

"So that wasn't thunder? I was terrified." As a girl, Wenli had an innate fear of thunder.

"You mean the noise last night was caused by someone... no, by those monsters throwing stones onto the mountain path, completely blocking it and trapping us in Spring Breeze Town?" Hu Che quickly connected the dots and asked with a frown.

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427 The Road to Hell

This unexpected situation put Du Lei and his group in a difficult position. They were about to leave Spring Breeze Town, but at this crucial moment, they encountered a blocked mountain road. Hu Che even went to check the mountain road to try and find a way to get through.

But when he arrived at the mountain path, he found that what Du Lei said was true. The mountain path was flanked by towering cliffs, with only a natural crevice in the middle and a man-made passage. The path was only about two meters wide, allowing only two people to pass side by side.

Aside from passing through the mountain path, there was no other way to go on either side, and trying to climb the mountain was wishful thinking. The rocks blocking the entrance to the mountain path were seven or eight meters high. Kotetsu looked at them from a distance and saw that the rocks were about ten meters deep.

This directly prevented them from passing through and trapped them in Chunfeng Town. This angered Hu Che so much that he punched the rocks hard, smashing them into pieces. Although he had the ability to break rocks, who knew how many pieces of rocks were blocking the mountain path!

"Damn it, those wretched monsters actually used such a trick to trap us here. It won't be able to clean this place up for at least half a month." Hu Che was extremely unwilling. He didn't expect that he would be tricked by such a small monster, and he was very resentful.

"Captain Hu Che, what should we do? Should we go back the way we came? Or take the left path at the fork in the road?" Bee Sting asked, frowning. When they were at the fork in the road, an old hunter had warned them not to take the right path, but they hadn't listened to him at the time in order to save time.

But now it seems that if they had listened to the old hunter from the beginning, they might not have faced the troubles that followed.

"Go back the way we came? It's very frustrating... but is this really the only way?" Kotetsu was never one to give up easily. If he were alone and had plenty of time, even if he knew that going back would save more time, he would still smash through this path.

But time was of the essence, and he had to consider the team, especially Winry, so he made the painful decision to return the way he came.

"Wait, Uncle Kotetsu, have you forgotten something?" Du Lei, who had been silent all along, seemed to have thought of something after a moment and immediately spoke to Kotetsu. This left the latter somewhat puzzled, looking at the boy in front of him with confusion.

"What matter? What matter?" Kotetsu didn't know what Du Lei was referring to, so he immediately asked.

“There are trains in Spring Breeze Town.” Du Lei pointed to the direction of the train station not far behind them. When they came to Spring Breeze Town, they saw the rusty train parked on the platform. It had obviously been out of service for a long time and was severely corroded.

"A train? Dure, you saw it yourself, that train is so corroded, it can't even start. Do you really expect us to leave here by train?" Bee Sting thought Dure would offer some insightful advice, but when he heard him mention trains, he couldn't help but shake his head.

“No, it’s not leaving by train.” Dure shook his head, denying Bee Sting’s statement.

"If it's not by train, then what is it? Wait, if there's a train, it means... there's a railway?" At first, Bee Sting didn't quite understand what Du Lei meant, but she quickly remembered something: where there's a train, there's a railway, but there were no railway tracks on the mountain road.

In fact, the mountain road is so narrow that it's not even wide enough for a train to pass through!

“That’s right, it’s the railway tracks. Since the purpose of the train is to transport the coal from Spring Breeze Town to other places, and we didn’t see any railway tracks on the way here, this proves one thing.” Du Lei nodded in agreement with Bee Sting’s guess, and continued to talk about his discovery.

"What does this mean?" Wenli, who had been listening in the whole time, asked curiously.

"This means the railway isn't running from Maple City to Spring Breeze Town, but rather... Spring Breeze Town in another direction, which is the line leading to Iron Wall Fortress. Even if it doesn't go directly to Iron Wall Fortress, it's at least in that direction," Du Lei continued to explain.

“Yes, people have their own paths, and trains have their own paths. If the paths for people are blocked now, can’t we try the paths for trains?” After Du Lei’s reminder, Wen Li suddenly realized and was overjoyed at this discovery.

“Then let’s go back to the inn to rest now, and leave Spring Breeze Town along the railway tracks.” Hu Che nodded, agreeing with Du Lei’s suggestion, and the group immediately returned to the inn.

When they returned to the inn, the old woman was cleaning alone. After learning that the mountain road was blocked, she advised Wenli and the others to go back along the original route, return to the fork in the road, and choose the left path. Although it would take longer, it would at least be safe.

But when Wenli said they were going to leave Spring Breeze Town along the railway tracks, the old woman immediately objected.

“Absolutely not! You can’t go that way!” The old woman shook her head emphatically; her attitude was resolute.

“Why not? We’re in a hurry. With the mountain road blocked, the only option is the railway, which is the fastest way.” Bee Sting didn’t understand the old woman’s reaction, and the old woman’s face looked very unpleasant.

"Because that is a road to hell, you must never go there," the old woman solemnly warned Dure and the others.

"The road to hell? Shouldn't the train be carrying coal out of Spring Breeze Town? That should be the road to the city, how did it become the road to hell?" Bee Sting thought the old woman was exaggerating and didn't believe her.

"Do you know where that road is located?" the old woman asked Bee Sting and the others.

"The location of the railway tracks? I glanced at it when I was on the platform just now, and it seemed to extend from the north side of the town. I haven't looked at the north side yet, but I think there must be an exit there," Bee Sting said after thinking for a moment.

“Yes, the railway tracks are indeed buried in the north of the town, but there’s another place in the north,” the old woman said seriously.

"Place? What place?" Kotetsu realized that the old woman was not joking with them.

“The mine is also to the north,” the old woman said, emphasizing each word.

"What? A mine? But what's the connection between a mine and a railway?" Kotetsu frowned.

“Of course there is a connection, because the railway tracks were built inside the mine!” the old woman replied affirmatively.

.

428 Lieyang Mountain Range

The old woman knew that if she didn't personally lead Wenli and her group to the railway tracks, they would never give up. After a sigh, she personally led the group, walking unsteadily, towards the north side. On their way to the mine, they passed the small hill that Dure and his group had visited the day before.

At the time, in the eyes of Dure and his companions, the hillside was a temporary camp built by the surviving townspeople. According to Siegel and Kama, it was a safe place to avoid the effects of the town's poisonous gas and to escape the attacks of monsters.

Of course, Siegel and Kama's identities were exposed; they were both monsters in disguise. When Dure and the others returned to the hillside, it was daytime. Looking around, they saw that there was no longer any wooden plank camp; it was clearly a mass grave, with countless white bones scattered everywhere!

"No way, it wasn't like this when we came here yesterday, how could it be..." Wen Li was shocked when she saw this scene. She had slept here earlier last night, but the bed she had slept in had disappeared.

"The eyes are the easiest things to deceive people; never easily trust your own eyes." The old woman led the way, and when she saw the shocked Wenli, she kindly reminded her. People with the experience of the old woman naturally have extraordinary knowledge.

“You mean… everything we saw last night was an illusion, a hallucination? Then what about the food we ate here yesterday, and the place where we slept…” Wenli continued thinking along with the old woman’s reminder, and suddenly thought of something very scary.

This caused her to suddenly run to the side and vomit uncontrollably, because the area was a mass grave, with only bones, weeds, snakes, insects, and rodents nearby.

"Miss Winnie, are you alright?" Bee Sting asked with concern as she saw Winnie's condition.

“I’m fine. Is that… the entrance to the mine?” Wenli stood on the hillside and looked north. She quickly found the mine the old woman had mentioned. The railway tracks did indeed meander northward. From this vantage point, the tracks looked as thin as a rope.

To the north, a massive mountain range stretches across the landscape from east to west, forming a sheer cliff that isolates the entire world on this side.

"Is this... the Blazing Sun Mountains on the border between the Land of Snow and the Land of Mountains?" Dure gazed into the distance. Although he had never seen the mountain range in person, he had seen maps of it in books. Based on their current location, he could easily determine the direction of the mountain range.

“That’s right, this is the Lieyang Mountains. It can be considered the border between the two countries. The reason why the Iron Wall Fortress we are going to is called ‘Iron Wall’ is because it is backed by the Lieyang Mountains and is a natural fortress.” Hu Che nodded. He was no stranger to the Lieyang Mountains.

"But the climate here isn't hot; on the contrary, it's quite cold. How can it be called 'Blazing Sun'? That's really strange." Bee Sting frowned, quite puzzled by the origin of the name of the Blazing Sun Mountains.

"It's not hot here because this section of the Blazing Sun Mountains is located on the border of our Snow Country. From a geographical point of view, it is precisely because of the existence of the Blazing Sun Mountains that warm air is blocked from moving north, which is why the Snow Country is cold all year round. Strictly speaking, this is just a branch of the Blazing Sun Mountains."

Du Lei patiently explained from the side; he had learned a lot of knowledge, which came in handy at this moment.

"What? This size is just a branch?" Bee Sting was taken aback; the scale before her was already enough to shock her.

“Although I have never seen the true main ridge of the Blazing Sun Mountains, the Blazing Sun Mountains have made a great contribution to the name of the Mountain Kingdom. No wonder there are such treacherous peaks nearby. It turns out that it is because of the proximity to the Blazing Sun Mountains.” Du Lei suddenly realized.

"What? How come the peaks on the mountain path ahead are related to the Blazing Sun Mountains again? Can you explain yourself clearly?" Although Bee Sting is experienced and good at thinking, she is not good at academics.

"Actually, it's quite simple to figure this out. Any mountain range of this scale must be in an area with frequent crustal movement. Frequent crustal movement will result in a large number of peaks. Just like this, once underground energy is released, they will squeeze each other to form high peaks."

Dure turned his hands over and held them up in front of the bee sting, gesturing to simulate the process of crustal movement.

"Although I still don't quite understand, but... Dure, how do you know so much? Warm air, tectonic movement, I've never heard of any of these." Bee Sting looked at Dure with admiration. At first, she only thought that Dure had some courage and a bit of cleverness.

But now it seems that Du Lei is good at far more than she imagined.

"Times are changing. Things that were once unattainable are now easily achieved. Science and technology are advancing explosively. To keep up with the times, we must fully learn from the knowledge left by our predecessors." Du Lei smiled, not feeling complacent.

Because he knew that what he had learned was only the tip of the iceberg, and there was so much he didn't know.

"Alright, let's get back to the main topic. That's a branch of the Lieyang Mountains ahead. This mountain range completely blocks the road to the north... Granny, could the railway tracks be... inside the mountain range?" Hu Che's focus wasn't on any changes in the times or science and technology.

Those things were too far removed from him; after all, he wasn't one of those scientific researchers who always wore white coats!

He squinted as he looked ahead. The winding railway tracks stretched all the way to the inside of the mountains. He believed that it was impossible for a train to go straight up the steep cliffs. The only possibility was that someone had carved a passage out of the mountains.

"That's right, the railway you're looking for is inside the mountains, and the coal mine was also discovered underground. Come with me, but I must warn you beforehand that the mine has long been occupied by monsters. There are many monsters inside, so you must be careful."

The old woman solemnly reminded Du Lei and his group. At that moment, Du Lei was cleaning the arrowheads. Just as dawn broke, he climbed up the hillside to look for the arrows that had been shot the night before. There were about a dozen monster corpses lying haphazardly on the ground. Du Lei pulled the arrowheads out from them.

He counted them, and all twelve arrows that had been fired were still there. Even if not every arrow killed the monster, the monsters that were hit had pulled out the arrows and thrown them aside.

"Understood, everyone must be careful!" Hu Che also gave everyone some instructions. They went down the small hill, and the entrance to the mine was just a stone's throw away.

Led by the old woman, they went into the mine entrance.

.

429 Coal Mining

On the way to the mine, Dure asked the old woman some questions and finally figured out the structure of the mine. Although the cliff that had shocked Wenli and the others was enormous, it was only a branch of the Lieyang Mountains, and this mountain had one major characteristic.

That is, the mountain is hollow inside. According to Du Lei's knowledge, there are many reasons for this. If he had enough time, he would be happy to explain it to Bee Sting and the others in detail. However, Hu Che was very impatient and told Du Lei to pick out the key points. Du Lei could only try to be as concise as possible.

“There’s a serious problem here.” After entering the mine, Du Lei was able to see his surroundings clearly with the help of his flashlight. The flashlight was brought from Maple City. In this era, flashlights were not rare and could be obtained in big cities.

However, this is only available to a small group of people. Ordinary households mostly use candles. Of course, some magic users can make light sources that use magic energy, but they are expensive and are gradually being replaced by flashlights. Moreover, they are not widespread.

"Just tell me what the question is." Bee Sting gradually lost patience and urged Dure to give her an answer. Originally, she thought she was smart enough, but since working with this guy, she felt that she was falling further and further behind him.

"Coal is formed because plants are buried deep underground and undergo a long geological process. There is a prerequisite here." Du Lei patiently explained coal, and he explained it in great detail, but Bee Sting and the others were becoming more and more confused.

"Hey Du Lei, we didn't come here to do coal research, what are you talking about?" Bee Sting was increasingly confused.

"What are the prerequisites?" Wenli asked curiously, listening with great interest.

"To understand why Chunfeng Town has become what it is today, we must understand the town's key element, which is coal. The prerequisite for coal production is that the region has historically had abundant plant resources and vast forests," Du Lei continued.

“A forest? I don’t see any large forests around here.” Wenli recalled carefully that when they came to Nightmare Mountain before, the area around it was just a large, barren expanse.

“Miss Winry, don’t listen to that guy’s nonsense. He also said it’s ‘history,’ but who knows what might have changed over the years? So his argument doesn’t hold water.” Bee Sting understood that Dure was rambling on and on, so she didn’t stand on ceremony with him.

“The Blazing Sun Mountains have existed for a very long time, at least hundreds of thousands of years, or even longer.” Du Lei shook his head and continued.

"Hundreds of thousands of years? How long can a person live? That's way too long!" Wenli exclaimed in astonishment.

“I’ve already told you he’s talking nonsense. He won’t live that long anyway. Who knows what he was talking about before?” Bee Sting was convinced that the reason she couldn’t keep up with Dure’s pace was because Dure was rambling on and on. She began to take a firm stance against his lies.

This was exactly what Leopard Tail used to do, but ever since Nightmare Mountain, Leopard Tail has become eccentric and quiet, rarely speaking. Even with such a big event happening in Spring Breeze Town, he remained silent.

"Don't you understand yet? This is a mountain range. Even though there are large areas of forest around, there are not many plant resources inside the mountain. Do you know what that means?" Faced with Bee Sting's questioning, Du Lei not only did not let her expose him, but even became more imposing.

"Wait, you just said that a large amount of plant resources are needed to form coal, but there aren't that many plant resources in the mountains, so how is coal formed?" Bai Ling had been listening the whole time, but she hadn't participated in Du Lei and Bee Sting's conversation before.

Now she finally noticed something unusual and immediately pointed it out.

“That’s right, that’s the crux of the problem. This place simply doesn’t have the conditions to form coal.” Du Lei nodded.

"What are you talking about? This town prospered and then declined because of coal mining. So many years of coal being hauled out, how could there be no coal left?" The old woman didn't quite understand what the young people were saying.

But she was, after all, a witness to the prosperity of Chunfeng Town. Over the decades, she witnessed the joy of outsiders discovering coal, the resistance of the townspeople against the outsiders, and the townspeople finally compromising and joining the coal mining army. She witnessed prosperity and decline.

Now someone is telling her that there is no coal in the town where she has lived for decades, which is almost tantamount to denying half of her life. Isn't that ridiculous?