No one is inferior to anyone else.

  With the military flag of heavy transport, the horse cart went smoothly out of Luoyang City and walked for a long time on the rugged mountain road. Zhùzi really couldn't stand the sight of Zhenming's leisurely appearance, so he deliberately drove the horse cart to bumpy places, hoping to throw him off the cart. He didn't believe that this man had no temper at all.

  What made him feel frustrated was that Zhenming seemed to be stuck to the carriage, no matter how bumpy it was, he slept soundly on the carriage.

  The horse carriage stopped in a desolate mountain valley forest, surrounded by dozens of meters high, giant trees that several people could not encircle.

  The treetops block out the sky and moon, not a single ray of light can pass through.

  A dozen or so well-equipped soldiers, holding steel knives and torches, wearing armor, closely guarded the convoy.

  Several large trees with birds' eye views of the entire valley have a dozen or so men holding bows and arrows staring intently.

  It's not hard to guess that there are some major military secrets hidden here that can't be known by outsiders.

  "Get up, you sleep like a pig!" Zhangzi scolded. He had been driving all night and walking on mountain roads, so tired that he just wanted to fall asleep as soon as possible. How could Zhenming know the hardship of his journey?

  With a bitter struggle, she opened her sleepy eyes and took a look around. The valley was quiet and the woods were dense, making it an ideal place for secret activities.

  Zhù zi cháo shān gǔ zhōng chuī le jǐ shēng yīn diào guài yì de kǒu xī.

  English Translation:

  The pillar blew a few strange whistling sounds into the valley.

  In the valley, a dull rumbling sound suddenly rang out. Several hundred meters away from the mountain valley stone wall, a crack opened up, slowly getting bigger and bigger, turning into a huge stone gate. More than a dozen strong men were exerting themselves to push the door outward, revealing the spacious hollowed-out interior.

  If you don't look carefully, you won't even know that such a clever and unparalleled stone gate mechanism is hidden in the stone wall of this valley.

  A few people followed behind the pillar, driving a horse-drawn carriage, and entered through that stone gate.

  The stone gate closed again.

  This is a cave excavated by human labor, which is spacious and cool inside. It seems to have been designed with special ventilation holes to keep the air in the cave circulating.

  More than ten meters high, tens of thousands of square meters of space are supported by huge stone pillars. Inside, all kinds of heavy objects are piled up, with sacks stacked like small hills, and the word "grain" is written on each sack.

  Apart from this, there are dozens of piles of neatly arranged and shiny weapons and equipment, including knives, guns, swords, halberds, axes, armor and protective gear, all categorized.

  When Zhen Ming saw the dozens of wooden boxes piled up in one corner of the cave, still bearing red official seals, his eyes lit up, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he quickly shifted his gaze to look elsewhere.

  Soldiers with sharp swords in hand are guarding every corner of the cave, and patrol teams are patrolling around from time to time.

  The horse carriage stopped on one of the empty spaces in the cave mansion.

  Zhen Mingsu patted the dust off his clothes and jumped down from the carriage. Liu Wuzhou and Wei Rong were already waiting on the side, while Liu Ermei's face was dark with clouds, clearly having waited impatiently for a long time. Seeing Zhen Mingsu get down, she shouted: "If it weren't for Wei holding me back, I would have taken this sluggish, undisciplined thing out and beheaded him early on!"

  "Second sister!" Liu Wuzhou shouted in a low voice, and only then did Liu Ermei stop talking angrily and turn to leave.

  Liu Wuzhou turned his head and gave Zhen Mingsu a stern look, his face displeased: "Don't you know we're waiting for you? Why are you so late? Although you're not one of my soldiers, you're still a member of the Miner's Guild. On the battlefield, orders are like arrows that have been shot out - if you delay and cause us to miss our chance, it's punishable by beheading!"

  Zhen Ming sighed: "There are many things that need to be used, no way, I've already done my best, let alone this is not going to the battlefield, right?"

  His words suddenly made Liu Wuzhou's face sink, and he finally endured it without making a move.

  Wei Chi Jing De saw the atmosphere was a bit tense, and hastily interjected: "Liu brother, from my understanding of Zhen brothers, he shouldn't be the kind of person who would intentionally delay and make things difficult for us. Moreover, when he accepted the reward list, he had already made a military oath, so intentionally delaying wouldn't bring him any benefits. Besides, refining alloy isn't an easy task, it's impossible to succeed in one try, and the need for many materials is also unavoidable."

  Liu Wuzhou snorted, "There's plenty of material here, why bother going to so much trouble yourself? Just one word from you and I'll have someone prepare it for you right away. Whatever amount you want, I'll give you that much."

  Zhen Ming smiled bitterly and said: "The materials I prepared may not be here."

  "There's no material in this world that our mine doesn't have!"

  "Zhen brothers, say a few less words." Wei Rui and Ji De signaled with their eyes from the side.

  He knew Liu Wuzhou's character and didn't want to create another branch before the trial of fate had refined the alloy.

  Liu Wuzhou didn't say another word, he just gave Zhen Mingshu a cold glance and turned to leave.

  Wei Chi Jing De turned his head and glanced at Zhen Ming Xi: "Ming Xi, Liu is not like Zhu, provoking him will only bring you trouble."

  "What did I say that was wrong?"

  Wei Chi Jing De was taken aback, looking at his eyes with a complex expression. Zhen Ming Su's attitude, without distinction between superior and inferior, seemed to be innate. He had been with Zhen Ming Su for some time and knew that he was this kind of person. It wasn't intentional to provoke Liu Wu Zhou, but for Liu Wu Zhou, this attitude was a serious provocation to his status and dignity. In the end, he could only sigh and say, "You come with me."

  ……

  As usual, Zhang closed his stall early and occasionally looked up towards the embankment of the Luo River not far away, with a worried look flashing in his eyes.

  She hasn't seen him for several days already.

  Leading the little donkey past his doorway, she intentionally or unintentionally glanced up at the door, but there was no light coming from inside, and the lock on the door remained in the same state as when she left home, seemingly untouched for several days, covered with a thin layer of dust.

  "Sister Zhang! Sister Zhang!"

  As soon as she arrived at the gate of her courtyard, a young man's voice sounded behind her. Zhang Shi was somewhat startled and turned around to see a handsome young man with a face like white jade riding a white horse galloping towards her, and in an instant he had reached her side.

  It was the young man who had gone to her tofu stall with Zhen Mingxiu to drink soy milk, although he also liked to take liberties with her like other rich young men, but at least he didn't go too far, only touching her hand.

  The young man jumped off his horse and ran in front of her, his face showing anxiety: "Zhen Ge, have you been drinking soy milk these past few days?"

  Zhang shook his head.

  "Where on earth has he gone? I need to find him for something, if he doesn't show up soon, Frost Sister will eat me alive!"

  Zhang didn't respond to him, her gaze passing over the young man to look at the luxurious carriage parked behind him, her expression becoming somewhat uneasy. She had seen these two carriages almost every day at this time for several days now.