On this day, the team did not rush any further. In order to take care of the wounded, they found a place to rest for a night and recharge their batteries before continuing their journey tomorrow.
After Kurotsuchi settled down, he asked Dashi where he wanted to go next as usual.
Dashi said with great certainty: "We are almost there. We all know this place. We passed by it not long ago when we escaped. We can find the cave in two or three days."
"Really? Are you all sure?" Kurotsuchi asked hurriedly.
Dashi and the others all nodded, indicating that they all remembered this place. There was a slope there. They slid down the slope in a panic, and then ran away in a random direction.
After repeated confirmation, Kurotsuchi became excited and immediately shared the good news with everyone.
Lin Yan's depressed mood was gone. If nothing unexpected happened, hematite would be found soon.
Everyone was in agitated mood and had an uneasy sleep this night. They just hoped that daybreak would come soon and they could go find the hematite ore immediately.
Sure enough, they all remembered the rest of the road and it was a lot easier.
It’s no longer a jungle that requires specialized people to clear the way.
After walking for three days, they finally arrived at the cave where Dashi and the others once lived.
Lin Yan looked up and saw that this was a low rocky mountain with a height of less than 300 meters. The vegetation on it was sparse and there were mountains not far away. This was out of the plains.
At the foot of the mountain, there is a large forest belt and a small river flowing through it.
She entered the Science and Technology Museum and looked at the route map recorded by Fat Bao. She turned around and walked all the way to the northwest of Sun City.
The straight-line distance between the two places is uncertain, but the route they traveled was more than four hundred miles, and it took them twenty-three days to arrive.
Along the way, Lin Yan's contribution points have accumulated to more than 2,000. She opened room number 0106 to teach the knowledge of pen and ink.
She opened the next 0107, which contained books piled all over the room, covering basic knowledge about herbal medicine and pharmacology.
Lin Yan was extremely happy. No matter which room it was, the knowledge was what she needed right now.
When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, seeing the cave approaching, no one could help it. They all wanted to see the ore they had been looking for for so many days right away.
But Kurotsuchi ordered to stop on the spot, "Teams 1 to 5 will be on guard at the bottom of the mountain. The wounded will stay behind and the others will go up."
The road up the mountain was not blocked by vegetation. They used to walk on the big rocks and found a path, so it was not difficult to walk.
Ten minutes later, caves appeared in front of us.
Dashi said that was the cave where their people used to live.
Lin Yan looked carefully, and found that some were naturally formed, while others had traces of artificial excavation, and they varied in size.
She picked the nearest cave and entered.
The cave is short, more than one meter high, and contains traces of human life, including bones, animal skins, leaves, etc.
Lin Yan was less than one meter tall and could stand upright and walk inside. After taking a look, she went straight to the cave wall, where there happened to be a reddish-brown patch.
The color was not as good as the one in Dashi's hand, but Lin Yan could tell at a glance that it was indeed hematite, not of high purity.
To be safe, she asked Pang Bao to help test it and confirmed that it was hematite with a purity of only 60%. No wonder the color was not pure enough.
Lin Yan said excitedly: "It's hematite, we found it."
The Blue Star Cat who followed her trudged into the cave and looked seriously at the stone Lin Yan was touching, "Is this hematite?"
"Yes, if you see a stone of this color on the stone wall, it is the ore we are looking for."
Lanxing reached out and touched it, then looked at other parts of the cave wall and pointed at it, "There is another piece there, darker than this."
Lin Yan looked over and saw that it was at the top, "That's the ore."
After calming down her excitement, she said: "Let's go and check out other caves. If there are any, this should be a mine."
I walked around five or six caves in a row, and I could see ore here and there.
Heitu came to Lin Yan, "Dashi said there is a big cave. The stones inside are the darkest and the most numerous. Do you want to go and take a look."
"Of course I want to see it. Come on, take me there quickly."
The big cave was on the other side of the mountainside, and Dashi led them all the way there. The entrance to the cave was not big, but the space inside was huge.
It is more than two meters high and can accommodate more than a dozen people. It is indeed a big cave.
At first glance, the cave walls extending inward are getting darker and darker, and they are all ore.
"This is it, we found it, we finally found it." Lin Yan was so excited that he couldn't express it in words. The iron ore he had longed for was right in front of him.
She walked over and looked at the ground. There were a lot of small pieces of iron ore that had fallen on the ground, and she wanted to pick them up immediately.
Seeing Lin Yan's actions, Heitui heard her confirmation and took her out. He persuaded her, "We found the iron ore. Leave the rest to us to mine. You can rest below."
She is small and short, so mining is really useless. If she stays here, it will affect their efficiency.
Lin Yan didn't insist. Just make sure it was iron ore. The thing was right in front of him, so he was worried that he wouldn't be able to take it with him.
Kurotsuchi immediately started arranging manpower, and everyone took action immediately.
Huahong took Lin Yan at the foot of the mountain, waiting for people to carry the iron ore down from the mountain.
The baskets they brought were of great use and were perfect for transporting ore. Especially those small pieces, it is most convenient to carry them in baskets.
It is too difficult to dig ore from the stone wall. Without the tools at hand, we can only pick up the small pieces of ore that have fallen down.
Kurotsuchi was very distressed and tried many methods without success, so he could only come to Lin Yan for advice.
Lin Yan asked Heitu to find someone to collect firewood and set up a fire to boil water. Boil water and pour it on the stone wall. Repeat this process to make the stone wall crispy.
They also found some large pieces of ore, put them in the fire and began to burn them. After burning for a while, they took them out and beat each other with the ores.
If you want to dig out ore from the stone wall, you can only use harder tools.
After two days of busy work, she finally hammered out a few hard rough tools, including sharp iron chisels and a hammer (just an iron lump). She asked Kurotsuchi to take the tools to dig into the stone wall that had been poured with hot water. It's really much easier.
Aim the chisel at the stone wall and hit it with a hammer a few times. A lot of stones will be cut off from the hard stone wall.
Others followed suit and applied it flexibly. They made many iron chisels and hammers in three days.
The ore is relatively heavy, and due to the long journey, the amount each person can carry is limited. After eight days of mining, each team only had about the same amount of baskets and sacks, and they could not carry any more.
Looking at the mine, everyone was reluctant to leave. After seeing with their own eyes the role of the iron chisels and hammers made from the ore, no one was willing to leave. But their abilities were limited and they had to set off and return.
I left most of the ore mining tools and pottery pots behind. They will be used for mining in the future, but there is no use taking them back.
Before leaving, everyone spent ten days building themselves a spiked iron rod out of iron ore. Although it was crudely made and didn't look very good, it was a sharp weapon, much stronger than the wooden sticks they used. It was useful for killing ferocious beasts on the way back.
It has been nearly two months since I came out, and it will take a lot of time to go back. It will take at least three or four months to go back.
It had been too long and they had to return for fear of worrying their family members.
When we arrived, everyone traveled lightly, but when we returned, we all carried heavy loads, and the speed was much slower.
Kurotsuchi asked each team to take turns carrying the ore, and the expedition team walked back with difficulty.
(End of chapter)
