Horse Wang was the last to jump over the fence and ran a few hundred meters in a panic before falling to the ground.
Wang Yu walked closer expressionlessly.
"No, no. My big brother is- is a martial artist too. If you do anything to me, he—he won't let you go."
Horse Wang said in a panic.
It sounded like a threat, but it also sounded like gibberish in a panic.
Wang Yu narrowed his eyes and reached out to grab Horse Wang's collar, lifting him easily.
He raised his hand and punched Horse's abdomen, almost making him vomit.
He curled up in pain and could no longer speak.
Wang Yu carried him with one hand and dragged him back to Second Brother Meng's courtyard.
"Uncle Meng, if this guy is the mastermind, we might as well kill him and bury him outside the town. That way, he won't take revenge on you in the future."
The pain in Horse's abdomen eased a little, and he heard Wang Yu's voice.
Hearing that they actually wanted to kill him and bury him, Horse was completely flustered.
"Well, I don't think that's a good idea. This is the island town, after all. If we get caught, we're all screwed."
This was Second Brother Meng's voice. He seemed to be very hesitant and could not do such a thing.
"What's wrong with that? Have you forgotten what he wanted to do to your family previously? As long as our actions are quick and clean, we won't invite suspicion as it's normal for people to die in the wilderness. Such people deserve to die."
Horse Wang trembled and almost peed his pants when he heard this. He immediately begged for mercy before Wang Yu attacked.
Wang Yu looked at him with a cold expression. He raised his foot and exerted a strong force while stepping on Horse Wang's back, nearly breaking it.
Wang Yu was actually just trying to scare him so that he could interrogate him later.
"Name?" Wang Yu asked after Horse's pain subsided.
"My, my name is Horse Wang…"
After a round of torture, Horse Wang had long lost the will to resist. Coupled with Wang Yu's interrogation, he revealed everything.
Soon, Wang Yu found out everything about this group of people.
They were the vagrants of the Southern Hill, commonly known as local hooligans.
Usually, they would extort the ordinary people and rob some money.
Horse Wang was the leader of this group of hooligans. He had a big brother called Wang Feng.
In his early years, he had gone to other island towns for a period of time. He did not expect that when he returned, he would become a true martial artist.
The reason why he wanted to rob Second Brother Meng's property this time was also because of the instructions from Wang Feng.
"What's your brother's cultivation level?" Wang Yu continued to interrogate.
"Second level of Body Tempering…" Little Horse Wang replied while trembling.
"Why did he want to take the property here?"
Upon hearing this question, Horse Wang was a little hesitant. Only when he saw Wang Yu's expression turning fierce again did he hurriedly answer.
"I-I heard it from Big Brother that it was because there's a mineral vein underground."
He said it was very valuable and told us to keep quiet about it and take the land first."
Wang Yu and Second Brother Meng looked at each other. When they heard about the mineral vein, their expressions changed. Second Brother Meng's breathing quickened and his heartbeat raced.
They had all been miners before, so they naturally knew the value behind a mineral vein.
No matter what kind of mineral vein it was, as long as it was discovered, it was no different from discovering a treasure trove.
"Where is the mineral vein?!" Wang Yu said coldly.
With a bitter expression, Horse Wang said with a trembling voice, "I really don't know. Masters, please let me go."
Wang Yu ignored his plea and punched him again. After confirming that he really didn't know, Wang Yu stopped.
"Yu!" Second Brother Meng did not know what to do.
The news that there was a mineral vein under his own house was too shocking for him.
Even Wang Yu did not expect this to be the reason. It was far beyond his expectations.
"Uncle Meng, don't be anxious. We have to confirm this matter first," Wang Yu said.
This news could have been fabricated by the so-called Big Brother of Horse Wang until they really see the signs of the mineral vein with their own eyes to explain everything.
Then, he tied up these hooligans with thick ropes with Second Brother Meng.
In order to ensure that what Horse Wang said was true, Wang Yu continued to interrogate the other hooligans.
What they said was basically the same as what Horse said. Only the matter of the mineral vein and Wang Feng's cultivation and strength were unknown to them.
"But how did Wang Feng know that there was a mineral vein here?" Second Brother Meng frowned.
Wang Yu looked around and said, "This piece of land is not so big. Uncle Meng, let's look around."
"Sure!"
Second Brother Meng first asked his wife to leave with his youngest son, then the two of them began to rummage through the area.
Soon, Second Brother Meng found some clues in the backyard field that he had just reclaimed.
"Yu!"
Wang Yu heard the call and immediately walked to the backyard.
Second Brother Meng's backyard had been reclaimed by himself. He had originally planned to plant some fruits and vegetables.
The field spread to the foot of the low hill and bordered a steep slope.
At this moment, Second Brother Meng was staring at the steep slope.
"Yu, smell it. Do you smell something?" Second Brother Meng touched the steep slope and said quickly.
Wang Yu leaned closer upon hearing this.
With his second-level Body Tempering cultivation, his body had undergone two transformations in all aspects, and his sense of smell was much sharper.
He immediately smelled something special that was a little earthy and rusty.
"Yes!" Wang Yu's heart skipped a beat.
He had smelled this a lot when he was working in the mine!
"I smelled it when I was turning the soil the other day. I thought it was an illusion left over from being in the mine too long.
But now it looks like there really might be a vein here!"
Second Brother Meng felt his entire body heat up. He touched the steep slope and suddenly raised his shovel to knock at a corner of the steep slope.
Clang!
Several pieces of rubble cracked and fell, revealing the rocky surface within.
There were faint purple lines between the green and gray surface.
"This is!" Second Brother Meng reached out his finger and rubbed the purple lines, then put it under his nose and sniffed.
"It's actually a purple coal mine!" Second Brother Meng was much more experienced than Wang Yu and recognized the mine in front of him at a glance.
"Look at this small hill. Even if there are purple coal veins here, the size should be limited. I wonder how much can be produced."
After a simple inspection, Second Brother Meng said solemnly.
He had mixed feelings at the moment.
He was both exhilarated and worried.
He was excited that there was really a mineral vein under his land but was worried about his unknown fate of having this mineral vein.
Someone had already coveted this mineral vein and was even threatening to kill his family for it.
And once the news of this mineral vein was leaked, more people would know.
It was hard to guarantee that people would not take the risk and endanger his family's lives for this mineral vein.
This mineral vein could be a hot potato for him.
"Yu, what do you think I should do…" After letting his imagination run wild for a long time, Second Brother Meng still instinctively asked Wang Yu.
Just now, Wang Yu had easily dealt with this group of hooligans. The powerful combat strength he displayed made him feel a lot safer.
Wang Yu naturally knew that this was not a simple matter. The appearance of the mineral vein had far exceeded the scope of the commission.
"Uncle Meng, you know very well that without someone to protect you, you probably won't be able to keep this mine. At the same time, you won't be able to hide it for long," Wang Yu said.
"I know that." Second Brother Meng sighed repeatedly.
Even if they wanted to mine privately, it was impossible for the commotion to be small. In addition, there was a powerful martial artist eyeing them covetously outside.
It was too dangerous!
It was too uncomfortable to own a treasure mountain but unable to develop it.
"Then we can only hand over the mineral vein to the government. We should be able to exchange it for some money. It's better than getting nothing," Wang Yu suggested.
But the truth was that the government's reward subsidy couldn't possibly be much. Purely on the conscience of local officials, it would be far less than the real value of a mineral vein.
Second Brother Meng clenched the hoe in his hand and stared at the faint purple patterns on the rock in front of him. He could not make up his mind.
Everyone had desires. With such a huge amount of wealth in front of them, how many people could maintain their rationality and abandon it?
Especially a poor family like Second Brother Meng's.