Confucian and Taoist Cultivation Starting from the Equipment Slot

After dealing with the ghouls, Chen Zhuo felt it was a bit of a pity.

Ghouls are a rare type of demon, and the demon materials on them can be exchanged for a lot of points, but unfortunately they are all devoured by themselves.

After that, I stopped dwelling on the matter.

Anyway, I've already taken all the benefits; the rest is left to rot in the pot.

After checking the surrounding area and confirming that there were no other demons nearby, Chen Zhuo found Hong Gaoyuan, the leader of the group.

"Lord Chen, you've worked hard. What are your orders now?"

As soon as Chen Zhuo approached, Hong Gaoyuan stopped what he was doing and rushed over to ask him something.

"How much do you know about this mine?"

He's here to investigate ghouls, as they need a large number of corpses to spawn.

Hearing Chen Zhuo's question, Hong Gaoyuan was taken aback for a moment, then said:

"Reporting to Lord Chen, I only recently received the order to come here, and I know nothing about the specific situation here."

Chen Zhuo nodded, not surprised by this scene.

They, the soldiers of Qingshan, were also temporarily transferred here to do hard labor.

"However," Hong Gaoyuan paused and then suddenly said, "I have a brother who used to be a miner, so he might know something about this. Should we call him over?"

"Call them over!"

Hong Gaoyuan turned around to call for someone, and before long, a person covered in dust walked over.

"Boss, you were looking for me?" A rough voice came from his mouth.

"It wasn't me, it was this Lord Chen."

Chen Zhuo looked at him and said, "Do you know what this mine was like before?"

"The previous situation? I do know a little about that. As far as I know, this mine has always been closed. It is only opened up during these few days of the long night to extract the ore."

After the two left, Chen Zhuo stroked his chin thoughtfully.

According to them, the mine is usually sealed off and is only opened during the long night.

So the body only appeared recently? Or did someone sneak in during the lockdown?

He doesn't quite understand the mine closure mechanism, and doesn't know if it's a formal closure or a complete closure.

There is too little information available for him to make a judgment.

After hesitating for a moment, he decided to venture deeper into the mine to explore.

Although this mine is small, it was once glorious, and the winding passages below can make you dizzy.

Chen Zhuo only explored it briefly before giving up.

It's best to report this to higher-ups and let those important figures worry about it.

I won't get involved in this matter myself.

After briefly explaining the incident to Hong Gaoyuan, Hong Gaoyuan quickly understood the implications.

He then dispatched someone to quickly return to the camp to report.

Seeing that the matter was over, Chen Zhuo cleaned up the surrounding demons and casually looked for any demons that could cause the carved stone to move.

Unfortunately, after clearing the area, no other demons were found.

Time passed quickly in Guanshan. During this time, he only dealt with some demons, and no other unexpected events occurred.

Chen Zhuo discovered that he was currently lacking both a defensive spell and a wide-range attack spell.

Large-scale attacks on literary techniques are easy to handle; they are passed down within one's sect.

He can ask his master for it when his literary energy reaches a certain level. However, defensive literary arts are not easy to find and require luck.

"Lord Chen, we have completed our mission. Thank you for your hard work!"

Hong Gaoyuan clasped his hands in thanks to Chen Zhuo.

Chen Zhuo waved his hand, "It's all for the greater good of eliminating demons, it's nothing."

"And another thing," Hong Gaoyuan hesitated, "the matter of the mine has been reported, and the higher-ups said they will send experts and people familiar with the tunnels to investigate."

Chen Zhuo nodded, packed his things, and prepared to go back.

So much time has passed. I wonder how things are going with Master? Has Father returned?

The only downside of long nights is that the difference between day and night is not very noticeable.

Just as he was about to leave, a crisp sound came from the side.

"Junior brother, have you missed your senior sister since it's been a few days?"

Gu Qing'e playfully jumped out from the side.

Chen Zhuo was somewhat surprised, "Senior Sister? What are you doing here?"

"Me? Of course, it's because of this!" Gu Qing'e pointed to the mine shaft.

"Are you alone, Senior Sister?" Chen Zhuo looked around his junior sister but didn't see anyone else.

Then, puzzled, he asked:

"Didn't they say they'd send an expert and someone familiar with the mine?"

"What? Junior brother, are you looking down on me? Can't these two be the same person? Besides, I'm not alone, I still have you, don't I?"

"Me?" Chen Zhuo pointed to himself, then shook his head. "I have something to do back at camp."

"Hey, I know. My master asked me to pass on a message to you, saying that your father is safe, but he won't be back for a few more days. There will be a surprise then."

"You can do the mission with me first, there's no need to rush back."

"Really?" Chen Zhuo stared at Gu Qing'e's face suspiciously.

"Of course, would your senior sister lie to you?" Gu Qing'e said matter-of-factly.

Chen Zhuo stared at him, somewhat disbelieving. The first half of the sentence might have been said by his master, but he suspected that the second half was his senior sister's personal opinion.

Seemingly annoyed by Chen Zhuo's stare, Gu Qing'e lowered her head guiltily.

"Alright, alright, the first half of what you said was really Master's, but the second half is just my personal request, okay, Junior Brother!"

"Also, you got points for this mission."

A dozen minutes later.

The two stopped at a crossroads.

"Hey, Junior Sister, do you even know the way?" Chen Zhuo looked at her helplessly.

"I know the way! I know the way! When I first came to Qingshan County, my father didn't have time to take care of me, so I often came to the mines here to play and watch the workers dig. I found it very interesting."

"But things have changed so much inside now!"

As she spoke, Gu Qing'e took out a compass with the character "寻" (xún, meaning to search) engraved on it.

There are words in the mouth.

Suddenly, she looked at a passage and exclaimed softly, "Found it! Junior brother, follow me!"

"They're here!"

Chen Zhuo silently made a mark on the roadside and followed.

Then the two walked for a while and came to another crossroads.

Chen Zhuo glanced at his junior sister, then silently sat down to the side and closed his eyes to rest.

Gu Qing'e stomped her foot, then listlessly fiddled with the compass.

The two continued exploring and moving forward, passing countless intersections, until they finally arrived at a large, empty pit.

At first glance, the pit was filled with corpses, scattered haphazardly and carelessly thrown into the pit, and a foul stench of decay wafted over.

Upon seeing this, Gu Qing'e immediately vomited.

Although Chen Zhuo didn't vomit, she wasn't much better off.

Although I had anticipated this, I didn't expect there to be so many corpses. A quick scan suggested there were probably over a hundred.

Amidst the pile of corpses, the faint aura of ghouls was beginning to take shape.

Chen Zhuo's attention was not on the ghouls, but on an inconspicuous stone at the edge.

The aura on it was exactly the same as the aura that had neutralized the negative effects before!