The road conditions on this side of Tuva are absolutely terrible. Of the total one hundred kilometers or so, more than half are full of potholes. It took Qi Yun and his group over three hours to finally reach their destination.

After getting out of the car, Mendeleyev looked at the village in front of them, which had been abandoned for who knows how many years, and asked suspiciously, "Are you sure the coordinates are correct?"

Qi Yun nodded and pointed to the ruins of a two-story house ahead, saying, "The place he mentioned should be right over there."

With that said, he started to walk forward, but was suddenly stopped by Chen Wei beside him.

"What's up, Brother Wei?" Qi Yun asked quizzically.

Chen Wei looked at the ruins ahead, which were overgrown with weeds, with no traces of human habitation.

He explained in a deep voice, "Those collapsed houses were blown up; this place was most likely a battlefield before. Let me go ahead and check first; there might be landmines or things like that."

After hearing this, everyone's expressions became serious. They stopped walking and dared not move forward.

Qi Yun nodded and cautioned, "Be careful. If the situation seems off, we'll head back. Don't take any chances."

Chen Wei nodded slightly and walked towards the ruins, his footsteps light and his sharp eyes scanning around.

Fortunately, he didn't find anything unusual. After checking the house, he waved to the group, indicating it was safe.

Only then did Qi Yun and his group carry their folding shovels and head over.

"Brother Wei, is there anything dangerous around here?"

Chen Wei shook his head, "Not in this house, but it might be different in other places. Don't wander around."

Qi Yun breathed a sigh of relief and then asked, "If there are weapons buried down here, can we use a shovel to dig them out directly?"

"Yes," Chen Wei explained, "Military weapons and ammunition are usually stored in special wooden boxes, generally not dangerous."

Upon hearing this, Qi Yun lowered his head and kicked the ground, realizing he couldn't move it at all.

The temperature in this region is very low, causing the soil to become extremely hard. Working in such a place is much more effortful than digging sand in the desert before.

Seeing this, Mendeleyev rolled up his sleeves, raised the folding shovel in his hand, and forcefully inserted it into the ground, then pried it up hard, flipping up a large chunk of earth.

He was tall and strong enough to dig like this.

Qi Yun and Brother Peng needed to use their feet to help move the soil.

"Let's dig a few shovels first to test it."

The group immediately started swinging their shovels, beginning to dig.

After a short while, everyone except Chen Wei had beads of sweat on their foreheads, which quickly froze in the cold air...

Peng Brother panted, gritting his teeth and saying, "This soil in this godforsaken place is really hard, harder to dig than stone!"

As he spoke, his shovel seemed to hit something hard, making a "clang" sound.

Peng Brother immediately felt a tightness in his heart and quickly said, "I think I hit something."

Upon hearing this, the others stopped their actions and gathered around.

Chen Wei squatted down and carefully cleaned the surrounding soil, revealing a corner of a somewhat moldy wooden box.

"Is this what we're looking for?" Mendeleyev frowned, showing a puzzled expression on his face.

Chen Wei didn't speak, focusing on clearing the surrounding soil with the shovel, as a rectangular wood box gradually emerged.

The surface of the box had some white symbols, but after such a long time, they were no longer legible, and parts of the wooden boards had already started to rot.

Chen Wei stared at the wooden box for a moment, then directly worked to pry open the lid.

Inside the box were neatly arranged, long items tightly wrapped in oil cloth, which had yellowed over time.

Chen Wei unwrapped one piece of oil cloth, revealing a black rifle to everyone's eyes.

"This is a Mosin-Nagant rifle; it was one of the main standard rifles during the Soviet period."

As he spoke, he took the gun in his hand, fiddled with it a bit, and skillfully operated the bolt action.

"It's preserved quite well and still usable."

Mendeleyev leaned over, squatted to examine the rifle in Chen Wei's hands closely, his face lighting up with a hint of an excited smile: "We really found it."

"Old Qi, how did your friend know there were weapons buried here?"

Qi Yun looked at him, amused but nonchalant, "What friend? We came here to hunt, and these weapons were discovered by accident."

Mendeleyev was slightly taken aback, then quickly understood, smiling awkwardly: "Yes, yes, hunting, hunting."

He naturally understood Qi Yun's meaning; it's best to know less about such sensitive topics, and some things shouldn't be casually spoken.

So when he reports to the people above, he'll say it was discovered by accident.

At this moment, Brother Peng interjected, "Regardless of how he knew, we've found the stuff now. This is quite an achievement, Old Men. When you connect with the bigwigs in the capital because of this, don't forget about us."

Mendeleyev stood up, patted Brother Peng's shoulder, and laughed, "Am I that kind of person?"

"Alright, let's continue digging while it's still daylight to see how much is buried down there." Qi Yun spoke up.

Upon hearing this, the others raised their shovels and started swinging away.

A few people continued digging for a while and gradually unearthed more than thirty wooden boxes.

Upon opening them, besides rifles, there were also ammunition, and even several boxes of grenades.

The guns were fine since they wouldn't go off accidentally, but the grenades made everyone except Chen Wei a bit apprehensive.

The group moved all the wooden boxes aside and stacked them neatly, then Qi Yun said to Mendeleyev, "There are quite a few items here, enough to make an impact. You can make the call now."

Mendeleyev nodded, took out his phone, and sat in the car to make a call.

He wasn't afraid the others would hear; it was just that the wind outside was quite strong.

Qi Yun could see through the car window the cautious look on Mendeleyev's face as he spoke. It seemed like he was really contacting some important figure.

Mendeleyev stayed in the car making the call for quite a while, his expression gradually changing from initial nervousness to a bit more composed.

Finally, he ended the call, pushed open the car door, and walked out.

"Did you get in touch? What did they say?" Brother Peng hurriedly asked.

Mendeleyev nodded, a relieved look on his face, "I got through. I told him we accidentally found a stash of weapons here. He's very interested and has already sent people over."

His wording was subtle, saying 'he's very interested' instead of 'he regards it as important' or something similar.

Qi Yun and Brother Peng exchanged a glance, both understanding the implication.

But it didn't really concern them, as long as the person on the other end benefited, it would be fine when push came to shove.

Qi Yun lit a cigarette, thought for a moment, and said, "Our identities aren't very convenient to reveal, right?"

Mendeleyev nodded in agreement, "It's good you're thinking ahead. Why don't you drive back first, and I'll notify a few other people to come over."

Qi Yun looked up at the heavy snow filling the sky, a bit uneasy about leaving him here alone.

"Why don't you warm up in the car first, and when your people are close, we'll leave."

Mendeleyev nodded, "Okay."

With that, they got back into the car. After starting the engine, a few minutes later, the heater finally began blowing warm air, gradually bringing sensation back to their numbed bodies.

"Are you sure your contact is reliable? They won't take the goods and then take you with them, will they?" Qi Yun asked, staring out the window.

Though he hadn't experienced such things before, he'd been around the block long enough to know how treacherous people could be, especially in a place as unstable as this.

Mendeleyev was slightly startled, his brow furrowing unconsciously. After a moment of silence, he shook his head and said, "No, I've worked with him before. Although it cost me a lot, he did solve the problem for me."

Qi Yun nodded in understanding, saying no more.

The other guy was a savvy veteran with his own judgment.

Just then, Brother Peng in the back seat suddenly exclaimed, "Damn! What is that?"

He stared wide-eyed ahead, disbelief written all over his face.

Following his gaze, the others saw a massive figure moving slowly through the vast snow ahead.

The figure was covered in brown fur and looked like a huge bear, at least two meters tall, with a weight likely around four to five hundred kilograms, exuding an intense pressure from afar.

Everyone's hearts leapt into their throats, eyes fixed on the brown bear approaching.

In this icy, snowy landscape, none of them expected to encounter such a dangerous creature.

"Should we drive away first?" Brother Peng suggested.

Mendeleyev shook his head, "These things can run up to 60 km/h. The car can't outrun it in this terrain, and it might provoke its hostility."

"They generally don't attack unless provoked. Let's just stay in the car."

As he spoke, he quickly turned off the engine, shut off the lights, then turned around and retrieved a hunting rifle from the side of the car seat.

Seeing this, Qi Yun's mind was filled with 'Damn!' Fighting spirit was indeed different, carrying such a thing casually.

In the back seat, Chen Wei remained calm, discreetly gripping a knife in his hand.

When Qi Yun turned his head, he distinctly saw a hint of excitement in the other's eyes.

With the rifle in hand, they felt a bit more at ease, but still didn't dare let their guard down.

They watched the brown bear closely, seeing it come closer with each step, each one landing heavily on their hearts.

The bear's eyes glimmered eerily in the snow, its nose sniffing the air occasionally as if discerning some scent.

The low growls from its mouth echoed through the silent snowfield, sending a chill down their spines.

As the bear drew closer, it finally stopped about five meters from the car, its head slightly lowered, with its forepaws uneasily pawing at the snow.

Seeing this, Mendeleyev muttered, "Not good."

"This is its action before attacking; the bear has caught our scent and might be very hungry."

With that, he gently rolled down the window, extended the barrel outside.

His finger on the trigger, eyes fixed intently on the bear ahead, ready to fire at any moment!

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