Chapter 166: Results Fall Short of Expectations

Soon, the tremor beneath their feet ceased, and the soil kicked up by the explosion settled back down.

However, Master Mason Kuang and his son still had not recovered from their shock.

"Let's go and take a look."

Xu Mo called out and immediately strode toward the giant boulder with Qin Muzi.

Master Mason Kuang stood frozen in place, staring at his son, and asked in astonishment, "Son, what kind of gunpowder was that? How could the commotion be so massive?"

His son shook his head blankly and replied, "I don't know, Dad. I... I've never seen anything like it either."

Master Mason Kuang suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "I remember now! Young Master Xu just said he calls this black powder!"

Nodding, he added, "I never imagined that just adding the word 'black' could make gunpowder so ferocious."

Right after that, Master Mason Kuang said, "Son, let's go take a look too! Maybe it really managed to blast the rock apart!"

With that, the father and son hurried over toward the giant boulder as well.

When Xu Mo arrived in front of the massive rock, white smoke was still drifting up from the dirt.

Four large holes had been blasted into the base of the boulder, and the surrounding ground was covered in scattered earth.

Qin Muzi rushed over eagerly to inspect the bottom of the boulder and immediately cried out in excitement, "Boss, come look! A huge chunk of it was blown away!"

Hearing this, Xu Mo felt a surge of joy and hurried over to check for himself, but his brow furrowed the next moment.

True enough, a small section at the base of the boulder had been blown away, but the result fell far short of Xu Mo's ideal expectations.

Of course, continuing to blast would definitely break this giant boulder apart, but Xu Mo felt the cost was simply too high.

If he kept going, the basket of jar-bombs he had brought might not be enough, and he would likely have to go back and get more.

Moreover, since he had not yet managed to acquire saltpeter, every jar-bomb used was one less in supply, meaning he had to use them sparingly.

Instantly, Xu Mo fell into deep thought...

Meanwhile, Master Mason Kuang and his son also saw the blasted gap at the base of the boulder, leaving their jaws hanging open in utter amazement.

"Dad, this is incredible! It actually blew out a hole this big," his son said excitedly.

Master Mason Kuang nodded repeatedly as well, his expression filled with excitement. "Indeed, son. This black powder is far too fierce. To blast open a gap this large in an instant—if we had to chisel it by hand, it would take us many days!"

Unable to help himself, the son urged, "Young Master Xu, let's continue! If we use it a few more times, the rock will surely split open."

Master Mason Kuang heartily agreed, as they were utterly sick of toiling up the mountain every day to chisel stone—a task that was not only exhausting and time-consuming, but also painfully slow in progress.

By this time, Qin Muzi had already carried another basket of jar-bombs over from afar.

With great anticipation, Qin Muzi said, "Boss, let's use a few more this time. We'll definitely be able to blow away even more."

As he spoke, Qin Muzi handed one of the jar-bombs to Xu Mo.

However, Xu Mo did not take it; instead, he instructed Qin Muzi to put the jar-bomb back into the basket.

"What's wrong, Boss? Are we not blowing it up anymore?" Qin Muzi asked in confusion.

Master Mason Kuang and his son also looked at Xu Mo with perplexed expressions.

Xu Mo replied, "We are definitely going to blast it, but not like this. I need to increase the potency of the jar-bombs first; otherwise, this entire basket won't be enough!"

Qin Muzi asked in astonishment, "Boss, our jar-bombs are already this powerful, and you can still make them stronger?"

Xu Mo nodded with absolute certainty and said, "Yes!"

Without missing a beat, Xu Mo turned to Master Mason Kuang and asked, "Master Mason Kuang, do you have any white sugar at home? The kind you call frost sugar—that very white sugar..."

Master Mason Kuang shook his head. "No. Frost sugar is very expensive; poor folks like us can't afford it. We're lucky if we can have a bit of dark sugar now and then... Young Master Xu, what do you need frost sugar for?"

Xu Mo answered, "It has a great use!"

Master Mason Kuang suggested, "Young Master Xu, you'll have to ask the wealthy families in the village for that. They might have some."

"Thank you, Master Mason Kuang!" After expressing his gratitude, Xu Mo said, "Muzi, shoulder the basket of jar-bombs and come with me to the village."

With that, Xu Mo headed toward the direction of the village.

Qin Muzi hastily shouldered the basket and followed closely at Xu Mo's heels.

Watching the retreating figures of Xu Mo and his companion walking away quickly, Master Mason Kuang's son furrowed his brow in bewilderment and asked, "Dad, what does Young Master Xu want with frost sugar?"

Master Mason Kuang sighed and said, "You foolish boy, can't you even tell what's really going on?"

His son shook his head, indicating he did not understand.

Master Mason Kuang explained, "Son, a boulder this massive—who knows how many jar-bombs it would take to truly blast it apart? I reckon Young Master Xu suddenly felt it was too costly to waste them, so he just made up a casual excuse to leave..."

"Still, you can't blame Young Master Xu either. That black powder must be extremely precious. To throw money away like that on this task—if it were me, I wouldn't bear to do it either!" Master Mason Kuang concluded.

Not long ago, in Yang Family Village, at the home of Yang Jinbao.

Because of the enthusiastic hospitality and urging of Yang Jinbao's family the day before, Shang Liuli had stayed the night at their house.

Overjoyed, Yang Jinbao had immediately cleared out the best room in his house for Shang Liuli to rest in.

It wasn't that Shang Liuli lacked the money to stay at an inn, but rather that she wanted to hear more about Yang Xu漠 (Xu Mo).

By the time the conversation finally ended, it was already too late, and Shang Liuli did not feel like going out to search for lodging, which was why she had agreed to stay.

Shang Liuli was still sleeping in her room when she was suddenly jolted awake by a tremendous noise coming from outside.

Feeling that such a massive sound was quite unusual, Shang Liuli immediately got out of bed, opened the window, and looked out.

Her room was on the second floor, and the moment she opened the window, she saw numerous startled birds taking flight.

"What is going on? Where did such a loud commotion come from?" Wondering aloud, Shang Liuli continued to look up toward the mountain.

Plagued by doubt, she quickly dressed and tidied herself, picked up her precious sword, and headed downstairs.

Seeing Shang Liuli come down, Yang Jinbao's wife hurried forward to greet her. "Officer Shang is awake. Breakfast is already prepared..."

Shang Liuli raised a hand to cut her off. "Mistress Yang, what was that sound just now?"

Mistress Yang shook her head. "I have no idea."

After a brief moment of thought, Shang Liuli said, "Mistress Yang, I'll go out and see what's happening first. I'll eat breakfast when I return."

With those words, Shang Liuli stepped out the door in a hurry.

Once outside, she first questioned a couple of villagers and then hastened toward the direction where the sound had originated.

As a member of the mysterious Heavenly Guards, whenever they encountered bizarre noises or abnormal situations like this, it was their duty to investigate and uncover the truth.

Shang Liuli made her way up the mountain, while Xu Mo and Qin Muzi headed down toward the village.

Before long, the two parties crossed paths on the road near the village.

"Xu Mo?"

Shang Liuli was extremely surprised. She had clearly seen him leave yesterday, and she hadn't expected him to be back this morning.

"Officer Shang?"

Xu Mo was also somewhat surprised to run into her again.

As she approached the two of them, Shang Liuli asked, "Xu Mo, did you two just come down from the mountain?"

"Yes," Xu Mo nodded, secretly wondering what she was up to.

Shang Liuli pressed on, "Then did you hear that loud explosion just now?"

Xu Mo immediately realized that Shang Liuli must have been drawn here by the sound of the explosion.

"Officer Shang, there was a rock blocking the road up there, and the sound just now was us blasting the rock," Xu Mo explained.

"Blasting a rock?" Shang Liuli asked, quite astonished. "What did you use to blast it that produced a sound so massive?"

As she spoke, Shang Liuli had already noticed the jar-bombs inside the basket on Qin Muzi's back.

"What are these?"

With that, Shang Liuli walked up to Qin Muzi, reached out to pull out one of the jar-bombs, and began examining it curiously from all angles...