201: Chapter 200 Gloomy Forest

Cao Xiao rolled his eyes and pointed at the assault rifle the Japanese man was still clutching even in death. He said to Zheng Hui indifferently, "They were going to kill us to silence us. If I hadn't killed them, you'd be lying on the ground just like them! You don't understand Japanese, so do you know why these people were acting like this? These Japanese people were up to some shady business in Yeren Mountain, so when they found out we were Chinese, they decided to kill us to keep their secret. Can you imagine how important their task must be if they're willing to kill just to keep it quiet? If I'm not mistaken, they probably smuggled themselves in; they have so many weapons, which means they have no entry or exit records. They sneaked into Myanmar for something that no one can know about. Think about what's in Yeren Mountain—deadly bacteria, for instance, or a massive amount of biological material! Then think about the inhumane things the Japanese did during World War II!"

"Alright! Although I'm not a native-born Chinese, the crimes the Japanese once committed in this country have never been accounted for. For both public and private reasons, I'll stand on your side in this matter. Since we've already killed some of them, we might as well leave them all here without anyone being the wiser. When I get back, I'll find a way to erase the information about us coming here. I'm just an ordinary person, so I hope you won't reveal this. What do you two say?" After a moment of grim contemplation, Zheng Hui made his decision. He turned his gaze toward the Huang father and son, staring at them solemnly to force them to state their positions.

"Heh, there happen to be three guns here, one for each of us. It's been a few years since I've come into the mountains to hunt, and this time the prey is very much to my liking." Huang Dacheng didn't answer Zheng Hui directly. Instead, he walked over to the corpses, bent down to take the three assault rifles, wiped the blood off them using the clothes of the dead, threw one to his son Huang Sheng, and handed another to Zheng Hui before speaking with a hint of nostalgia.

"It's a pity I didn't bring my dog. Otherwise, with such good guns, the two of us could ensure they never make it out!" Huang Sheng said regretfully as he curiously examined the gun in his hand.

Cao Xiao said with some concern, "Then let's head out. We need to find them first and see what they're up to. If it really is what we imagine, it'll be trouble! We don't know how to handle that kind of stuff, and if it accidentally leaks, we might all end up staying in these mountains forever. I see they were in a great hurry, so something might have really happened. Take the supplies and hide the car somewhere far away. We don't have gas masks, so we'll make some masks on the way; they'll be better than nothing. Let's go!"

Fourteen people, excluding Huang Sheng and Li Quanshuo who were scouting and tracking ahead, each carried an overloaded hiking pack. Yeren Mountain was full of dangers, and some inconspicuous small tools could save a life at any moment. They were fully prepared with binoculars, flashlights, entrenching tools, compasses, storage batteries, windproof lanterns, alcohol stoves, tents, sleeping bags, moisture-proof mats, cookware, life-saving equipment, water purification tablets, water bags, and first-aid medicine. Everything was of the highest quality. A single thick military tent required two people to carry, but fortunately, everyone except Zheng Hui had excellent physical strength, so the weight didn't hinder their movement. Cao Xiao took the initiative to carry the heaviest one. As the boss, he should have carried the lightest, but when he easily jumped a meter high while wearing a hundred-pound backpack, the others looked at him like he was a monster. Not only did they stop trying to persuade him otherwise, but they also took it for granted and stuffed more things into his pack.

With a machete in one hand to clear the bushes blocking the way and a trekking pole in the other to constantly probe the dense grass, they started on a narrow path, but later, the way was carved out bit by bit by the knives of the Japanese ahead of them. Snakes, insects, rats, and ants were everywhere, and wild animals occasionally appeared nearby. The forest was so dense that they could only hear the sounds they made without seeing what animals they were. However, the roars of tigers and bears coming from the distance made everyone nervous. In the dense forest, large carnivores aren't something you can defend against just by having a gun. They will follow you like ghosts, crouching in the shadows you can't see, waiting for an opportunity to pounce and kill you, leaving you no reaction time to fire.

Huang Dacheng scattered several types of pungent insect-repellent powders on everyone. The temperature in the jungle was muggy, and the scent diffused strongly. He acted as if nothing was wrong, but the others were nauseated by the strange smell on themselves. Those powders were made from the feces of fierce beasts, and the thought of being covered in waste made them gag; they didn't even want to take a sip of water despite being thirsty. However, the powders were very effective. Along the way, snakes and insects fled from them as if for their lives. Even if some were blind enough to stay, Huang Dacheng easily plucked them from their hiding spots in the grass and snapped them or beat them to death with a stick. Even so, they didn't dare let their guard down, and everyone remained cautiously on alert. Since entering the mountains, Cao Xiao had been scanning the surroundings and the ground for precious timber and minerals. At the same time, he discovered the tracks of the Japanese group. They were moving slowly, and the distance between the two parties was less than two kilometers. It wouldn't be long before they caught up, so Cao Xiao wasn't in a hurry; as long as they didn't leave his line of sight, they couldn't escape his grasp.

He stopped and started as he observed things of interest while also clearing safety threats that hadn't been noticed by the others, such as mountain leeches on trees, toxic insects in the bushes, and harmful gases or bacteria in the air. Mountain leeches falling from trees were particularly troublesome; after they bite humans or livestock, the wound is numbed by toxins secreted by their mouthparts, preventing any sensation of pain. Since they often latch onto the back where eyes can't see, the wound might already be festering by the time it's discovered. Furthermore, the wound can become infected with bacteria, becoming extremely itchy, painful, or even ulcerated, leading to sepsis. It had just rained heavily, and it was now the peak period for Mountain Leech activity and reproduction. They were everywhere behind leaves and on blades of grass. The smell of the insect powder would even irritate them into curling up and falling off; in some places, they fell from the trees like rain as people walked by, and one could easily fall victim if not careful. It is said that if a person faints from a high fever, they can be reduced to a pile of white bones within hours under the combined assault of blood-sucking leeches, eroding ants, and heavy rain.

As they went deeper, Cao Xiao's harvest grew. He collected a large batch of high-quality timber, finding plenty of Ironwood, dipterocarp, Rosewood, pine, Teak, toona, Southwest Birch, Black Walnut, water winter melon, and Golden Teak. However, Cao Xiao only collected mature trees and transplanted various plant seedlings into his space for cultivation experiments. Teak was the most abundant; after removing branches and peeling and drying the bark, he had over three hundred tons. The deeper they went, the more they found, and the trees became taller. In total, he had over five hundred tons. Even if they turned back now, the timber in his space would be sufficient.

Teak can grow up to forty-five meters high with a circumference of about four meters, taking eighty to a hundred and fifty years to mature. Teak is sturdy, corrosion-resistant, has a minimal expansion and contraction coefficient, and possesses beautiful patterns. It can be used for shipbuilding, bridges, docks, carriages, houses, high-end furniture, and carving materials. In the domestic market, most ordinary Myanmar timber is priced at over twenty thousand per ton. Teak with 2.6-meter specifications is priced between thirty-five thousand to fifty thousand huaxia currency per ton. Walnut wood is even more expensive, around sixty thousand per ton, with higher quality pieces ranging from sixty thousand to over a hundred thousand. And that's just the price of the timber; if made into furniture, the price would at least triple.

Unfortunately, he hadn't yet found Myanmar's most famous Rosewood. Red Sandalwood has always been one of the most precious timbers in the world, holding a supreme status in both China and the West. Myanmar also has Red Sandalwood, but it isn't the Small-leaf Red Sandalwood; rather, it's Pterocarpus macrocarpus, commonly known as Burmese Rosewood. Burmese Rosewood is the most commonly used type of Rosewood today. It has clear wood grain, a fine and even structure, and some parts have distinct tiger-skin patterns, making it very beautiful. Moreover, the color leans toward red, the grain is pale red, and the wood has a sandalwood-like fragrance, so it's also called fragrant Rosewood. Its scent is long-lasting and mellow, and the material is hard, heavy, and dense, so it has long been used for traditional furniture. Among redwoods, Burmese Rosewood is in a similar class to White Sourwood and Chicken Wing Wood, with a market price of about fifty thousand per ton, making it one of the more affordable redwoods.

High-quality timber isn't just found above ground; one precious type forms underground—Ebony, commonly known as Bogwood. While he hadn't found the jadeite mines he was looking for or any sign of other minerals, he unexpectedly discovered quite a bit of Bogwood buried underground. Modern "Ebony" refers to a category in the national redwood standard; in the timber market, "Ebony" usually refers to black African Ebony, which is a species of tree and not Bogwood.

Bogwood is formed when trees like nanmu, red toona, Chinese ash, and Ironwood are buried in silt due to natural disasters and undergo a carbonization process over thousands of years under anaerobic and high-pressure conditions. Bogwood possesses both the ancient elegance of wood and the charm of stone, known as "Oriental Divine Wood" and "Plant Mummy." Earthquakes, floods, and mudslides bury terrestrial plants and organisms in low-lying areas like ancient riverbeds. Part of the trees buried in silt forms Ebony through a carbonization process lasting tens of millions of years under anaerobic and high-pressure conditions and the action of bacteria and other microorganisms, hence it is also called "carbonized wood." Throughout history, Ebony has been used as a ward against evil, made into crafts, Buddha statues, and amulets. The ancients said, "A half-measure of Ebony at home is worth more than a chest of jewels." Its market value varies by tree species, with Golden Silk Nanmu of the Phoebe genus being the most expensive, reaching up to one million huaxia currency per cubic meter. The older and better preserved it is, the higher the price. In China, Bogwood is considered a cultural relic and its trade is prohibited; once discovered, it is sent to museums. Authentic Bogwood furniture and products are basically unavailable on the market—at least newly made ones. Ancient Bogwood antiques are an exception, but their prices are terrifying, easily reaching tens of millions, and when you actually want to buy one, you'll be told it's not for sale.

In fact, the most ideal material for making furniture is Bogwood. Cao Xiao didn't dare hope for textures like Golden Silk Nanmu or Red Sandalwood, as one might not be unearthed even in ten years. Unlike minerals, where the location can be analyzed geologically, the burial sites of Bogwood follow no pattern and are impossible to track. Even if he wanted to find it, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, relying entirely on luck. So, Cao Xiao would have been satisfied even with a complete set of furniture made from the lowest grade of Bogwood. He never expected to find an entire Bogwood forest here today. Although it was only Ironwood, it wasn't just a single log—it was an entire forest!

Looking at the surrounding environment and geology, that place must have once been an ancient riverbed at the foot of a great mountain. Landslides caused by flash floods and rainstorms had buried the entire Ironwood forest beneath the riverbed. What was even more precious was that this Ironwood forest had been buried for a very long time—nearly ten million years. Ordinary Ironwood Bogwood can completely carbonize in about five thousand years, becoming black inside and out. But the Bogwood in this forest was not only as black as ink, it had also undergone a degree of silicification during the tens of millions of years of geological changes. The texture had become denser, and even without polishing, the surface showed a distinct luster. If it remained buried for another few tens of millions of years, it could completely silicify into Petrified Wood Gems, at which point its value would be staggering.

Ironwood is naturally tall, and a single Ironwood Bogwood log twenty to thirty meters high can weigh dozens of tons. In this Bogwood forest, there were nearly a hundred logs of various sizes. Including the Bogwood formed from other miscellaneous trees, the total weight reached over three thousand tons. Forget making a set of furniture—there was more than enough to build a pure wooden structure of the Yellow Crane Tower with plenty to spare. Moreover, the beauty of Bogwood with such obvious silicification was significantly enhanced, and its actual price might not be lower than that of Golden Silk Nanmu Bogwood. By this calculation, it was equivalent to another windfall of several billion.

These three thousand-plus tons weren't everything. Countless trees had been deposited and buried in that ancient riverbed over tens of millions of years. Although the formation of Bogwood requires specific conditions and most trees had rotted away, some rot-resistant hardwoods had a high chance of forming Bogwood. Accumulated over endless ages, some were bound to form. No matter how deep they were buried, Cao Xiao brought them all out one by one. The various fragments added up to nearly a thousand tons, including Bogwood formed from local hardwoods like Teak, toona, and Black Walnut. There were also three logs of Burmese Rosewood that he hadn't noticed before. Among them was a section of a giant tree whose species he couldn't identify. It was only a twelve-meter-long fragment of a trunk with a maximum diameter of two meters. The trunk was covered in ugly burls, and it lacked the growth rings a tree should have; instead, it had a complex network of veins connecting the burls. It didn't look like a tree at all, but rather like a fungus, yet the branches showed it was indeed a tree. It also didn't look like normal Bogwood, which is black or partially carbonized dark colors; though completely carbonized, it was a mix of red and yellow, which was incredibly bizarre.