The drone flew another fifty or sixty li before reaching the other end of the island. Adding his current distance from the stone bridge, wouldn't that make the island roughly a hundred and twenty li long from north to south?
It was only sixty or seventy li wide from east to west. Tang Wen had never expected it to extend so far north and south, and the discovery came as a pleasant surprise.
That meant Su Mei Island was about twice as large as he had originally imagined.
Tang Wen continued piloting the drone, planning to circle the island before flying up to inspect the mountaintop.
After all, although he had been on Su Mei Island for nearly half a year,
for safety's sake, his activities had remained confined to the area around Crouching Dragon Lake. He had yet to explore the entire island.
Not long after the drone circled around to the back of the island, Tang Wen suddenly froze.
He discovered that the trees on this side were larger and more luxuriant. Ancient trees towered everywhere, and primeval jungle filled his view, almost completely concealing the ground.
He lowered the drone, bringing it closer to the ground.
He discovered numerous thorny plants and vines growing among the trees below.
The vines bore vivid flowers and fruit as large as washbasins, looking like miniature, bewitchingly beautiful women.
These thorny plants and flowers densely filled the woodland in overlapping layers, making for a rather terrifying sight.
Just then, Tang Jun came over and let out an "Oh!"
"Did you recognize something?" Tang Wen asked, turning to look at him.
"Those are man-eating trees and man-eating flowers," Tang Jun said with some trepidation, pointing at the trees and vines on the screen.
"Man-eating? Trees and flowers that eat people? Can they really do that?" Tang Wen sounded doubtful.
Although he had seen such things in novels, he had never dared believe they were real.
"They certainly eat people, though they aren't quite as uncanny as the stories make them out to be.
"Look at those man-eating trees. Their leaves are enormous. Spread out, each one looks like a small round table.
"Once someone gets close, those leaves fold shut and wrap them up.
"Or their vines trip you up, letting the leaves move in and close around you.
"Then the leaves spray a poisonous liquid that gradually eats away at your flesh.
"Finally, the pores in the leaves suck it all up. Man-eating flowers work the same way. They open their blossoms and swallow you inside.
"But the process is very slow. If your martial abilities are strong enough, you can escape.
"Of course, these man-eating trees and flowers also release poisonous fumes at any moment. If you enter unprepared, they'll gradually render you unconscious, then eat you.
"So, to get through, you first need to prepare some antidotes.
"And bring specially made long blades mounted on poles. Cut them down from a distance, and they won't be able to do anything to you," Tang Jun said.
"Look, Tang Jun. These man-eating trees and flowers only grow along this stretch, covering about one li. They don't spread everywhere, and farther in, there aren't any at all. Doesn't that seem suspicious?" Tang Wen said.
"What's suspicious about it? Maybe this area suits them, while they don't grow well elsewhere," Tang Jun said, shaking his head.
"What if someone planted them?" Tang Wen asked.
"Planted them? Who would have nothing better to do after filling their belly than plant these things?
"You can't eat them or play with them.
"You can't even sell them for silver. Absolutely impossible," Tang Jun said, taken aback.
"I think someone planted them, as though they wanted to keep outsiders from entering," Tang Wen said.
"Are pirates hiding on the back of the island?" Tang Jun blurted out in surprise.
"Perhaps the pirates who attacked us are hiding on the back of our island. There might be a pirate hideout there." As Tang Wen spoke, he guided the drone slowly onward.
"Someone's there!" After the drone flew another ten li, Tang Jun pointed at the screen and cried out.
"That fellow must be a hidden sentry," Tang Wen said with a nod. He spotted a man concealed beneath a tree, armed with a broadsword and a crossbow.
The drone continued flying, and they found a second man, then a third.
The farther it flew, the more people appeared. They also discovered a bridle path seven or eight meters wide.
These paths were all hidden beneath enormous trees. Without the drone swooping close, they would never have spotted them.
After proceeding another few li, they discovered houses, all single-story structures.
Some were stone, others bamboo and timber. All were hidden beneath great trees, making them extremely difficult to spot.
"A ship!" Tang Jun cried out again. Tang Wen discovered an extremely narrow gorge over there as well.
The gorge led all the way to the sea, and a ship was slowly sailing into it.
The drone flew into the gorge, and both men were stunned.
It was full of people. A band of pirates patrolled with whips and broadswords, watching over the laborers at work.
The laborers were busy too. Any who slowed down even slightly received a whipping.
They were carrying wooden crates onto the ship, though neither man knew what was inside.
Tang Wen carefully landed the drone in a concealed spot.
Then he remotely opened its compartment, and another miniature drone, only the size of a hummingbird, slid out.
This miniature drone had limited endurance. It could only make a round trip within a range of a dozen li or so; any farther, and it would not make it back.
But because it was so small, even hidden sentries had difficulty spotting it. They would usually mistake it for a hummingbird.
The hummingbird drone flew in and discovered wisps of smoke rising ahead. There seemed to be a cave there too, so it carefully flew inside.
Motherfuckers!
They really are stealing silver ore from my Tang family's mine!
Several large cast-iron furnaces stood in rows inside the cave, where hundreds of workers were busy smelting silver ore.
And these bastards were far too clever.
The furnaces produced enormous amounts of smoke, so they had rigged up several huge sheet-metal ducts.
At the front of these ducts was an enormous object shaped like an upturned pot, covering the area above the great iron furnaces.
Behind the sheet-metal ducts, another group of people furiously turned several fanlike contraptions. As the fans spun, the smoke from the furnaces was sucked into the ducts.
These sheet-metal ducts extended straight into the seawater nearby. With the smoke drawn into the sea, it naturally would not billow out everywhere.
Isn't this an ancient version of a range hood? An extra-large one, at that.
"This mechanism is brilliantly designed. Could it be the Gongsun Family's handiwork?" Tang Jun exclaimed repeatedly.
"Possibly. But these laborers must have been captured by them too," Tang Wen said.
"Definitely. With pirates everywhere here, the laborers couldn't escape even if they wanted to," Tang Jun said with a nod.
"They discovered we were building a dam and feared we would find them.
"That's why they sent people to attack us twice in succession. First, they wanted to frighten us away. If that didn't work, they would kill us.
"So a bigger attack will come soon. They'll send even more men the third time," Tang Wen said.
"They seem to have quite a few firearms too. The first two times, they probably feared stirring the grass and startling the snake.
"Or they thought we were incapable of putting up much of a fight, so they didn't bring firearms.
"But if they bring firearms the third time, we'll be in trouble," Tang Jun said, his face full of worry.
"That's why we have to strike first and seize the advantage," Tang Wen said.
"But they have so many men. Look, there are two or three hundred on patrol alone. Their total numbers probably aren't below five or six hundred.
"We don't have firearms either. We definitely can't beat them.
"We should report this to the authorities and ask the navy to wipe them out," Tang Jun said, shaking his head.
"There's a war going on right now. The navy won't concern itself with a little matter like ours.
"Besides, the navy moves slowly. Who knows whether these people have spies among them?
"Look, they've been illegally mining here for years without being discovered. Perhaps naval officers are colluding with them.
"If word leaks out, they'll strike early, and we'll be the ones who suffer," Tang Wen said, shaking his head.
"Then what should we do? How about asking Constable Yang to bring his constables over to help us?" Tang Jun asked anxiously.
"We have to be cautious about that too. If there are spies in the navy, we can't guarantee there aren't any in the constables' office.
"They've been operating for decades and refining plenty of silver. With bribes spread everywhere, they've probably built a hidden network of connections in Yanling Commandery too.
"The moment we make a move, they'll hear about it first," Tang Wen said, shaking his head.
"Are we supposed to wait for them to come and kill us?" Tang Jun snorted.
"Let's head back first and halt all work. We'll organize our people and give them several days of intensive training, then prepare to act." As Tang Wen spoke, he recalled the drones, and the two hurried back to their base.
They had just reached the main gate when Li Quan came over and said, "Master, someone wishes to see you."
"Who?" Tang Wen asked.
Before you continue