Chapter 129
Chapter 129
Clutching a pitch-black rock, Jin Bao raced back toward Black Pine Valley.
The little squirrel bounded along behind her.
Her voice arrived before she did.
“Daddy! Uncle! Baby found a rock!”
Xiao Che and Xie Chengyan were discussing matters in the council chamber.
Hearing Jin Bao’s voice, they both rose and headed outside.
Standing at the council chamber entrance, they saw a small yellow figure race through the courtyard gate.
“Daughter, why are you so happy? Did you find treasure?”
Seeing Jin Bao covered in sweat from running, Xiao Che teased her with a smile.
“Tre… Baby found treasure! Look.”
Jin Bao held out the black rock in her arms to Xiao Che.
Xiao Che glanced sideways at Xie Chengyan, then accepted it in puzzlement.
It felt heavy in his hands and left black powder on his skin.
Xiao Che held it beneath his nose and sniffed. It had an indescribable odor mixed with the earthy scent of soil and damp minerals, but it was not pungent.
He tapped it and heard a dull sound with a faintly crisp note.
Then he weighed it in his hand. It was heavier than wood, yet slightly lighter than an ordinary rock of the same size.
This probably was not a rock.
Xiao Che examined it for a long time without learning anything, so he passed it to Xie Chengyan.
Xie Chengyan accepted it and studied it for a long while, but he did not know what it was either.
Then he recalled a description from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
“I remember the Classic of Mountains and Seas saying, ‘On Mount Nüchuang, its shaded slope abounds in black stone.’ It seems to be this substance.”
Xie Chengyan turned to Jin Bao again.
“Jin Bao, you just said this was treasure. Do you know what it is used for?”
Jin Bao nodded her little head. “Baby knows. It can be burned. Baby saw lots of people use it to forge iron and make farming tools, just like the ones Baby saw in Sanjiacun.”
Xie Chengyan and Xiao Che were delighted by what they heard.
They currently smelted iron by burning wood, and they needed more than a thousand jin of it every day.
If this substance could truly replace wood, then it was indeed a treasure.
There was no time to lose. The two men immediately took Jin Bao back into the council chamber.
A fire pit stood in the middle of the council chamber.
Xie Chengyan tossed the black rock into the pit and tried lighting it with a fire striker.
He assumed that since it was a treasure, it would ignite at once. Instead, it merely spat a few sparks. No matter what he tried, it would not catch fire and produced no flame.
The two adults and one child crouched beside the fire pit, their heads pressed together. They stared at the black rock, utterly at a loss.
Jin Bao suddenly remembered that in her vision, someone seemed to have placed the black rock in a fire and removed it only after it turned red.
“No, no! Uncle, don’t light it with the fire striker. You need wood.”
As she spoke, Jin Bao rose and ran outside. Before long, she returned carrying several pieces of wood.
After throwing them into the fire pit, she urged Xie Chengyan again.
“Uncle, it’s ready. Hurry and light it.”
Still doubtful, Xie Chengyan set fire to the wood in the pit.
After a while, the wood blazed fiercely, and sure enough, black smoke began rising from the black rock underneath.
But the substance produced a great deal of smoke as it burned, along with a foul odor.
Afraid it might be poisonous, Xie Chengyan quickly picked up Jin Bao and pulled Xiao Che out of the council chamber.
“Old Xie, what are you doing? I didn’t even get to see what it looked like once it caught fire, and you dragged me out.”
Xiao Che glared at Xie Chengyan.
“Old Xiao, we don’t yet know how to use this substance.
“Like iron ore, does it need to be refined after it is mined?
“What if it contains some other substance that releases poison when burned? We’d all be poisoned. It wouldn’t matter if you died, but my niece would be heartbroken.”
Xiao Che snorted. Since Xie Chengyan had at least shown some conscience, he decided not to argue.
Jin Bao stared blankly at the flames leaping from the fire pit inside the chamber.
Another vision appeared before her eyes.
She saw many people mining the same kind of black rock, but instead of burning it directly, they first sorted it, then washed it with water.
Jin Bao’s eyes widened as understanding dawned.
“Uncle, Baby knows why this thing makes smoke! We have to wash it and dry it in the sun before burning it.”
Xie Chengyan froze. In other words, the substance could indeed burn, but it needed to be processed first.
They entered the council chamber again. For safety, however, Xie Chengyan covered Jin Bao’s mouth and nose with a cloth.
Only Jin Bao’s two large eyes remained visible, darting around brightly.
When they reached the fire pit, they discovered that the formerly pitch-black rock was now glowing red all over like a burning coal.
Xiao Che crouched down, removed the burning wood above it, and waited another quarter of an hour.
The black rock remained bright red. Although it produced no flame, sitting beside it was still as warm as sitting beside burning charcoal.
This substance simply seemed to burn much longer than charcoal.
The large black rock burned for an entire hour before finally going out.
Xie Chengyan stirred the ashes with a fire poker and found many impurities within. Some remained hard as stone and could not be crushed at all.
This confirmed Jin Bao’s explanation for washing it. Water could remove the impurities, leaving only the finest material. It would certainly burn longer and might no longer produce a foul odor or thick smoke.
If that was truly the case, this substance really was a treasure.
The more Xie Chengyan thought about it, the more excited he became. He hurriedly stood up.
“Jin Bao, where did you find this? Can you take us there to see it?”
Jin Bao was certainly willing, but she had only gone there that afternoon, and the round trip had taken some time. Night fell early in Black Pine Forest.
It was already late. They would discover nothing if they went now, so it would be better to wait until morning.
“Uncle, it’s far, and it’s getting dark. Can we go tomorrow?”
Xie Chengyan understood. She had not found it nearby.
“All right. Tomorrow morning, take your Uncle and your daddy there together.”
Jin Bao happily agreed.
Xie Chengyan gazed thoughtfully at the substance.
“We should give it a name.”
Xiao Che looked at Jin Bao. Since she had discovered it, naturally his daughter should be the one to name it.
“Daughter, what do you think we should call it?”
Jin Bao had heard the people in her vision call it coal.
“Coal. It’s called coal. It can forge iron and cook food.”
Xiao Che laughed heartily.
“Good, we’ll call it coal. With this, we won’t need to cut firewood anymore. It burns for so long that one piece can replace a family’s entire daily supply of firewood, saving everyone a great deal of effort.”
Xie Chengyan did not share his view. Coal might be as important as iron ore. They would decide after inspecting the site tomorrow, but whatever happened, the valley residents could not be allowed to obtain it casually.