northernbook Chapter 471 Geothermal Phenomena
Chapter 471 Geothermal Phenomena
The sun was already setting in the west, and the light in the mountains and forests was gradually dimming.
The two quickened their pace, hoping to return to the village before dark.
Halfway there, I suddenly heard voices coming from ahead.
"...This is the road; I remember it very clearly."
"Are you sure? This is the middle of nowhere; getting lost would be a real problem."
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou exchanged a glance and both slowed their pace.
After turning a corner, I saw three unfamiliar faces standing in front of me. Judging from their attire, they seemed to be from the city.
"Are you hunters from the mountains?" one of the tall, thin men called out as soon as he saw Li Xiangyang and his group.
The three of them walked over quickly.
"Gentlemen," said the middle-aged man leading the group, wearing glasses, "we're from the provincial geological team, here for exploration. We've gotten lost, could you please give us directions?"
Li Xiangyang glanced at them and asked, "Where are you going?"
“We want to go to the nearest village,” said the man with glasses. “It’s getting dark, we need to find a place to spend the night.”
“The nearest one is Xiaoliang Village,” Wang Ergou said. “We’re going back anyway, let’s go together.”
The three of them breathed a sigh of relief and thanked him repeatedly.
On the way, Li Xiangyang chatted with them.
"What is your geological team exploring here?"
The man with glasses smiled. "Mainly mineral resources. I've heard this area has a unique geological structure and might have mineral veins."
Li Xiangyang's heart skipped a beat, remembering the hot spring they had just encountered: "Do you know if there are any hot springs in these mountains?"
"Hot springs?" The man with glasses became interested. "Where are they? What kind are they?"
Li Xiangyang recounted what had just happened.
The three people looked at each other in bewilderment.
“This is probably not an ordinary hot spring,” the bespectacled man said, his expression turning serious. “Based on your description, it looks more like a geothermal eruption. There are indeed records of geothermal activity in this area.”
"Geothermal eruption? What's that?" Wang Ergou asked curiously.
"Simply put, it's when hot underground material breaks through to the surface," another young man explained. "Sometimes it forms geysers, sometimes it forms hot lakes."
"Will this thing affect the village?" This was what Li Xiangyang was concerned about.
The man with glasses thought for a moment and said, "Generally speaking, the impact will be minimal. However, if geothermal activity is frequent, it might cause small-scale earthquakes. Of course, you shouldn't worry too much; a definitive conclusion can only be reached after further exploration."
Li Xiangyang nodded and kept it in mind.
As darkness fell, the group quickened their pace.
Finally, before nightfall, they saw smoke rising from the chimneys of Xiaoliang Village.
Upon entering the village, Li Xiangyang settled the three geological team members at the village committee.
Upon hearing that experts from the province had come, Zheng Dehou immediately began preparing food for them.
After settling the geological team members in, Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou each carried their prey home.
As soon as he entered the yard, Xiao Wangchen rushed over, shouting, "Daddy's home!"
"Oh my, my little darling." Li Xiangyang put down his things, picked up his son, and asked, "Was I a good boy today?"
"Good boy!" Wang Chen said proudly, "I even helped Mom with the housework today!"
Li Xiaoyun came out of the house and saw her husband return safely. A smile appeared on her face: "Why are you so late today?"
“Something came up on the way.” Li Xiangyang put his son down and began to process the game.
Upon seeing the wolf pelt, Li Xiaoyun frowned slightly: "Have we encountered wolves again?"
"Yes, there are five of them this time, attacking us all at once," Li Xiangyang said casually.
"Five?" Li Xiaoyun's expression changed. "Are you all alright?"
"It's alright, it's all taken care of."
Li Xiangyang then told his wife about his experiences that day.
Li Xiaoyun was also very surprised to hear that the geothermal eruption had caused the wolf pack to come down the mountain in search of food: "There are really all sorts of strange and wonderful things in these mountains."
“That’s right,” Li Xiangyang laughed. “I’ve been hunting for so many years, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like it.”
Just then, Li Xiaohua arrived. Seeing her brother processing the roe deer, she excitedly said, "Brother, you had a good haul today!"
"Yes, I'll stew some roe deer meat for you tonight," Li Xiangyang said, cutting the meat into chunks.
At dinner time, the family sat around the table, the aroma of steaming roe deer meat filling the air.
"Dad," Wangchen asked while gnawing on a meat bone, "are wolves really that scary?"
Li Xiangyang patted his son's head: "Wolves are very dangerous animals, but as long as we are careful, nothing will happen."
"When I grow up, I'll fight wolves too!" Wangchen waved his little fist.
"Let's talk about that when you're older," Li Xiaoyun said with a smile, placing a piece of meat on his plate. "Eat your meal properly first."
Li Xiaohua suddenly remembered something: "Brother, those geological team members said there might be minerals here, is that true?"
"Probably, they're professionals," Li Xiangyang said. "If there really is a mine, it would be a good thing for our village."
After dinner, Li Xiangyang went to Wang Ergou's house, and the two discussed their plans for tomorrow.
"Those geological team members said they wanted us to be their guides," Wang Ergou said, "to take them to the place where the hot spring was discovered today."
Li Xiangyang hesitated for a moment: "If we hadn't run fast today, we would be dead. That place is quite dangerous."
"They said they'd be careful, and the pay is good," Wang Ergou said in a low voice, "Ten yuan a day."
The price was indeed high, and Li Xiangyang was tempted: "Let's go then. I also wanted to take another look at that place."
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Li Xiangyang was awakened by noises coming from the courtyard.
"Xiangyang, are you up?" It was Wang Ergou's voice.
Li Xiangyang put on his clothes and went outside, where he saw Wang Ergou stamping his feet to keep warm in the yard.
"So early?"
"Those geological teams said they want to leave early," Wang Ergou said, his breath steaming in the air, "while the weather is good."
Li Xiangyang glanced at the sky; it was indeed a sunny day. A thin layer of snow had fallen last night, making the air exceptionally fresh.
The two arrived at the village committee, where three geological team members were already waiting. The middle-aged man wearing glasses was named Engineer Chen, and the other two younger men were named Xiao Liu and Xiao Zhang.
"Thank you both." Engineer Chen handed over a canvas bag. "This is our equipment; we might need you to help carry it."
Li Xiangyang took the bag and weighed it in his hand: "It's not heavy, no problem."
The group of five left the village and headed in the direction where the hot spring had been discovered the day before.
On the way, Engineer Chen kept observing the surrounding terrain and occasionally made notes in his notebook.
“The geological structure in this area is very interesting,” he said, pointing to a distant mountain ridge. “Look at that fault line; it was most likely caused by tectonic movement.”
Li Xiangyang looked in the direction he pointed and saw that there was indeed a clear crack on the ridge, as if it had been cleaved open by a giant axe.
“We often have small earthquakes here,” Wang Ergou said, “but they’re never serious; they just shake and then it’s over.”
“That’s normal; it indicates frequent crustal activity,” Xiao Liu interjected. “If that’s the case, then geothermal activity isn’t surprising.”