The Three Forks Mountains

After a two-hundred-mile journey, the grand procession finally arrived at the border between Quezhou and Dingzhou. In the distance, mountains rose and fell, their heights varying, as if splitting heaven and earth in half - a magnificent sight.

"Is this the Three Forks Mountains?"

Luo Yu asked curiously: "Why is one side of the mountain red and the other black?"

"Ah, that's what makes the Three Forks Mountains unique."

Han Shuo, familiar with Quezhou's geography, smiled:

"The Three Forks Mountains are actually made up of three major mountains. The red one to the east is Red Fork Mountain, the black one to the west is Black Fork Mountain, and the towering peak to the north is called Fork Link Peak, which is the main peak of the three mountains.

Looking across the three states of Longxi, this ranks among the most impressive mountain ranges."

"One red and one black?"

Luo Yu grew even more puzzled. He could understand the black mountain - black pine trees or black soil could make a mountain appear black - but why red?

"No one knows why Red Fork Mountain is red. The folk legend says it was burned red by a great fire from ancient times."

Han Shuo continued:

"I've never been here, but I've heard that between the three mountains, there's only one path to the south. All other places are dead ends unless you can climb over the mountains.

So even though this place is at the border of two states, it appears to connect them, but in reality, it's sparsely populated with no merchant caravans passing through."

Luo Yu's heart sank. So remote?

"Never mind, being remote isn't bad. We can still live here."

Luo Yu perked up, his face showing anticipation.

No matter what, this was his city, land won with the lives of hundreds of brothers. As long as he could develop Cangqi well and gain some reputation, it would be enough to fulfill his five-year agreement.

"Look, there seems to be a city over there!"

Meng Hu pointed in the distance. At the foot of the mountain, a faint city wall could be seen. Everyone's spirits lifted - that was their new home. They quickly picked up their packs and set off again.

When they reached the city's outer walls, everyone was stunned. Luo Yu's heart sank as he had one thought:

Jun Muzhu had tricked them!

The so-called Qi City was clearly a complete ruin. Although the area was large, there wasn't a single person in sight.

Only a pile of broken city wall bricks, overgrown with weeds and moss, showed how long it had been abandoned.

Xiao Shaoyou sneered:

"It seems Jun Muzhu's gratitude wasn't sincere. He's trying to make things difficult for us."

"I understand now."

Luo Yu instantly saw through it:

"He was polite, saying he was letting me choose my own path and giving us a city as a token of gratitude, but in reality, he was trying to make things so difficult that I would willingly join the Jun family.

What deep calculations."

The seemingly graceful and elegant Jun Muzhu had been branded as cunning in Luo Yu's mind.

"What do we do now?"

Standing in the ruins, Xiao Shaoyou laughed bitterly:

"It's completely a ruined city. We can't even live here."

"Since we're here, let's make the best of it. What's to fear? We can start from scratch."

Luo Yu said confidently:

"Dong Chuan, Meng Hu, take everyone to set up camp. Shaoyou, Brother Han, let's explore the mountains!"

...

The mountain range was truly vast. The three of them wandered for a whole day without seeing all of it. At night, they slept on the ground in the forest, eating dry rations when they were hungry.

The terrain here was indeed strange. Three sides were surrounded by mountains, but in the middle was a vast plain, extremely spacious and expansive.

They first went to Black Fork Mountain. As Luo Yu had guessed, there were large amounts of hard black pine wood in the mountain, and the soil was black, making it appear black from afar.

But what Luo Yu found even more curious was Red Fork Mountain. The next morning, the three of them followed the mountain path up, taking great effort to reach the halfway point.

Red Fork Mountain had sparse vegetation, far less lush trees and flowers than Black Fork Mountain and Fork Link Peak. Large areas of rock were exposed on the mountain, appearing dark red, with some places red to the point of being black.

"How strange, dense forests with so few trees."

Han Shuo expressed his confusion, but Luo Yu's eyes gleamed with understanding.

The three stopped at halfway up the mountain. Han Shuo put his hands on his waist and muttered:

"Seeing ghosts, I've never seen a red mountain before. What strange things can happen."

Xiao Shaoyou also grumbled:

"Have you noticed there's a strange smell in the air? Not that fresh earthy scent."

Luo Yu ignored their words, drawing his saber from his waist and chipping away at the rock. The sound of metal on stone rang out as he struggled to break off a few pieces.

Xiao Shaoyou was startled:

"What are you doing?"

"Haha, hahaha!"

"Exactly as I suspected."

Luo Yu weighed the dark red rock, examined it carefully, then his smile grew wider:

"Jun Muzhu, Jun Muzhu, you've really given us a great place!"

"What are you laughing about? What's so great about a few pieces of rock?"

The two looked at him as if he were crazy.

"It's iron ore, iron ore!"

Han Shuo's eyes widened:

"Iron ore? Impossible!"

Luo Yu said confidently:

"Usually iron ore is buried deep underground, but some ore can be exposed on the surface due to geological changes.

Iron ore oxidizes to become reddish-brown or dark red. You can see rust marks in the cliff faces or rock crevices.

I bet the entire Red Fork Mountain is rich in iron ore!"

The two were amazed. They didn't understand what he meant about oxidation and geological changes, but they knew Luo Yu wasn't joking.

"Big profits! Haha!"

The three's exhaustion vanished. Iron was incredibly important in this era.

Now that Luo Yu was building his own city and being a city lord, he wouldn't get supplies of grain and weapons from anyone else. With iron ore, they could forge their own weapons.

"This is a secret, not a word must be leaked."

"Understood!"

If other noble families found out, they would do everything possible to seize it. They were still very weak and couldn't compete with those powerful families.

A commoner is not guilty, but he who possesses jade is guilty.

"The most urgent matter is to consider building the city and settling down. We can't live in tents forever with hundreds of people."

Luo Yu walked to the edge of the mountain, gazing at the distant undulating mountains:

"My idea is to forget about that ruined city and build a new one!"

"Build a new city?"

Han Shuo was stunned:

"We only have four hundred people between soldiers and civilians. How long would it take? Just building four walls would be exhausting."

"No need, I have a better idea."

"I know what you're thinking."

Before Luo Yu could speak, Xiao Shaoyou quietly said:

"You want to build Cangqi City at the mountain pass, right?"

"Exactly!"

Luo Yu nodded vigorously:

"We've seen the terrain of the Three Forks Mountains. Ignoring the mountain paths, there's indeed only one major road to the south.

The mountains surround us, with a vast plain in the middle. Not only can people live there, but it's perfect for cavalry training and drills.

There are mountain springs forming streams inside the mountains, providing enough drinking water.

We'll build the city along the mountain pass, blocking the entire pass from east to west. This way, we only need to build one wall, while the other three sides will have mountains as natural barriers, saving a lot of manpower and resources.

If we can't finish in a month, we'll take two. We'll get it done eventually."

"I was thinking the same thing."

Xiao Shaoyou pointed at the mountain pass:

"Let's make an assumption. If one day the Qiang army advances to the Three Forks Mountains, Cangqi City, surrounded by mountains on three sides, would be an excellent place that's easy to defend but hard to attack. We could concentrate all our forces at the southern mountain pass.

To put it bluntly, as long as we want to defend, we can defend forever!"

"Brilliant, you two are smart."

Han Shuo slapped his forehead: "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Let's make it happen!"

Luo Yu waved his hand:

"Starting tomorrow, we'll build the city and settle down!"

Luo Yu's eyes showed no disappointment or discouragement, only determination and enthusiasm.

No matter how great the difficulties, he would turn Cangqi into a famous city that would make Longxi tremble, then find a way to get an imperial decree of appointment, become a fifth-rank general, fulfill his five-year agreement, and enter the Wu family's gates with honor!