Especially Li Laoqi, his mouth gaped wide enough to fit a duck egg.
He turned around with a mournful face and cursed, "You're not a police officer, why are you arresting me?"
"Can't we talk things out properly?"
"Stop playing dumb, is that how you can call out our Boss Huang's name?" Agou shouted fiercely, "I don't care what you're here for."
"Nor do I care what you are. If you're a dragon, you must coil up here; if you're a tiger, you must crouch down."
"Arrest them all!"
At the command, those people swarmed towards Li Chonglou and the others.
The sight caused Huang Jian and Tian Lingli's faces to change drastically. Zhou Yacheng rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight, muttering, "Damn it, I used to hear there were many bandits in the mountains, but I didn't expect to see them nowadays."
He was a stubborn fellow; if it weren't for his father Zhou Sanyu holding him back, he wouldn't even obey Li Chonglou.
Let alone these country bumpkins.
Although the current situation was a mess, he didn't have Li Chonglou's ability to fight ten men at once.
But following Li Chonglou, he couldn't lose morale.
"Don't move, let them arrest us," Li Chonglou whispered, seeing him like this.
This place was indeed a bandit's den, just that the bandits of the new era had transformed.
Dare to counterfeit copper coins, they were already desperate men.
He wouldn't be surprised by anything.
Besides, he was looking for Huang Chengjiu, and only he might possess the treasure. He never paid attention to these insignificant characters.
Since they wanted to arrest people, let them arrest.
After the arrest, he should be able to see Huang Chengjiu.
With high skill and great courage, he couldn't defeat fierce bandits like Tian Shan or Li Hanlong, but he could handle these ordinary bandits.
"Huh?" Huang Jian was stunned.
Before he could react, he was already grabbed by the shoulders and pinned to the ground.
Shouting in the local dialect, "I'm a local, not a police officer. Please don't misunderstand..."
Tian Lingli was also so scared her face turned pale.
"Stop the nonsense, take them away!" Agou's eyes were filled with ferocity. With a wave of his hand, the five were escorted into the factory.
A pungent smell of acetic acid hit them.
The room was filled with buckets of various sizes, from which the smell emanated.
Besides that, there were piles of yellow soil, like small mounds.
Roughly counting, there were over ten piles, neatly arranged in the factory.
Out of dozens of fluorescent lights overhead, only two were on, and the entire factory exuded a sinister and damp atmosphere.
Vinegar corrosion method!
Li Chonglou glanced around and recognized that these counterfeit coin makers used an ancient method.
He had to admit that coins made using this method would fool not only novices but even collectors who had handled real coins for years.
They would mix strong acid with soil, wrap the newly made copper coins inside, keeping them moist.
Letting them rust naturally, and when the rust clumps formed, they would forcefully break them apart.
This method was cumbersome and time-consuming, but the results were excellent.
Of course, they probably used more than one method; this was likely only for casting rare copper coins.
For ordinary coins like Kaiyuan Tongbao, they would directly immerse the fakes in acetic acid to rust them quickly. It was superficial but efficient.
This Boss Huang seemed to be an expert.
"Kneel down!" After Agou brought them into the room, he ordered the door to be locked securely and shouted sternly.
In these deep mountains and forests, this was their territory.
No matter how loud the commotion, no one would come to manage it.
Thus, they were unrestrained.
Li Laoqi immediately knelt down with a thud.
Huang Jian and the others trembled with fear but remained standing.
"You've got a lot of nerve, you few scumbags, daring to come here and cause trouble, and even trying to take over!" Agou squinted, scanning everyone one by one, and took a shovel from his subordinate.
He walked up to them.
Pointing at Li Chonglou with the shovel, he said ferociously, "Kid, are you deaf? I told you to kneel, didn't you hear me?"
"Where is Huang Chengjiu? Tell him to come out and see me." Li Chonglou's expression remained calm, completely ignoring him.
With such a minor situation, let alone practicing martial arts in this life, even without martial arts in his previous life, he had encountered similar situations.
Henchmen like Agou could scare others, but in front of him, they were no different from three-year-old children.
His actions were ridiculously laughable.
"You dare to push your luck..." Agou's face filled with ferocity, and he raised the shovel as if to smash it down on Li Chonglou's head.
But his hand stopped in mid-air.
His nostrils twitched, and he asked menacingly, "What do you want with Boss Huang?"
Li Chonglou's reaction was different from ordinary people.
Ordinary people would be terrified and flee in panic, but Li Chonglou's eyes made him uneasy.
There was no fear at all, which made him feel a little flustered.
So, he didn't dare to act rashly and decided to figure out the background of these people first.
"I told you, I'm here to do business with him," Li Chonglou chuckled, "You guys are so timid?"
"Traveling a long distance to bring you money, yet you want me to kneel."
"This is outrageous..."
"Let me ask you, have you heard of Xingzhi Group?"
Upon hearing this, Agou's pupils contracted sharply, a flicker of shock in his eyes, "Are you from Xingzhi Group?"
"What proof do you have?"
Of course, he had heard of Xingzhi Group.
In the Shu Yu area, many tomb robbers called Boss Huang "grandfather."
It was because Boss Huang was the general agent of Xingzhi Group in the Lu'an area.
They had delivered a batch of goods a few months ago, and according to normal practice, they wouldn't contact them again for at least half a year.
Why so early this time?
"Look at this." Li Chonglou took out his phone and pulled out a business card from the phone case, which he had obtained when he was undercover at Xingzhi Group.
He handed it to Agou.
The latter's expression immediately softened, and after carefully confirming it, his face was filled with flattery.
He apologized repeatedly, "My apologies, my apologies. I didn't know you were Deputy General Manager Li. A misunderstanding among family members. It's my fault, my fault."
"But why would Deputy General Manager Li trouble himself to come to this remote mountain village this time?"
"Don't you usually contact us by phone?"
He was afraid Li Chonglou was a real police officer, but when he saw he had a Xingzhi Group business card, his suspicion vanished.
After all, impersonating Xingzhi Group could be exposed with just a single poke.
"You're asking too many questions. Call Huang Chengjiu over, I have something to ask him," Li Chonglou glared at him and commanded coldly.
He guessed correctly.
Huang Chengjiu had such great influence here, in such a remote location, and with protective connections.
He couldn't possibly make money from counterfeiting copper coins solely through small-time dealers like Li Laoqi; it was too slow.
Furthermore, Shu Yu was known for its numerous ancient tombs and pervasive tomb robbers, so Xingzhi Group had no reason to let such a place slip by.
But he didn't expect it to be so smooth; Agou actually believed his identity immediately.
This was even better, saving him trouble.
"Yes, yes, I'll call him right away."
Agou's attitude changed completely. He quickly took out his walkie-talkie and called out, "Boss Huang, it's Deputy General Manager Li from Xingzhi Group, who specifically asked to see you."
"Deputy General Manager Li? Ask him if he knows Old Tong?" The voice from the walkie-talkie was full of doubt.
"Tong Zhaolin? My direct subordinate, who is currently handling matters abroad. So I came on his behalf," Li Chonglou's heart stirred, and he replied calmly.
"So it really is Deputy General Manager Li. Please forgive my rudeness. I'm coming right away!" Huang Chengjiu apologized repeatedly.