The gates of Qinghe County were already closed, but because Uncle Xu had a token for leaving the city, the group quickly exited the city and headed straight for the collapsed Iron Mine outside the city.
The Iron Mine was quiet at this time, the previously injured citizens had been moved to the city, and the initial search of the mountain found no surviving injured. As for the citizens who were crushed to death, it was still uncertain in the short term whether there were any.
Earlier, Uncle Xu had led a group to search the mountain, but as night fell, the County Magistrate ordered the search to be temporarily halted and to continue the next day.
Uncle Xu opposed this at the time, believing that if there were injured citizens trapped under the mountain, they might be rescued if they searched through the night.
Unfortunately, Uncle Xu was merely a low-ranking officer with no authority, and the County Magistrate completely ignored his words and forcefully ordered him to stop.
