Recommendation Tickets, please.
Chen Xiaojun walked back along the cold, hard corridor of rock walls.
The chilly air unique to the depths of Iron Jaw Fortress's mountainside carried ore dust and a faint tang of blood, while the Spirit Tool Lamps on the walls cast swaying light and shadow, stretching and shrinking his silent figure.
He had just passed a corner when a faint yet sharp clamor came from a side courtyard ahead, breaking the stillness of the passage.
It was the very courtyard he had passed earlier, where he had heard the sound of chains and angry shouts—the place where the adult male soul masters and strong laborers abducted by the Bone Excavation Group were being held, including the "miners" forced to dig.
Chen Xiaojun did not stop, but his direction shifted slightly as he silently walked toward the heavily guarded courtyard gate.
The Brocade-Clad Guards at the entrance saw it was him and immediately bowed, opening the heavy iron gate without a word.
The scene inside the courtyard entered his eyes.
On the dust-filled open ground, several hundred haggard, ragged men were either standing or sitting, their complicated gazes focused on the center of the courtyard.
There, Chen Mu stood with his arms crossed, his face ashen. Beside him stood Gu Yuanchao and Ma Liang, whose expressions were equally grim.
Facing them off were dozens of emotional men waving their arms, with the man in the lead shouting the loudest, spittle flying from his mouth.
"Why are you locking us up! You're the ones who destroyed the Bone Excavation Group. What does that have to do with us? We were just captured laborers!"
"Exactly! Isn't the Chen Clan a famous noble family? Are you going to learn from the Bone Excavation Group and treat us like slaves