Desperate Mine

After three days of rest, Yuan and the other conscripted villagers began a life of round-the-clock mining.

Today was Yuan's turn to work. For some reason, their shifts were very frequent. Basically, after spending half a day underground, they were forced to switch shifts.

However, this was a good thing. Otherwise, with such intense work and only watery gruel to eat, everyone's bodies would have given out long ago.

Even so, a terrible situation had already arisen in the mine, which employed tens of thousands of people.

Yuan, who was underground, wiped the sweat that had seeped into his eyelids. The entire mine was faintly illuminated by a blue glow that Yuan had never seen before.

Although this wasn't his first time here, every time he saw this beautiful scene, Yuan felt a sense of dread.

"Seventh group, switch shifts!" The overseer's bronze whistle pierced the damp air, signaling that Yuan's next team had officially begun their day's work.

After greeting the village chief, Yuan slowly walked into the mine. Behind him was Wizel, who was a year older than him.

Wizel was also from a small village, and his situation was similar to Yuan's. But from Yuan's perspective, this guy seemed to have encountered a big problem today.

He suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground, vomiting a large amount of blood that splattered onto Yuan's arm.

A pool of blood flowed onto the ground, gleaming with a strange metallic luster under the midday sun, as if the blood were mixed with many impurities.

"Help me... help me give this to Lilia..." Wizel trembled as he pulled off the tin tag from his neck. The broken leather strap had torn away large patches of festering skin.

Such a terrifying scene stunned not only Yuan but also the old men around him.

"No, I don't know her. Why are you giving it to me?" Yuan's question went unanswered because the man was already dead.

Yuan picked up the tin tag, which was still warm to the touch. A needle-like pain shot through his palm. At the same time, the festering wound on Wizel's neck revealed white cervical vertebrae, with yellowish-green pus seeping from the gaps between the bones.

Before Yuan could ask anything, a miner who seemed to be Wizel's friend painfully picked up the rope around Wizel's feet.

As he tightened his grip, the two heavily armored soldiers outside, as if receiving a signal, also began to tighten the rope in the opposite direction.

That's right, both of them had a sufficiently long rope tied to their feet. It wasn't to prevent them from escaping, but to quickly retrieve their bodies after they died.

Those soldiers didn't want to enter the mine. It was as if they knew there was something terrifying inside, which led them to come up with this clumsy method.

As for the panic caused, or the bodies being dragged and mangled, that was not their concern.

The rope dragged the mangled corpse across the ground, leaving two winding bloodstains on the rocky surface.

"Gods, this is the 137th," old miner Brook whispered in Yuan's ear.

He took off his worn leather gloves, revealing festering sores between his knuckles, and a look of endless sorrow on his face.

"Hans, who buried the bodies this morning, started coughing up blood by noon. This is a cursed place, the abode of devils. The next one might be me."

That's right, after only a few days of work, this was already the 137th miner to die.

137 bodies were already piled in the burial pit in the northwest corner. Each corpse had yellowish-green scabs around its mouth.

Some of the eyes, which had not yet closed, stared blankly in the direction of the mine, their faces so rotted and unrecognizable that the horrifying scene became even more chilling.

The old miner's words made Yuan feel as if he were starting to ache all over, but he didn't say anything more.

He found a small corner and sat down firmly, as if enjoying his last moments.

That's right, he had no intention of resisting. Because a few nights ago, he had observed carefully. The soldiers stationed here were not just the hundred men behind Harris.

In the darkness of the night, not far from them, there was a camp. Flickering firelight occasionally rose, and the neighing of horses could be heard from time to time.

The tremors in the sandy soil on the surface indicated that there was a large cavalry force there.

And around this mountain, apart from the small peak beside them, the rest of the area was flat.

There was no hope of victory if he tried to fight those soldiers with his mining tools as weapons.

"I quit!"

The sudden shout of the young Danny broke the silence in the mine. He threw down his pickaxe, his linen trousers already soaked with blood seeping from his knees.

"Last night, Vince's intestines came out of... out of his... did you all not see?"

The entire mine fell silent again, with only the sound of dripping water echoing in the blue light.

Yuan saw Danny's pupils constricting violently. This young man, who could still move stones three days ago, was now so emaciated that his ribs were almost piercing his thin chest.

"Damn it, what are those inside doing? Why isn't any ore coming out?" Baron Harris's voice boomed from outside the cave.

He was holding a round object, one end larger than the other. Yuan didn't know what it was, but the sound coming from it was very loud.

Even Harris's shouting outside could be heard by the miners inside.

"Dig for ore immediately. If you don't bring out any more ore, you're not coming out, do you hear me?"

After speaking, the miners in the cave seemed to wake up from a dream and all raised their tools to start digging. Seeing this, Yuan, who had been sitting on the ground, also got up and picked up the pickaxe.

As the pickaxe heavily struck the rock face, the mine plunged back into the sound of mechanical hammering, as if the recent deaths had never happened, returning to its usual clamor.

"Ding!"

"Ding!"

"Ding!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

A few small stones falling interrupted Yuan, who was diligently mining. He looked up in confusion, and his pupils instantly constricted.

He saw the sound of cracking wood coming from above, deep within the mine. It was a support beam, the very beam that kept them alive.

"This is bad, the mine is going to collapse."

"The mine is going to collapse, the mine is going to collapse, run!"

It wasn't just Yuan who saw it; many of the other miners had also noticed the situation. Panic immediately spread through everyone's hearts.

They all dropped their tools and ran towards the exit with all their might. Yuan was among them, pushed by everyone as he sprinted outwards.

However, what greeted them was not light, but a dense mass of soldiers holding long spears.

"Stop right there, you bastards! What are you afraid of? Get back inside, all of you. Your work quota for today isn't met, you have to finish it."

Harris glared with merciless eyes at the miners trying to escape from the cave entrance. The words he spoke made everyone present's hearts sink.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

At Harris's signal, two soldiers randomly stabbed several miners near the entrance, felling them to the ground.

"Disobeying the King's orders, death is deserved. Now, get back inside immediately."

"The mine is collapsing, going in now is a dead end."

"That's right, you're playing with people's lives."

"Let's fight them!"

A voice, appearing from nowhere, echoed around the mine. Countless miners, their eyes bloodshot, picked up their tools and rioted.

It was clear that in just a few days, the deathly aura of the mine had driven these people to the brink of madness.

"You're seeking death!"

Harris, clad in magnificent attire, was not as frail as the miners imagined. He casually drew a longsword from a nearby soldier and began to swing it skillfully.

In a short while, several people were cut down. And just as Yuan had expected, the loud sounds of the riot attracted the attention of the cavalry.

Chaos, too much chaos.

Harris and hundreds of soldiers were surrounded by miners, but with their armor, sharp weapons, and even their disciplined training, they were more than capable of defending themselves.

Yuan knew that in less than fifteen minutes, the cavalry from afar would arrive. Helpless, he could only let the others charge in front of him.

He, on the other hand, silently retreated towards the rear.

But under the chaotic scene, there was nowhere for him to escape in the confusion. Clearly, the Kingdom had faced such situations many times before.

The area around the mine was surrounded by high fences, with countless sharp spikes of various sizes to prevent climbing.

Even if they cut the ropes on their feet, there was no chance of escape.

The fences above and around were already covered in black scabs, making Yuan instantly understand why the Kingdom's conscription this time required so many people.

"Damn bastards, did everyone from last time die off?"

At this moment, in the desperate eyes of the miners, Harris's cavalry had arrived.

The heavily armored cavalry charged forward at high speed, their barbed iron hooves raised high. The wolf-fang spikes on the horseshoes glinted coldly, easily crushing the bodies of many miners.

Red, white, blue, as if countless colors sprayed into the air, weaving a deadly beauty.

"Filthy scum, you've dirtied my armor. In the name of the Kingdom's law, soldiers, crush their bodies, grind their bones."