What Are They Digging For?

What Are They Digging For?

"Doctor, save my father! Please, save my father!"

The young man knelt before Old Li Doctor, his head pounding against the ground again and again. His bloodstained face was still full of pleas, along with deep despair.

Old Li did not reply. After practicing medicine for decades, he could naturally tell whether the barely-breathing man before him could still be saved.

Or rather, as long as the people present were not blind, anyone could see the truth clearly.

"This old man will do his best."

Old Li sighed. He had seen the same pleas and despair countless times in this mine.

Everyone knew that as long as this mine still existed, it certainly would not be the last time.

Old Li crouched down and looked at the barely-breathing old man, unable to stop himself from sighing again.

Do everything humanly possible and leave the rest to fate...

That was all he could do...

"All right, get back to whatever you should be doing. Why are you all standing around here?"

The rescue was still underway, but an unabashed reprimand had already rung out.

Li Gang's face was so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water. After a harsh scolding, the forced laborers hurriedly dispersed, while the onlooking Patrol Inspectors turned and left even faster.

Chu Mu naturally did not linger either. With his Squad Leader wearing such a dark expression, he had no desire to court that misfortune.

"With this happening, the Squad Leader is probably in deep trouble this time..."

"Who says otherwise? He had to die neither early nor late, but chose this exact moment. I was even planning to wait until the Squad Leader got promoted, then ask my uncle if he could pull some strings and get me a Squad Leader position!"

"Damn, what rotten luck!"

The hushed conversation between two Patrol Inspectors nearby faintly reached Chu Mu's ears. He raised an eyebrow, then looked at Li Gang's gloomy face again, finally gaining some understanding.

After thinking it over for a moment, Chu Mu stopped dwelling on it. Promotion was impossible to have anything to do with a newcomer like him who had only just entered the Patrol Inspectorate.

"Mu Ge'er, wait a moment."

"Weren't you guarding over there? How'd you end up here?"

Chu Mu casually asked as he watched Xu Yuan jog toward him.

Although Xu Yuan was in the same squad as him, they had been guarding the mine for several days. Other than during their free time after coming off duty, they had barely run into each other.

After all, the Jia Number One Mining Area their squad was responsible for was enormous. Every Patrol Inspector had his own assigned section, and they rarely even had a chance to meet.

"The Squad Leader told me to fetch the Squad Leader over here..."

Xu Yuan jogged over and smacked his lips. "Half his body was crushed to pieces. He probably can't be saved."

"Aren't you afraid?"

Recalling that mangled mass of flesh, Chu Mu still felt his heart tighten.

"It's all right. It's much better than the one I saw yesterday in Number Three Mining Area."

"The whole person had been crushed into meat paste. That sight gave me nightmares all night!"

Chu Mu raised an eyebrow. "How'd you end up over there?"

"I was temporarily transferred there to help. The Thousand Household and Vice Battalion Commander were both there."

Chu Mu frowned. His gaze shifted, eventually settling on the bottom of the mine. If he remembered correctly, according to the mine's divisions, Number Three Mining Area was at the bottom of the pit.

His gaze lingered there for a moment before he turned to Xu Yuan and asked, "What were the Thousand Household and Vice Battalion Commander doing in Number Three Mining Area?"

"Seems like they were digging for something. I'm not sure..."

Chu Mu froze slightly. Other than mining, what else could they dig for in this mine? Could there be some ancient tomb or treasure buried beneath the iron ore?

"What was the situation? Tell me in detail."

"I followed them around all day yesterday, but didn't see them dig up anything."

Xu Yuan scratched his head. "Anyway, they were just digging randomly, here and there. I think the Thousand Household was even holding a Compass..."

"Mu Ge'er, what do you think this mine could have? Could there really be some treasure hidden here?"

"Who knows?"

Chu Mu glanced at the mine pit. Though puzzled, he did not think too much about it. He had only been in this world for a little over half a month, but there were already far too many things he could not figure out. If he fretted over everything, he might as well not live at all. "By the way, Mu Ge'er, have you heard about the expansion?"

Xu Yuan was clearly even more carefree than Chu Mu. After only a few breaths, he had already leaped to another topic.

"You already told me about it, didn't you?"

"Not that. I mean the specific news!"

"You've got another inside tip?"

Chu Mu glanced at Xu Yuan. He had discovered that his cheap younger brother was much better connected in the Patrol Inspectorate than he was, practically a walking encyclopedia. Xu Yuan looked around furtively before saying, "The Patrol Camp under the County's Patrol Bureau will transfer a Hundred Household over here, and our Patrol Inspectorate will also expand by another Hundred Household!"

Chu Mu's gaze sharpened slightly. "Where did you hear that?"

"Wasn't I temporarily transferred there yesterday? That night, the Vice Battalion Commander hosted a banquet at the Wind and Moon Tower in town. I was called over to serve tea and pour wine, and I heard it while moving around. It was the County's Thousand Household who said it, so it couldn't be false, right?"

"Speaking of which, my father really had terrible luck. If he were still alive, with his seniority in the Patrol Inspectorate, he could definitely have gotten a Squad Leader position during this expansion."

Chu Mu's expression turned somewhat strange. It had just occurred to him that Xu Yuan's father seemed to have served in the Patrol Inspectorate for far less time than his own cheap father...

When the Original Owner was four or five, the Original Owner's father had already begun serving in this Patrol Inspectorate. Xu Yuan's father, meanwhile, seemed to have only entered the Patrol Inspectorate when the Original Owner was around ten.

Their seniority differed by several years, yet the result was that Xu Yuan's father had been promoted to Squad Leader early on, while the Original Owner's cheap father... had remained an ordinary Patrol Inspector until the day he died.

In his memories, Xu Yuan's father did not seem to have any impressive background or connections. Like the Original Owner's father, he had come from an ordinary family.

"Personality... determines destiny?"

Chu Mu glanced at Xu Yuan. He suddenly felt that his cheap little brother, although young, would probably do quite well in this Patrol Inspectorate.

"Mu Ge'er, do you think... I have a chance?"

"My demands aren't high. Getting a Squad Leader position would be enough..."

"Ahem..."

Chu Mu nearly choked on the water in his mouth. He set down the water flask and looked at Xu Yuan with an increasingly strange expression.

After a good while, Chu Mu finally spoke in a low voice. "Don't tell me you can find a way into something like that?"

"Mu Ge'er, you know perfectly well that I don't have any connections!"

Chu Mu shot Xu Yuan an exasperated look. "You don't have connections... so what kind of dream are you having..."

"Hehe, I was just imagining it..."

"Then you can keep imagining, kid..."

Chu Mu casually hung the water flask from his waist, waved his hand, and walked alone toward the area he was guarding.

Xu Yuan scratched his head, then grinned. "Mu Ge'er, how about I go to your place for dinner tonight?"

"Don't forget to buy the vegetables..."

Chu Mu lazily waved his hand, leaving Xu Yuan with nothing but his retreating back...