Mining

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Deep beneath the lightless mine, Xu Yunfan, clad in ragged clothes and blackened by mineral dust, paused to catch his breath. He glanced at the bloody blisters rubbed raw across his palms, pressed his lips tightly together, then raised the Iron Pickaxe again and smashed it into the ore-veined wall.

Beside him, Zhou Feng stared listlessly at the Iron Pickaxe in his hands and could not help muttering in a low voice.

"I don't want to stay here. We can't eat our fill or keep warm. If the mine collapses, we might all die in here."

Clang!

"Zhang Li, who came down with us, collapsed yesterday from exhaustion and injuries. After they dragged him away, he vanished without a trace. No one has seen him since."

Seeing that Xu Yunfan turned a deaf ear and continued swinging his pickaxe with all his might, Zhou Feng said, "Do you want to end up like Zhang Li too? Jiang Yu stole his food, and for one mouthful to fill his belly, he worked himself to death. How much suffering did we endure under him back then? And even here, we still have to suffer his humiliation. I can't accept it! If you keep throwing your life into this, you won't even last a month. By the next time we leave the mine, you won't be able to walk out!"

Xu Yunfan's movements, stiff until just then, became smooth and powerful. He lowered his stance through his waist and hips. Each time he brought down the pickaxe, his bare feet gripped the ground, his thighs rose and fell, and his waist and hips swayed as if riding a horse. A force flowed through both arms into the Iron Pickaxe in his hands before crashing down hard.

Clang!

The impact of iron against stone rang out far louder than before, echoing melodiously through the twisting mine tunnel.

'Your Mining Technique has reached Beginner level.'

'Mining 0/500 (Beginner)

Effect: Sharp Eyes and Quick Hands, Waist Rising Like Waves, Power Through Both Arms'

Xu Yunfan looked at the notification that had appeared in his field of vision, and his eyes could not help growing moist.

Three days. Did you know how I had spent these past three days?

Other people transmigrated and ate well, drank well, and lived in comfort. Before transmigrating, he had been worked like an ox and horse; after transmigrating, he was even more of an ox and horse than before.

Ancient miners—especially lowborn slaves like him, demoted after being implicated by the families of convicted officials—were disposable goods. If they died, they died.

If not for the Attribute Panel, and the Mining prompt that had appeared when he swung the Iron Pickaxe, he truly might have done something rash.

No joke.

As the notification silently emerged in his vision, a marvelous change began taking place in his body. His taut, somewhat rigid muscles gradually loosened, and the muscles throughout his body no longer remained as tightly wound as before.

A memory slowly flowed through his mind. In that memory, he had mined beneath these tunnels for seven or eight years, enduring obstacle after obstacle. Practice made perfect, and in the end, he had learned to wield the Iron Pickaxe properly.

Xu Yunfan raised the pickaxe again. His waist twisted like a snake, driving the muscles of his back and shoulders to rise and fall, supporting his arms. His thighs acted like springs, his feet planted firmly on the ground. As his waist exerted force, they suddenly contracted and extended, answering the strength of his entire body and forming one unified power.

Clang!

The crisp, lingering ring of metal and stone spread out, reverberating through the winding mine tunnel.

He could clearly feel that his waist, back, and arms were no longer weak and sore as before. Instead, he felt utterly invigorated, as though he had not yet had his fill.

Zhou Feng was full of astonishment. Just moments ago, he had thought Xu Yunfan would sooner or later work himself to death in the mine from injuries and illness. Yet that last swing had shaken his confidence.

Xu Yunfan turned and sat on the ground, pulling dry rations made from bitter, coarse wheat bran from his clothes. He silently swallowed them with water.

Seeing his submissive, long-suffering appearance, Zhou Feng cursed angrily and stepped forward, grabbing Xu Yunfan by the collar.

"Do you really want to die in this mine? Don't you want to escape?"

"You and I were implicated by Jiang Yu and ended up here. It is already a blessing that we were not beheaded. Escape? Who doesn't want to escape? But who can?"

Xu Yunfan felt rather helpless. The original owner of this body had been a servant. Now that the Empress of the Great Zhou Empire had seized power and ascended the throne, the loyalists had been dealt with in batches—some were won over, some beaten down, and some killed.

Jiang Yu's father had been beheaded, the Jiang Family confiscated. The men had been exiled and sentenced to forced labor, while the women of suitable age had been sent to the Imperial Brothel.

And he himself had been demoted to the mines along with his wicked master. Yet Jiang Yu still strutted about, barking orders. Yesterday, Jiang Yu had stolen Zhang Li's food. Zhang Li had intended to mine another cartload of ore to exchange for food, but sadly, he had worked himself to death halfway through.

"You... do you know that after being implicated by Jiang Yu's family and becoming mine slaves under the Mining Supervision Office, almost no one lasts three years? With bodies like ours, we're guaranteed to die within a month."

Xu Yunfan did not doubt Zhou Feng's words in the slightest. In such horrendous living conditions, even if they were not worked to death, they would die of all kinds of illnesses caused by the harsh environment.

In the three days since he had entered the mine, new people came in every day, and every day people died from injuries, illness, or failing to mine enough ore. They would lie on the ground and be dragged away, never to be seen again.

This place lay in the farthest north of the Great Zhou Dynasty, surrounded by endless ice fields and barren mountains. As the weather grew colder, gales howled aboveground and blizzards raged.

The depths of the mine retained a certain degree of warmth, but once one passed through the permafrost layer and reached the surface, anyone with even slightly weaker constitution would die of hypothermia within one or two hours without any protection.

Even if they escaped the mine, what then? Faced with such a brutal environment, how high could their chances of survival be?

Seeing Xu Yunfan's meek and resigned manner, Zhou Feng mourned his misfortune and raged at his refusal to fight. In the end, he could only let go, plop down beside him, lower his head, and say nothing more.

Xu Yunfan knew him well. Since Zhou Feng and the original owner had both served the Jiang Family from childhood, they had grown up playing together. As they belonged to different departments and had no conflicting interests, Xu Yunfan and Zhou Feng had always been close.

Zhou Feng was now preparing to join forces with several miners who could no longer endure this place and plot an escape. Naturally, he wanted to bring Xu Yunfan in with them.

But this world was far from simple.

Three days ago, when he had just transmigrated and was about to enter the mine, he saw a young man unwilling to go down. The boy turned and tried to run, only to be torn in half by a single whip from the overseer. Even now, the corpse still lay there as a warning to others.

Even recalling it now sent a chill through his heart.

With Zhou Feng's appearance of one who could not tell the four limbs apart and did not know the five grains, escaping this place...

That was truly going to be difficult.

Xu Yunfan had the Attribute Panel. Now that his Mining Technique had just reached Beginner level, his chances of surviving in this mine had risen greatly. Naturally, he wanted to improve further before seeking an opportunity.

"Zhou Feng, we need to settle down first and find a way to survive. Even if we can escape the mine, can we make it out across the Eight Hundred Li Barren River?"

Zhou Feng replied sullenly, "As long as we escape this pit, the sky is high enough for birds to fly and the sea broad enough for fish to leap. Eight Hundred Li Barren River? You think we can't make it through? I have connections. Are you really not coming?"

Xu Yunfan could only feel helpless. In the original owner's memories, Zhou Feng had never once left Jade Capital from childhood until now. Did he even understand what eight hundred li of barren river meant?

Xu Yunfan said, "We don't even know the surrounding environment. At the very least, we need to scout the area before making plans."

After watching Xu Yunfan rest for a while before picking up the Iron Pickaxe and resuming his mining, Zhou Feng pointed at him with trembling fingers. At last, he flicked his sleeve and stormed off in a fury.

Xu Yunfan glanced back at Zhou Feng's retreating figure, sighed, and continued mining.

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