What Secret Visit? Just Charge Straight In!

After hurrying along at full speed and passing through the narrow mine path, a small village came into view.

The small village was surrounded by endless forests and mountains. It was not large, with only a little over a thousand residents, most of them miners and their families.

People came and went through the village. The miners wore work clothes and were covered in gray dust, bustling back and forth between the mine tunnels and the village, some carrying tools, others pushing carts.

This was the destination of their journey: Qingmang Mountain Mine.

From afar, the small village's scale, the surrounding fields, and the mountain forests could all be seen.

Under someone's planning and management, Qingmang Mountain Mine had already become a self-sufficient village mine.

"Outsiders? Are you here to enter the Mountain Mine too?"

Zhang Ming and his group of four wore casual clothes, looking clean and entirely different from the gray, dust-covered miners around them.

The moment they entered the village, they were recognized as outsiders—miners looking to work at the mine.

"Yes, big brother. Is the mine still hiring?"

"Hehe, not right now. But..."

The dark-skinned burly man shook his head, clicked his tongue a few times, and rubbed his fingers together at his waist.

His intention was obvious.

Zhang Ming understood, and a flattering smile appeared on his face.

He casually handed several dozen copper coins to the burly man.

"Big brother, is it possible now?"

"Hehe, of course it is now."

The burly man turned and pointed toward a house at the southeastern corner of the village, one clearly different from the surrounding buildings.

"Go register there. When you get there, say Wu Lao Jiu sent you."

"Alright, alright. Thank you, big brother—hey, hey."

The burly man had just turned to leave when Zhang Ming grabbed hold of him.

"Big brother, can I ask something? Does every newcomer have to pay a referral fee?"

The burly man raised a brow and shook off the hand gripping him.

"Of course. Otherwise, why would the mine keep you?"

"Find me another place that provides food and lodging. How many are there in all of Xinhe Commandery?"

"Oh, oh, oh, big brother is right, big brother is right. I think so too. This mine is truly benevolent."

"Of course it's benevolent. You'll understand later. Hurry up and register. If anything happens at the mine, invoke my name, Wu Lao Jiu. It works!"

The burly man patted his chest and spoke proudly.

"Alright, alright. I'll be relying on you from now on, big brother."

After casually flattering him a few more times, Zhang Ming watched the man walk away, his expression turning ugly as he looked toward the center of the village.

"Young Master, this mine is truly vile. How can they make people pay money just to work for them? Paying to work?" (laugh)

Zhang Ming's face was as dark as water, and he did not answer.

Instead, he looked toward the rear of the village, where several blast furnaces several meters tall continuously spewed scorching flames.

Not far from the blast furnaces stood dozens of waterwheels over ten meters high, built along the river and currently in operation.

"They have not only expanded production, but also built many more hydraulic stamping machines."

"Good, good, good. What colossal nerve!"

At that moment, Zhang Ming could not imagine what would happen if people from the Government Office came and discovered this place.

"They should be killed. All of them deserve to die!"

Killing intent surged in his eyes like a raging tide. At that moment, it no longer mattered what the mine's upper ranks had done before.

How much profit they had embezzled, how much Armor and Weapons they had sold, whether there was evidence or not—it no longer mattered.

These privately expanded blast furnaces and hydraulic stamping machines alone...

Had already earned every steward a death sentence in Zhang Ming's heart.

"Move."

His icy voice reached the ears of the servants.

"Yes, Young Master."

Their hearts tightened, and their hands instinctively moved to the bundles holding their weapons.

They knew that their Young Master had made up his mind. There was no way this matter would end peacefully.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing? Who let you in?"

Before they could approach the center of the village, Zhang Ming's group was stopped by an arrogant man.

The man wore armor and carried a sharp weapon. He looked nothing like a miner working in a mine, but rather like a soldier ready to head into battle at any moment.

Lin De looked toward his master and saw that Zhang Ming had no intention of dealing with him.

He instantly knew what to do.

"Scram—do you know who we are?"

Shing—

Lin De held a long saber to the armored soldier's throat. Before the man could react at all, he snatched the weapon from his hand.

"Hey, hey, hey, sir, sir, don't act rashly, don't act rashly."

The chill at his throat made the armored soldier's legs go weak, and none of his earlier arrogance remained.

"Hmph, what a waste of that armor."

Lin De muttered to himself.

"Sir, don't act rashly, don't act rashly. This lowly one was just farting earlier, just farting."

Zhang Ming turned his head, glanced at Lin De, and raised a hand. Lin De withdrew his saber and released the man.

Zhang Ming forced out a smile and looked at him.

"Don't be nervous. We are not bad people. We have dealings with your mine, and we came this time to invite your stewards to discuss a matter."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true. Hurry and lead the way. There will definitely be benefits when we get there."

The man hesitated somewhat, but when Zhang Ming gave Lin De a look and Lin De stuffed several dozen copper coins into his pocket...

A broad smile instantly appeared on the man's face, as though the earlier unpleasantness had never happened.

"Alright, alright. Esteemed guests, please follow me, follow me."

"Mm, lead the way."

The man led in front, while Zhang Ming and the others followed behind.

Taking the chance, Zhang Ming's gaze fell upon the fine iron armor on the man's body, and he asked curiously, "Do you have to wear this every day? Isn't it tiring?"

"No, no. Why would we wear this normally? This armor looks imposing and has decent defense, but it's both tiring and hot."

"It's just that no one knows what happened today. The Bosses insisted that we wear it, saying some Mountain Bandits had come down from the mountains and telling us to prepare ourselves."

"Oh, is that so?"

Zhang Ming narrowed his eyes and frowned slightly, instinctively sensing that this matter was connected to himself.

"Interesting. I was targeted the moment I came out?"

"It seems the hidden hand behind the mine affair has quite extraordinary influence."

As he pondered these matters, his steps did not slow.

Before long, they arrived at the center of the village.

At the center of the village stood a grand and magnificent compound. Its walls were built from massive bluestone blocks, tall and solid. Its heavy iron gates were incomparably sturdy, making it seem like a fortress.

Before the compound was a huge plaza spanning several thousand square meters.

Yet for some unknown reason, dozens of armored soldiers in armor and carrying sharp weapons stood in formation in the plaza, looking toward the raised platform ahead as though something was happening there.

"Hey, see that person at the very top? That's our Boss."

The man pointed out the person to Zhang Ming, then said,

"Brother, I'll return to the ranks first. I don't know what the Boss summoned us for, hehe."

With that, Zhang Ming watched as the man returned to the formation.

At the same time, Zhang Ming's group's appearance drew the attention of all the armored soldiers, as well as the few people standing before them who clearly held lofty positions among the group.

In an instant.

The faces of the people above twisted, and their eyes filled with terror as they looked at Zhang Ming. Their bodies began trembling uncontrollably.

"Zhang... Zhang... Zhang..."

"I am Zhang Ming, eldest son of the Zhang Family of Yang City, and also your Young Master!"

Zhang Ming seized the initiative, his ringing voice overwhelming everyone else.

He then strode forward several steps and appeared atop the raised platform.

Looking down at the crowd below, Zhang Ming remained calm and composed.

"Perhaps you do not know me, but that does not matter. You only need to know that for some time to come, I will be staying at the mine and working alongside all of you."

He turned and coldly swept his gaze over the people behind him.

"Isn't that right? Steward Kong, Steward Wang, Steward Liu? And Steward Li, who has yet to arrive?"

"You... you..."

The stewards were utterly shocked, their pointing fingers trembling.

With guilt in their hearts, they were terrified by Zhang Ming's sudden appearance. For a time, they were at a complete loss, not knowing how to react.

Then, a familiar voice shouted sharply.

"He's not Zhang Ming! He's a Mountain Bandit! Brothers, kill him! Kill him and you'll be rewarded one hundred taels of silver, a reward of one hundred—"

It was Kong Yongxin. It was Steward Kong.