Uprising at the Mine

The next day.

Under the whips of overseers and guards, the mine slaves worked at a feverish pace, sending cart after cart of freshly mined ore to the stockyard.

"Move faster! Yes, you! Dragging your feet like that—do you have a death wish?"

A fat overseer brandished his whip and pointed at a middle-aged mine slave, roaring angrily. Two guards followed behind him.

The middle-aged mine slave gave him a long look, then quickened his pace.

But that look rubbed the fat overseer the wrong way.

For some reason, when that lowly mine slave had looked at him, a trace of fear had stirred in his heart. That was something he could not tolerate.

He stormed toward the middle-aged mine slave.

With a crack, his whip lashed viciously across the slave's back.

The blow sent the middle-aged mine slave staggering, leaving a scarlet welt across his bare, dark back.

"How many lives do you have to spare? You dare glare at me?"

The fat overseer brandished his whip with a savage grin.

The mine slave clenched his fists out of sight, so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

He drew a deep breath, ready to lash out.

But then, as though something had occurred to him, his clenched fists quietly loosened.

"Overseer, sir, I'm an ignorant fool. Please don't stoop to my level."

The mine slave lowered his head.

"Hmph. Your grandpa here is in a good mood today, so I'll let you off this once. Do it again, and watch your worthless life."

The fat overseer gave a hollow smile.

With that said.

He swaggered off with his two subordinates.

Watching the fat overseer's mountain-like back, the mine slave's eyes filled with darkness.

Elsewhere, the overseer and his men had gone some distance.

One guard teased the overseer with a smile. "Brother Hu, since when did you have the heart of a bodhisattva? Before, if that fellow had dared get uppity with you, he'd probably be dead already."

The overseer snorted.

"That dog got lucky. Word came down from above: an important figure from the family will be inspecting the mine in the next couple of days. We're supposed to behave ourselves."

"An important figure?"

The guard's eyes lit up.

He hurriedly asked, "Brother Hu, you've always had a finger in every pie and an ear to the ground. Do you know who's coming?"

The flattery pleased the overseer immensely, and he smiled until his eyes narrowed to slits.

He pointed at the sky overhead.

"Someone at the very top," he said in a low voice.

Understanding dawned on the guard, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

"Don't go spreading this around. Understood?"

The overseer shot him a glance.

The guard grinned. "Brother Hu, don't you know me? Everyone knows there's a lock on my lips."

The overseer gave a scornful snort.

The men walked off, laughing and joking.

In the distance.

The middle-aged mine slave's ears twitched. His hands paused in their work, and his expression visibly darkened.

A day of backbreaking toil finally ended after sunset.

The sky gradually darkened.

The bright moon peeked out over the horizon.

After dinner, the exhausted mine slaves lay sprawled inside the mine tunnel, resting. This was the most comfortable part of their day.

After counting heads, the overseer on night patrol sneered.

"Curfew starts now. Behave yourselves and get some sleep. If anyone is caught running around outside, everyone in this tunnel dies! Understood?"

"Understood."

The men answered listlessly.

Satisfied, the night overseer nodded and moved on to inspect the next tunnel.

Once they were certain he had gone far enough away.

A fairly burly mine slave sighed. "Six more gone today."

"Maybe it'll be our turn tomorrow."

The mine slave lying beside him gave a bitter smile.

"If I'd known surrender would end like this, I'd have been better off dying a clean death on the battlefield. We'll probably never see our homeland again."

"A miserable life is better than a good death. Every day we stay alive is another day."

"..."

Half an hour later.

Snores thundered through the cave.

Several men cautiously climbed to their feet and crept deeper into the mine tunnel.

Among them was the middle-aged mine slave who had been whipped that day.

"General, we can't wait any longer. While we were working today, I overheard that damned overseer talking. He said an important figure from the Li Family that owns this mine is coming to inspect it!"

The middle-aged mine slave spoke respectfully to a thin old man.

The old man frowned. "Do you know who this supposedly important figure is?"

The middle-aged mine slave shook his head. "They didn't say. Only that it was someone at the very top."

The old man's expression instantly turned grave.

"Then it must be a qi and blood realm cultivator from the Li Family," he said with certainty.

A shadow fell over everyone's heart at those words.

"At my peak, I wouldn't fear a qi and blood realm cultivator from the Li Family in the slightest. Unfortunately, that great battle severely depleted my vitality. Even now, I've only barely recovered to the strength of body cultivation grand completion. If I faced one, I would surely die."

The old man shook his head.

"General, we can't just sit here waiting to die! The secret art we practice to conceal our auras won't fool a qi and blood realm cultivator."

The middle-aged mine slave, Tie Xiong, spoke urgently.

The others hurriedly voiced their agreement.

The old man considered it, gritted his teeth, and finally made up his mind. "Since it's come to this, we have no choice but to launch the uprising early."

"From what I've observed during this time, besides the elder overseeing the mine, the Li Family has two body realm cultivators stationed at the exit."

"Once we rise up, we'll have to get past them to escape."

"Defeating them won't be hard. Killing them will. If they tie us down, none of us will get away. So, to leave nothing to chance, I must recover more of my strength—preferably to the great perfection of body realm."

Tie Xiong shook his head awkwardly.

"In your current condition, you'll need the blood and vitality of at least several hundred more people to recover to the great perfection of body realm. The corpses dumped in the mass grave are nowhere near enough. Besides, the abnormalities there have already drawn that Li Family elder's attention. You can't go back."

So the mysterious dark figure at the mass grave.

Had been this very thin old man.

"We can't go to the mass grave, but don't we have corpses ready to hand?"

The thin old man sneered.

The men shuddered at his words and all retreated several steps, staring at him in terror.

At first, the old man looked bewildered.

Then he understood and cursed angrily, "Idiots! What use would the few scraps of you be to me?"

With that said.

He turned his gaze toward the mine slaves sleeping soundly in the distance.

The men instantly understood what he intended to do.

Tie Xiong hesitated. "General, they're all people of our Eastern Ridge Land."

The old man sneered. "If they don't die, we will."

After a long silence, the men all made their choice.

They slowly approached the sleeping mine slaves.

A bloody slaughter quietly unfolded inside the mine tunnel.

Half an hour later.

The thin old man swallowed the last bead of blood.

Before him, hideous, desiccated corpses were piled into a small hill.

"I've finally recovered to body cultivation grand perfection."

The old man laughed heartily.

"Congratulations, General! Congratulations!"

The men cupped their fists in congratulations.

"You've done well. Rest assured, I will bring you back to the Eastern Ridge Land. Now, we can make our move."

"We pledge our lives to you, General!"

At the mine entrance.

Several mine guards leaned against the walls, dozing.

Through their drowsy haze.

Several figures slowly emerged.

The guards immediately snapped alert and roared, "No leaving during curfew! Violators will be killed on—"

Before they could finish, their necks were twisted and snapped.

"Brothers, the Li Family is brutal and unjust! They treat us like ants, slaughtering us at will! If we stay here, we'll die sooner or later. Better to rise up with me!"

A booming voice rang through the darkness, resounding throughout the mine.

Countless voices answered at once!

"The Li Family is unjust! We're rising up!"

"Brothers, kill them! Kill every last one of these Li Family dogs!"

"Kill!"