Mine Bandit Leader

At night, Yang Ling practiced his punches while keeping an eye on the movements in the room across from him.

Wu Que seemed not to have returned all night, so Yang Ling mustered his courage and also went through a round of cultivating the Vajra Mingwang Technique.

It wasn't until around seven the next morning that Wu Que returned from outside, called out to Yang Ling, and they set off.

"Yang Ling, do you know what the Mountain River Sect mainly does?"

Wu Que seemed in high spirits today, speaking up on his own.

Yang Ling replied respectfully, "This Humble One does not know."

Wu Que chuckled. "The Mountain River Sect is one of the Mine Gangs, mainly making a living from ore veins.

Under its command are three Fire Crystal Rock Mines and one Red Gold Mine.

The ore you dig up every year is either sold to the imperial court or to the Major Sects, aristocratic families, and powerful clans."

A Mine Gang?

Yang Ling's mind stirred. It seemed there were quite a few similar sects in Zhao State, all focused on mining.

"Fire Crystal Rock Ore is a fine thing. When forging weapons, adding just a bit of Fire Crystal Rock can enhance the weapon's toughness."

"Even when building city walls, mixing Fire Crystal Rock into the mortar makes the walls more durable."

"Some aristocratic families and powerful clans even add Fire Crystal Rock to their courtyards and houses—truly lavish."

A hint of emotion crossed Wu Que's face:

"You dig up an ounce of Fire Crystal Rock and only get ten Copper Coins in exchange, but the Mountain River Sect can sell it for a hundred Copper Coins. By the time it reaches the local markets, an ounce of Fire Crystal Rock can even be worth three to five hundred Copper Coins."

Such a huge profit margin?

Yang Ling was taken aback.

"A huge profit, right?" Wu Que glanced at Yang Ling.

Yang Ling gave an awkward smile. "This Humble One dares not comment."

Wu Que laughed. "Precisely because the profit is so huge, there are often Mine Bandits within the Mine Gangs. These Mine Bandits secretly plunder and steal ore vein resources.

Then they resell them on the side, reaping massive profits and stuffing themselves full."

"Supervisor Wu, why isn't there dedicated personnel to deal with the Mine Bandits?"

"I've heard that in our mine shafts, Mine Bandits often strike to rob and kill."

Yang Ling said.

Wu Que: "How do we deal with them? The Mine Bandits are all disguised as miners, never showing their true colors in daily life. We can't exactly assign someone to watch every single miner, can we?"

"Besides, the ore resources stolen by the Mine Bandits are, overall, just a drop in the bucket."

"I see."

Yang Ling nodded thoughtfully. It seemed this was considered normal wastage, something that was tolerated.

"But recently, we've run into a bit of trouble over on our end."

Wu Que said.

"What trouble?"

"We've got a Great Mine Bandit on our side."

Wu Que's tone turned somber:

"Fully three thousand catties of Fire Crystal Rock Ore are unaccounted for. In a few days, it'll be time to settle the accounts. The Mountain River Sect will send people down to audit the books and transport the Fire Crystal Ore away. But how are we supposed to handle this three-thousand-catty shortfall?"

"Three thousand catties?"

Yang Ling's expression shifted.

The Fire Crystal Mine had over a thousand miners. Though some couldn't even gather an ounce of Fire Crystal Rock in a day, at a rough estimate, at least eighty catties of Fire Crystal Rock Ore were unearthed daily.

Three thousand catties of Fire Crystal Rock Ore meant over a month's worth of output from the entire mine vein!

How could there be such a huge wastage?

Could that group of Mine Bandits really have that kind of skill?

How had Wu Que not noticed?

Even if these Fire Crystal Rock Ores were sold at a low price, they could still fetch twenty to thirty coppers per ounce.

Three thousand catties would be nearly a thousand taels of silver!

For Mountain River Sect, losing a hundred coppers per liang meant three thousand liang...

Yang Ling couldn't imagine what kind of sum that was.

The carriage had now slowly come to a halt.

"Yang Ling, truth is, I didn't bring you out this time for any Dou Mine business."

Wu Que smiled. "A shortfall of three thousand jin—someone has to bear that responsibility."

"Supervisor Wu, you're not talking about me, are you?"

Yang Ling's expression turned somewhat strange.

Fifth Brother said he was going to die—because of this?

Not the so-called Dou Mine?

This three thousand jin of Fire Crystal Rock—had this bastard embezzled it?

"Mm, you're the biggest Mine Bandit on my end."

"Once I discovered that, I deliberately found an excuse to take you out, actually to lure you into a kill."

"And your subordinates."

Supervisor Wu nodded lightly, pulling open the carriage curtain.

Across from the carriage stood a group of masked strongmen.

At their feet lay over twenty corpses.

Every corpse wore miner's clothes, their hands covered in calluses—the marks of years digging ore.

Yang Ling recognized a familiar face.

Uncle Wang.

He had lost all signs of life, his face sallow, a massive gash in his neck, blood pooled on the ground, still not dry.

Clearly, Uncle Wang and the others had been executed here, likely not long ago.

"Come down."

Wu Que stepped out of the carriage and smiled at Yang Ling.

Yang Ling got down expressionlessly.

"I'm just a refugee who just got an official identity."

"Slapping the title of Mine Bandit leader on me—does that make sense?"

"Will Mountain River Sect believe it?"

Yang Ling said.

Wu Que gave a half-smile. "Why wouldn't they? Do you think I don't know you're from the Yang Family of Hongkun City?"

"The Yang Family of Hongkun City? What the hell?"

Confusion spread across Yang Ling's face.

A masked strongman chuckled. "Stop pretending. Steward Niu has sharp eyes—he saw your background at a glance. Why else do you think he's been cutting you slack all this time?"

"Steward Niu? He's here too?"

Yang Ling's gaze sharpened as he tried to spot Steward Niu among the masked strongmen.