Mine Gang Leader

At night, Yang Ling practiced his boxing while keeping an eye on the room opposite.

Wu Que still hadn't returned, so Yang Ling plucked up the courage to practice the Vajra Mingwang Technique as well.

It wasn't until around seven the next morning that Wu Que returned. He called for 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 and spoke first.

Yang Ling replied respectfully, "I do not."

Wu Que smiled. "The Mountain River Sect is one of the Mine Gangs. Its livelihood mainly comes from ore veins.

"It has three Fire Crystal Rock mines and one Red Gold Mine under its control.

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

Mine Gang?

Yang Ling's thoughts stirred. It seemed Zhao State had quite a few sects like this, all centered around mining.

"Fire Crystal Rock is a valuable thing. Add just a little when forging weapons, and it can improve their toughness.

"Even when building city walls, mixing Fire Crystal Rock into the sand and mud can make them sturdier.

"Some powerful clans even add a bit of Fire Crystal Rock to their courtyards and houses. They're quite extravagant."

A hint of emotion appeared on Wu Que's face.

"You can only trade an ounce of Fire Crystal Rock for ten Copper Coins, but the Mountain River Sect can sell it for a hundred.

"Once it reaches the local markets, an ounce of Fire Crystal Rock can even fetch three to five hundred Copper Coins."

That was a huge profit.

Yang Ling was taken aback.

"Quite a profit, isn't it?"

Wu Que glanced at Yang Ling.

Yang Ling gave an awkward smile. "I wouldn't presume to comment."

Wu Que smiled. "It's precisely because the profits are so high that Mine Gangs often have Mine Bandits among them.

"These Mine Bandits secretly steal ore resources from the mines.

"Then they sell the ore on, pocketing massive profits and making a fortune."

"Supervisor Wu, why aren't there people specifically assigned to deal with the Mine Bandits?

"I heard there are often Mine Bandits in our Mine Shaft who rob and kill people."

Yang Ling asked.

"How would we deal with them? The Mine Bandits are miners in disguise. They don't give themselves away in their daily lives. We can't assign someone to watch every miner, can we?

"Besides, the ore resources the Mine Bandits steal amount to only a drop in the ocean overall."

"I see."

Yang Ling pondered. It seemed this was considered an ordinary loss in mining, and was tolerated.

"However, we've had a bit of trouble on our end lately," Wu Que said.

"What trouble?"

"A Great Mine Bandit has appeared on our end."

Wu Que's tone was measured.

"A full three thousand jin of Fire Crystal Rock Ore is missing from the books. The accounts are due in a few days.

"Someone from the Mountain River Sect will come down to check the books and take away the Fire Crystal Mine.

"But what are we going to do about this shortfall of three thousand jin?"

"Three thousand jin?"

Yang Ling's expression changed slightly.

There were over a thousand miners working in the Fire Crystal Rock Mine.

Although some of them couldn't even dig up an ounce of Fire Crystal Rock in a day, the mine still produced at least eighty jin of Fire Crystal Rock Ore each day.

Three thousand jin of Fire Crystal Rock Ore was more than a month's production for the entire Ore Vein!

How could the mining losses be so high?

Could the Mine Bandits really have pulled this off?

Why hadn't Wu Que noticed?

Even if this Fire Crystal Rock Ore had been sold off cheaply, it could still have fetched twenty or thirty wen per ounce.

Three thousand jin was nearly a thousand taels of silver!

For the Mountain River Sect, every ounce meant a loss of a hundred wen. That added up to three thousand taels...

Yang Ling couldn't imagine how enormous a sum that was.

The carriage had slowly come to a stop.

"Yang Ling, actually, I didn't bring you out this time for any Dou Mine," Wu Que said with a smile. "Someone has to take responsibility for the three thousand jin shortfall."

"Supervisor Wu, you don't mean me, do you?"

Yang Ling looked at him strangely.

Was this why Fifth Brother had said he would die?

So it had nothing to do with some so-called Dou Mine?

Had this bastard embezzled the three thousand jin of Fire Crystal Rock?

"Yes. You're the biggest Mine Bandit on my side.

"After I discovered this, I deliberately came up with an excuse to bring you out. In truth, I meant to lure you here and kill you.

"And your men, too."

Supervisor Wu gave a small nod and lifted the carriage curtain.

A group of masked, burly men stood across from the carriage.

More than twenty corpses lay at their feet.

Every corpse wore a miner's uniform, and their hands were covered in calluses—the mark of years spent mining.

Yang Ling recognized a familiar face.

Uncle Wang.

He was already dead. His face was waxen, a huge gash marked his neck, and blood had pooled across the ground, still fresh.

Clearly, Uncle Wang and the others had been executed here. It must have happened only recently.

"Get down."

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

Yang Ling climbed down, his face expressionless.

"I was just a refugee, and I've only just obtained an official identity.

"Is it reasonable to pin the title of Mine Gang leader on me?

"Will the Mountain River Sect believe it?"

Yang Ling said.

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

"The Yang Family of Hongkun City? What are you talking about?"

Yang Ling looked bewildered.

A masked, burly man chuckled.

"Stop pretending. Steward Niu has a sharp eye. He recognized your background at a glance. Why else do you think he's been making things easy for you all this time?"

"Steward Niu? He's here too?"

Yang Ling's gaze sharpened as he tried to pick out Steward Niu among the masked men.