Red Gold Crane Beak Hoe

The Red Gold Mine was far larger in scale than the Fire Crystal Rock Ore.

Countless miners were hard at work digging red gold from the open-pit ore vein.

The clanging sounds of picks and shovels rang out without end.

The moment Xu Qing's carriage arrived, he saw twelve figures already standing at the entrance of the Miner's Village.

"Word travels fast. They have eyes along the entire road."

Xu Qing lifted the curtain, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"We pay our respects to Senior Brother Xu!"

The foremost man stepped forward first, cupping his hands in a bow.

"You are?"

Xu Qing said flatly.

"This Humble One is Fang Qingyang, a steward dispatched by the Mountain River Sect."

Fang Qingyang replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Yang Ling had already brought Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing down from the carriage.

He was now wearing his Constable uniform, as Xu Qing had specifically requested.

Seeing this, Fang Qingyang and the other eleven stewards couldn't help but flash a hint of surprise in their eyes.

"Oh."

Xu Qing gave a slight nod: "You are all the stewards here, correct."

"That is so."

The group replied.

"Then it's perfect. Let me introduce you—this is the new Supervisor I've arranged."

Xu Qing introduced Yang Ling:

"Supervisor Yang Ling is originally a constable from Qingshan City, holding an official post. It just so happens I've heard the Red Gold Mine has quite a few Mine Bandits, causing many miners to complain bitterly.

Since the previous Supervisor couldn't solve these problems.

Supervisor Yang Ling's identity is just right for the role. From now on, cooperate with him fully."

The new Supervisor is a constable?

Fang Qingyang and the others were momentarily stunned, their expressions somewhat odd.

They truly hadn't expected Xu Qing to pull such a move—calling in a constable to be the Supervisor of the Red Gold Mine.

"We pay our respects to Supervisor Yang."

They remained composed, greeting him politely.

"You are all too kind."

Yang Ling smiled and cupped his hands in return.

From a Refugee to now.

He had gained a bit of status.

But whether constable or Supervisor, neither was his true trump card.

"You've just arrived and aren't familiar with this place yet. Let Fang Qingyang show you around for the next few days."

Xu Qing said with a faint smile: "I'll stay here for a few days as well. After that, I need to return to the sect to deal with Wu Que's matter."

Wu Que?

Fang Qingyang and the others' eyes flickered.

"Steward Fang, any problem with that?"

Xu Qing smiled lightly.

"No problem at all. Senior Brother Xu and Supervisor Yang, please come inside."

Fang Qingyang nodded with a smile.

Yang Ling's residence was a Single-courtyard Mansion.

While Xu Qing was there, the master bedroom naturally went to him.

Even so, Yang Ling and the other two each had their own private rooms.

"Finally, no more wooden huts that leak when it rains and let the wind through when it blows."

Yang Ling surveyed his surroundings, then quietly sensed the movements in the other rooms.

After that, he began to cultivate the Vajra Mingwang Technique.

This is a First-rate Cultivation Method.

Having learned from Xu Qing about the might of a First-rate Sect and the scarcity of cultivation methods, he was now convinced that the Vajra Mingwang Technique would be his foundation for the future—he could not afford to slack off!

After collecting the full 13 Experience Points, Yang Ling began practicing the Thief-Catching Saber Technique.

The room was spacious, more than enough for him to move around.

He trained through the entire night, then cultivated the Vajra Mingwang Technique again, and his spirit was immediately replenished.

Half a Shichen later, he brought Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing along, and under Fang Qingyang's guidance, began patrolling the Red Gold Mine.

Yang Ling had only one goal: first, to tally the number of Players in the Red Gold Mine.

He could see the Attribute Panels of Players, and this advantage was pushed to its limit at this moment.

As his gaze swept across, name after name was etched into his memory.

"Supervisor Yang, our Red Gold Mine has actually been operating for many years."

"In the early days, output was stable at three thousand catties a month."

"But in recent years, due to the increase of Mine Worms in the shafts, frequent cave-ins, and occasional Mine Bandits killing people and stealing goods, the Miners are unwilling to go down, and output keeps dropping."

As Fang Qingyang spoke, he secretly observed Yang Ling's expression from the corner of his eye.

"Steward Fang, what is our current monthly output?"

Yang Ling asked casually.

"Alas, it's only two thousand catties now."

Fang Qingyang sighed.

A drop of one-third?

Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing's expressions darkened.

Trouble.

To go from two thousand catties to three thousand five hundred catties in three months—wasn't this a hellish task?

It was simply impossible to achieve!

"How many Miners do we have now?"

Yang Ling asked again.

"A little over ten thousand. You know how Miners come and go; the number is never fixed."

Fang Qingyang said.

"Too slow. Output must be raised to three thousand five hundred catties."

Yang Ling smiled. "Steward Fang, do you have any ideas?"

A faint trace of mockery flickered in Fang Qingyang's eyes, but his face wore a bitter smile as he said:

"Three thousand five hundred catties? That's impossible. Nowadays, the surface-level Red Gold ore is getting scarcer. It's not that they aren't putting in effort—it's mainly that there's less ore. Unless we go down into the Mine Shafts, but the shafts are too dangerous, and the Miners simply refuse to go. We can't force them either. With over ten thousand Miners, if they mutiny, they could swallow up even us Mine Guards, bones and all."

Yang Ling now had a clear picture.

The other party was also being straightforward, without any concealment.

The drop in output was because the Mine Shafts were too dangerous, and the Miners were unwilling to go down.

The problem was clear—was there a way to solve it?

For now, there was no way at all.

What the other party said was also true: with over ten thousand Miners, a mutiny would be disastrous.

"He also believes I have no solution."