Insight Earns Merit

A group of miners were currently fleeing in panic.

From time to time, a dark shadow would emerge behind them.

Whenever these shadows landed on a miner, they would tear off a chunk of flesh.

Some miners had been bitten several times, their bodies drenched in blood, unable to hold back cries of agony.

Others fared worse—a single bite to the neck, and they dropped dead on the spot.

As their corpses hit the ground, swarms of shadows immediately converged, devouring them down to the bone in no time.

"This is a death sentence!"

"I said we shouldn't go down the mine, but no, we had to be greedy—now we're really going to die here!"

Countless miners regretted their decision, running for their lives with all they had.

Some Players were among them, sprinting just as fast.

"Don't panic! Supervisor Yang will be here any moment!"

Chen Guoqing shouted: "No crowding! Evacuate in an orderly fashion!"

Suddenly, the miners who had already run far ahead turned back and came running again.

"There are Mine Worms ahead too!"

Chen Guoqing's heart sank. How were these Mine Worms coming from all directions?

Soon, hundreds of miners were all gathered in a massive mine chamber.

Their faces were filled with terror or panic, eyes locked on the dark, branching tunnels of the Mine Shaft on every side.

Yang Ling arrived quickly. Seeing the wounds on many miners, his heart grew heavy.

The Players felt a sense of relief when they saw Yang Ling appear—finally, someone to lean on.

Li Tianye, Wang Haodong, and Chen Guoqing all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Supervisor Yang, didn't you say going down the mine wasn't dangerous? What do you have to say now? Miners have already been bitten to death by Mine Worms!"

A young miner spoke up, mustering his courage, his expression bitter and indignant.

Yang Ling glanced at him:

"The Mine Shaft has always had Mine Worms and danger. If you want to make money but expect to stay safe, then stay above ground. Why come down?"

The young miner was momentarily speechless.

Yang Ling turned to Chen Guoqing and the others:

"What's the situation now? What are the casualties?"

"Did you see what the Mine Worms look like?"

"Supervisor Yang, I just did a headcount. When we went down the mine, there were four hundred and thirty-three of us."

"Now there are only four hundred and twenty-three left..."

Chen Guoqing said quietly.

"Ten dead?"

Everyone's faces grew even darker.

"One of ours is also missing—probably bitten to death by a Mine Worm too."

Chen Guoqing added.

Yang Ling understood he was referring to the Player.

Li Tianye and the others looked grim as well.

This was their first time encountering something like this since coming to the Red Gold Mine.

After all, before this, they had only worked on the surface Ore Vein, where the worst risk was exhaustion, not danger.

"Brother Yang, this is too much of a coincidence. After this, I'm afraid the other miners will be even less willing to go down."

Chen Xu said in a low voice.

Just then, a miner shouted in terror:

"There's a Mine Worm!"

A dark shadow flew toward them.

It was fast.

But Yang Ling's blade was faster.

Pfft!

The Mine Worm was split in two and fell to the ground.

It was a black mantis, about the size of a fist.

Its fangs were razor-sharp, and its forelimbs were like straight razors.

"That's a Red Gold Mantis! They feed exclusively on Red Gold Ore! But they usually live deep underground—we're still in the shallow part of the shaft this time. Why would they show up here?"

An old miner stepped forward, forcing himself to be brave, his expression deeply puzzled.

"You're saying it shouldn't be here?"

Yang Ling looked at the old miner.

The old miner's face flickered with uncertainty:

"Supervisor Yang, I'm no expert, but this kind of Mine Worm really does live in very deep places. Even when we go down the shaft, we usually don't venture into those areas."

Just then, a few more Red Gold Mantises flew in from other branches of the Mine Shaft.

Yang Ling dealt with them easily.

The old miner's expression grew even more serious:

"Red Gold Mantises go berserk at the smell of blood. With so many of us wounded here, they'll track us through every little passage they can find. No matter which way we try to leave, it'll be dangerous."

"Go berserk at the smell of blood..."

Yang Ling's gaze slowly swept across the crowd:

"Has anyone among you acted alone?"

"Alone? I don't think so."

The group exchanged uneasy glances.

Everyone knew the dangers of going down the shaft, so they'd all stuck together in small groups.

Alone? That was almost unheard of. Who would be that foolish?

A young miner's eyes darted away, but he was buried in the crowd, and no one noticed his unease.

Chen Xu thought back carefully, then suddenly spoke up:

"Supervisor Yang, I do know someone who acted alone. I ran into him and even asked about it. After all, heading deeper into the Mine Shaft all by yourself just doesn't make sense."

"Who? Can you pick them out?"

Yang Ling said.

Chen Xu immediately scanned the crowd, sizing up each person one by one.

Soon, he spotted the young miner trying to hide and pointed straight at him:

"It's you! Come out!"

"Me?"

The young miner looked up, his face full of confusion.

Without another word, Yang Ling threw an Insight Technique at him.

In an instant, a line of information appeared:

[Wang Er, today hid Red Gold Ore Essence to attract Red Gold Mantises. Then used raw pig's blood as bait, causing the Red Gold Mantises to kill ten miners.]

[Daily uses exhausted.]

Yang Ling understood.

The man had used Red Gold Ore Essence to lure the Red Gold Mantises in.

Then he'd used the smell of raw pig's blood to draw the mantises away from the ore and toward them.

The fact that mantises had appeared in several different passages meant he'd smeared pig's blood all over as bait!

"Good thing I have the Insight Technique, or this situation would've been a real mess."

Yang Ling thought to himself.