Exploration Team

The carriage jolted along the rugged mountain path.

Inside the carriage, besides Li Tui, there were two other men. One stared blankly at the carriage roof, lost in thought, while the other hugged his knees and sobbed in a stifled manner.

No one spoke. There was only the monotonous sound of wheels grinding over gravel and the occasional loud shouting of the guards outside.

Li Tui huddled in the innermost corner, his back pressed against the cold wall of the carriage. He kept his eyes closed, his head swaying slightly with the bumps. His face was pale, and his lips were pressed tightly together.

To anyone looking, he was just a terrified and exhausted half-grown boy.

Only Li Tui knew that the true energy within his body was slowly circulating the Qingmu Jue. At a time like this, he needed strength more than ever. Even if it was just a sliver more.

Lin Shouyi just had an accident, and I was immediately slapped with a crime and thrown here, Li Tui reasoned calmly to himself. The mine must be severely short of people, or... something else has gone wrong.

Going head-to-head is suicide.

First, I must survive and figure out what is really going on in this place.

The carriage gave a violent jolt and stopped.

"Clang!"

The rear tailgate of the carriage was rudely dropped. The pale afternoon light, mixed with the scent of damp earth, flooded in.

"We're here! Everyone, get out!"

Li Tui followed the others off the carriage. His legs felt weak, so he took the opportunity to lower his head and steady himself, his eyes quickly scanning the surroundings.

This was the hinterland of the back mountain. A clearing had been hacked out of the forest, and a crude camp was built against the mountain. There were log fences and figures on watchtowers monitoring them with bows.

The air smelled of sweat, damp soil, and an indescribable chill.

About a hundred people were busy inside the camp, most of them gaunt and hollow-eyed. Overseers walked back and forth with whips, lashing anyone who moved too slowly to ensure no one slacked off.

Li Tui was shoved along with dozens of other new "convicts" to the center of the clearing. A middle-aged cultivator with a cold, hard face, dressed in the attire of the Zhou Family, stood at the front.

The cultivator's sinister gaze swept over their faces.

"Listen up," he said. His voice wasn't loud, but it suppressed all other movement. "This is a Zhou Family mine. You are all here to serve your sentences and atone for your crimes! There is only one iron rule here: absolute obedience! Violators will be severely punished!"

After speaking, he began to assign tasks according to a roster. Those assigned to transport, construction, or kitchen duty showed a hint of relief, as if they had narrowly escaped death.

Li Tui's name was called at the very end.

"Lin Qing, Wang He, Zhao Laosuan..." Along with Li Tui, a total of nine people were called out.

The middle-aged cultivator glanced at them. "The nine of you are assigned to the Vanguard Scout Team."

A few very soft, relieved sighs sounded from the crowd.

As for the nine chosen, apart from Li Tui, the rest were deathly pale. Wang He's knees buckled, and he would have collapsed if not for someone propping him up.

"S-scout team?" Zhao Laosuan's voice trembled.

"Yes," the middle-aged cultivator said expressionlessly. "Assemble here tomorrow morning at the third quarter of the Mao hour. Bring your gear and go to the abandoned mine tunnels in the north. Check the terrain and keep an eye out for any traces of bandits. Bringing back useful information will count as a merit. If you slack off or report lies..."

He didn't finish, but everyone understood the implication.

This wasn't a scout team; it was a death squad. That abandoned mine area was already eerie, and now that it bordered the bandits' territory, sending them there was no different from feeding them to wolves.

Li Tui lowered his head and remained silent.

As expected, the worst assignment, he sneered inwardly. They're using us as stepping stones.

But in a chaotic place, there are also opportunities...

The nine men were driven to a dilapidated shed at the very edge of the camp. The shed was drafty, the floor covered in rotting straw, and it reeked of mildew.

After they squeezed inside, no one spoke. There was only heavy breathing and stifled sobbing.

Li Tui sat in a corner, hugging his knees and burying his face in them, looking as if he were exhausted.

The people in his squad... Wang He, who was paralyzed with fear; Zhao Laosuan, who was chanting prayers; the young man who was crying secretly...

His peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the innermost, darkest corner of the shed.

Someone was curled up there, wearing a tattered felt hat and oversized old clothes. The person was huddled into a ball and didn't make a sound. They hadn't moved since they entered, like a shadow.

But Li Tui remembered that when they were lining up earlier, a pile of rocks nearby had suddenly collapsed. While everyone else panicked and scrambled to dodge, this person had moved half a step to the side with extreme speed, just as the rocks rolled, avoiding them perfectly.

The person's frame looked even thinner and smaller than a teenager's, so they couldn't be very old. As for whether they were male or female, Li Tui couldn't tell.

Suddenly, footsteps approached from outside—it was the patrol. The shed became even quieter.

The figure in the corner shrank further into themselves, their breathing almost vanishing.

Li Tui buried his face deeper.

His hand, hidden in his sleeve, moved imperceptibly.

His fingertips brushed the ground and touched a broken wooden splinter half-buried in the rotting straw. He calmly gripped the splinter, feeling its sharp, stinging edge.

Scout team... nine people...

Li Tui closed his eyes, calculating rapidly in his mind.

Abandoned tunnels, bandits, an eerie territory... the Zhou Family doesn't expect us to bring back any information. We are being sent to die, and to scout the path while we're at it.

But if nine people are going to die, it would be better to...

He gently rubbed the tip of the wooden thorn with his fingertips.

It would be better to let some people die first.

Die for a bit of value.

These people, in a moment of crisis, could serve as a shield. They could draw away attention. They could...

Be sacrifices.

Li Tui slowly opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping across the faces in the shed through the gap between his arms and knees.

Fear, despair, numbness.

And in the corner, that... suspiciously calm figure.

You're thinking about how to survive too, aren't you? Li Tui sneered inwardly, Then let's see who is more ruthless.

The footsteps outside the shed faded into the distance.

Li Tui closed his eyes again and continued to circulate his True Qi.

A faint current of air wandered through his meridians, accumulating bit by bit. He needed more power. He needed to survive until tomorrow.

And to survive, he had to be colder, more ruthless, and stronger than everyone else.

Outside the shed, the night grew heavy. Inside the shed, the youth curled up in the corner like a dormant young beast.