Before dawn had broken, the roosters began to crow.
In the chaotic camp, snores rose and fell. Bodies lay strewn every which way, and the stale scent of alcohol hung heavily in the air. Xie Xun frowned as he stood at the entrance, with trembling disciples from a collateral branch of the Xie Clan at his side.
"Ten breaths. Wake them up."
Xie Xun's voice was icy. He casually grabbed a jar of leftover wine and hurled it at the head of the man snoring in front of him.
With a bang, accompanied by the man's disgruntled muttering, Xie Xun left with a cold face and his hands clasped behind his back, paying no heed to the cracking whips and screams behind him.
Half an hour later, beneath everyone's fearful gazes, Xie Xun sat in the seat of honor with one leg crossed over the other. Kneeling before him was a tall, vicious-looking middle-aged man.
"You're the one in charge of this mine?"
Xie Xun raised his eyes. The middle-aged man answered softly with a fawning smile utterly at odds with his appearance.
"Third Young Master, this lowly one is named Xie Si. I am indeed the steward of Blackwind Stockade."
Xie Si had never imagined that, after all their fighting and killing outside to seize spirit mines, he would encounter the Xie Clan's Eldest Young Master here.
Xie Xun was a promising talent the entire Xie Clan had focused on cultivating, with his sights always set on entering the inner sect, or even becoming one of the management ranks.
A personage like him, even if sent out on assignment, should have been competing for great opportunities and vast profits. Why would he set his sights on such a small mineral vein that produced only a few hundred spirit stones