Mine Thief Leader

At night, Yang Ling practiced his martial arts while keeping an eye on the room across from his.

Wu Que seemed not to have returned at all, so Yang Ling gathered his courage and practiced the Vajra Wisdom King Art as well.

It was not until around seven the next morning that Wu Que returned from outside and called Yang Ling to set off.

"Yang Ling, do you know what the Mountains and Rivers Sect mainly does?"

Wu Que seemed especially animated today and took the initiative to speak.

Yang Ling replied respectfully, "I do not."

Wu Que smiled. "The Mountains and Rivers Sect is one of the mining gangs, making its living mainly from mineral veins.

"It controls three Fire Crystal Ore mines and one Red Gold Ore mine.

"The ore you dig up every year is either sold to the imperial court or to major sects, aristocratic families, and wealthy clans."

A mining gang?

Yang Ling's thoughts stirred. It seemed there were quite a few similar sects in the Zhao Kingdom, all centered around mining.

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

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

"Some wealthy aristocratic families even add Fire Crystal Rock to their courtyards and houses. That is what you call extravagance."

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

"When you dig up one tael of Fire Crystal Rock, you can only trade it for ten copper coins. Yet the Mountains and Rivers Sect can sell it for a hundred copper coins.

"Once it reaches the local markets, a tael of Fire Crystal Rock can even be worth three to five hundred copper coins."

Such enormous profits?

Yang Ling froze for a moment.

"Enormous profits, right?"

Wu Que glanced at Yang Ling.

Yang Ling gave an awkward smile. "I would not dare comment."

Wu Que smiled. "It is precisely because the profits are so great that mine thieves often appear among the mining gangs.

"These mine thieves secretly rob and steal mineral resources.

"They then resell them for massive profits, making a fortune."

"Supervisor Wu, why is there no dedicated manpower to deal with mine thieves?"

"I heard that mine thieves often murder people for profit in the mines over there."

Yang Ling said.

Wu Que said, "How would we deal with them? Mine thieves disguise themselves as miners and usually leave no traces. We cannot assign someone to watch every miner, can we?"

"Besides, the mineral resources stolen by mine thieves are, overall, just a drop in the bucket."

"I see."

Yang Ling pondered it. It seemed this was considered normal wastage and was tolerated.

"But recently, we have run into a bit of trouble over there."

Wu Que said.

"What trouble?"

"A major mine thief has appeared on our side."

Wu Que's tone was faint.

"A full three thousand jin of Fire Crystal Ore cannot be accounted for. In a few days, it will be time to settle the accounts.

"The Mountains and Rivers Sect will send people down to check the books and transport the Fire Crystal Mine's ore away.

"But what are we supposed to do about this three-thousand-jin shortfall?"

"Three thousand jin?"

Yang Ling's expression changed slightly.

There were over a thousand miners at the Fire Crystal Ore mine.

Although some could not even gather one tael of Fire Crystal Rock in a day, at minimum, eighty jin of Fire Crystal Ore was extracted every day.

Three thousand jin of Fire Crystal Ore was more than a month's entire output from the whole mine!

How could there be such massive wastage?

Could that group of mine thieves really be capable of this?

Why had Wu Que failed to notice?

Even sold cheaply, this Fire Crystal Ore could fetch twenty or thirty copper coins per tael.

Three thousand jin would be nearly a thousand taels of silver!

For the Mountains and Rivers Sect, every tael meant a loss of one hundred copper coins. That came to three thousand taels...

Yang Ling could hardly imagine what kind of sum that was.

The carriage slowly came to a stop.

"Yang Ling, I did not bring you out this time for some mining contest."

Wu Que smiled. "Someone has to bear responsibility for a shortfall of three thousand jin."

"Supervisor Wu, you cannot possibly mean me, can you?"

Yang Ling's expression was strange.

Fifth Brother said he would die because of this?

Not because of some supposed mining contest?

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

"Yes. You are the biggest mine thief on my side.

"After discovering this, I deliberately found an excuse to take you out. In truth, I intended to lure you here and kill you.

"You and your subordinates."

Supervisor Wu nodded lightly and lifted the carriage curtain.

A group of burly masked men stood opposite the carriage.

More than twenty corpses lay at their feet.

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

Yang Ling saw a familiar face.

Uncle Wang.

He no longer showed any sign of life. His face was waxy yellow, and a huge gash split his neck. Blood had flowed all over the ground and had yet to dry.

Clearly, Uncle Wang and the others had been executed here, perhaps only moments ago.

"Come down."

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

Yang Ling got out of the carriage expressionlessly.

"I am merely a refugee who only just acquired an official identity."

"Is it reasonable to pin the title of mine thief leader on me?"

"Will the Mountains and Rivers Sect believe it?"

Yang Ling said.

Wu Que smiled without quite smiling. "Why would they not? Did you think I did not know you were a member of the Yang Family of Hongkun City?"

"The Yang Family of Hongkun City? What the hell is that?"

A confused look appeared on Yang Ling's face.

One of the masked burly men chuckled.

"Stop pretending. Steward Niu has sharp eyes. He recognized your background at a glance. Otherwise, why would he have made things convenient for you these past days?"

"Steward Niu? He is here too?"

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

"No need to look. He is not here. He was sent here to keep an eye on me."

Wu Que smiled faintly.

"I was still worrying about who to make the scapegoat, but Steward Niu found me such a good excuse.

"A member of the Yang Family of Hongkun City is qualified to be a mine thief leader."

"So it was a misunderstanding. And because of that misunderstanding, Wu Que saw me as the most suitable scapegoat."

"If he had acted sooner, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Yang Ling's scalp went numb.

He had never expected Wu Que, the supervisor and highest-ranking manager of the mine, to be the greatest mine thief of all!

"But now..."

Yang Ling swept his gaze over the status panels of everyone present.

Their masks were already useless.

Their names and attributes were displayed clearly before his eyes.

Their Strength was basically all above 10, and their names were familiar as well.

They were mine guards.

The one who had spoken just now seemed to have a rather good relationship with Steward Niu. Yang Ling often saw them standing together and chatting.

He looked at Wu Que again. His attributes were unchanged from before.

Yang Ling inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

This was not a big problem.

"Oh, right. I heard that when Xu Qing was at the mine, he spent every day with you. Are the two of you acquainted?"

Wu Que asked as if casually.

This bastard knew everything.

Yang Ling could not be bothered pretending anymore.

"Wu Que, Brother Xu Qing thinks highly of me and intends to let me become a supervisor at the Red Gold Ore mine in the future.

"If you lay a hand on me, he will not let you off easily. At the very least, he will thoroughly investigate this matter."

"Good, good, good."

Wu Que clapped and laughed.

"In that case, it works out perfectly. Once this happens, he can forget about taking over the Red Gold Ore mine."

"..."

Yang Ling fell silent for a moment.

"You have someone backing you too?"

"Of course."

Wu Que chuckled, rolling up his sleeves.

"I will send you on your way."

The next moment, he closed in on Yang Ling like a leopard.

Black Tiger Fist!

Advanced Mastery granted him an additional 12 points of Strength.

Wu Que's Strength rose to 24.

His fist tore through the air with a fierce howl!