Chen Jichuan [New Book Upload!]

Four hundred years of the Great Chu Dynasty, the sixth year of Xuande.

Flowing fire fell from the skies, the earth cracked and mountains crumbled.

All manner of demons danced in chaos.

Bandit troubles arose on all sides.

A vast and superior country fell to pieces overnight.

In the same year.

Shian Commandery's Everlasting Prosperity County Town was conquered by rebels.

The banner of the great king replaced the one on the city walls.

The former officials and bailiffs of the Yongfeng County yamen were all cast into the great prison, and their immediate families were implicated.

In the blink of an eye, six years had passed.

The world was gray, without sun or day.

The mist was dreary, wretched, cold, and damp.

The dark earth rolled and undulated in the distance, while miners wearing tattered cotton-padded jackets bustled like ants, holding iron picks and clanging away as they mined ore.

This ore, known as Yantie Ore, appeared dark brown. Its hardness was extremely high, but its toughness was only average.

Struck heavily with an iron pick, it shattered into pieces the size of fists, from which seeped a small amount of black liquid resembling grease, giving off a fishy, foul odor.

"Hoo—"

"Hoo—"

"Hoo—"

Chen Jichuan held an iron pick, panting like an ox.

Every single strike required him to muster all his physical strength.

The shattered fragments struck his body, hitting the tattered cotton-padded jacket with its small, exposed sleeves. Splattered with the fishy Yantie grease, it was already stained through and through, smelling unbearable.

Day-in and day-out labor, spending all day in contact with Yantie Ore and these odors, had long since become second nature.

Sometimes chipping and chiseling.

Sometimes taking a rest.

It took a full half day's effort just to barely knock down a small bamboo basket's worth, but even this small basket weighed well over a hundred catties.

After doing half a day of heavy labor.

His arms were aching and sore.

His waist was weak and sore.

The remaining strength Chen Jichuan had was only enough to carry a hundred catties or so on his back.

He hoisted the bamboo basket.

It was so heavy that it forced him to hunch his back and stoop his torso.

The grueling miner's life made eighteen-year-old Chen Jichuan look weathered, appearing if anything several years older than a man in his thirties from his past life.

Daily, as soon as the fog thined a little, Chen Jichuan had to go out to work.

Only when the fog grew dense, bringing a wretched and unbearable cold, could they return.

Day after day.

Year after year.

Starting from the age of twelve, a full six years had battered Chen Jichuan's body beyond recognition. It was not just an accumulation of illnesses from overwork, but even more so because of an environment like Hell—

The mist was hazy, the dampness far too heavy.

Every night, joints all over his body ached faintly, making it hard to fall asleep.

Going on like this.

Before a few years were out, his entire person would be completely ruined. Even if he could return to the normal world in the future, he would be plagued by illnesses all year round.

And this was considered the mild part.

If things had been like the year they first entered, when they were not treated as human beings and were driven to mine these ores until they dropped dead, Chen Jichuan would not have lived to see today.

This place, privately called the Black Prison by the miners, had buried an unknown number of dry bones over the past six years.

Chen Jichuan's father, second uncle, third uncle, eldest brother, second brother, and third brother.

All of them had either died of exhaustion or illness right here.

Six years later.

The Black Prison had also changed hands several times over; tasks had been reduced quite a bit, and the mortality rate had dropped.

Only then were Chen Jichuan and his younger brother Chen Shaohe able to survive by a stroke of luck.

Yet it was merely a lingering, wretched existence.

"Old Five."

Chen Jichuan glanced at Chen Shaohe, who was burying his head in hard labor beside him.

"Fourth Brother, just a second, it'll be ready soon." Chen Shaohe hummed as he exerted himself, panting heavily.

Clang, clang, clang, clang.

Wielding his iron pick without even raising his head, he set about his work with considerable proficiency. As he spoke with his fourth brother, Chen Jichuan, although somewhat fatigued, his tone was brisk and clearly not yet numb.

Whenever Chen Jichuan looked at Old Five Chen Shaohe—who was two years younger than him, looked just as aged as he did, but in reality was only sixteen years old—he invariably thought back to six years ago.

Back then.

Their family was still in Shian Commandery's Yongfeng County.

His father, second uncle, and third uncle all served in the yamen; although they were merely minor clerks, their foundations were deep, and they maintained close ties with the large, wealthy families and local tyrants in the county.

They could be considered local bullies.

The Chen Family were no angels.

In the stinking cesspool that was the yamen, even a rat had a blackened heart, and not a single white feather existed among them.

The same went for the Chen Family. Like most bailiffs and government runners, they had committed plenty of unscrupulous deeds.

Chen Jichuan had transmigrated here; although he retained memories of his past life, his words carried little weight and he was still too young, making it utterly impossible to stop or change anything.

He had originally intended to wait until he grew up to seek another path in life.

Who could have anticipated that just as he turned twelve, the massive Chu Dynasty would collapse the moment it was toppled, and the Yongfeng County where he resided would be conquered by rebels.

The yamen officials and bailiffs were all thrown into the great prison.

Along with them, close family members like themselves were also implicated.

Thus.

At the tender age of twelve, Chen Jichuan had not yet had the chance to display his grand ambitions before he was cast into prison. Following closely after, he was exiled to the Black Prison, knowing nothing of sun or day ever since.

Yet he had lived through a lifetime after all.

In his past life, his career had been successful and his net wealth substantial. Even without counting the massive compensation and insurance payouts from his death in a car accident, his eighteen properties in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou alone were enough to support his parents in comfort through their old age.

Right after his transmigration.

Chen Jichuan had been somewhat worried; the very thought of his parents sending off someone younger brought a continuous stabbing pain to his heart.

Yet eighteen years passed.

Everything was washed away.

Replaced by a secret joy at living again after death.

Even with such misfortune before his eyes, this was at least a second life—an encounter that countless rich and powerful people could not even imagine. Not to mention that before the age of twelve, his family had been well-to-do, and in Yongfeng County he was an existence whom no one dared to provoke, much like a local tyrant.

Chen Jichuan was content.

However.

His younger brother, Chen Shaohe, was currently only sixteen. Placed in his past life, he would have just graduated from middle school, yet he had already spent six years in the Black Prison. Watching his family members die one by one with his own eyes, his outlook on life had turned dark to the extreme.

"One person does evil."

"The whole family suffers."

If this were to happen to someone else, or placed in his past life, Chen Jichuan—an older, 'righteous' youth whose worldview wasn't exactly upright—would only have clapped his hands in joy and cheered without stopping.

Yet when it befell his own family, this taste—

"Fourth Brother."

Chen Shaohe did not know what his fourth brother was thinking; he knocked down the final piece of ore, tossed it into the bamboo basket, failed to stand up straight at once, and lifted his head to look up at Chen Jichuan.

This sixteen-year-old youth ultimately lacked Chen Jichuan's strength.

"Come."

Chen Jichuan snapped out of it, using both hands to steady the bamboo basket as he hauled it upward, allowing Chen Shaohe to leverage the force and finally stand up.

The two brothers went together.

Chen Shaohe in front and Chen Jichuan in the back, his hands helping to support Old Five's bamboo basket as they walked toward the overseer's post.

Along the way.

It was not just Chen Jichuan, nor just Chen Shaohe.

There were other miners as well.

Either carrying bamboo baskets on their backs alone, or carrying shoulder poles, or two of them joining forces to lift a load together.

"Fourth Lang."

"Little Five."

Many familiar miners smiled and greeted the brothers when they saw them.

They were all miners.

With the same stench and the same dust-covered appearance.

No one had room to look down on anyone else.

"Uncle Wang."

"Brother Zhao."

Chen Jichuan smiled and responded to each of them in turn.

Life in the Black Prison was bitter indeed, but over these years, most of the miners had already grown accustomed to it.

Life still had to go on.

They couldn't just wallow in misery all day long.

Besides.

The lords outside this Black Prison had given them hope—

As long as they served out a full ten years.

And their ten-day work evaluations were no lower than two thousand catties.

They would be released from the Black Prison.

Ten years was not short.

Yet it was still something to strive for.

For miners like Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe, who were among the first batch to enter, this goal was even visible to the naked eye.

Because of this.

Most miners now hoped that the Black Prison would never change hands again; otherwise, if new lords arrived, they had no idea whether this rule would still remain in effect.

Ironically—

Chen Jichuan thought so, too.

The overseers' office was located at the North District Mine Storehouse.

Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe toiled busily for a whole day, making two round trips and each carrying two hundred and ten catties of ore on their backs, which was considered completing today's task. The extra ten catties of odd weight, accumulated over time, was exceptionally useful whether it was used for resting or exchanged with the Mining Supervisor's Office for grain, vegetables, oil, salt, and meat.

With the bamboo tallies in hand.

The brothers hurried back, discussing the overseer's words from earlier along the way.

"Fourth Brother."

"There is still plenty of ore to be mined in this place, so why on earth are they having us move to other mines?"

Chen Shaohe looked somewhat puzzled.

The mine where they currently resided was mostly an open-pit mine, which was easy to mine and lacked dangers such as cave-ins, making it considered a good job.

If they were transferred to other mines, safety was by no means guaranteed.

Chen Jichuan also found it rather strange.

The overseer hadn't explained it to them, only telling the miners from the North District of No. 19 Mine to assemble early tomorrow morning and go to the new mine together.

"Perhaps there are newcomers coming in, and they are making room for them."

Chen Jichuan couldn't think of any other possibility.

In this Black Prison, there was mostly that extremely foul-smelling Hate-Iron Ore. According to newcomers who had entered in the past, this Hate-Iron Ore could be refined into Yantie, which, although too rigid and easily snapped, was exceptionally good for crafting arrowheads and spearheads.

Inside the Black Prison.

Aside from Hate-Iron Ore, he had never seen normal iron ore, silver ore, or gold ore—

Perhaps other types of ore existed.

Yet Chen Jichuan had never seen them, or else the lords outside the Black Prison simply didn't intend to mine them.

Therefore.

The possibility of a change in ore type was very small.

In that case.

Transferring mines was most likely about clearing space for newcomers.

Over the past six years.

Even though Chen Jichuan had been inside the Black Prison and remained unaware of changes outside, he still knew that the chaos was continuing, order had not yet been fully restored, and major battles occurred year-round. Every time a war broke out, there were bound to be prisoners of war, many of whom were demoted to the Black Prison to perform hard labor.

Open-pit mines were easy to mine.

When newcomers first arrived, most of them were assigned to mine open-pit mines to make it easy for them to adapt and avoid excessive casualties and deaths.

"Newcomers?"

"Could it be that the Black Prison is changing hands again?"

Chen Shaohe suffered a jolt in his heart, looking at Fourth Brother with some worry.

"Worrying about these things is useless."

Chen Jichuan shook his head, looking at Chen Shaohe, who was somewhat stooped and looked a bit aged: "Go back and pack your things. Remember, tomorrow no matter what mine we are transferred to or what happens, keep your head down."

"I know."

"The protruding rafters rot first."

Chen Shaohe nodded in response, then made a comical face at Fourth Brother, saying furtively: "You have to stay alive to have a future, after all."

The moment Chen Jichuan saw this, he couldn't help laughing.

Old Five was born into a black-hearted petty clerk's household, grew up in the bitter, frigid, and desperate Black Prison, and watched his immediate family members pass away one by one. If left to his own devices, the depths of his heart would surely turn dark, and he would inevitably feel despair toward life.

Fortunately.

In his past life, Chen Jichuan had read quite a few xianxia and fantasy stories, and over the years he had tirelessly recounted them to Chen Shaohe.

Tucked within those wondrous tales were countless hidden agendas—

Guiding people toward goodness and shaping their worldview.

He had even deliberately portrayed the protagonists as native-born individuals from humble, bitter beginnings, yet resilient and unyielding until opportunities finally presented themselves, the winds of fortune arrived, and they soared straight to the skies.

Among them were plenty of protagonists who only began to make a name for themselves in their twenties or thirties.

There was even no shortage of figures in their seventies and eighties.

This was done to allow enough time for "destiny" and "fortune," ensuring that no matter what age Chen Shaohe reached, he would never despair.

Facts proved.

The effect was remarkable.

Even inside the Black Prison, hope always persisted in Chen Shaohe's heart, and he dreamed of following in the footsteps of the protagonists in the stories, shining brilliantly after enduring hardships.

Treating these hardships as tempering.

Furthermore.

It wasn't just Chen Shaohe.

These fictional stories were also inspiring Chen Jichuan, and the help they gave Chen Jichuan was no less than what they gave Chen Shaohe.

Chen Shaohe's advantage lay in his exposure to very few things, making him easy to fool, mold, and inspire.

Whereas Chen Jichuan—

Was because he himself was a transmigrator who had been reborn.

"If you don't die, you will eventually rise to prominence."

"To live is to hope!"

As if inspiring Chen Shaohe or perhaps admonishing himself, Chen Jichuan forced himself to stand straight, a brilliant light flashing within his pitch-black eyes: "Flowing water does not contend for the lead; what it contends for is its endless surging!"

Early the next morning.

The mist dispersed slightly.

Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe packed their belongings and hurried toward the North District Mine Inspectorate.

Calling them "belongings" was an exaggeration; in reality, they consisted only of two cotton quilts made by ripping apart and sewing together the cotton-padded jackets of their father and the others.

These were also the brothers' most treasured possessions.

Aside from these.

There were only a bamboo basket, an iron pick, an iron pot, bowls, chopsticks, and a bare minimum of other necessities.

As for grain—

Every ten days, the outside of the Black Prison would send in a batch of stale rice, oil, and salt, along with vegetables and even meat.

Stale rice, oil, and salt had fixed rations.

However, vegetables and meat were not given for free.

Ore mined in excess of two thousand catties every ten days was calculated as "wages," which could be used to purchase vegetables and meat. Although the exchange rate was disproportionate and very little could actually be bought, for the masters of the Black Prison, it could net them a great deal of extra ore.

It was an excellent business deal.

Incentivized labor was far more efficient than purely compulsory labor.

This math wasn't hard to figure out.

Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe were young and lacked strength, toiling away to exhaustion every single day, so a ten-day period would only barely allow them to fulfill their required quota.

Surpluses were rare.

Even if they had any.

They had to save them as a reserve for when they suffered from headaches and fevers.

Therefore his remaining grain was meager, with no vegetables, only two salted fish considered a rare delicacy, wrapped by Chen Shaohe in a washed-clean rag and hidden in a bag of aged rice.

The two clutched their cotton quilts tightly while the bamboo baskets on their backs rattled noisily.

By the time they arrived.

A small fraction of the North District miners had already arrived.

Arriving at this time, neither too many nor too few people, it was very inconspicuous.

There were ten subdivisions in total in the North District.

Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe were in Northern Zone Two; they found the acquaintances of their own subdivision, formed a neat queue, and stood waiting in place for everyone to gather and the Mining Supervisor lords to arrive.

No one spoke in the arena.

These miners were mostly acquaintances with one another, and they could chat anytime they wanted, so there was no need to idle away with small talk at this moment.

Chen Jichuan held his cotton quilt and carried his basket on his back.

He did not speak either.

By the time the North District miners had all assembled, the open space in front of the Acting Mine Inspectorate Office—which had been leveled two years ago by Chen Jichuan and these other miners—was packed full.

Fifty columns in all.

Totaling five hundred people.

Nineteenth Mine had eastern, western, southern, and northern zones, possessing a full two thousand miners.

Of course.

This was under full-capacity conditions.

Although Black Prison miners died a bit less these past two years, people still passed away every month, and they were generally rarely replenished in time, so each mining supervisor rarely had a full roster.

Chen Jichuan waited quietly.

After everyone had gathered.

After about another half hour, people finally arrived.

The crowd stirred in a commotion at first, but quieted down in an instant. Chen Jichuan tried hard to straighten his body to look, and seeing a dozen armor-clad, weapon-wielding soldiers walk out of the Mining Supervisor's Office, his heart tightened.

These armored soldiers were the armed might of the Black Prison.

Supplying the suppression of nearly ten thousand miners.

In the past two years, there had once been miners newly entered into the Black Prison who incited hundreds of people to storm the mining supervisor, only to be slaughtered to the last man by these Black Armor. That single battle had merely required the dispatch of twenty Black Armor.

Black Armor.

What kind of matter is worth the dispatch of Black Armor?

Chen Jichuan wondered inwardly, his heart growing vigilant.

The formidable reputation of the Black Armor.

It was not just Chen Jichuan alone who knew of it.

This could be seen from the fact that once the Black Armor appeared, even the faintest sounds in the arena vanished entirely.

Chen Shaohe stood in a position ahead of Chen Jichuan, glanced at the Black Armor, and immediately lowered his head again, firmly remembering the fourth older brother's warning: "Don't let people see the light in your eyes."

Reciting it silently in his heart.

He lowered his head.

Following behind the Black Armor, several figures in long robes filed out in succession. These were the mining supervisor officials; the one leading them was someone Chen Jichuan did not recognize, but the middle-aged man standing slightly behind him, Chen Jichuan knew, was North District Mining Bureau Deputy Director Feng Mo. Behind him were also the North District bureau's assistant administrators, scribes, and the ten overseers they frequently dealt with.

The North District Mining Bureau lords were all present.

Those able to stand ahead of Feng Mo were definitely big shots among the mining supervisors.

As these people came out.

On their faces, whether obviously or unnoticeably, expressions of disgust were present to a greater or lesser degree.

Chen Jichuan and these miners dealt with Yantie Ore all day long and smelled extremely foul all over. They themselves did not feel it, and since they all had the same foul odor among each other, they could not perceive it either. Yet these lords sat in their offices all day, each and every one extremely delicate, and upon coming face-to-face with the miners out of the blue, they were instantly assaulted by the stench.

How could they possibly have any good expressions.

Without saying a single word, they simply had the overseers lead each subdivision off.

The journey was silent.

The lords were far ahead.

The miners were in the middle.

Twelve Black Armor guarded the left, right, front, and back.

After the better part of a day.

Judging by the pace, it should have been twenty to thirty miles. Along this road, everything visible to the eye was entirely dark and oppressive mountain stone.

The mountains were black.

The roads were yellow.

Vegetation was scarce.

It was hard to catch sight of any other colors.

Only when small streams and river waters flowed could a trace of clarity be seen, slightly easing the oppression in their hearts.

Walking along this path.

They moved out of Nineteenth Mine.

When the mist grew slightly thicker, they reached a location possessing several dozen thatched huts.

Chen Jichuan originally thought they had reached their destination.

As a result, after hundreds of people squeezed together for a night, they set off again the next day.

Thus traveling by day and resting by night.

They walked for half a month.

Estimating that they were a good five or six hundred miles away from Nineteenth Mine, they finally stopped.

A new mine—

Had arrived.

"This is the new mine?"

"So high."

"So many rock caves."

Having traveled for days on end, the miners were also somewhat fatigued. Seeing that they had reached their destination, they all breathed sighs of relief.

Chen Jichuan did too.

Like the other miners, he raised his head to look at the towering mountain whose peak could not be seen, spotting rows of rock caves embedded in the cliff face at a single glance. Looking up from the foot of the mountain, the scenery inside the rock caves could not be clearly seen.

But he could see.

On the cliff face, mountain-climbing ladders were attached, dangling down from the openings of various rock caves. With such a steep cliff face, he had no idea what kind of people possessed such skill to be able to secure the mountain-climbing ladders.

"Could it be they want us to go into these rock caves to mine?"

Chen Shaohe saw it as well, and could not help speaking softly to his fourth older brother.

This cliff face was both tall and steep; even with the mountain-climbing ladders secured, one careless move while climbing could result in being smashed to pieces. If they still had to carry the mined ore back down on their backs, it would undoubtedly be even more dangerous.

"We'll find out in a moment."

Chen Jichuan signaled Chen Shaohe not to speak.

The miners present felt apprehensive in their hearts, inevitably letting out a buzzing sound of discussion.

At this moment.

Feng Mo, who previously managed the North District Mining Bureau, frowned slightly and shouted in a clear voice, "Silence!"

With a single shout.

In a fraction of a second, not a peep was heard.

Such a booming voice.

Chen Jichuan thought to himself secretly, looking toward Feng Mo.

He saw that Feng Mo's eyes were like a goshawk's, coldly sweeping across the crowd; seeing that no one was speaking, he then spoke coldly, "From now on, you will live in these rock caves. As long as you can find twenty pieces of this kind of ore, you can go out."

As soon as these words were spoken.

The arena nearly stirred into a commotion once more.

What were these miners yearning for and desiring most of all, if not to get out of the Black Prison?

Hearing Feng Mo bring it up out of the blue, it was hard not to feel excited.

Fortunately, Feng Mo's appearance was terrifying, and there were twelve Black Armor present nearby, deterring the miners so that they merely rejoiced secretly without making a sound.

"Go out?"

Chen Jichuan looked toward Feng Mo.

He saw that in the man's hand was an indigo-colored stone the size of a fist. The stone looked pitted and rough all over, and its purpose was completely unknown.

Feng Mo held this ore in his hand, letting everyone see it clearly.

Chen Jichuan tried hard to look, imprinting it firmly in his mind.

"Twenty pieces."

"Leave the Black Prison."

Thinking of Feng Mo's words, Chen Jichuan felt both burning excitement and unease in his heart.

What burned with excitement was—

God knew how much he loathed the Black Prison, and how badly he wanted out.

Finding twenty pieces of that kind of ore to get out now might just be a shortcut.

The unsettling part was—

"Every single one of these lords is shrewd, and the Black Prison miners are clearly short-handed. Why would they let us out so easily?"

Chen Jichuan asked in trembling tones, climbing up a mountain ladder to a cavern before voicing his earlier thoughts to Chen Shaohe.

"It's definitely not a good thing."

Chen Shaohe wasn't some naive innocent either, knowing there was no such thing as a free lunch dropping from the sky in this world.

A worried expression also hung on his face.

However.

"We are the fish and the chopping block."

"We have to pick this pie up whether we want to or not, and eat it whether we like it or not."

Chen Jichuan felt a powerless ache in his heart. "We don't have a choice."

With no choice.

They could only take things one step at a time.

Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe walked deeper into the cavern.

The seven or eight-meter-high cavern wound inward, leading who knew where. Chen Jichuan retrieved a fluorescent stone from the bamboo basket. It emitted a glow, illuminating the surrounding three to five meters brightly.

According to newcomers who had previously entered the "Black Prison", this kind of fluorescent stone used to be very precious, but two years ago a new mining area was discovered in neighboring Mu Transformation County that produced these very stones, so they gradually became common.

The cavern was dark and lightless.

It was also gloomy and damp, and ordinary torches were easily extinguished, which was why they were issued fluorescent stones.

Chen Jichuan scratched a few times at the cave entrance to indicate that this cavern was claimed.

Only then did he walk inside.

Taking heavy and light steps.

There was quite a bit of standing water in the cavern, far colder and gloomier than outside.

Chen Shaohe couldn't help shivering, wrapping his cotton-padded jacket tighter around himself.

"Let's get to work."

"Once we start moving, it won't be cold."

Seeing this, Chen Jichuan stopped walking inward.

Right there on the spot.

He took an iron pickaxe out of the bamboo basket, looked at the rock walls on both sides, and ultimately decided to start from under his feet first. According to Feng Mo, that ore called "Spirit Ore" was actually a paragenetic mineral associated with Yantie Ore, extremely rare, and hidden right inside the Yantie Ore. But one had to smash the Yantie Ore apart bit by bit to discover the spirit ore wrapped inside.

This job turned out to be pretty much the same as before.

Moreover, it saved them the job of carrying and delivering ore, and no fixed quota had been set. As long as you could stick it out in this mine, even if you did nothing at all, there was no punishment.

It looked far too comfortable.

Yet the more it was like this, the more Chen Jichuan's heart grew uneasy.

He didn't dare slack off.

"Finish early."

"Get out early."

"We can't stay here long."

Chen Jichuan said to Chen Shaohe with a stern face.

"Understood." Chen Shaohe acknowledged, brandishing his iron pickaxe and taking the lead to get moving.

Chen Jichuan also got to work.

For days on end.

The two of them smashed apart who knew how much Yantie Ore, yet didn't even catch a glimpse of the spirit ore's shadow. Thinking they wouldn't have to carry ore, they expected it to be easier, but it turned out to be even more exhausting than before.

In the old days, they would call it a day when the fog grew slightly thick.

Now, even sleeping in the middle of the night, they could hear the clanging sounds echoing from other caverns.

Clearly, everyone wanted to get out sooner.

One day.

Two days.

Three days.

Time passed day by day.

Neither Chen Jichuan nor Chen Shaohe found even a single piece of spirit ore.

On the contrary, physical problems gradually began to emerge—

Nausea.

Dry heaving.

Fatigue.

All sorts of symptoms made Chen Jichuan's heart grow increasingly unsettled.

Until the twelfth day of entering the cavern, Chen Shaohe suffered from an unprovoked nosebleed, which completely panicked Chen Jichuan—

"Radiation!"

"There's definitely radiation here!"

Chen Jichuan's eyes were bloodshot and covered in red veins.

Chen Shaohe blankly covered his nose, feeling an indescribable sensation in his heart: "Fourth brother, am I going to die too?"

Young as he was, he had seen plenty of life and death.

Now it seemed he was going to die too.

There was no fear.

Just a bit of lingering reluctance.

Reluctant to leave fourth brother, reluctant to leave all those wonderful things fourth brother had told him about.

Like taking a wife, like soaring to the heavens.

He wanted to marry a virtuous wife who could bear him a cute little boy.

He wanted to soar into the heavens, go above the white clouds that had grown blurry in his memory, look at the sky and the earth, and let the strong wind blow.

That must be so beautiful.

"If I die, it'll just be fourth brother left all alone."

Chen Shaohe covered his nose, looked at his panicked fourth brother, and couldn't help bursting into tears.

Crying and crying.

He suddenly realized the nosebleed had stopped.

Chen Shaohe wiped away the nosebleed, let go of his hand, and found that it really wasn't bleeding anymore.

At this.

He immediately felt a bit embarrassed, looking sheepishly at fourth brother, feeling that his sniveling appearance just now was truly disgraceful and worrying that fourth brother would lecture him.

"It's completely normal to get a nosebleed when you're overheated."

Seeing this, Chen Jichuan also breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Chen Shaohe.

Yet his heart didn't feel much lighter.

Before, it was nausea and dry heaving.

This time, it was a nosebleed.

What about a few days from now?

Chen Jichuan helped Chen Shaohe sit down on a raised stone platform covered with dried hay and cushioned with a quilted quilt: "You rest first."

Then he turned around.

And frantically began hacking away with the iron pickaxe.

There were Black Armor guards squatting beneath the mountain ladder, making escape impossible. The only way now was to find twenty pieces of spirit ore as quickly as possible and let Chen Shaohe out first.

"Fourth brother."

"I'm fine."

How could Chen Shaohe have the face to rest? He braced himself to stand up and resumed crushing ore as well.

When the fog grew dense once more.

Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe walked out of the cavern to report to the overseer.

Arriving at the foot of the mountain ladder.

Chen Jichuan glanced around casually and noticed that far fewer people had come tonight. Upon taking headcount, the overseer confirmed it—there had originally been four hundred and seventy-eight people, but only four hundred and fifty-four had arrived, twenty-four people short.

"Lord."

"My dad's worn out, and the ladder is too high. If he climbs down again, he'll fall to his death."

Someone in Northern Zone Two, where Chen Jichuan was, hadn't come either.

Chen Jichuan looked toward the person who spoke and recognized him as Li Ming. The absent Li Sanshui was his father; the father and son had no idea what crime they'd committed to be dragged in here, and had spent two years in Northern Zone Two, usually looking amiable enough.

Right now.

Li Ming was flattering and apologizing to the overseer "Qian Lai".

Qian Lai didn't even care to answer—

Crack!

He raised his hand and lashed out with a whip, striking Li Ming across the face and leaving a bloody welt.

"Ah!"

The pain was excruciating.

And so sudden.

Li Ming was knocked to the ground in an instant, clutching his face and screaming.

The other miners in Northern Zone Two were startled as well.

In the past.

This "Qian Lai" had been mild-mannered, never showing any particular temper. Today he didn't say a single word and struck immediately, truly terrifying everyone.

"In the past at the Nineteenth Mine, miners like 'Qian Lai' also had performance quotas and had to fulfill a certain amount of tasks every month, so he was unwilling to stir up trouble and beat or scold the miners for no reason. Otherwise, if the collected Yantie Ore was reduced, he would lose face and even face corresponding punishments."

"But now—"

Chen Jichuan smiled inwardly, feeling all the more chilling.

"Tell Li Sanshui to get down here immediately."

"Fall to his death, or be whipped to death by me, pick one!"

Qian Lai coiled his whip, a cold sneer on his face as he looked at Li Ming.

"I—"

"I'll go right now."

How dare Li Ming protest? He hurried off to find Li Sanshui.

Not just Li Ming.

And not just Li Sanshui who hadn't come.

A commotion broke out at the foot of the mountain, and after a flurry of panic—

Silence fell.

Before long.

Amid the silence, the sounds of thud and thud rang out once more, making everyone shudder.

Chen Jichuan exchanged a glance with Chen Shaohe: "He fell to his death!"

They knew someone must have fallen from the climbing ladder.

From such a high cliff, falling meant certain death without a shred of hope.

"Dad!"

"Big brother!"

Faintly, cries and wails could be heard drifting up from the foot of the distant mountain.

Chen Jichuan's heart grew cold.

He wondered if he and Chen Shaohe would also plunge to their deaths like this one day.

Lost in wild thoughts.

The overseers left.

Among the miners, out of the twenty-four who hadn't come this time, ten fell to their deaths with loud thuds.

The remaining fourteen were inspected by the overseers, and eight were taken away.

Li Sanshui from Northern Zone Two was one of them.

Chen Jichuan saw clearly that this Li Sanshui was utterly exhausted, and a large patch of his graying hair had fallen out, making him look somewhat comical. Qian Lai made him stick out his tongue, and there were blisters on it as well—a symptom that looked like oral ulcers.

"Hair loss."

"Oral ulcers."

Seeing Li Sanshui's symptoms, Chen Jichuan grew even surer of his earlier guess: "Radiation!"

Returning to the cave.

Chen Shaohe looked somewhat frightened: "Listening to Li Ming, his dad started feeling nauseous and dry-heaving seven or eight days ago, then began losing his hair in the last two days, and now he can't muster any strength at all."

"It's nothing."

"Old Man Li is getting old, he just can't handle the exhaustion."

Knowing what Chen Shaohe was thinking, Chen Jichuan spoke up to comfort him.

Yet he forced himself to pull together his energy, continuing to furiously smash the ore in search of Spirit Ore.

Chen Shaohe watched.

Without a word.

He joined in as well.

Yet he knew in his heart that before many days passed, he would likely end up just like Li Sanshui—losing his hair, breaking out in blisters on his tongue, and then—

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.

During these three days.

More and more miners exhibited various symptoms—

Including, but not limited to, nosebleeds, hair loss, oral ulcers, along with skin ulcerations, coughing, and coughing up blood.

Some even ran high fevers all over their bodies, burning into piles of ash; others grew freezing cold all over, turning into lumps of ice.

Panic spread.

Some couldn't bear it and tried to flee privately, only to be intercepted by the Black Armor and hanged from the cliff face.

Some gave up in despair, leaping straight down from the cave to find release that way.

More still fell seriously ill, lost their footing and tumbled down, or were taken away by the overseers to unknown destinations.

Chen Jichuan had no desire to flee.

He didn't want to fall to his death.

Nor did he want to be taken away.

And so he worked even harder, appearing somewhat frantic.

Chen Shaohe's nosebleeds occurred more and more often, growing increasingly frequent. Knowing his days were numbered, he spent his whole day chatting and joking with his fourth brother, recalling the past and yearning for the future.

He worked even harder at his tasks, hoping only to help his fourth brother find a few more pieces of Spirit Ore before he died.

On the seventeenth day of entering the cave.

Chen Shaohe pressed one hand against his nose.

His nosebleed had started again.

With his other hand gripping an iron pick, he struck down heavily toward a millstone-sized piece of Yantie Ore—

Clang!

The ore fractured, and a cyan mineral rolled out from within.

It was only the size of an infant's fist.

Pitted and rugged.

"Spirit Ore!"

Chen Shaohe froze, followed immediately by wild joy. He picked it up and stumbled a few steps over to find Chen Jichuan: "Fourth brother, I found one!"

Chen Jichuan looked up.

At a single glance, he spotted the indigo-colored mineral in Chen Shaohe's hand—one a size smaller than the piece Feng Mo had shown them back then—and joy lit up his brow as well.

This was, after all, the first piece of Spirit Ore they had found.

With a beginning.

There was hope.

"Only nineteen pieces left."

Chen Jichuan spoke lightly, but his heart was filled with bitterness.

Chen Shaohe failed to notice, excitedly pressing a hand to his nose while holding out the Spirit Ore to his fourth brother, hope shining in his eyes: "Spirit Ore is so hard to find, I wonder if there's something strange about it. Fourth brother, take a look."

The native boy had listened to too many stories told to him by Chen Jichuan.

At this moment, recalling many tropes of protagonists rising to prominence, he couldn't help but feel hopeful. He knew full well he was nearing death, but harboring hope, he refused to give up until the very last moment of his life.

He thought this place was so terrifying.

And since those high-ranking mine overseers attached such great importance to Spirit Ore, perhaps there was some trick behind it, and maybe it held a turning point for survival.

"Strange?"

Chen Jichuan took the Spirit Ore, smiling bitterly to himself: What else could be strange? I'm afraid dizziness, nausea, and all these pathological changes are just caused by the radiation from this kind of Spirit Ore.

Lost in thought.

He looked at Chen Shaohe's hopeful gaze and hadn't the heart to pour cold water on him.

He also knew that little five probably wouldn't make it through. All he could do was likely just make his final days a little happier.

His thoughts stirred, preparing to say some words of comfort.

Yet unexpectedly—

PS: The new book sets sail, seeking bookmarks and recommendation votes.

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