The pitch-black mine tunnel was not entirely without light. Coming in after growing accustomed to the brightness outside, their eyes simply struggled to adjust at first. A crude oil lamp hung at intervals along the walls, its dim glow barely enough to see the way.
The two men carrying loads on shoulder poles, one tall and one short, deliberately slowed their steps, glancing ahead and behind from time to time.
These two skulking figures were precisely the men Shen Youkun had spoken of through gritted teeth, the two who had not yet been cleared out. Their heights alone made it easy to tell which was which.
Once they had put some distance between themselves and the miners ahead and confirmed that no one was approaching from behind, the towering Wu Jinliang still looked shaken. He muttered a complaint to the man beside him. "That was close. Shen Youkun almost recognized us. I told you this was dangerous and said we shouldn't come, but you just had to join the fun."
Shi Chun muttered back, "Nothing happened, did it? We confirmed it over and over with the captive. They're all unfamiliar faces from elsewhere. Apart from Shen Youkun, none of them should know us. Running into him face-to-face just now was pure coincidence. We can't keep bumping into him."
Wu Jinliang widened his eyes in warning. "Listen, Chun, don't bank on luck here. Aren't we being a little too brazen about this? What if we run into him again? He isn't blind. He can't keep mistaking us for someone else. He probably hates us to the marrow of his bones, and my height makes me far too conspicuous. You might dare to stroll around under his nose, but I'm scared! If we run into him again, he'll almost certainly recognize us. One shout from him, and we'll be swarmed and beaten..."
Shi Chun cut him off disdainfully. "Shout? What shout? If he doesn't recognize us, fine. If he really does expose us face-to-face, just let him try shouting. He's nothing but a cripple with his cultivation destroyed. How hard would it be to grab him as a hostage? The moment I notice anything wrong, I can snatch him up. What's there to fear? Get on with it boldly. Stop seeing ghosts everywhere and scaring yourself."
"Uh..." Wu Jinliang scratched his head, at a loss for words. Thinking it over, that did seem to be the case. If they ran into Shen face-to-face again, he would be easy enough to seize.
But another thought struck him, and something still felt wrong. He hurriedly said, "No, there really is no need to keep taking risks. They have so many men, after all. We've already seen the thing. It's just a pile of bones that's been buried for who knows how many years. We've touched it and examined it, and we haven't found anything special about that skeleton. More importantly, it's enormous. Even if it's valuable, the two of us can't move it. Looking any longer is pointless. The longer we stay, the easier it'll be to expose ourselves. Let's get out of here."
In the past, he would never have repeatedly pleaded with their chief to reconsider a decision like this. But things were different now. They had accumulated enough "merit," and all their responsibilities in the Eastern Nine Plains had been laid down. Even if Shi Chun wanted to see that proprietress's daughter in the city one more time, there was no need to take further risks. They could quietly wait to meet her, then exchange their "merit" for freedom. Why invite more trouble?
As for why the two of them had appeared here, that too had to do with the "merit" they had just accumulated.
Simply put, they had robbed an enormous shipment of supplies. It was truly enormous, so much so that even they had been surprised. Everyone had been overjoyed, but their chief had frowned and muttered to him that something felt wrong.
The strength of the guards did not seem to match the quantity of supplies. In other words, the robbery seemed to have succeeded far too easily.
He had thought nothing of it. Getting the goods was all that mattered. Their chief, however, had taken a precaution at the site of the robbery.
Later, after the goods had been delivered to the city and successfully sold, their chief had again felt something was wrong. This time, the sale had gone too smoothly.
He had said that anyone capable of gathering so many supplies in this land of exile ought to possess considerable strength and influence. Even if they made no attempt to recover the goods, how could they lack even the courage to come and argue? Had the Eastern Nine Plains lost that much to a robbery, even if they lacked the ability to take it back, they would have spread word of the stolen haul to draw covetous eyes and cause their enemies some trouble. Yet everything had gone so smoothly that they had not heard a single unusual rumor.
Afterward, the precaution left at the robbery site had also brought back word. They had watched for several days, but no one had come to examine the scene or investigate.
And the "merit" obtained by exchanging that huge shipment at market rates had been just enough to buy freedom for everyone in the Eastern Nine Plains. Faced with that amount, their chief had frowned and remained silent for a long time.
Everyone had been bubbling with excitement and could no longer contain themselves. No reason would likely have held back their desire to leave. Their chief had said little and divided the "merit" among them fairly.
After all the clamor, quiet had returned. Just like that, he had sent everyone away. Watching them leave, their chief had suddenly cupped his hands and offered their retreating backs a long, lingering bow.
He had noticed that their chief's eyes were red. He seemed to have shed tears then.
Their chief had turned his head away, apparently unwilling to let him see, so he had pretended not to notice.
In the end, only the two of them had stayed. He thought he understood why their chief had not left. The daughter of the proprietress of Bowang Tower came to the nearby city to audit the accounts roughly once every three months, and practically everyone knew their chief was fond of her.
They could only see each other once every three months, so staying to wait for one last meeting was understandable. He was about to leave, after all. Even if he could not get a way to contact her in the outside world, he should at least say goodbye in person. Otherwise, he might never be able to give himself an answer.
Who would have guessed that their chief would make other arrangements with him? He had said that staying might allow them to serve as bait. If someone really had deliberately tried to send them away, that person would surely investigate upon discovering they had not left.
He had thought their chief was overthinking it. Who in this godforsaken place would be kind enough to give them so many supplies just to help them leave?
Later, someone really had come. They had then traced the trail backward and uncovered Shen Youkun as the man behind it.
Why would Shen Youkun do such a good deed? It was simply inconceivable. Naturally, the two of them had done everything they could to get to the bottom of it. There was still plenty of time before the proprietress's daughter came to audit the accounts, and they had nothing else to do anyway. As they investigated, things had eventually come to this.
Now, no matter how he tried to persuade him, Shi Chun still chose to keep taking risks. Without breaking stride, he said, "Food and supplies for this many people every day, plus that huge shipment secretly delivered to us-I don't believe he'd spend so much on something pointless. We just don't understand it yet. If we keep watching to the end, I'm sure we'll figure out his game."
Wu Jinliang was so anxious he wanted to stamp his feet. Keeping pace, he tried again. "Even if there's some trick to this skeleton, it's too tough for us to chew through, and we can't take it away. That makes it none of our business. It isn't worth risking ourselves over."
Shi Chun turned to ask him, "Shen suddenly produced such an enormous shipment. Where do you think it came from? Did he save it up?"
Wu Jinliang did not believe he had saved it up. In all their years running the Eastern Nine Plains, they had only managed to send a few dozen people out through the city. Shen Youkun had been exiled here for just two or three years, yet the supplies he had pretended to let them rob were enough to send all hundred-odd of their people away. Add the expenses for all the men here, and it was far beyond what anyone could easily accumulate in this impoverished land.
Then where had it come from? Everyone understood certain things without saying them aloud. The problem probably lay with the checkpoint at the city gate. After all, even exiles were divided into ranks and classes. Things like this were hardly rare.
But so what? Did ants like them have the right to question those who controlled the city gate? They could certainly try, if they wanted to invite trouble.
So Wu Jinliang asked in return, "Does it matter where it came from? Chun, let's go. This has nothing to do with us."
Shi Chun said, "Nothing to do with us? With Shen Youkun's connections outside, do you think he'll let us off easily even after we leave? Especially when he was the one who took the initiative to send us out. Can you feel at ease about that? If he can bring so much in here, how hard would it be for him to send word outside and have us dealt with?"
At those words, Wu Jinliang's heart lurched. He hurriedly asked in a low voice, "What do you want to do?"
Shi Chun leaned closer and replied softly, "There's clearly something wrong with where those supplies came from, and they're clearly doing something here that can't bear the light of day. If we find out what's going on and get our hands on something useful, we'll have more room to maneuver."
Wu Jinliang gave a thoughtful hum, his objections instantly extinguished. Still, he could not resist grumbling, "Listen, Chun, of all the people you could have provoked back then, why did you have to pick Shen? Now look at us. Everyone else gets to leave happily once they've earned enough 'merit,' while we have to live in fear."
Shi Chun sighed mournfully. "You think I wanted this? Damn it, who knew he really had connections?"
It was an old story. When Shen Youkun had first been banished here, he had looked nothing like an ordinary man. He carried himself arrogantly and continued to look down on everyone even after his banishment. Wherever he went, he used his family background to intimidate people. Thinking of their futures, most people wanted no trouble. If they could not afford to offend him, they avoided him.
That was also why some exiles whose cultivation had been destroyed could still command natives who possessed cultivation here.
As time passed, Shen Youkun had grown bolder, almost strutting around like he owned the place. Eventually, he had provoked the Eastern Nine Plains and happened to fall into Shi Chun's hands.
Shi Chun's reputation in the area was not that of a man who lived on vegetables. He would not indulge such behavior, though wariness of Shen's background had still made him extend some courtesy.
But Shi Chun had not been raised on fear, either. He could not simply believe someone who claimed to have connections. Surely that required verification? So he had placed Shen Youkun under house arrest, still serving him good food and drink, while having him contact his family through the city gate.
Yet after all those attempts to make contact, Shen Youkun had never managed to prove his background.
The consequences were easy to imagine. Damn it, you dared try to fool me! There was no chance Shi Chun would go easy on him. He had long had his eye on the fine clothes Shen Youkun had worn into exile, so the first thing he did was strip him stark naked in public. A round of humiliation and vicious abuse was inevitable.
He had not killed Shen Youkun then, because he wanted him to learn what it meant for living to be worse than death. He had spread word that Shen Youkun was a fraud and tossed him to the parties concerned.
He had assumed Shen Youkun was doomed. Who would have thought the news that came back would be that those people were venerating him like an ancestor?
Only after investigating had he learned that Shen Youkun really did have connections outside, and those connections had finally reached the people here.
Shi Chun had indeed been dumbfounded when he found out. Only after further inquiries had he roughly understood. Shen Youkun really did have connections, but the people at the city gate were powerful too. Not just any family's influence could easily open that channel. That was what had caused the misunderstanding. By the time the Shen family smoothed the way here, Shi Chun had already offended Shen Youkun terribly.
Afterward, Shen Youkun had indeed repeatedly gathered gangs to make trouble for him, but he had never gained the upper hand.
Finally, sick of the endless harassment, Shi Chun had found a way to teach him a brutal lesson. Only then had Shen Youkun settled down.
There had been opportunities to kill Shen Youkun along the way, but Shi Chun had restrained himself. Actually killing him would change the nature of the matter. His family could reach into the city gate itself-would they swallow that anger? If they truly became ruthless, the people at the city gate could cut off his path to survival far too easily. Any one of them could do it.