They were very soft, very slow, as though someone were moving cautiously, afraid of being heard.
One step, two steps...
They did not come from deep within the rubble, but farther in-from deeper inside the mine passage.
Nuoyaji's eyes snapped open, his pupils contracting slightly.
Someone was in there.
Without time to think it through, Nuoyaji turned and hurried back to Yimulei. Rubble rolled beneath his feet with a crunching sound. In his haste, he nearly tripped over a loose stone, stumbled, then steadied himself and kept going.
"Lord Yimulei." His voice was quiet, but its urgency made Yimulei turn immediately.
"What is it?"
"There are footsteps on the other side of the rubble, inside the mine passage," Nuoyaji said.
Yimulei's brows drew together sharply. His gaze instinctively darted toward the blocked entrance, then quickly returned to Nuoyaji's face.
"How do you know?"
"I used a little magic." Nuoyaji pointed at his ears without explaining in detail. "Supernatural Hearing. It lets me hear sounds ordinary people can't. Someone's inside, still moving around. That means there's still room deeper in the passage. It hasn't been completely blocked."
Yimulei stared at him for two seconds without asking anything else. Turning, he waved at the guards and mercenaries resting on the ruins and raised his voice. "Everyone, over here! There are people under the rubble! They're still alive!"
A dozen or so people immediately stood up. Some dropped their waterskins, others grabbed tools from the ground, and they hurried over to Yimulei and Nuoyaji.
The mercenary captain ran at the front, his leather boots thudding heavily against the rubble. The old scar on his face looked particularly fearsome in the morning light.
"My lord, are you certain?" The captain reached them, his gaze flicking between Yimulei and Nuoyaji.
"Certain." Yimulei wasted no words, jerking his chin toward the rubble. "Get a few men and start digging where he tells you. Don't use brute force. Watch out for another collapse."
The captain nodded, then turned and shouted at the people behind him. "You, you, you, and you lot, over here! Everyone else, spread out and watch the surroundings. Shout immediately if any stones shift!"
Several sturdy mercenaries and guards followed the captain to the rubble, carrying shovels, crowbars, and pickaxes. They stopped at the spot Nuoyaji indicated. The captain crouched and used his hands to clear away the loose stones and dirt on the surface, exposing a larger rock beneath. He tapped its surface, listened, then stood and took a step back.
"Start digging around this rock. Take it slowly. Don't hit anyone inside."
Shovels scraped harshly as they plunged into the rubble. Dirt and loose stones were dug out one shovelful at a time and piled to the side. The men took turns, some digging, some carrying debris, others using crowbars to pry loose the larger rocks wedged in the gaps. Sweat soon soaked the backs of their clothes. Heavy breathing mingled with the clang of iron against stone, echoing over the ruins.
Nuoyaji stood nearby without joining in. He had little mana left, and his body had not recovered enough for heavy labor. All he could do was stand there, keep his ears pricked, and continue listening to the sounds on the other side of the rubble.
The footsteps stopped.
They had not moved elsewhere. They had stopped in one place and gone still.
Nuoyaji's heart tightened slightly.
Had they been discovered? Had they grown tired of walking? Or were they waiting for something?
He did not know.
Crack-
The sharp sound of breaking rock came from within the rubble.
Everyone stopped what they were doing at once.
The captain abruptly raised a hand, signaling everyone to stay still. He tilted his head to listen, then lowered his voice. "That came from inside."
Everyone held their breath, as still as a group of frozen statues. Nuoyaji poured mana into his ears again, instantly pushing his hearing to its limit.
Something was moving on the other side of the rubble. It was not footsteps, but the sound of stone scraping against stone, as though someone inside were pushing something outward.
"Get back!" the captain barked.
The men digging quickly put down their tools and retreated several steps. The captain stood in front of them, one hand on the hilt of the short sword at his waist, his body leaning slightly forward like a cheetah ready to spring.
Clatter, clatter-
The large rock in the middle of the rubble shifted slightly. Loose stones tumbled from the gaps, raising a cloud of choking dust.
Nuoyaji's pupils contracted sharply.
He saw it.
In the gap between that large rock and a smaller stone beside it was a hand.
Not a hand pushing the rock, but one hanging limp and powerless, covered in dust and blood.
"Wait! There's someone inside!" Nuoyaji shouted, rushing forward.
"Hey-" the captain called from behind him, trying and failing to catch hold of him.
Nuoyaji ran to the rubble, crouched, and peered through the narrow gap. The light was too dim to make anything out clearly. All he could vaguely see was a blurred outline curled up behind the rocks, motionless.
"Are you still alive?" Nuoyaji called through the gap.
There was no response.
He called again.
Still no response.
"Quick, move this rock!" Nuoyaji turned and shouted to the people behind him.
The captain hesitated for a second, then waved a hand. Several mercenaries rushed forward and inserted crowbars into the gaps around the rock. Working together, they heaved with rhythmic shouts, prying the large rock out of the rubble little by little.
"One, two, three-heave!"
The rock rolled down the rubble and crashed to the ground, sending dust and loose stones flying. An opening had been pried into the rubble. More loose stones slid through it, cascading down as though a long-blocked valve had been opened.
Once the dust cleared, everyone saw it.
On the other side of the rubble was a cramped space enclosed by stones and dirt. The mine passage's supports had been badly damaged in the storm. Several wooden planks overhead had snapped, and dirt seeped through the cracks, forming little mounds on the ground.
A damp, moldy smell hung in the air, mixed with the stench of blood and sweat.
A dozen or so miners lay in that cramped space.
Some leaned against the walls, some curled up on the ground, and some lay facedown on a pile of rubble, motionless. Their clothes were soaked with muddy water and sweat, clinging to their bodies and revealing the thin, scar-covered forms beneath.
Cuts from the rocks covered their faces, hands, and arms. Some had already scabbed over; others were still oozing blood. Their lips were cracked, their eyes sunken, their gazes blank and numb, like empty shells whose souls had been sucked away.
No one spoke. No one moved. Even their breathing was so faint it was barely perceptible.
"They're all here!" The captain was the first to react, turning to shout behind him. "Quick! Bring water! Bring stretchers!"
Several guards ran off and soon returned with waterskins and makeshift stretchers. The captain crouched, unscrewed the cap of a waterskin, and carefully held it to a miner's lips.
The miner's lips trembled, as though he had sensed the water, and he struggled to open his mouth. Water dripped into it from the waterskin. He instinctively swallowed once, then again, before suddenly choking and coughing, as though he had gone so long without water that his throat had forgotten how to swallow.
"Slowly, slowly." The captain supported his shoulder and patted his back.
The others gathered around as well. Some helped give them water, some checked their injuries, and some used stretchers to carry the most seriously injured aside.
The atmosphere over the ruins abruptly shifted from deathly silence to bustle. Footsteps, shouts, and the sounds of stretchers knocking against rocks mingled in a noisy confusion.
Nuoyaji did not take part.
He stood before the rubble, his gaze sweeping over the dozen or so miners lying on the ground before settling on the deeper, darker stretch of mine passage beyond the rubble, half blocked by stones and dirt.
One, two, three, four... He counted them. Thirteen.
Thirteen miners, all lying in that cramped space. Some were unconscious, some barely conscious, and some lacked even the strength to raise a hand.
A chill ran down Nuoyaji's back.
Then whose footsteps had he heard just now?
He was absolutely certain he had not misheard. He had used Supernatural Hearing countless times, and it had never failed. The footsteps had come from the other side of the rubble, soft and slow, as though deliberately restrained to avoid being noticed.
But on the other side of the rubble was this cramped space. And in this space were only thirteen miners on the verge of death, unable even to speak.
No one was walking.
Those footsteps had come from farther in.
They had come from deeper inside the mine passage, from the darkness sealed off by rubble and dirt that no one had explored yet.
Nuoyaji's gaze passed over the miners lying on the ground and settled on the depths of the mine passage, half blocked by stones and dirt.
He could make nothing out there.
There was only darkness, so thick it seemed impenetrable, as though it could swallow light.