The Mine

The clanging and banging sounds echoed continuously in the mine, filling the cramped and dark underground space with the stench of sweat and mud.

In the past, Wen Heyu would never have been able to tolerate it, but now he seems to have gotten used to it.

The young man working beside him was momentarily distracted, and after only a brief pause, the barbed whip struck him hard.

The intense labor of the past few days, coupled with the thin and Spiritual Qi rice water, had taken its toll on his body.

The guard lashed out with his whip, striking the young man so hard that he immediately collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

Wen Heyu quickly helped the young man up, glaring fiercely at the crowd. "If you keep hitting him, he'll die!"

"Hmph!" The guard wielding the whip sneered. "So what if he's dead? We can just find another one. He's a useless mortal, can't even last a few days in here."

"You!" Wen Heyu immediately tried to retaliate, but the young man grabbed his hand.

The pale-faced young man shook his head at him and, with Wen Heyu's help, managed to stand up.

He bowed and smiled obsequiously at the guard, "I'm fine, I'll go get back to work now, I'm sure I can keep going!"

Seeing that the young man was so sensible, the guard grumbled and walked past Wen Heyu.

"Why are you doing this? If you hadn't stopped me, I would have taught him a lesson!" Although Wen Heyu's Spiritual Power was imprisoned, he had still trained his body and bones, and the guard was no match for him.

The young man patted him on the shoulder upon hearing this. "Forget it, it's better to avoid trouble. There are plenty of guards in this mine."

After saying that, the young man shook his head and turned back to mining.

Wen Heyu opened his mouth as if to say something, but his companion stopped him. "Do you think that guy doesn't want to fight back? Like he said, there are plenty of guards in this mine. You can beat one of them, but do you think you can take care of all the guards?"

"As long as there's one guard left, we can't escape. If you provoke him, what loss would he suffer even if he killed both of you?"

Wen Heyu listened in silence, the fire in his chest burning ever brighter. "Are we just going to let them trap us here for the rest of our lives?"

Although he had only been there for less than a month, he had already suffered a great deal. If even he, a cultivator, found it unbearable, how much more so would those mortals?

His companion sighed softly, his voice filled with helplessness. "There will be a way, someone will come to rescue us. Until then, let's just hold on, at least we shouldn't die in vain at the hands of those guards!"

The conversation between the two did not last long, and the entire mine quickly returned to silence, with only the clanging and banging of mining echoing inside.

Time always flies when you're working, and before you know it, it's lunchtime.

The miners' lunch was hardly anything special; it consisted of low-quality broken rice collected from ordinary people, devoid of any Spiritual Qi, cooked into a thin porridge and served to them.

This way, they would not starve to death, but they would always be in a state of being hungry, so that they would not have the strength to escape or cause trouble.

Even someone like Wen Heyu, who used to be extremely particular about food, found himself enjoying this thin porridge full of impurities after less than ten days here.

The person in charge arrived at this time. He was not alone; a young female cultivator, who was tightly bound, followed behind him.

Wen Heyu glanced at the female cultivator from afar. Her appearance was not outstanding, but her eyes were very sharp.

The female cultivator quickly noticed his gaze. After meeting his eyes, she immediately lowered her head and resumed her previous timid demeanor.

However, that one glance made Wen Heyu's heart startle wildly.

"Boss, is this the new recruit you were talking about? She looks so thin and weak, can she even do this job?" The guard chief struck up a conversation with the supervisor, scrutinizing the female cultivator from head to toe.

The steward waved his hand. "Rizhao City. It's good enough if we can even kidnap a new person. You're still being picky?"

The guard chuckled, then turned and angrily shouted at the female cultivator, "Hurry up and collect your loot to start mining!"

The female cultivator was already somewhat timid, and his shout made her tremble all over.

She had probably been reprimanded before coming here, and she was trembling with fear, showing no intention of resisting whatsoever.

The leader, seeing such obedient cultivators for the first time, chuckled, "The miners the boss brought this time are interesting. They don't look like cultivators at all; they're more like slaves."

The manager smiled upon hearing this, but refused to say another word.

Seeing that she was walking slowly, the leader deliberately waved his whip to scare the female cultivator. But the female cultivator tripped over a stone, and the whip not only missed its mark but also struck another guard instead.

The barbed iron whip struck the man's face. The leader, seeing this, hurriedly tried to pull the whip back, but the barbs immediately scratched a bloody mark on the man's face.

"Ah!" A cry of pain echoed throughout the mine, and the "innocent" guard rolled on the ground in agony.

The female cultivator who escaped the calamity had no idea what had happened. Fortunately, Wen Heyu pulled her out of the center of the chaos.

"I told you to be careful, why are you still so reckless and impulsive?!" The manager glared at the foreman and couldn't help but reprimand him.

The guard chief hadn't expected things to turn out this way, and could only apologize to the supervisor while ordering his men to take the injured person out for treatment.

Fortunately, although the other party's injuries looked serious, they were all superficial wounds and would probably heal quickly.

After reprimanding the head guard a few more times, the foreman, seeing that it was getting late, turned and left the mine.

The leader outwardly saw the man off respectfully, but secretly spat at the manager's retreating figure, thinking, "What a piece of trash! He only got his position by currying favor with the master early on. Just you wait, I'll get you out of here one day!"

He cursed under his breath, but his frustration remained undiminished. On the way back, he casually lashed out at the miners a few times to vent his anger.

Only when he saw the other person screaming in pain and begging for mercy in a trembling manner did the leader's anger subside slightly.

"Keep a close eye on them. If anyone dares to slack off, teach them a lesson!" The leader gave his men another instruction before returning to his room and leisurely lying down.

Not long after, the guard who had been injured earlier had recovered and returned. However, a long scar remained on his face.

Because of the scar, the other person's eyes were much more gloomy than before. When his gaze swept over the new female cultivator, it carried an undeniable resentment.

Everyone could see that the guard held a grudge against the female cultivator.

Some people shook their heads helplessly, feeling sorry for the female cultivator. She probably wouldn't live much longer.

However, unseen by them, a cold glint flashed in the female cultivator's eyes.