The mine is narrow, the air flow is not smooth, and it is dark and stuffy.
The ground was a little damp, and there was an inexplicable rotten smell, as if it hadn't been cleaned for hundreds of years. This smell was worse than a cell on a pirate ship.
"No wonder no monks are willing to work here! Those monks in Fairy Village are all aloof. Who can stand the smell and crowd here with a group of mining slaves to mine."
Ye Mo frowned and walked deeper into the mine.
At intervals, there is a dim phosphorescence on the cave wall, and the situation inside the cave can barely be seen clearly.
The mine tunnel is winding and has a large number of complicated forks, making it difficult to tell which mine tunnel leads to which direction.
Ye Mo walked for a while and felt like he had entered a maze.
Ye Mo suddenly felt a little worried. It seemed that he had to find someone to lead the way. Otherwise, he would wander around in the maze of mine tunnels without knowing where he would end up.
However, all the mine slaves had gone out to eat at this time. To take a breath, there was almost no one in the mine.
Suddenly, he heard a faint sound, the sporadic sound of digging with a spade.
"There are still people mining!"
Ye Mo's hearing was very sensitive, so he distinguished it carefully and walked towards the mine tunnel where the sound came from.
At the end of this mine tunnel that is hundreds of feet long, an old mining slave with gray hair and a tattered shirt was digging with a shovel. After more than ten shovels, he dug out a fist-sized piece from the rock wall.
ore.
This ore is not found everywhere, but is embedded in hard rock. If you have to break the surrounding rocks and take out the black iron ore, then you can't make a difference by just taking the whole rock out.
The old mine slave was not very strong, weighing less than 200 kilograms, and his accuracy was not good. He shoveled several times in succession but failed to dig in the same position.
The principle of mining is the same as logging. Only when you chop at the same location can you cut down the spiritual wood and dig out the ore. If you don't dig at the same point, this will definitely seriously affect the mining speed.
After dozens of digs, only a two-inch deep mark was left on one side of the ore.
The old mining slave was a little tired. He threw his shovel on the ground and sat down on the ground, breathing heavily.
"Old man, have a drink of water!"
Ye Mo walked over, handed over his water bag, and sat opposite the old mine slave. Half a year ago, he was a warrior who hung out in the market, so there was nothing unusual about him.
The old mine slave was startled and turned his head. In the dim cave, he barely saw a young man dressed as a warrior approaching him.
"Now for dinner, why didn't you go out?"
Ye Mo asked casually.
"Little brother, are you new here?"
The old mine slave quickly took the water bag, raised his head and took a sip, handed it back to Ye Mo and asked.
Ye Mo nodded.
"You can exchange thirty kilograms of raw ore for two black cakes and a bowl of soup. If the amount is not enough, it will be directly deducted. I only dug a dozen kilograms in one morning. I will definitely not be able to exchange for food when I go out, and the ore will be confiscated directly.
, why go out when you will be whipped by the supervisor! I will dig some more in the afternoon and collect thirty kilograms, and then go out for a meal in the evening."
The old mine slave didn't ask much about Ye Mo's origins, he took a few breaths and said helplessly.
“If we don’t feed people, how can we have the energy to mine?”
Ye Mo was surprised. With enough food and strong physical strength, the mining slaves could dig more ore.
"In the entire mining area, there are not many mining slaves who can fill their stomachs."
The old mining slave sighed and recalled with some nostalgia, "We mining slaves were all deceived and sold here. We originally thought we could become immortals before we boarded the ship, but unexpectedly we did.
Become a slave and enter the mine. Who is willing to mine here for the rest of his life?!"
"In this mining area, there are often mining slaves rioting, confronting the mine boss and supervisors, and trying to escape from the mining area. Once, they even succeeded in trapping and killing an immortal, which made the mine owner furious and executed a large number of mining slaves."
"The supervisors didn't dare to feed us mine slaves, for fear that we would cause trouble when we were full."
Mine slaves trap monks?
Ye Mo was shocked. He didn't expect the mine slaves to be so ferocious and could kill even the monks.
He raised his head and looked at the surrounding mine tunnels. In this maze-like mine tunnel, the mine slaves were so numerous that they did have a chance to kill the monks.
Ye Mo was secretly shocked.
He hopes that one day in the future, he can become a city lord, own his own spiritual island and fairy village, and maybe run a mine in the future. That's why he asked about this with concern.
"You are new here. Have new slaves come here recently? There have been no new slaves in this mining area for a while. When the number of slaves was at its highest, there were as many as a thousand, but now there are only five or six hundred left.
!”
The old mine slave was puzzled.
"Only five or six hundred left? Where are the others!"
Ye Mo said in surprise.
"Other people? Of course they died. They died of illness, starvation, old age, and some were beaten to death by supervisors. People died almost every day. There was a big pit outside the valley. The dead were thrown there and burned.
!I will die there if my old bones can no longer work."
The old mine slave sneered twice, with an indescribable indifference in his voice.
Ye Mo was shocked when he heard this. He didn't expect it to be so bloody.
"I'm a new miner, but I'm not a slave. I'm here to mine and earn spiritual stones!"
After another moment of silence, he spoke out his purpose and did not hide it.
"Mining to earn spiritual stones, when will there be spiritual stones to earn... What, spiritual stones? Are you an immortal?"
The old mine slave muttered a few words dully, then suddenly reacted, his face suddenly changed, and he glared at Ye Mo angrily.
After a while, his flushed face regained its composure. He shook his head and muttered, "Young man, you are overthinking this. You are not the one sent by the supervisors to monitor us mine slaves. Ever since an immortal died here,
No Immortal Supervisor dares to enter this mine easily."
After that, he stood up, bent down and saluted, and said politely, "Master Immortal, I am so dim-sighted that I did not recognize you. I am disrespectful and disrespectful!"
"Old man, there is no need to be polite!"
Ye Mo helped the old mine slave up and said.
"You are an immortal, mine boss, and the supervisor will not be too harsh! However, most of the rich mine tunnels here are occupied by those strong mining slaves. Everyone has a fixed position. It is best not for newcomers to rush to occupy the position to dig.
Mine, otherwise it will cause disputes. If you cause public outrage in this mine, even if you are an immortal, you will suffer!"
The old mine slave reminded him after sitting down again.
"Thank you for the reminder, old man. I just came to this mining area and know nothing about the situation here. I still need more reminders from the old man."
Ye Mo nodded.
He took out a pack of dried sea fish from his arms and handed it to the old man. This was fish caught on sea ships, and there was too much to eat, so it was dried in the sun.
"This...is dried fish meat?! Thank you to the immortal for the reward. I have entered this mine and haven't tasted such fragrant dried fish meat for many years!"
The old mine slave was startled. He quickly took a few bites of the dried meat and devoured it. His dim old eyes blinked and suddenly became moist.
"Old man, please eat slowly. There are still many, and they are not valuable. I want to mine in this mining valley for a while. I can go in and out of the mining area, and I can bring you some more in the future!"
Ye Mo also felt sad when he saw the old mine slave devouring the food.
The life these mine slaves lived in this mine was worse than pigs and dogs, especially the old and frail mine slaves, who had no idea whether they would be able to survive tomorrow.
"How long have you been here?"
Ye Mo handed over the water bag and asked.
"Ten or twenty years!"
The old mine slave took a sip of water, swallowed, thought for a moment, and said, "I haven't counted it carefully, it should be about the same! I was originally from the capital of Wu Kingdom. When I was thirty-five years old, I was deceived by profiteers to go to sea. What do you mean by the East China Sea?
There is a fairy village, and there is a chance to get guidance from the fairy!
Those black-hearted traffickers deceived more than a thousand warriors and sailed across the ocean to this island. They were sold before they even got off the ship. Then they were escorted directly here by a group of overseers and immortals to become miners.
slave.
Many people resisted and were killed on the spot! The remaining people could only survive here by mining.
In this mining area, there are always riots every now and then. Every riot is suppressed, and many mining slaves are purged. I am getting old, and I don’t know how long I can survive here."
The old mine slave shook his head and looked at the wall of the mine with drowsy eyes. After a while, he took another bite of dried fish.
"Are you from Wu Kingdom Capital? I am also from Wu Kingdom Capital!"
Ye Mo was a little surprised when he heard the origin of the old mine slave.
"Are you also from King Wu's capital?"
The old mine slave grabbed Ye Mo's arm excitedly and asked eagerly, "Do you know about the General's Mansion in Wenhua Lane in Nancheng?"
"Nancheng General's Mansion?"
Ye Mo was stunned. What a coincidence. When he was a child, he worked as a handyman for the General's Mansion for half a month. This was one of the top military generals in King Wu's city.
"That's right, it's the General's Mansion! General Wei, are you okay?"
The old mine slave asked quickly, his tone full of urgency!
"It should be pretty good! When I went to sea, General Wei was very strong and often rode out of the city to hunt. The monarch of the Ye family of the Wu Kingdom also always thought highly of the Wei family.
This great general of Wei, who is already over seventy this year, is one of the only three generals in the Wu Kingdom. Throughout the history of the Wu Kingdom, the eldest son of the Wei family has either been granted the title of duke or a general, and he has been a wealthy family for generations. However,
, what is your... relationship with General Wei?"
Ye Mo asked doubtfully.
"I'm relieved that his old man is well! This incompetent son of mine is ashamed of his old man. Back then, I had a fight with his old man. In anger, I left the Wu Kingdom and wanted to cultivate immortality. As a result, I accidentally landed at the port of Donglai Kingdom.
The ship of the profiteer was stolen. I can’t bear to look back!”
Thinking of the bitterness of these years, the old mine slave looked miserable.
"You are not the third son of the old general, Wei Nanzheng, are you?"
Ye Mo was shocked. The third son of General Wei went out in anger and disappeared without a trace. This incident caused an uproar in the capital of Wu Kingdom at that time.
Ye Mo was still a child back then and didn't know the details of that year.
However, his father once served as a soldier under General Wei, and later went on an expedition with General Wei to attack the city, and unfortunately died on the battlefield.
It is precisely because of this incident that Ye Mo was deeply impressed by General Wei's Mansion, and even secretly hated the Wei Mansion in his heart. Otherwise, Ye Mo would not remember what happened at General Wei's Mansion.
Elderly people in the Wu Kingdom would inadvertently mention the rebellious son of General Wei.
Ye Mo couldn't help but look at the mottled wrinkles on the old mine slave's face. He didn't look like a man in his forties or fifties at all. He looked like an old man in his seventies or eighties who was about to decay.
Ye Mo couldn't help but sigh, the little hatred left in his heart was gone. If this old mining slave had stayed in Wu Kingdom, he would probably be a high-spirited general and prince now.
"Hey, little brother, it turns out you know my name too! Can you tell me about the Wei Mansion?"
The old mine slave's eyes flashed and he looked at Ye Mo with hope.
Ye Mo started talking. However, he didn't tell the bad things about Wei Mansion. He just picked some good things to say. If he really didn't know, he tried his best to make up the good things.
The two talked for a while, and then some noisy footsteps began to be heard in the mine. It must be that the mining slaves started to dig into the cave.
Wei Nan's campaign is still far from over.
"Little brother, I won't talk to you anymore. Let's wait until dark to finish work. Let's talk outside the cave. Let's dig first. You just came here and are not familiar with the mine. This is a low-yield mining area. It's only an old and frail mine like me.
The slave is here. I will take you around to find some rich mines to mine, and you can also earn more spiritual stones!"
"I was just thinking of asking Brother Wei to help lead the way."
Ye Mo smiled.
There are no acquaintances in this mine, so it's really hard to get along.