The main door opened, revealing a brightly lit interior, with two additional lights on the second-floor corridor.

The two impermanent men clearly saw the leaders riding tall horses, followed by several prison carts. The prisoners inside the carts were disheveled and looked extremely wretched.

Some prisoners sat in a corner of the prison van with their heads down, swaying as the van moved forward; others lay curled up inside, motionless, their fate unknown.

Behind the prison cart were several guards on horseback.

This shocking secret.

His black and white pupils contracted. Sending prisoners from Jiangzhou to mine—that's a damn brilliant scheme.

All signs indicate that Guo Baoxian has already established a powerful and influential presence in Jiangzhou.

Judging from the upright posture of those guards, the people escorting the prison cart were not ordinary guards, but yamen runners dressed in dog skins.

Wuchang was also shocked. Jiangzhou was in such a mess, yet the imperial court had not noticed at all.

If it weren't for Lord Lin's arrival this time, Guo Baoxian's collusion with local officials would have made his power unimaginable.

Given time, he will have enough land to become a king.

A group of men escorted the prison cart inside, the gate closed again, and two of the lanterns on the second floor were quickly extinguished. Nightingales sang in the valley, and the calls of cuckoos echoed in the valley. Everything returned to normal, as if no one had ever been here.

The Black and White Impermanence were unsure whether the person called Fourth Master inside would leave immediately.

The two of them simply sat on a thick branch and waited quietly.

After about fifteen minutes, Wuchang said, "Old Hei, there's no hope of going through the main gate. There are sentries on both sides of the gate, and there are gatekeepers inside the gate. There might be even more people guarding inside."

Black and White were also thinking about this problem. There were many people working at the main gate, so they must be taking turns to rest. It was inevitable that some people would doze off at night, but there were always some who were awake.

Black and White immediately decided that they couldn't take the risk.

He stood up from the tree trunk and said, "Let's go over the mountains and valleys."

In the dense forest, the two walked one after the other, disappearing into the valley in a few leaps.

The Black and White Impermanence were right; the cliffs not far away were extremely steep, and an ordinary person's legs would tremble at just a glance.

The two ran along the mountain range for about a mile, and the steep and complex cliffs were slightly lower than before.

At this moment, the bright moon hangs high in the sky, and one can clearly see the vines hanging down from the cliff and the protruding rocks.

"I'll go scout ahead first, and you can follow me."

Before Hei Bai finished speaking, he leaped into the air and flew straight towards the nearest vine.

Wuchang stood still and saw Black and White grabbing the vines and swinging on the cliff like on a swing.

Just as his heart was in his throat, he saw the black and white figure swing in a perfect arc, and with the force of the swing, it flew towards a protruding rock.

Using the rocks as leverage, Black and White leaped into the air again, rising more than two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters).

Seeing that the black and white figure was hanging steadily on the vines above, Wuchang followed suit, crouched slightly, and then launched himself toward the cliff.

The two of them, like melons hanging from vines, struggled to climb up the cliff.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the two of them stood steadily on the mountaintop.

Wuchang glanced back at the bottomless abyss below. "Old Hei, are we going to go back the way we came?"

Hei Bai looked around at the dense jungle and said, "Judging from the situation, the terrain here is complicated, with trees everywhere, making it difficult to find our way at night. It's hard to say whether we'll be able to find this place in a while."

"There are trees everywhere, which makes it easy for us to hide. With the moon to guide us, we won't get lost."

Full of confidence, the two of them crossed the mountain and landed on the cliff on the other side of the mountain after a few leaps. The scene in front of them made them both gasp in shock.

The valley in front is circular, with houses built at the foot of the mountain, and the area below is brightly lit.

People occasionally walked by, in groups of three or five, like patrolling guards.

This side is not high off the ground; you can easily jump down with a simple leap.

Black and White stood under a big tree and looked down. There were no piles of ore in the entire valley.

This place is more like a village, with bare land everywhere except for the houses, a village without a single tree.

“Wuchang, look down here. If everyone living here is a person who manages the mine, then where is the mine?”

Wu Chang thought for a moment and said, "Since they brought the prisoners here, there must be a road leading to the mine here."

Hei Bai pointed down and said, "Look at this place, it's surrounded by mountains on three sides, where is there a single road leading anywhere else?"

"Could it be that they're putting the prisoners here temporarily tonight and then moving them out tomorrow?"

Wu Chang scratched his head in confusion. "No, this is the first mountain we pass through. There are villages outside and that wide mountain road. This should be the entrance and exit of the mine."

After hesitating for a moment, Hei Bai decided, "Let's go down and investigate."

The two stood on the cliff, able to clearly see the frequency of the patrols below.

As night deepened, the number of patrol teams decreased by one.

On the cliff, two dark figures leaped down like roc birds, landing silently on the rooftops below.

The two squatted down, and the aroma of wine and meat wafted to their noses.

The sound of clinking glasses could be heard coming from inside the room.

"Fourth Master must be tired from his journey. You two must make sure he is well taken care of." The speaker had a smoky voice.

"Yes, ma'am." The two women's voices were so sweet and delicate that they made one's bones feel weak.

"I am very pleased with what you have done. When we return to the city, I will definitely put in a good word for you with the master."

The man speaking was probably the one called Fourth Master.

"Thank you for your care, Fourth Master. I am able to work steadily as the manager here thanks to you. I will never forget your kindness."

Before the man could finish speaking with his smoky voice, he said, "Alright, I trust you to handle things. These two young ladies are quite popular with the master. You may leave now."

As the wooden door creaked open, two women inside gasped in surprise, followed by a man's snickering laughter.

"What, you fucking think Fourth Master is a boorish man?"

"Fourth Master, you are incredibly strong. You've squeezed my waist so tightly," a woman's ingratiating voice came from behind.

Another woman chimed in, "Fourth Master is majestic and powerful, unlike any pretty boy. I have long admired him."

“That’s right. Fourth Master is full of heroic spirit, which is incomparable to a country bumpkin. Fourth Master, please don’t be in a hurry. I have long admired your name. Now that I have met you in person, I must first offer you a cup of wine.”

"My goodness, you two have such sweet words, I'll have a taste first."

Immediately afterwards, the giggling of two women came from inside the room.

"Fourth Master, another cup, please."

Black and White wanted to see what Fourth Master looked like inside the house, so he gestured to Wu Chang and gently lifted a tile.

Holy crap...

The scene inside is too jarring to look at.