Chapter 146: He will definitely die miserably!
In the evening, when it was time for dinner, a loud gong sounded.
The slaves working in the mines came out one after another, with disheveled hair and ragged clothes. They were all skinny and had no light in their eyes, only fatigue and numbness. They obediently lined up in front of the shed to receive their meals.
A small bowl of rice soup with a stale cold steamed bun is the food for the day. The rice soup is so thin that even the rice grains cannot be seen. However, it can still relieve the hunger and thirst after a day's work, which is more useful than gold.
Jiang Lan and Xie Yun also heard the gong sound. They came out to see what was happening. The young man who had struck the gong came over with a bowl in his hand. In the bowl were two white steamed buns that still looked soft.
After walking over, he did not give the steamed buns to the two people, but first inquired about their identities and where they came from in the Central Plains. Seeing that they did not answer, his expression suddenly became irritable. After glancing around, he dared to throw the steamed buns into the house and whispered to warn the two people that this was his territory and they should behave themselves, otherwise they would suffer the consequences!
Among the slaves squatting on the ground to eat, a pair of eyes were fixed on Jiang Lan. After she and Xie Yun entered the house, the eyes continued to stare at the direction of the cabin.
Jiang Lan helped Xie Yun sit down first, then picked up the steamed bun and blew on the skin carefully. Xie Yun felt sad when she saw her squatting on the ground blowing away the dust from the bun skin, and encouraged her, "Sister Lan, when we get out, we'll go eat something delicious. Eat whatever you want, it's my treat." Jiang Lan nodded vigorously and said "hmm", and they encouraged each other, "We will definitely get out."
A quarter of an hour later, the gong sounded again, and the slaves returned to the mine one after another to continue working. They could only rest for an hour or so every day. Those slaves who had stayed here for more than a month were like people who were almost squeezed dry. They could die at any time. They would either work themselves to death or be beaten to death because they could not work anymore.
Late at night, Jiang Lan was still not soundly asleep. She heard a creaking sound in her daze. She quietly opened her eyes and saw a figure stealthily pushing open the door and walking in. She suddenly became very nervous, her heart pounding. Hearing the footsteps getting closer, she forced herself to calm down and not panic... She held the whistle given by Ye Rushui tightly in her hand. If the other party came any closer, she would blow the whistle.
At this moment, a slight cough was heard from outside the door.
Then there was another creaking sound, and the other party closed the door.
"Uncle, why are you here?"
The old supervisor snorted coldly and turned away. The young man hurriedly followed him and explained, "Uncle, I just want to see if these two people have anything valuable on them."
"Even if they do, would you dare take them?" The old overseer's tone turned cold, with a warning in it. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Stay still. These two are connected to the General and the Shadow, so stay out of my way."
Only after the other party left did Jiang Lan dare to breathe a sigh of relief. She was still a little scared, so she kept staring at the door with her eyes open until dawn, then she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. She slept for less than an hour.
Seeing that Xie Yun felt much better after a good sleep, she didn't tell him what happened last night, so as not to scare him and hinder his recovery. Moreover, she had the secret weapon given by Ye Rushui in her hand. If the other party dared to sneak in tonight, she would not sit and wait for death.
After daybreak, the old supervisor came over and gave the two men some food. He also told them that there were rules here and that if other people knew that they didn't have to work, they would probably start a rebellion.
So to be fair, he asked Jiang Lan to go into the mine to work with the others tomorrow, but for the sake of Lord Shadow, he would arrange easier work for her, so that he could have an explanation to the general.
As soon as the old supervisor left, Xie Yun cursed him as a sly old scoundrel. He absolutely could not let Jiang Lan enter the mine alone. What if she encountered danger? He also wanted to go with her so that they could take care of each other.
"Don't worry, cousin. I'll be fine. They won't dare let anything happen to me." She secretly showed Xie Yun the secret weapon given by Ye Rushui. It was enough for self-defense.
The next day, the old supervisor took Jiang Lan into the mine. Only then did she realize how empty it was. More than half of the mountain had been hollowed out, and there were holes of all sizes all around. There were clanging sounds coming from inside, as if someone was using hammers and chisels to dig deeper.
The slaves dug for ore in the holes and were called to work before dawn. They only had one meal a day and could not rest for an hour or so until four o'clock in the morning. Those who did not want to work would be beaten. Being whipped was a common occurrence here.
There were about ten officers and soldiers guarding inside, taking turns supervising the slaves' work.
The old overseer asked an officer to call a slave over. The slave was skinny and had a messy beard that was as long as his hair, tangled up so that his face couldn't be seen.
The old supervisor asked Jiang Lan to work with him from now on. Each person was to carry 50 dan of ore a day, which meant 100 dan for two people. If it was not enough, the slave would be punished.
This old guy is really despicable, Jiang Lan thought.
In order not to implicate the other party, she had to work hard. Not only did she have to knock the stones down, but she also had to carry them over to the officers and soldiers on duty for inspection. She had never done such heavy work before, and at first she didn't know how to use a shoulder pole.
After watching others learn it, she took great pains to lift the shoulder pole. She stumbled and fell to the ground after taking just two steps. No one came to help her. After getting up from the ground, she decided to try a different approach. Instead of using the shoulder pole, she simply dragged the baskets over. Although she could only drag one basket at a time, which was not as good as others who could carry two baskets with a shoulder pole, at least she had achieved some results of her labor.
By noon, Jiang Lan was sweating profusely. The clothes on her back were soaked with sweat, and her hands were worn raw from pulling the baskets. She had only inspected less than five loads of ore. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to handle fifty loads. She was thinking about how to make the process of dragging the baskets faster...
At this time, a loud whip sound rang out in the cave. Two officers and soldiers swung their whips on the ground, making crackling sounds like thunder.
"Don't be lazy, get to work!"
The knocking sounds, which had been sparse at first, suddenly became louder, and loud clanging sounds were heard from every hole.
Jiang Lan raised the hammer and hit the stone for a while to deal with it. After tearing two strips of cloth from her clothes to wrap both hands, she rested for a while, then picked up the chisel and hammer to continue working.
When it was time for dinner in the evening, the sound of a gong came into the cave.
Everyone else went out to eat, and only Jiang Lan stayed in the cave. Her hands, legs, back, and waist hurt. She felt pain everywhere. She just wanted to lie down and rest. She didn't have the strength to stand up at all.
Suddenly she heard a noise, as if someone kicked a stone. She immediately became alert, struggled to sit up, and saw the young man walking towards her with a malicious look on his face.
"Tsk tsk, how pitiful, you can't even stand up, look at your hands and your little face, it really makes me sad~"
Jiang Lan felt sick to her stomach when she saw the man reaching out to touch her face. She coldly asked, "Aren't you afraid that Lord Shadow will kill you?"
This question really frightened the other party, but looking at Jiang Lan's fair and slender neck, he became greedy again and coaxed her, "As long as you follow me, I will definitely love you well, and you won't have to do these dirty and tiring work."
"I'm telling you, if you dare to touch me and my brother, you'll die a miserable death!" Jiang Lan emphasized again, "even worse than being executed by slow slicing!"
"Hmph, if you don't accept my toast, you'll have to pay for it. Just wait, I have plenty of ways to deal with you!" The young man walked away with a furious look on his face.
Jiang Lan only breathed a sigh of relief after watching him walk out of the cave. But before she could catch her breath, another person walked towards her.
He had disheveled hair and ragged clothes, and was one of the slaves.
Most of the face was covered by dirty hair, but the eyes were fixed on Jiang Lan.
"You, know me?" She wasn't sure if the other person really knew her, or if he was just mentally ill.
At this time, the others came back to work one after another, and the other party left immediately. Jiang Lan ignored him and continued hammering for about an hour. Suddenly, she felt that the surroundings seemed to have quieted down.
It was eerily quiet, as if something unusual had happened.
Jiang Lan was about to go to the cave entrance to see what was happening outside, but as soon as she turned around, she was blocked inside by a slave.
It was the same slave who had been staring at her with hatred in his eyes.
"Jiang Lan, I didn't expect that you would end up like this. God is really watching over you!" His voice was hoarse and dry, and every word was filled with strong hatred.
"Who are you?" she asked as she quietly took out the whistle from her sleeve.
"Bitch! I will kill you!" He suddenly became crazy and wanted to pounce on her and strangle her to death. Jiang Lan was about to blow the whistle when someone else came over. This time there were two more people who urged him to leave quickly, saying that there would be no next time if he missed this opportunity. They also warned Jiang Lan not to make a sound, otherwise they would kill her. When the two men tied her up with hemp rope, she did not struggle and was quite cooperative.
She probably guessed what was going on. It should be a long-planned escape. These people escaped just to save their lives. She was new and was taken care of by the old supervisor. It was normal for these people not to trust her, so no one told her about tonight's plan.
The next morning, the mine was completely silent, with a faint smell of death in the air.
The old supervisor, the young man, and the ten soldiers guarding inside were all killed, strangled to death with hemp ropes from behind.
When the news of the mine attack reached Ye Xuanhe's ears, he asked Lu Feng to go over and bring Jiang Lan back.
When Lu Feng arrived at the mine, Jiang Lan and Xie Yun had both been taken away in advance.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
