Su Jianyuan and Hu Shen followed behind the group with their backs hunched over, their hair disheveled, and their faces, bodies, and heads covered in mud.
At first glance, he looked no different from the other captured orcs in the group.
The other orcs all looked dejected, and no one noticed that the orc at the back of the group had been switched.
The Black Mountain tribe is composed of a continuous mountain range.
The tribe is surrounded by mountains, and the orcs live on the mountainside of the highest mountain in the middle. The mountains block the way, and there are steep cliffs all around. There is only one road at the foot of the mountain that can lead up.
Su Jianyuan and Hu Shen and the others successfully entered the Black Mountain tribe.
We didn't see any orcs on the way up the mountain, but we did see some earth dragon orcs coming down from the mountain.
Su Jianyuan secretly glanced at them and found that, just as the cat-clan beastmen had said, the earth dragon beastmen coming down the mountain were carrying male corpses.
Several earth dragon beastmen tripped and fell, their corpses rolling out and landing right at the feet of Su Jianyuan and his companions.
Su Jianyuan glanced at it a few more times.
The bodies of these males were found to have no fatal wounds, but there were many scratches and whip marks on their bodies, and their faces were intact.
Unlike the other corpses, these bodies seemed to have more blood on them.
"Clumsy as a mule, hurry up and pick up the body!"
The earth dragon orc leading the way quickly came over to scold them, then looked at the pausing group beside him.
"What are you looking at! Behave yourselves, or you'll end up like these corpses!"
A fierce voice came, and the males who had been captured all looked away, shrank their necks, and continued to walk forward.
The minor incident did not affect their progress.
Before long, the group climbed halfway up the mountain and arrived at the foot of a neighboring mountain.
Hu Shen glanced at the direction the earth dragon beastmen had taken the corpse down the mountain; it was clearly not here.
The bodies were brought down the mountain from elsewhere.
There is a dark cave entrance at the foot of the mountain.
The earth dragon orc herded all the captured males inside, his voice gruff as he said:
"Get inside and get to work! Whatever the other orcs do, you do too. Anyone who dares to run away or slack off will end up like those corpses!"
As soon as these words were spoken, some males immediately stood up in dissatisfaction.
"Why should we help you work? You haven't eaten for days, who has the strength to do that!"
"That's right, the worst that can happen is death. Go ahead and kill me if you dare!"
The two males at the front roared angrily.
They didn't really want to die; they just wanted to get some food.
The next second, the earth dragon orc grabbed the two of them and slammed their heads against the rocks next to the cave.
With a "bang".
The two males didn't even have time to scream.
Brain matter splattered everywhere, and the corpse was thrown at the feet of the other males like garbage.
The males then noticed that the large rock had turned blackish-red, and the surrounding soil had been stained dark with blood.
The beasts shuddered in fear.
These earth dragon orcs are truly brutal; they'll kill you at the slightest provocation.
"Who else wants to die?" The earth dragon orc glanced around and said coldly.
The males retreated back into the cave, not daring to make a sound.
Who wants to die when they can live?
Seeing the cowardly behavior of the males, the earth dragon orc scoffed, "Why aren't you getting inside and getting to work? You all want to die, don't you?!"
Upon hearing this, the males dared not linger any longer and turned to walk into the cave.
Hu Shen and his group mingled among them, following the males as they went inside.
Su Jianyuan had once mined iron ore with the Bamboo Bear tribe and the Bamboo Bear beastmen, and he recognized this cave as a mine at a glance.
He instantly understood.
It turns out that these earth dragon beastmen captured males to mine coal.
But what about those corpses just now?
Su Jianyuan thought of the unusual corpses he had just seen. Unlike the male coal miners, those corpses were not filthy, and their injuries were not caused by coal mining.
Do these males have some other use?
Inside the mine, every so often, there were earth dragon beastmen watching over the place.
The mine had a network of roads leading in all directions, and countless males came and went in each tunnel, carrying the excavated coal to the entrance.
These males all had one thing in common: they were pale, hunched over, and emaciated.
It was as if they hadn't eaten for ten or fifteen days.
Indeed, that is the case.
There are at least several hundred males in the mine.
Su Jianyuan and Hu Shen quickly exchanged the information they had discovered.
A cat-like orc lowered his voice and said:
“This place is a bit far from where we live. There aren’t many earth dragon beastmen guarding it. It’s not easy to be discovered under the cover of darkness. I can take you there.”
Hu Shen looked at the males around him, frowned, and did not immediately agree. "It would be best to find the location of the Earth Dragon leader first before taking action."
Their purpose in coming in this time was to deal with the earth dragon leader first.
Without a leader, the Black Mountain tribe could be easily conquered.
I originally thought that as long as I sneaked out and found the Earth Dragon leader, I would be fine, but who knew there were so many males here.
Once they slip away, the males will discover them and cause quite a commotion, and they will be exposed very quickly.
They cannot trust these males and can only prepare for the worst.
“Hu Shen is right.” Su Jianyuan nodded. He was thinking about how to get past the earth dragon beastmen outside and find the location of the earth dragon leader.
Suddenly, the rough voice of the earth dragon orc came from outside.
"All males who came in today, get out!"
"I'm giving you a chance. If you perform well, Xuan can join our tribe and won't have to work here anymore."
Upon hearing the following words, the surrounding males immediately showed joy and hurriedly ran out of the cave.
The other males, their faces ashen, cast envious glances at the sight.
Only newly captured males have a chance to be selected each time; those orcs who are not selected can only stay here to work until they starve or die from exhaustion.
Death awaited them.
Upon hearing this, Su Jianyuan and Hu Shen also went out with the males.
They were the last group of males to be brought in today.
There are about twenty males in the group.
The two men scanned the area and found that there were one or two hundred people who had come out.
Although these males looked tired and were dirty, their mental state was much better than that of the starving males in the mine.
A large group of males gathered on the flat ground outside the cave.
A pockmarked earth dragon orc stood in front of them, scanning each of the males present.
"You, you, and you, come out."
The male who was chosen looked delighted and quickly stood behind the earth dragon beastman.
Su Jianyuan and Hu Shen glanced at the males and found that they were all about the same height and build, neither fat nor thin, with well-proportioned figures.
Soon, the pockmarked, hungry earth dragon beastman stopped in front of Hu Shen.
He pointed to Hu Shen, Su Jianyuan, and a handsome cat-like beastman.
“You three, come out and come with me. The rest of the males, go back to work.”
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