The leader gasped and roared fiercely, "Cry again! If you cry again, you won't see the sun tomorrow! Humph, don't think I won't deal with you little brats!"
After saying that, he suddenly turned his head, glaring with red eyes at the adults outside who were looking at the children in the house with worry, and shouted at the top of his voice: "You too, all of you, behave yourself! Don't even think about trying to play any tricks. If you dare to run away, hmph, then expect your whole family to be reunited in the palace of Hades!"
Those who were originally preparing to go up and comfort the child were so frightened when they heard the leader's harsh words that they trembled all over. Their feet seemed to be nailed to the ground and they could no longer move an inch.
Their faces were as pale as paper, their lips trembling constantly. They could only nod repeatedly, their voices trembling with obvious tremors as they spoke, "We won't run, we won't run. You... you can rest assured..."
He looked terrified, as if any slight movement would bring about a catastrophic disaster.
He glanced at everyone with a gloomy expression. His eyes were like sharp arrows, as if they wanted to penetrate everyone's heart to see if they were really as obedient as they appeared.
After confirming that everyone was obedient, he nodded with satisfaction, then waved his hand and led everyone onto a winding path.
Everyone followed him, turning many ways along the way. They didn't know how long they had walked. Finally, a towering mountain appeared in front of everyone.
After reaching the top of the mountain, Yao Qingshuang looked up and was surprised to find that this was actually a large mountain villa.
The walls of the villa were tall and thick, completely covering everything inside. One could only vaguely see the scattered houses inside and the curls of smoke rising from time to time.
The village gate was tightly closed, and the copper lock on the door shone with an old luster under the sunlight.
When we arrived at the destination, we saw a group of people busy working there.
Some of them were digging the ground with hoes, again and again, raising dust that filled the air; others were carrying heavy stones, their faces flushed with exhaustion, with beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads.
The leader led them straight to a man who looked like a manager and said with a smile on his face, "Manager Wang, I've brought the people with me."
Manager Wang was standing aside directing everyone to work. Upon hearing this, he slowly turned his head and glanced at them casually.
This glance seemed to carry a scrutinizing meaning, looking over everyone from top to bottom.
Then, he raised his eyebrows slightly and said in surprise, "Wow, there are so many people here today."
"Yes, Manager Wang, this is the order from the eldest lady. She asked us to find more people and finish the digging as soon as possible to avoid any more trouble." The leader hurriedly explained with a smile.
"Well, okay, then hand the person over to me." Manager Wang nodded, and a barely perceptible gleam flashed in his eyes.
After they were formally handed over to Manager Wang by the leader, Manager Wang just stood in front of everyone with a wooden face and no expression.
His eyes were cold and sharp, as if they could penetrate everyone's heart, making people shiver in this hot day.
He raised his chin slightly and shouted at them, "Listen up! Work hard. If anyone dares to escape, I'll make sure you come in upright and leave horizontally if I catch you. Don't blame me for not warning you in advance!"
His cold voice echoed in the somewhat empty venue, and every word seemed to hit everyone's heart hard, making their already uneasy mood even heavier.
However, after the conversation changed, Manager Wang's expression remained unchanged, only his tone softened slightly as he continued, "However, as long as you complete the work obediently and satisfy the higher-ups, I will naturally release you in the future. But if you try to slack off, talk nonsense, or move around while working, don't blame me for turning my back on you. I will not show mercy. Do you understand?"
His eyes swept across everyone's faces again, as if he wanted to remember everyone's expression. His stern look made everyone dare not slack off in the slightest, and they could only nod in agreement silently.
The steward, Wang, had a gloomy expression on his face, and his eyes revealed an unquestionable majesty. He led the way silently, followed by a group of people who were brought in to work. They walked towards a mysterious place step by step.
Soon, they arrived in front of a dark cave entrance. The cave entrance looked extremely deep, like a giant beast with its mouth wide open, waiting to devour everything that entered.
Manager Wang stood by the cave entrance, glanced at everyone coldly, and then took the lead to step into the cave.
Although everyone was nervous, they had no choice but to follow him in.
As soon as we entered the cave, a dazzling light hit us in an instant, and everyone was instantly dazzled by the golden scene inside.
On the walls of the cave, I saw countless golden minerals dotted and densely inlaid. Under the flickering light of the torches, the light reflected by those minerals intertwined together, like a golden river flowing between the walls of the cave, or like bright stars falling from the top of the cave. The whole cave was shrouded in this gorgeous golden light, which was bright enough to be dazzling.
Yao Qingshuang, who was standing by, was originally wondering what kind of work this was, but when she saw the golden light all around, she suddenly understood and was secretly surprised. This was clearly a gold mine!
She was filled with thoughts. The magistrate of Ping'an County was so bold that he dared to open a gold mine privately!
In the strict-lawed Dayan, gold mines are an important resource strictly controlled by the imperial court, and private mining is a serious crime. This county magistrate actually disregarded the national law for the sake of gold and silver. He is truly audacious. I don't know what kind of power is behind him that dares to do such an illegal thing so blatantly.
At this moment, Yao Qingshuang looked at these ruthless and unscrupulous people in front of her, and she already knew in her heart that based on their behavior, they would definitely kill people to silence them after the gold mine was mined.
When she first saw these people arranging for the elderly to stay and take care of the children, she secretly thought in her heart that these people did not seem to be completely cold-hearted. At least they could think of letting people stay and take care of those young and helpless children. They still had some humanity.
But now that I think about it carefully, it’s not human nature at all, it’s actually a conspiracy.
Firstly, leaving those children behind was clearly intended to threaten everyone.
After all, as a parent, who can watch their child in danger and do nothing?
As long as everyone was still concerned about the safety of their children, they did not dare to easily think of resisting or escaping. They could only obey the orders of these people and work hard in this gold mine.
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