Fairy
“Look up,” the person said. His voice seemed to have been damaged in some way, it was hoarse and unpleasant, sending a chill down one’s spine.
Ye Youqing felt uneasy, and didn’t try to hide it, instead she acted even more fearful. She raised her head and stepped back, even tripping over the bedding behind her, staggering a few steps before standing firm.
“Where is this place…” she asked in a trembling voice.
Ye Youqing’s own voice wasn’t particularly sharp, but rather clear and soft. If she intentionally lowered it, it would be difficult to distinguish whether it belonged to a man or a woman, which wouldn’t seem strange on her frail scholar’s face.
The man’s inquisitive eyes turned to annoyance. He always looked down on those frail scholars like skinny chickens, so he stepped forward contemptuously, lifted his foot, and kicked the just-standing Ye Youqing back to the ground.
Her thigh hurt as if it had been hit by a huge stone. Ye Youqing couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan and slightly turned to hold her leg.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man smirk before turning and leaving the cave entrance.
Only then did she relax her body, supporting herself on the damp ground to sit up. Her thigh felt like it was being pierced by hundreds of needles, and even without looking, she knew it would be a large bruise.
Seeing the man leave, the man who had been curled up in the corner finally crawled over on his knees and whispered reassuringly, “Brother, don’t be afraid, I have some medicine here.”
As he spoke, he started to undress to find the medicine. Ye Youqing quickly reached out to hold his arm and shook her head.
The man looked at her, let out an “oh,” and then sat down beside her, “It’s your first day here, you don’t have to work yet. You can rest for a day and gather your strength. Don’t think about escaping now that you’re here. Rather than being beaten half to death, it’s better to live quietly…”
“Who is he?” Ye Youqing interrupted his rambling.
The man was stunned for a moment and pointed to the cave entrance, “You mean the Second King?”
“Second King?” Ye Youqing asked suspiciously.
“He’s the leader of this bandit stronghold. Remember, don’t provoke him. He’s very temperamental and brutal when he beats people. We who are captured here are like mice seeing a cat when we see him.”
“Why is he called the Second King? Is there another leader in this stronghold?” Ye Youqing asked.
“How would I know? I just heard people calling him that, so I followed along. You just need to behave yourself; you usually won’t see him,” the man shook his head.
Ye Youqing nodded slightly and pondered for a while before casually starting a conversation, “Your leg, was it broken when you tried to escape?”
“Not at all,” the man smiled, showing his white teeth, “My leg was broken when I was young, and it left a chronic condition. It hurts badly once a month. Today it hurt so much that I couldn’t walk, so I bribed the guards with my saved rations to get a break.”
Ye Youqing nodded. By this time, the needle-like pain in her thigh had eased, so she endured the pain and got up, walked to the cave entrance, and looked out. She saw that the passage outside was deep and winding, with no end in sight.
“Usually, people who are brought here either cry or scream to leave. You, little brother, look weak, but you have quite some guts,” the man limped to her side.
He seemed to have not encountered anyone to talk to for a long time and was extremely talkative.
“What use is crying?” Ye Youqing responded perfunctorily.
The man was stunned, then suddenly laughed, “My dad used to say that too.”
Seeing that there was no one outside, Ye Youqing retreated back into the cave, intending to extract more information from this talkative man. The man was indeed optimistic and loved to laugh, having been locked up in this place for two years, yet still talked endlessly.
Soon, Ye Youqing figured out what kind of place this was.
In the depths of the interconnected caves were several huge underground mines. It was said that only a small part of the mines had been excavated, and the deeper into the mountains, the higher the quality of the iron ore extracted.
“Every day we go down into the mine to dig, then transport the ore back to the surface. Beyond that, we don’t know anything else,” the man said while shaking his head.
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Listening quietly to his words, Ye Youqing was now in shock.
She had guessed that only men were kidnapped for labor and had briefly considered what kind of conspiracy would need so much labor. Now this truth confirmed her suspicions.
But it was still astonishing.
“Surprised? I was very surprised the first time I saw it too. Weizhou is a remote place, surrounded by mountains. To outsiders, it’s just a wild frontier town. Who would have thought that beneath these untraveled mountains, there would be so much iron ore of the finest quality?” The man gestured excitedly, his expression enthusiastic.
“Had no one known about these mines before?” Ye Youqing asked.
The man shook his head, “Never heard of it before being captured. Besides, the locals here live by farming. Who would think to mine?”
“Do you know if there are any places nearby for smelting iron?” Ye Youqing asked, rubbing her chin.
“No, I’ve heard that they only mine here, and all the ore is secretly sold elsewhere,” the man replied.
Ye Youqing lightly tapped the wall, trying to calm herself.
The invincible Iron Cavalry, once sought by the Emperor and various forces, had now become bandits hiding in the remote mountains, running a mining business.
If this wasn’t right in front of her, it would be hard to imagine.
But fortunately, knowing they hadn’t engaged in murder, robbery, or human trafficking, Ye Youqing felt somewhat at ease. However, she didn’t know if the so-called Second King was part of the Iron Cavalry or if, after seven years, these people would still obey the order of a token.
Ye Youqing leaned against the damp and cold wall, emptying her mind to rest.
The man beside her saw she hadn’t spoken for a long time and couldn’t help himself, so he cautiously started a conversation again, “Little brother, your skin is fair. You’re not a native of Weizhou, are you?”
“From Luoyang, came to Weizhou to find relatives,” Ye Youqing replied.
“Luoyang?” The man’s eyes brightened. He suddenly sat up straight and asked in a low voice, “Then do you know…”
Before he could finish, a series of footsteps interrupted him. The man reflexively shrank back into the corner, curling up into a ball.
The footsteps got closer and closer. Ye Youqing pressed her back against the wall, watching the cave entrance warily. After a while, a man in black appeared, looked into the cave, and threw something in with a clang.
With the dim light, it was clear it was a stone chisel.
“The new one, follow me,” the man ordered, then pointed to the gray coarse clothes on the ground, “Change into these!”
Ye Youqing didn’t resist, picked up the clothes, and hurriedly put them on. The coarse clothes smelled musty, and Ye Youqing frowned and covered her nose.
Under the man’s watchful eyes, she got up and followed him out of the cave, walking deeper into the passage. Although it was cold, the air was not stale. There were ventilation openings somewhere, allowing fresh air to flow inside the cave.
The passageways were somewhat complicated, and Ye Youqing kept memorizing the route. After numerous twists and turns, they finally encountered a descending staircase. After walking a bit further, the view suddenly opened up.
A strange, blood-like, earthy smell filled the nose, occasionally kicking up dust. What appeared before them was a large pit, spanning several hundred square meters, clearly having been excavated for a long time.
Above them were rough rocks, pressing down oppressively. Both inside and outside the pit, torches stood on the walls, providing basic illumination.
The pit was full of moving heads; dozens of men were sweating profusely, swinging axes and chisels. The clanging sounds were deafening.
“Old Qi, a newcomer!” The guard who brought Ye Youqing shouted, then pushed her forward. The ground was full of sharp stones, and Ye Youqing stumbled a few times before she could stand firm.
“You are?” The shirtless middle-aged man, called Old Qi, with muscles rippling and a beard hanging down to his chest, almost blending with his chest hair, looked Ye Youqing up and down.
Ye Youqing didn’t speak, just nodded.
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“Take these tools and watch what others are doing,” Old Qi said, giving her another push, this time directly into a pit as tall as a person. Fortunately, Ye Youqing landed on her legs, reacting quickly enough to avoid injury.
The people at the bottom didn’t even glance at her, mechanically wielding their tools. Someone nudged Ye Youqing aside with their shoulder, speaking in a hoarse voice, “Don’t get in the way.”
Frowning, Ye Youqing moved aside, slipping into a corner, pretending to study the chisel while secretly observing. Most of the people here didn’t look like martial artists; their expressions were numb, clearly desensitized from long-term labor.
It seemed that these were all civilians or passersby who had been captured.
“What are you staring at?” Old Qi’s voice came from above. Another person was pushed into the pit. “You two are newcomers, look after each other. If you don’t dig up three carts’ worth today, no one in this pit will eat!”
After Old Qi left, Ye Youqing finally breathed a sigh of relief, asking softly, “Are you alright?”
The one pushed down was Shi Li. Holding a chisel, she symbolically scraped the ground a couple of times, also lowering her voice, “I’m fine. This place…”
“It’s a mine. The missing people from Weizhou City were brought here to do hard labor,” Ye Youqing said succinctly.
Shi Li widened her eyes, looking around in astonishment, “Is it the work of the Iron Cavalry?”
“There are Iron Cavalry guards, but not many. It’s unclear where the rest are or if someone else is controlling the Iron Cavalry,” Ye Youqing said, quietly recounting the information she’d gathered from the man.
“There must be more than one mine here. We captives are only allowed to move within this area. To gather more information, we need to leave here or get close to the leader,” Ye Youqing said, lifting a chisel and hammer, mimicking the others by striking the ground.
Although she had martial arts skills, she had never done such heavy labor. After a few hits, she nearly hammered her own hand.
A commotion arose above. Old Qi was dragging someone out of the cave, shouting angrily, “You lazy brat! The guards are inspecting today, and you hid in the cave without working. Do you want another leg broken?”
Before Ye Youqing could look up, the man who had spoken with her in the cave was thrown down. Luckily, Shi Li caught his arm, preventing him from rolling down.
“Old Qi, can’t you be a bit gentler!” The man shouted upwards but was met with several chisels thrown at him.
Muttering a few curses, he bent down to pick up the chisels, then recognized Ye Youqing’s face and exclaimed, “Brother!”
Ye Youqing nodded at him and pointed upwards, “Who is that man?”
“Old Qi, he was the first to be captured. He was already here when I arrived. But don’t be fooled by his rough appearance; he used to be a refined private school teacher,” the man said with a laugh.
“You are?” Shi Li suddenly grabbed him, forcing him to face her, scrutinizing his almond-shaped eyes closely.
The man, startled and at a loss, looked at Ye Youqing.
Seeing his panic, Ye Youqing patted Shi Li’s hand. Not finding anything suspicious, Shi Li let go.
The man quickly hid behind Ye Youqing, “What’s with this brother? He’s scary.”
“What’s your surname?” Shi Li asked abruptly, her tone somewhat aggressive.
“Surname Chi, call me Ah Chi,” the man said nervously, hiding behind Ye Youqing.
Ye Youqing looked at Shi Li for confirmation. Shi Li shook her head, whispering, “Mistaken identity.”
For the next three days, Ye Youqing pretended to work diligently to lower the guards’ vigilance, making no other moves.
On the fourth day, the guards stationed at the cave entrance disappeared, and Ye Youqing prepared to explore secretly.
But before she could act, a gong sounded. Old Qi stood at the top, shouting into the pit, “Xiao Jiu, Xiao Shi, come out!”
Ye Youqing exchanged a wary glance with Shi Li before climbing out of the pit to stand before Old Qi.
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Old Qi’s management wasn’t too strict. Though Ye Youqing wasn’t injured or exhausted, she hadn’t bathed in days and was covered in dust from standing in the pit, looking like a refugee.
“Look at you two!” Old Qi said angrily, “You haven’t even dug up two pieces all morning!”
Ye Youqing kept her head down, saying nothing.
“Alright, follow me,” Old Qi said irritably, turning to lead them to a guard dressed in black, with a ferocious scar across his left cheek. He was the bandit Shi Li had thrown off the city wall that night.
Luckily, he didn’t recognize them. He scrutinized them seriously, then nodded, “These two, plus the cripple, should be enough.”
Ye Youqing’s fingers fidgeted in her sleeve, speaking softly, “May I ask where you’re taking us?”
“The Second King wants people,” the guard replied coldly, turning to lead them through the passageways. Ye Youqing and Shi Li concealed their surprise and followed.
They walked through winding passages to a cave guarded by two men in black. One of them stopped them, asking with a smile, “Where are you taking them?”
The knife-scarred guard relaxed his expression, shaking his head, “Yesterday, the Second King brought back a woman from the city, said to be as beautiful as a fairy. The Second King was so enchanted he set up a banquet for her. But the woman is timid, saying the brothers’ faces are too scary with all their scars. Isn’t that absurd? Which of us doesn’t have a few scars?”
“The Second King asked me to pick a few decent-looking ones to serve her.”
LP: Gotta be Ci Ke!
