Chapter 28: The Leader of the Mine Bandits

At night, Yang Ling practiced his fist techniques while keeping an ear on the movements in the room opposite.

Wu Que seemed to have not returned at all, so Yang Ling gathered his courage and also ran through a session of the Vajra Bright King Technique.

It wasn't until around seven o'clock the next morning that Wu Que finally returned from outside. He called for Yang Ling and they set off.

"Yang Ling, do you know what the Mountain and River Sect primarily does?"

Wu Que seemed in high spirits today, initiating the conversation himself.

Yang Ling replied respectfully, "I do not know, sir."

Wu Que smiled. "The Mountain and River Sect is one of the mining guilds, primarily making their living from ore veins.

Under its command are three Fire Crystal Rock mines and one Vermilion Gold Ore mine.

The ore you all dig up each year is either sold to the imperial court or to the major sects and powerful aristocratic families."

Mining guilds?

Yang Ling's mind stirred. It seemed there were quite a few similar sects in Zhao State, all primarily focused on mining.

"Fire Crystal Rock is a good thing. When forging weapons, adding just a bit of Fire Crystal Rock can enhance the weapon's toughness.

Even when building city walls, adding Fire Crystal Rock to the mortar can make the walls more solid.

Some aristocratic families even add a bit of Fire Crystal Rock to their courtyard houses, which is truly extravagant."

A trace of emotion appeared on Wu Que's face:

"You all dig up one liang of Fire Crystal Rock and can only exchange it for ten copper coins, but the Mountain and River Sect can sell it for a hundred copper coins.

By the time it reaches the local markets, one liang of Fire Crystal Rock can even be worth three to five hundred copper coins."

Such exorbitant profits?

Yang Ling was taken aback.

"Exorbitant, right?"

Wu Que glanced at Yang Ling.

Yang Ling gave an awkward smile. "I dare not comment, sir."

Wu Que chuckled. "It's precisely because the profits are so exorbitant that ore thieves often exist within the mining guilds.

These ore thieves secretly snatch and steal ore vein resources.

Then they resell them, reaping enormous profits, filling their bowls to the brim."

"Supervisor Wu, why isn't there dedicated manpower to deal with the ore thieves?

I've heard that in the mine shafts over on our side, ore thieves often strike, seeking wealth and taking lives."

Yang Ling said.

Wu Que replied, "How to deal with them? Ore thieves are also disguised miners. They don't show their true colors on ordinary days. We can't assign someone to watch every single miner, can we?

Besides, the ore vein resources stolen by the thieves are, overall, just a drop in the bucket."

"I see."

Yang Ling was thoughtful. It seemed these were considered normal losses, permissible.

"However, recently we've had a bit of trouble over on our side."

Wu Que said.

"What kind of trouble?"

"A major ore thief has appeared on our side."

Wu Que's tone was faint:

"A full three thousand jin of Fire Crystal Rock ore is unaccounted for. In a few days, it will be time to settle the accounts.

Someone from the Mountain and River Sect will come down to check the accounts and transport the Fire Crystal Rock away.

But what should we do about this three thousand jin shortfall?"

"Three thousand jin?"

Yang Ling's expression changed slightly.

There were over a thousand miners at the Fire Crystal Rock mine.

Although some couldn't even gather one liang of Fire Crystal Rock a day, by a full count, at least eighty jin of Fire Crystal Rock ore is unearthed daily.

Three thousand jin of Fire Crystal Rock ore is the entire mine's output for over a month!

How could there be such a huge loss?

Could that group of ore thieves have such capability?

Why didn't Wu Que notice?

Even if this Fire Crystal Rock ore was sold off cheaply, it could fetch twenty or thirty wen per liang.

Three thousand jin is nearly a thousand taels of fine silver!

For the Mountain and River Sect, losing one hundred wen per liang would mean three thousand taels...

Yang Ling could hardly imagine what kind of sum that was.

The carriage slowly came to a halt at this moment.

"Yang Ling, actually, the reason I brought you out this time wasn't for any ore competition."

Wu Que smiled. "Someone has to take responsibility for this three thousand jin shortfall."

"Supervisor Wu, you're not saying it's me, are you?"

Yang Ling's expression was somewhat strange.

Was Fifth Brother saying he would die because of this?

Not because of some so-called ore competition?

Was this three thousand jin of Fire Crystal Rock embezzled by this guy?

"Hmm, you are the biggest ore thief on my side.

After discovering this, I deliberately found an excuse to bring you out. In reality, it was to lure you out to kill you.

And your underlings."

Supervisor Wu gave a slight nod and lifted the carriage curtain.

Opposite the carriage stood a group of masked, burly men.

At their feet lay over twenty corpses.

Each corpse wore miner's clothing, their hands covered in calluses—the marks of years of mining.

Yang Ling saw a familiar face.

Uncle Wang.

He was already lifeless, his face sallow, a huge gash on his neck, blood pooled on the ground, not yet dried.

Clearly, Uncle Wang and the others had been executed here, possibly not long ago.

"Come down."

Wu Que got off the carriage and smiled at Yang Ling.

Yang Ling stepped off the carriage, his face expressionless.

"I'm just a vagrant who only recently obtained a formal identity.

Pinning the title of ore thief leader on me, is that reasonable?

Will the Mountain and River Sect believe it?"

Yang Ling said.

Wu Que wore a faint, mocking smile. "Why wouldn't they believe it? Do you think I don't know you are a descendant of the Yang Family of Hongkun City?"

"The Yang Family of Hongkun City? What nonsense is that?"

A look of confusion appeared on Yang Ling's face.

One of the masked burly men chuckled darkly.

"Stop pretending. Supervisor Niu has sharp eyes. He spotted your origins at a glance. Otherwise, why would he have given you special treatment these past days?"

"Supervisor Niu? Is he here too?"

Yang Ling's gaze sharpened, trying to pick out Supervisor Niu's figure from among these masked men.

"No need to look. He's not here. He was placed here to keep an eye on me."

Wu Que said lightly with a smile:

"I was originally troubled about who to pin this on, but Supervisor Niu actually helped me find a good pretext.

A descendant of the Yang Family of Hongkun City is qualified to be an ore thief leader."

"It seems it was all a misunderstanding, and this misunderstanding made Wu Que see me as the most suitable scapegoat.

If he had acted earlier, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Yang Ling felt a chill run down his spine.

He never imagined that Wu Que, the supervisor, the highest-ranking manager in the mine, was actually the biggest ore thief!

"But now..."

Yang Ling swept his gaze over the Status Panels of the people present.

Their masks were useless now.

One by one, their names and attributes were clearly displayed before his eyes.

Their Strength had basically all passed 10 points, and their names were also familiar.

They were the Mine Guards.

The one who had spoken earlier seemed to be on quite good terms with Supervisor Niu; he often saw them standing together chatting.

He glanced at Wu Que again. His attributes were the same as before, unchanged.

Yang Ling felt a wave of relief in his heart.

Not a big problem.

"By the way, I heard that when Xu Qing was at the mine, he spent all day with you. Are you two acquainted?"

Wu Que asked casually, as if it were an afterthought.

This guy knows everything.

Yang Ling couldn't be bothered pretending anymore:

"Wu Que, Brother Xu Qing thinks highly of me and plans to have me become the supervisor at the Vermilion Gold Ore mine in the future.

If you move against me, he won't let you off easily. At the very least, he'll investigate this matter thoroughly."

"Good, good, good."

Wu Que applauded with a laugh:

"This way, it kills two birds with one stone. After this incident, he won't need to think about taking over the Vermilion Gold Ore mine anymore."

"..."

Yang Ling fell silent for a moment.

"Is there someone behind you?"

"Nonsense."

Wu Que gave a light laugh, rolling up his sleeves:

"Let me send you on your way."

In the next moment, he was like a leopard, instantly closing in on Yang Ling.

Black Tiger Fist!

The Skilled level mastery gave him a 12-point boost to Strength.

Wu Que's Strength reached 24 points.

The wind from his fist whistled sharply!