Taichu Yandao: Starting from the Villain

Endless fear permeated every pore, but Zhao and Qian had no choice but to enter the mine.

It was dark and gloomy inside the mine tunnel. There was a dim oil lamp every hundred meters. Occasionally, the sound of wind could be heard, as if the sound of evil spirits was crying.

After walking for a while, the mine tunnel began to go down, and some places became extremely steep, making it impossible for ordinary people to walk.

However, the spirit carriage is designed very cleverly. No matter how the mine changes, it will remain in a horizontal position and the food will not fall.

After more than half an hour, the team suddenly stopped.

Zhao and Qian stuck their heads out to look, and immediately saw a golden light curtain across the mine.

The surface of the light curtain changed like rippling water waves. Runes flashed every once in a while, and it looked extremely mysterious.

After a while, the team moved again. Zhao Qian and the others hurriedly followed and soon plunged into the golden light curtain.

Behind the light curtain was still the mine tunnel, with only a wooden table placed on its side and two supervisors in gray clothes standing beside it.

When the two men saw Zhao and Qian, they said jokingly, "Oh, there are new people. Brother Zhong will be happy again!"

Zhao and Qian frowned, wondering who Brother Zhong was and what perverted hobbies he had.

The two of them lowered their heads and continued forward amid laughter.

After walking for a while, the mine tunnel became wider and wider, until it suddenly became clear and a circular cave that was twenty meters in diameter appeared.

Around the cave, there are five large holes, each two people high, some close together and some very far away, and it is unknown where they lead to.

The entrance of the cave was propped up with wood, and two oil lamps were hung in the middle.

By the dim light of oil lamps, the team stopped in the middle of the big hole, and five hearses were lined up in a row and landed lightly on the ground.

At this time, the bearded man took out a gong from somewhere and started beating it.

He knocked four or five times, then stopped and waited quietly.

After about twenty breaths, footsteps were heard from the five mines, and soon monks came out one after another.

Those cultivators were young and old, and although they had all reached the state of great perfection in Qi training, most of them had haggard faces and looked listless, with a pale bloodless color all over their bodies.

After they entered the big cave, they behaved very well, divided into ten teams, and stood neatly in front of the bearded man.

But both eyes were fixed on the food on the bier.

After the ten teams stood in place, the bearded supervisor drove the four white-skinned men to the front. Just as he was about to speak, his eyes suddenly turned, and he clasped his fists towards Chen Wenhe and said:

"Director Chen, why don't you come and say a few words to scare off these unruly scoundrels."

Chen Wenhe stepped forward and coughed, "Some people still want to escape! Do you think the Chen family's formation is just for show? There is always a price to pay for not following the rules. For the next three days, no food will be distributed to Team Six. The food will be distributed to other teams."

As soon as he finished speaking, nine out of the ten teams became excited. They cheered loudly, with festive smiles on their faces.

Only one team kept silent with their heads down, looking frustrated. They seemed to be the so-called Team Six.

Zhao Rui was very puzzled by this. Although cultivators in the late stage of Qi training could not completely fast, not eating for a few weeks was not a problem at all. Why were these people so happy for a little bit of food?

Chen Wenhe was very satisfied with the response. He stroked his beard and said with a smile, "Okay, hand over all the spirit stones! You are all heavy laborers, so go back and refine the spirit stones after receiving the food."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone from each team stood up, holding a cloth bag and offering the spirit stone with both hands.

Upon seeing this, the bearded man immediately picked up the bag, opened it, counted the items briefly, and then put them into the storage bag at his waist.

Zhao Rui could see clearly that there were basically eight or nine medium-grade spirit stones in each bag, and the rest were of low-grade.

Those spirit stones were very regular and their sizes were exactly the same as those in daily circulation, which made Zhao Rui extremely curious.

Is this how the spiritual stone is dug out?

After each team handed over the spirit stones, they could not wait to rush to the spirit bier. They first put the steamed buns into the cloth bag, and then picked up the porridge bucket and poured it into the wooden barrel they brought.

After pouring the porridge, everyone will shake the porridge bucket continuously. When there is no drop left, the person pouring the porridge will extend his index finger and carefully scrape the inner wall of the porridge bucket.

Soon, the porridge bucket was scraped clean and looked cleaner than one that had been washed with water.

And when they scrape the last bit of the bucket mouth, they will not let it go. They will scrape it hard onto their index finger and lick it clean with their tongue.

After a round of satisfied smacking sounds, the person who poured the porridge would put the porridge bucket back on the bier, in exactly the same position as when he first picked it up.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Rui's scalp tingled. Unless he was a starving ghost, who could do this?

In about half a cup of tea, all nine portions of food were taken away, and only the last portion was still left on the bier.

At this time, the bearded man coughed and said, "This copy was originally going to be sent back. Since the general foreman has spoken, let's follow the old rules and the highest bidder wins."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately made an offer:

"We'll give you ten bucks!"

"Eleven dollars!"

All the teams only bid one spirit stone more, and after a round of bidding, the number stayed at twenty.

Seeing that there was no higher bid, the bearded man looked a little unhappy and asked, "Anything else? If not, it's Team 4."

"Don't waste your time. Don't think we don't know that you have some hidden goods, hot steamed buns!"

"Team Four, second time!"

Seeing that the bearded man was about to shout for the last time, a man from Team Six stepped out and said, "Master Supervisor, Team Six and Team Four will jointly contribute thirty yuan. Can we split it in half? Without food, Team Six will surely die. If the production cannot keep up, you will have a hard time reporting back."

Before the bearded man could speak, Chen Wenhe suddenly asked, "Old Yao, do you think this method is feasible?"

Under the dim light, everyone looked at the old man named Yao, and the people from Team Six had complicated expressions and their eyes were full of anticipation.

The old man surnamed Yao glanced at everyone and sighed, "I am not a good person. If we were not prisoners, who would care about your life or death? Chen Wenhe, I will help you get an extra medium-grade spirit stone every half a month, so you don't have to make things difficult for these people."

Chen Wenhe smiled and said, "Mr. Yao is still responsible. There are not many bad people like you nowadays."

Seeing this, the bearded man turned around and announced, "In that case, the last portion of food will go to Team Six and Team Four. Divide it among yourselves."

Everyone in Team Six breathed a sigh of relief, and several men hurried forward and skillfully unloaded the food from the bier.

Soon, the last portion of food was divided up, and the ten teams followed the same route back to the mine.

After all the teams left, Chen Wenhe said, "Since Mr. Yao has already agreed, he will definitely not go back on his word. However, one thing is another, this punishment still needs to be carried out. Let's go!"