Chapter 143
Chapter 143
A gentle night breeze rustled through the forest.
Insects chirped and frogs croaked all around them.
It was the height of summer. The trees grew thick, and the woods were so dark that one could not see a hand held before one’s face.
Yet Jin Bao moved through them with ease, as if she possessed night vision.
To circle around behind the gold mine, they had to slip through the mountains to one side.
Anyone unfamiliar with the local terrain could easily lose his way there.
With Jin Bao guiding them, however, Xiao Che’s party faced no real obstacle. Every member of the group possessed exceptional martial skill.
Just before daybreak, they finally reached the mountain behind the mine.
It was the hour when everyone at the mine slept most deeply.
Jin Bao led them to a cave.
After passing through it, they climbed a steep stretch of cliff. Fortunately, vines covered the rock face, making the ascent considerably easier.
“Daddy, it’s right below us.”
Jin Bao led them to the summit. From there, the patrols, overseers’ barracks, shacks, and stone storehouse were all laid out before their eyes.
Jin Bao’s job had been to lead the way. The fighting that followed belonged to Xiao Che and his men.
Afraid that she might use her powers recklessly again, Xiao Che ordered her to remain on the summit and keep watch.
Jin Bao sat cross-legged by herself on a huge boulder, her big eyes fixed on the activity below. She would notice the slightest disturbance.
Xiao Che split the Shadow Guards and Dragon Tiger Guards into two groups.
He would lead one group into the camp and set fires to create a diversion.
Long Xia would lead the other group in rescuing the miners.
It was the darkest hour before dawn.
Shielded by the night, Xiao Che and the Shadow Guards slipped into the patrol camp without difficulty.
The cookhouse stood at its northeastern corner.
A firebreak three zhang wide separated it from the tents.
Perhaps the soldiers had never imagined anyone would raid their camp. Not a soul was inside the cookhouse.
Xiao Che and Ye Qi found the stored oil.
Each man picked up a jar and hurried toward the camp.
Before long, towering flames painted half the sky red.
The soldiers sleeping in the camp scrambled and crawled out of their tents in panic.
They had no time to dress. They rushed toward the armory to retrieve their weapons.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Xiao Che and the Shadow Guards tore through the camp in a frenzy of slaughter.
Their blades rose and fell. Enemy blood dyed their clothes red. Before the warmth of one spray faded from their faces, another corpse fell and splashed them again.
The surprise attack was little short of a massacre.
The soldiers could not fight back at all.
Those who finally reached the armory found it engulfed in flames as well.
Despair seized them. They turned and fled toward the camp entrance, desperate to escape.
Long Xia and the freed miners blocked their path.
Several hundred unarmed soldiers had become lambs awaiting slaughter.
By the time the red sun rose into a sky filled with rosy clouds, the camp had been reduced to ruins.
The miners knelt on the ground, clutching their heads and weeping bitterly.
At last, they no longer had to remain trapped in those filthy shacks, living worse than animals.
Xiao Che looked up at Jin Bao, still seated on the boulder at the summit. From below, she was no more than a tiny black speck.
He waved to her.
Jin Bao rose from the boulder.
Only then did the miners realize that someone stood atop the mountain.
Bathed in the morning glow, Jin Bao looked like an immortal maiden descending upon clouds.
She lifted one small hand, and the vines at the summit immediately wrapped around her.
They slowly lowered her toward the ground.
Everyone stared, transfixed by the sight.
Even Xiao Che stood frozen in place.
Drenched in golden light, Jin Bao descended slowly from the heights. The vines surrounding her seemed afraid of hurting her and draped her in a layer of green leaves.
As she neared the ground, the layers of leaves opened to reveal her tiny figure.
Not only the miners, but every Shadow Guard and Dragon Tiger Guard dropped to his knees and bowed low.
Jin Bao opened her eyes to find the ground covered with kneeling figures.
Even Xiao Che had sunk to one knee, an instinctive response he had not consciously chosen.
Jin Bao ran over with a cheerful grin.
“Daddy, Baby’s here!”
The instant she spoke, she became the same little toddler she had always been, utterly unlike the sacred, untouchable figure who had bathed in golden light moments ago.
The miners finally saw her face clearly.
“She’s… she’s the Star Maiden! The Star Maiden has come to save us!”
No one knew who shouted first, but the crowd erupted at once.
“No wonder! She came down from such a high place without a scratch.”
“Did you see that? The Star Maiden can control vines. Is she an immortal reincarnated?”
“I got to witness the Star Maiden display her divine power with my own eyes. Even if I die now, this life wasn’t wasted!”
Xiao Che hurriedly picked Jin Bao up. For the first time, he truly understood the weight and meaning carried by the words Star Maiden.
His blood surged with emotion. How fortunate he was to be the Star Maiden’s father.
Holding Jin Bao, Xiao Che stood before the camp and addressed the assembled miners in a ringing voice.
“I am Xiao Che, Valley Master of Black Pine Valley. I freed you from this prison today, but I will be honest. I have my own reasons for doing so.”
The miners’ expressions changed at once.
This was not their first change of owners. Prince Cheng had taken over the gold mine only a few months earlier, and Xiao Che would now be its third owner. That could only mean the situation outside had changed completely.
They did not care who owned the mine. They cared only whether they would leave it alive.
Every new owner brought a new overseer, and every overseer had his own brutal methods of tormenting them. Over time, fear had given way to numbness.
Seeing little change in their expressions, Xiao Che drew a deep breath.
“I am not like the men who came before me. I know many of you were lured here under false pretenses and have been forced to live worse than animals. But if you work for me, I can guarantee that every one of you will eat his fill each day. I will have tents erected, with ten men to each tent, so you will no longer have to crowd into those shacks. Your work hours will also be fixed: five double-hours a day in summer and four in winter. You will receive wages and clothing. As for those of you without wives, we’ll even help arrange marriages.”
Silence gripped the crowd for an instant. Then the miners exploded into excited clamor.
“Valley Master, is that really true? We can eat our fill and live in tents?”
Xiao Che nodded. “Yes. I, Xiao Che, keep my word. The supplies will be delivered within a few days.”
“Valley Master, do you really have wives for us?”
The other miners stared at Xiao Che as well. Some of them had been trapped here for almost three years without seeing a woman.
Most were refugees who had been captured and brought here. They never had enough to eat, yet they worked six or seven double-hours each day and were allowed only three or four double-hours of sleep. Many could not endure the suffering and died.
The merchants who had been deceived into coming rarely survived more than a few days of torture.
Those who remained were hardy refugees accustomed to grueling physical labor. Mining was only more exhausting than their old work. At least they still received a coarse grain bun to keep them alive. They had heard that many people outside starved to death during last year’s snow disaster. Miserable as conditions in the mine were, they had survived.
Xiao Che answered their questions one by one, hoping to put their minds at ease.
Promises alone, however, proved nothing. If he wanted them to work diligently, he truly had to deliver everything he had just promised.
Perhaps, before long, this place really could develop into a thriving town.
There were more than eight hundred miners. If each man eventually established a household, that would mean eight hundred families, enough to form a medium-sized town in the Northern Frontier.