Chapter 142: Too Late
Mingyan stood at the entrance of the mine, feeling a faint breeze blowing from within. He frowned and told Huang Feiyan what he had discovered.
“There’s wind, which means there’s another exit.” Huang Feiyan had read about this mine before coming here. It was a natural mine, not very deep. They had only recently discovered it contained some very rare ores and had just begun to excavate.
And according to the previous survey, the mine’s structure was simple, with only one exit, the one they were standing at. The tunnel was a winding, downward slope, with no other exits.
This meant that if there was another exit, it either hadn’t been discovered during the initial survey, or it had been created during the subsequent excavation.
“So, perhaps the miners left through another exit…” Huang Feiyan looked at Mingyan. “What do you think? Should we go in?”
The Huang family wasn’t particularly concerned about this batch of ore. It was a drop in the bucket compared to their vast reserves. But these miners were hired by the Huang family. If they had disappeared, they had to be found, dead or alive. And the truth had to be investigated. Compensation would be paid where due, and accountability would be pursued.
Mingyan nodded, and they entered the mine together.
The mine was damp, which contradicted the previous description Huang Feiyan had read. It was supposed to be dry.
Mingyan’s divine sense extended outwards but was immediately suppressed, unable to reach very far.
With his divine sense useless, and the winding tunnel limiting his vision, Mingyan paid close attention to the airflow.
They didn’t rush, moving forward slowly and cautiously.
Suddenly, Mingyan stopped. He smelled a faint scent of blood. He frowned and looked at Huang Feiyan. “Feiyan, there’s the smell of blood in here.”
A faint, bloody, and slightly putrid smell wafted from the mine.
Huang Feiyan’s brow furrowed. “I hope nothing has happened to the miners. Let’s continue.”
They quickened their pace. Although they both had a feeling something was wrong, if there were any survivors, they might still be able to save them.
Crystals were placed on the walls, illuminating the tunnel.
The deeper they went, the damper it became. They could even hear the sound of water dripping on stone. And the smell of blood and decay grew stronger.
They reached a fork in the road. Huang Feiyan looked at Mingyan, knowing he would have a way.
He stood at the fork, carefully sensing the airflow. The smell of blood and decay came from the same direction. He quickly determined the path and led her down the left tunnel.
Soon, several corpses appeared before them, their bodies contorted in various positions.
Huang Feiyan’s heart sank. She rushed over and saw their clothes and tokens. She sighed. “It seems we’re too late.”
“Are they the Huang family’s miners?”
“Yes. They were all hired by the Huang family.” She checked the other bodies and nodded slightly. “But there are only a few bodies here. There should be more than a dozen miners…”
She felt a glimmer of hope. Perhaps there were survivors. If so, they could quickly find out the truth.
Mingyan knelt and examined the bodies. There were no obvious external injuries. He sent a stream of his spiritual energy into them and found that their hearts were all damaged to varying degrees. Looking at the horrified expressions on their faces, they must have seen something terrifying before they died.
“They seem to have been scared to death,” Huang Feiyan also noticed. Their eyes were wide open, their mouths agape, their bodies stiff, their expressions frozen in terror.
Mingyan withdrew his spiritual energy and was about to suggest they continue when he suddenly turned around, his expression filled with surprise and suspicion.
“What’s wrong?” Huang Feiyan immediately moved to his side, her guard up, her divine sense scanning the surroundings. If anything attacked, she would be the first to know.
“Someone was watching us from behind just now.” Mingyan stood up, his senses on high alert. He had always been sharp. After becoming a cultivator, his perception had become even more acute. He had faintly sensed something behind them, and when he had turned, he had seen a flash of white cloth.
“…” Huang Feiyan didn’t think he was joking. She stood back-to-back with him, her gaze wary. “Did you see anything?”
“I saw a corner of a white robe when I turned,” he frowned. Since entering this wasteland, he had felt the dense Yin energy. It was even stronger in the mine.
Strong Yin energy, combined with the lack of human presence and the suppression of Yang energy, could give birth to ghosts. Could the thing following them be a ghost?
“Let’s leave this place. We shouldn’t go any further.” Huang Feiyan made a decision. Although they were both strong, it was too risky to continue. They should call Yue Qingying and Ning Feixuan. They had both broken through to the Divine Gate Realm and were the strongest cultivators allowed in this region near the Central Abyss.
Mingyan nodded. If there were ghosts here, continuing without knowing their strength was too dangerous. They were here to investigate the missing miners, not to get themselves killed…
“Is someone there? I thought I heard someone talking. Is someone here to save me?”
Hearing this, Mingyan and Huang Feiyan exchanged glances and, without a word, rushed towards the source of the voice.
There was a survivor. They couldn’t just leave.
Mingyan wouldn’t allow himself to do that, and for Huang Feiyan, these miners were hired by the Huang family. She was responsible for them. So, they quickly moved forward and soon reached the source of the voice.
“The Yin energy is so heavy…” Huang Feiyan frowned. The dense Yin energy made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
Even Mingyan felt a bit uneasy.
Soon, their path was blocked by a stone wall. They both frowned. The scene here… was truly tragic.
There were two and a half corpses outside the stone wall.
Why two and a half? Because besides the two bodies outside, another body was crushed beneath the stone wall, its upper half inside, its legs still on this side. The blood around it had dried. It had likely been cut in half by the stone wall…
And the two bodies outside, like the others, had no obvious external injuries. They seemed to have been scared to death.
“Is someone there?” A man’s voice came from behind the stone wall again. Huang Feiyan approached. “Are you a miner hired by the Huang family?”
“Yes, yes!” The voice from behind the stone wall was overjoyed. “Who… who are you?”
“I’m from the Huang family,” she replied. “What’s your name?”
“My name is Li Donglin!” he said quickly. “I’m trapped in here. Can you get me out?”
Li Donglin… Huang Feiyan had seen his name on the list of missing persons. She continued to ask, “Are you alone in there?”
“Yes… The others… they’re all dead…”
Mingyan was cautiously observing their surroundings. He felt a strange sense of unease. Although these bodies were decomposing, there was no strong smell of blood. Where was the smell of blood coming from?
He looked at the corpse beneath the stone wall. There were obvious bloodstains around it. Was it from him?
A single corpse, yet such a strong smell of blood… Strange.
Huang Feiyan tried to lift the stone wall, but it was too heavy. She managed to lift it a little, then had to let go. She looked at Mingyan. “You do it.”
He nodded, walked over to the stone wall, grabbed its edge, and lifted with all his might.
The stone wall was incredibly heavy. Although Huang Feiyan was a Qi Sea Realm cultivator, the material of these mines, having been eroded by the Central Abyss for a long time, was resistant to Dao and laws. Only brute force could move it.
And brute force was not her strong suit. But for Mingyan, strength was the forte of the Human King Physique.
So, without much effort, he lifted the stone wall.
But the scene inside… made both of them feel sick to their stomachs…
