Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: Minimizing the Trouble

"Who's there? Why are you dawdling?"A sudden shout came from the fork in the road ahead. A figure wearing a woven mask emerged from the branch tunnel, pointing accusingly at the tall and short men in the dim light.This mine wasn't just a single tunnel. Since the exact location of the target was unknown initially, a group of local cultivators had dug randomly underground for over a month. Only after discovering the target did they focus their excavation in one direction—hence the many forks in the cave.The supervisor's rebuke was understandable: the two men had been chatting so intently that their slow, dragging pace made their laziness obvious.As Wu Jinliang had worried earlier—were they being too bold?Startled by the voice, they saw it was a supervisor. Immediately, they hunched over, about to put on obsequious grins and rush forward to apologize—their movements so synchronized it was uncanny.But the supervisor was truly annoyed by their blatant laziness. Ignoring their impending apology, he darted forward, swinging his whip straight at Shi Chun's face to teach him a lesson.Sometimes, people's tempers were just that impulsive.Shi Chun was furious. From what he knew, both miners and supervisors were recruited by Shen Youkun to work—they merely had different roles. No one held a permanent job here, so why take things so seriously and make enemies unnecessarily?The stunned Wu Jinliang didn't react at all, showing no intention of helping or intervening. He trusted their leader to handle this trivial matter.Shi Chun's first instinct was to dodge, even to fight back and teach the supervisor a lesson—he almost swung his shoulder pole. But thinking about their current situation, he held back, not wanting to provoke the man and escalate the commotion.He decided to let the supervisor vent his anger, standing his ground without moving to dodge.However, he couldn't just let the whip hit his face—what if he got disfigured? He figured he might still need his looks to get by in the future.He raised one hand to block.Crack! The whip struck, making Shi Chun grit his teeth in pain. He quickly pulled his hand back to see a bleeding welt forming on his arm, instantly fueling his anger. He hadn't expected the man to strike so hard.Half the skin was gone. Wu Jinliang winced in sympathy—even watching hurt.Seething silently, Shi Chun forced himself to endure, bowing and groveling to the supervisor who had appeared before him, hoping to smooth things over."Speak! Why were you dawdling?" The supervisor jabbed his whip at Shi Chun's chest, then turned to poke Wu Jinliang, demanding: "Do you not want this job anymore?"Shi Chun hastily replied: "We weren't dawdling! Calm down, brave warrior." He held out his bleeding arm, looking pitiful, hoping the supervisor would call it quits.But the supervisor's anger hadn't subsided: "Do you think I'm blind?"Wu Jinliang quickly chimed in: "We really weren't dawdling! I twisted my ankle, so I walked slowly."The supervisor pointed to his ear: "So not only do you think I'm blind, but also deaf? I heard you buzzing away happily the whole time—did you think I wouldn't notice? Fine, you're stubborn, huh? Fine, I won't make things difficult for you. Stand here and chat as much as you want, as long as no one objects. Chat—go on!"At this, both men's expressions changed slightly. They had snuck in to snoop around—how could they stand here being gawked at by everyone passing by? It would only draw attention. If Shen Youkun showed up later, things would get even more troublesome. Kidnapping the supervisor was a last resort they wanted to avoid.Shi Chun immediately clasped his hands and begged: "Brave warrior...""Stay put!" The supervisor interrupted sharply, pointing his whip at Shi Chun's foot as he tried to step forward to bow. "I told you to stand there and chat—didn't you hear? Chat—keep talking!"Shi Chun froze. His eyes, hidden behind his loose hair, fixed on the supervisor. He then tilted his head and gave Wu Jinliang a look.Wu Jinliang dropped his shoulder pole with a clatter. Under the supervisor's sudden gaze, he knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down his face instantly. "I'm sorry! I have elderly parents and young children to support—I'm counting on this pay! Please, sir, have mercy and spare me this once..."Weeping, he crawled over to the supervisor, clinging to his legs and begging.So spineless? The supervisor looked surprised, muttering "Let go" and trying to push him away, but Wu Jinliang held on tight.The sobbing Wu Jinliang hugged him tightly all the way up.The supervisor soon sensed something was wrong—before he knew it, both his hands were pinned to his sides, and he couldn't break free no matter how hard he struggled.He realized the danger. Just as he was about to knee the man clinging to him, a sudden coldness touched his neck. Glancing down, he saw the glint of metal—still sharp in the dim light—and felt a stinging pain on his neck.Threatened, he froze instantly.Shi Chun had pulled out a small knife from somewhere, pressing it to the supervisor's neck. His own shoulder pole also fell to the ground.The supervisor panicked: "What do you want?""Shut up!" Shi Chun warned.The supervisor whispered again: "We can talk this over..."Stepping behind him, Shi Chun raised his bleeding arm and covered the supervisor's mouth through the mask, silencing him physically. The blade at his neck sliced cleanly, spraying a burst of blood—giving the man no chance to lash out in desperation.As if anticipating this, Wu Jinliang rolled out of the way of the spraying blood just in time.The supervisor, struggling with all his remaining cultivation, was pinned to the ground. Shi Chun pressed his knee firmly into the man's lower back, and with a crisp "crack," twisted his neck as he pulled his hand away.The supervisor's body twitched as he lay prone. Having wiped the blood from his knife, Shi Chun stood up and glanced deep into the mine—faint footsteps were approaching. He whispered: "Someone's coming. Get rid of the body quickly."That's why he'd acted decisively to kill the supervisor. With people coming and going, being entangled here would leave him with no room to maneuver.No time to hesitate. Wu Jinliang quickly lifted the still-twitching supervisor and ran, disappearing into the fork the man had emerged from.Shi Chun hastily tucked the small knife under the cloth covering his lower body, then pulled a woven mask from under his load and put it on. He tied a black cloth strip around his bleeding arm, picked up the supervisor's whip, stacked the two shoulder poles against the wall, and spun around to sweep the ground with his leg—kicking up dust to cover the bloodstains.Just as he waved his hand to dispel the swirling dust, two figures dressed as supervisors hurried over.They had no intention of speaking to Shi Chun as they passed, not even giving the stacked poles a second glance. But an unusual scent made them stop one after another, sniffing the air.One man said solemnly: "The smell of blood!"The other nodded, glancing around before their eyes quickly fixed on Shi Chun by the road.Shi Chun remained calm, holding up his bloodstained arm and lowering his voice slightly: "I was playing with the whip and accidentally hurt myself."He wasn't pretending to be calm—he truly was unflustered.Seeing his injury, the two supervisors looked relieved, if a little surprised.Before they could ask more questions, Shi Chun took the initiative to change the subject: "What are you two up to?"One supervisor explained: "We're checking the excavation progress. The remaining earthwork shouldn't be much. We want to discuss with Mr. Shen—there's no need to carry it all the way out. We can dump it directly into other fork tunnels instead, saving time and effort to speed up the excavation.""That makes sense." Shi Chun nodded in agreement, waving them on.The two supervisors immediately hurried off.Watching them leave, Shi Chun glanced back into the mine, thinking: No wonder no more miners carrying heavy loads had come out lately.Wu Jinliang's figure soon appeared from the fork, rushing over to him and whispering: "I buried him. Everything okay?"Shi Chun: "This is all your fault—rambling on and on. Otherwise, we wouldn't be in this mess." He pointed to the stacked poles, signaling for Wu Jinliang to pick them up and leave.Wu Jinliang looked reluctant: "Why do I always have to play the coolie? It's your turn for a change!"Shi Chun walked forward and said: "Are there any supervisors as tall as you? You'd stand out like a sore thumb—afraid no one will recognize you?"This left Wu Jinliang tongue-tied. It was true—such a tall supervisor would be far too conspicuous to blend in.In fact, Wu Jinliang's unusual height among the miners had aroused suspicion before. But Shi Chun, disguised as a supervisor, would appear halfway to confirm Wu Jinliang was a latecomer, and the miners naturally dropped their doubts.They used the same trick to handle suspicious supervisors. For those they couldn't fool, their solution was simple—get rid of them.After figuring out the layout and personnel here, they had snuck in directly. They didn't insist on fighting; they hid when needed, avoided conflicts, and sometimes split up. Shi Chun even switched between pretending to be a miner and a supervisor, seamlessly adapting to sneak around.In Shi Chun's words: "Dong Jiuyuan is my territory!"In short, they hadn't done any real work at all. Wandering freely through the underground mine, they treated the enemy's men as if they weren't there—bold to the point of being almost brazen.Naturally, they weren't unprepared. They had long mentally prepared: if they could handle it, they would; if not, they would run!Still, Wu Jinliang, following behind, sighed: "Another one dead. If we keep this up, there will be fewer and fewer people—they'll notice sooner or later.""Can you shut your mouth?" Shi Chun turned around to retort, also warning: "Is this the place to chat? We almost got caught earlier."As soon as he spoke, he quickly turned back to the front. A figure darted toward them, moving so fast they nearly collided.The newcomer was also a masked supervisor. He paused briefly to avoid them before hurrying on.In such a hurry? Shi Chun sensed something was off. He never missed a chance to gather information, immediately reaching out to block the man's path and asking: "Why the rush?""We found something—need to inform Mr. Shen." The man brushed off the question, pushing Shi Chun's arm aside and hurrying away."Found something?" Shi Chun muttered, glancing back at Wu Jinliang. Both looked surprised.Hadn't they already found the target? Wasn't it just that inexplicable pile of bones? What was all the fuss about?Instantly, they realized there might be more to it. Having come this far, they certainly didn't want to miss out. Without hesitation, they both darted toward the end of the mine.