Chapter 3 -The Mines

LingYue stared at what was once a man in the prime of his life, now looking like a desiccated corpse.

The corpse of the man was still shackled with his hands reaching out and palms faced up with a desperate look of pleading on his face which was so unnerving that even Smiling Tiger, Jin LaoHu shifted his gaze.

One of the slavers whispered to another, "That must be the famed Haunting Blood Sutra that outer disciples practice."

The outer disciple of the Blood Gate Cult came back while licking his lips, "Heh, they weren't too bad, take 'em to the mines. Let's hope they can b of some use" he said with a sneer.

Upon reaching the quarry all the new slaves on the caravan were outfitted with shackles on both their hands and feet as well as their neck.

From what LingYue picked up from hearsay, there seems to be something in them called a formation.

This formation blocks the circulation of Blood Qi, Internal Qi and Spirit Will, blocking a person's method of gaining and retaining strength while subjecting a person to unimaginable torture should they try to remove it.

As the last cuff was placed on him, it glowed a light colour before going dull once again. The slaves were then shown their quarters which were shared amongst them.

The area was less than subpar but at least it was better than the cages...

A loud trumpeting-like sound rang throughout the air as the shuffling of feet was heard, slaves and miners all gathered together in neat ques, standing side by side with their hands clasped behind their backs and their feet slightly spread.

LingYue followed the example of these older men as he fell in line. . .

Some older outer disciples of the Blood Gate Cult sauntered over with the management of the mines as they looked over the miners.

"Hmm?"

The older disciple looked at LingYue in confusion as he stood out from the crowd, then upon realising he cast a disdainful look as he said,

" Fucking animals. . ." before turning away.

The older disciple was an outer sect deacon by the name of Yao Gen, he was around his 40s with greying hair at his temples and his hair in a bun with a hairpin through it.

His eyes were black like a swirling vortex and his nails were claw-like and bloody in colour.

He looked them over once again before his face turned stern while his voice was sultry and smooth, "I don't care where you came from, what your status was and who you're related to. . ."

His eyes glanced over as he spoke, " You all are now the property of my Blood Gate Cult and shall be treated as such, anyone caught stealing the jadeite iron ore shall have their throats slit."

With a swish of his sleeve, he turned to the younger disciple beside him, "Duan Yun, it's about time we leave this backwater place and return to the sect, all I see and smell are these animals."

Duan Yun nodded and left with the management fawningly at their heels.

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LingYue was confused as to what to do until a supervisor came and shouted orders, he was equipped with just a pick axe and basket as he headed down the tunnel into the mine, he looked back and realized that this might be the last time he saw the sun since only new and trusted miners were allowed to be on the surface.

As he made his way further into the mine, the darker, quieter and damp it became. The only noises that could be heard were the clashing of the pick axe against the walls of the mine; though most of the mine in these upper areas were picked clean, some lucky few were still able to find enough to exchange for some bread.

The mining life was hard, the strong stole from the weak, the weak stole from the weaker, and the weaker either died or found other means of acquiring Jadeite Iron ore.

Fae races were sent to the deepest part of the mine, away from the humans and forgotten, even if they made substantial gains they were never able to buy their freedom. . .

As LingYue passed floor after floor, he saw people slaughtering each over the ore as big as a fingernail, this world was a deep dark pit of wickedness. The humans' greed and spitefulness thrived in this kind of environment, they backstabbed each, tricked and lied, nothing was off the table for them once it was profitable.

Upon reaching the lowest floor, aside from LingYue, there were only 3 fae descendants. Yao Xiaofan was a Wind Weasel descendant, he had sly squinted eyes but aside from that quite an ordinary and common face, he was short and around 14 years old with his hair was short and black as he looked around the dark area.

A bald stout man with a grizzly beard and hanging ear lobes who looked similar to a Buddhist monk stood beside them.

He was Pan Zedong and had a large stature but gave off a genial attitude to those around him and was a descendant of the Bodhi Bear Tribe. He swung the pick axe on his shoulder as he looked ahead.

The last person was a female named Deng Li, she had long black silky hair and above-average features but her body was filled with crisscrossing scars leaving much to be imagined of what she went through. Her nails were sharp and she had two long, slender black tails coming from the base of her spine, telltale signs that she was a descendant of the Two-Tailed Cat Tribe.

She seemed to have a strong distrust of men, but most of her hatred was directed towards human men especially. Her gaze swept over the 3 of them but her gaze was only softened when it came to LingYue.

She came over to LingYue as she stooped down, "Little fella what's your name? you can stick with me, I'll take care of you." she said as she smiled.

"I'm..my name is Xiao LingYue aunty..." he replied meekly.

Pan Zedong chuckled as he responded, " We can all take care of him, from what I overheard, people like us don't survive too long down here, so let's rely on each other and take care of the two youngsters."

Yao Xiaofan nodded as he followed the two with LingYue as they all walked into the darkness around them. . .