Supervisor Wu's Scheme

The man stood by the entrance for a few seconds without saying anything. The only sounds were those of swallowing saliva and the dripping of blood.

"Hmph," snorted the muscular man as he walked into the place.

His eyes were filled with malice and all kinds of bad intent. He looked at the slaves as though they were nothing but useful animals that he needed to keep alive for as long as possible. He was not thrilled by this prospect, but it was necessary.

The woman who remained seated was the only one who did not seem threatened by this man.

"Supervisor Wu, we are sorry for our incompetence. It will not happen again," one of the guards ran toward the man, bowed, and began begging for forgiveness.

The guard's words showed that this was not the first time he had done this. Supervisor Wu walked towards the seated woman called the Miner. It felt as though he was about to do something to the woman, but when he got close to her, he bowed his head slightly before moving to stand next to her.

It seemed that everyone in the mine feared this woman. The other slaves handed in their bags, and those that had not reached the specified quota were whipped into bloody messes. No one tried to escape, not after seeing the example earlier.

Later that day, the woman called the Miner met with Supervisor Wu in his small office just outside the mine.

"I have enough to buy my freedom," these were the first words spoken by the woman.

Supervisor Wu shuddered. He understood the implications of her words.

He could not let this person leave the mine, not under any circumstances. He had thought about the situation in great depth but still could not understand why the mighty Chu family had decided to imprison this person in this mine.

This person was a martial artist of great power and some renown, yet the Chu family had not sent her to one of their better prisons, instead sending her into a small mine. When they had brought her into the mine a few months ago, they had ordered Supervisor Wu to make sure that she never left the mine, at least not alive.

Supervisor Wu had tried everything within his power, but everything backfired spectacularly.

At this moment, Supervisor Wu remembered one of these times. He had sent one of his guards to silently kill this person deep in the mine. This was nothing abnormal, except that the following day, the guard was discovered disemboweled with his organs all over the ground.

The guard had most likely faced one of the most gruesome deaths the supervisor had ever had the misfortune to learn about.

The guard's eyes had been left wide open with terror. When the supervisor had looked into these red eyes, he had seen an image of the Miner.

After this first attempt, the supervisor did not give up on his orders. He sent one guard after another. Each guard was more powerful than the previous, yet they all ended up in the same situation. Supervisor Wu kept on sending guards until the guards simply refused to carry out orders if the orders had something to do with the Miner. Months had gone by, and Supervisor Wu was still trying to find a solution to his problem.

He understood that letting this person out of the mine alive meant his death at the hands of the Chu family. On the other hand, if he did not let this death god out of the mine, he was worried that everyone would be dead in the next few months at the hands of the Miner, who killed at the slightest grievance.

"Hmph," Supervisor Wu cleared his throat.

"I am afraid that such a thing is no longer possible," said the supervisor.

He stuttered, showing that he was not sure about what he was saying.

"Why can't I buy my freedom? Since the founding of the mighty Cloud Empire two thousand years ago, all slaves were given the freedom to buy their freedom if they wished to do so and had the ability. Are you going to tell me that you, a mere mine supervisor in a small mine at the edge of nowhere, have the power to change the laws of the empire?" said the Miner in a harsh voice.

Supervisor Wu sensed that if he were to say anything wrong, he would be killed where he stood. This person before him was a cultivator, someone who could summon rain with one hand and wind with the other.

"No, no, no, I would not dare do such a thing. It is just that this mine is under the ownership of the Chu family," said the supervisor.

"So what?" barked the woman.

Supervisor Wu almost had a heart attack.

"The law governing slaves was recently updated to say that a slave needed to deal directly with their owner to negotiate terms for their release. Right now, the only Chu family member with the power to release you will only come here after another two weeks," hurriedly said the supervisor.

The man was sweating buckets.

The supervisor knew the homicidal tendencies of the person before him, and since the supervisor was quite attached to his life, he was always nervous in the presence of this death star.

The Miner remained silent for a few moments. She appeared to be in deep thought.

Supervisor Wu was praying that his excuse was believed to be true. It was complete nonsense, but this was the best Supervisor Wu could manage without any warning.

The Miner stayed quiet for a few seconds, considering her options. This made for a very nervous supervisor who could not discern whether death was upon him.

When Supervisor Wu was just about ready to turn around and flee for his life, the Miner finally said something.

"Fine, I will trust you this one time. If you are lying for whatever reason, you will come to regret this day for the rest of your life," said the Miner as she turned around and left the office.

Supervisor Wu sighed out loud with relief.

"He is now the problem of young master Chu. When he arrives in five days' time, he will deal with the Miner," murmured the supervisor.

It turned out that this supervisor was quite the cunning one.

The Miner was expecting the Chu family member to arrive in two weeks, yet the person would arrive in a mere five days.

With the wrong date of arrival in her mind, the Miner was bound to make a wrong decision due to poor planning.

Two days went by.

As usual, the Miner woke up and entered the shafts to go about the hard business of mining for spirit stones.

She handed in her bag for inspection each day, and each day that went by was a relief to Supervisor Wu, who was sure that someone as smart as the Miner would figure him out. Still, he hoped to dupe the Miner for as long as possible. Only three days were left until young Master Chu arrived. By then, the Miner would have to coil up even if she were a dragon.

On the third day, the Miner saw a change in Supervisor Wu.

This supervisor was a brutal man who liked showing off his power to the slaves daily. He usually did this by killing at least a single slave each day in front of the other slaves. He liked the terror he saw on their faces. He liked the look on the slaves' faces when they realized that they were never getting out of the mine alive.

The reason the Miner became suspicious was because Supervisor Wu had not shown up in the mine for almost a day, not since she had met with him in his office.

The Miner was a wise woman who had experienced a lot of things in the world.

Few things could surprise her. With the supervisor's abnormal behavior, the Miner got a hint that not all would go as planned. She understood that trouble was brewing.

On the fourth day, something happened that she had not expected. She went into labor.

She did not scream or even show any signs of pain. She moved out of her private room, and after moving through the shafts for a few minutes, she entered a large room. Inside, countless slaves slept on the hard, dusty ground.

The Miner had been given her own private room due to her strength and murderous nature.

She walked past countless smelly bodies.

The smell was horrible. It was enough to kill small creatures such as rats with a single breath.

Some of the slaves screamed in their sleep. They were having nightmares. This was to be expected since they saw death every single day.

The Miner walked until she reached a sleeping woman. This woman was covered in an old blanket.

This was the only 'friend' the Miner had made in this place.

She touched her gently, and the woman was startled out of her sleep.

When she saw who it was, she calmed down and bowed her head.

"Come with me," ordered the Miner as she walked out of the room.

The woman followed from a safe distance.