Wonderland

Chapter 3 Miner Life
The next day was dawn, Xiao Lin got up from the bed, put on the linen and gray clothes, carried the bamboo basket on his back, and then picked up the iron pick at the door and went out.

When he came to the square, he saw a lot of people standing there, and some people were coming out of the mine with bamboo baskets on their backs. Xiao Lin knew at a glance that these people were miners who were originally here. Is out to pay for the ore.

On the other side of the square, there is also a tent. Below, a disciple of Bailian Hall is collecting ore. Each piece of ore is not big, the big one is the size of a fist, the small one is only the size of a soybean, and it is dark red. Some of the miners are elated. But there were also a few with pale faces, their heads downcast, and with deep fear in their eyes, Xiao Lin muttered in his heart as they watched.

Soon, it was the turn of a pale-faced miner to pay the ore, and the Bailian Hall disciple who collected the ore glanced at the ore in the bamboo basket, his face suddenly gloomy.

Seeing the expressions of the Bailiantang disciple, the miner suddenly became full of fear, and kept bowing to the Bailiantang disciple, as if he was begging bitterly.

But soon, two Bailiantang disciples rushed out from behind. Without saying a word, they dragged the miner away and tied his hands to two wooden stakes. One of the Bailiantang disciples picked it up from the stakes. He picked up a leather whip the thickness of his thumb, with a sneer on his face.

The miner's face was facing Xiao Lin and the newcomers. Seeing the desperate expression on the miner's face, everyone showed a look of horror.

"Papa." Although there were dozens of meters apart, the sound of each whip clearly entered everyone's ears.

Xiao Lin could even clearly see the blood rushing from the whip. After ten whips, the miner had passed out with black lips, but the Bailian Hall disciple showed no mercy and continued to whip the whip. .

"Don't look at it, if you can't complete the monthly task, he will be your end." A cold voice came, attracting everyone's attention.

Sun Fang came to the front of them, jumped onto a table, and raised a piece of dark red ore in his hand.

"This kind of ore is called hematite, from which hematite can be extracted for forging inferior weapons. In our mines, this kind of hematite is mainly produced. You pay at least [-] catties of hematite every month. Iron ore, if you lose a pound, you will be whipped once. If you come out empty-handed, you will be whipped fifty times. Oh, by the way, let me tell you, the average strong man can only bear twenty whips at most."

Sun Fang's words caused a commotion below, and many people had dissatisfaction on their faces, and there was fear in this dissatisfaction. After all, the scene of Sun Fang killing a strong man yesterday was still vivid, and no one wanted to jump out and seek death. .

Sun Fang glanced at everyone coldly, paused, and took out a piece of pitch-black ore the size of a soybean from the palm of his hand.

"This ore is called Mysterious Iron Ore. It is an extremely rare ore in the ore veins. It can be extracted into Mysterious Iron for forging high-grade weapons. Since the quantity is extremely rare, to dig this ore requires not only hard work, but also hard work. A little luck, of course, as long as you can dig such a large piece of mysterious iron ore, it is enough to meet your monthly tasks, and you don’t need to pay for hematite.”

Sun Fang had someone give the hematite and the black iron ore to the miner at the front, and asked them to take a closer look.

Up to now, everyone has put out their thoughts of running away and completely accepted their fate. Everyone carefully looked at the two ores passed over. After all, it is related to whether they can complete their monthly tasks in the future. In other words, It's more about his own life.

Soon, two pieces of ore passed into Xiao Lin's hands. He felt a sinking feeling when he took it in his hand. A surprised expression appeared on his face. The piece of black iron ore the size of a soybean was actually the same as the piece of hematite the size of an egg. Almost heavy.

He stared at the two ores, wishing to carve them into his brain, until the person behind him urged him, he reluctantly passed the two ores to the person behind him.

It took a full hour for everyone to read it.

The ore was handed back to Sun Fang. He looked at everyone with satisfaction, with a strange expression on his face, and said, "By the way, there is no daylight in the mine, and there are not many ore, so It is not easy to dig out [-] catties of hematite in one month. In order to complete the task, some people are likely to kill the mine friends around them and take their ore to complete the monthly task, so you must Be careful of the miners around you. Of course, don't look at the entrance to the mine, but there are only a dozen or so inside, and there are countless branch holes. It's not easy to meet people. Okay, I should say I've said it all, the rest is up to your luck. There is a canteen over there. You can come out to get food and water every day, or you can get food and water for several days at a time. It's up to you, and there are no restrictions. ."

After speaking, Sun Fang waved his hand, indicating that everyone can go to get food and water, and then enter the mine.

Now Xiao Lin finally understands that not only mining in the mine, but also guarding the mine friends around him, which makes him a little speechless, but looking at the miner who was whipped with his head down and fainted, Xiao Lin Lin seemed to be able to understand again.

When people face life and death, good and evil seem to have become less important.

Xiao Lin looked around, but couldn't see Xiao Shi, and even if they met, what would happen, after all, the two of them couldn't reduce their monthly tasks together, and they might be able to dig a little more apart.

Thinking of this, Xiao Lin went to the cafeteria. He received food and water for ten days at a time, which was basically the largest amount he could bring. The reason why he brought so much food and water was mainly to save time on the road. And he is very clear that his small body is definitely the last few miners in the line. If he encounters a murderer and grabs ore, he will lose his life in all likelihood, so his idea is very simple, That is to bring as much food and water as possible, and then find a slightly biased mine, as deep as possible, which should reduce the chance of encountering the rest of the miners.

After receiving the food, everyone entered the mine one after another. Xiao Lin came to the foot of the mountain, looked at the dozen or so dark caves, took a deep breath, and chose one of them to go in.

The mine inside was indeed as Sun Fang said, extending in all directions. Lighting the kerosene lamp in his hand, Xiao Lin walked in silently. At the beginning, there were quite a few people. After walking for half an hour, there were already people around him. There is no one there, and there are so many branch holes in the mine. If there is not a white paint arrow indicating the direction every three to four hundred meters, you will definitely get lost in the mine.

The further he went in, the narrower the mine tunnel became. Now Xiao Lin’s mine tunnel is only over one meter high. He is also small, and an adult would have to bend over to pass through, but Xiao Lin obviously didn’t stop to start mining. Instead, he continued to walk in. Every few hundred meters, he would stop, carefully identify the direction, and clearly imprint each hole he passed through in his mind.

He stopped and walked like this. After walking for more than an hour, Xiao Lin stopped. He looked at the fork in front of him thoughtfully. The paint arrow was pried off, and then walked into an inconspicuous small hole on the right side.

After prying off seven or eight white paint arrows along the way, Xiao Lin turned into a small branch hole again. It was damp. The bottom of the mine was red mud mixed with some rubble, which was piled aside. Xiao Lin dug a small hole with an iron pick at the top of the mine and put the kerosene lamp on it.

He looked at the red mud at the bottom of the mine with a thoughtful expression on his face.

In Xiao Lin's opinion, this place is already the deepest part of the mine, although he has already pried off seven or eight white-painted arrows along the way, unless it is himself, if someone else wants to come in, he really has some luck.

But Xiao Lin obviously didn't feel that he was absolutely safe now. After thinking for a while, a firm expression appeared on his face. Then he took the iron pick and started from the bottom of the wall at a distance of more than ten meters from the bottom of the cave. dug up.

The soil of the mine is very moist red mud, and occasionally some gravel is dug out of it. Xiao Lin showed a satisfied expression on his face.

He crouched down in the small hole and started to expand the cave with an iron pick, until he was able to stand and swing the iron pick with ease, and then stopped expanding. He stopped and thought about the location of the cave and how he would come by himself. The direction at the time of digging, so as not to dig the wrong direction and dig into the rest of the branch holes. Although all the mines are curved, the final general direction is towards the inside of the mountain range, that is, the west direction. For a moment After that, Xiao Lin started digging.

After digging for two hours, Xiao Lin looked at the only thumb-sized crimson ore in the bamboo basket, and his face became a little ugly. After digging for so long, he only found a small piece of hematite. Yue would definitely not be able to complete the task. Thinking about the miner who was whipped, Xiao Lin's face turned pale.

Gritting his teeth, Xiao Lin continued to dig. Now he can only do his best to dig. If it is really close to a month and the number of tasks is still far away, then if you don't run, you have to run. After all, in the primeval forest There is still a glimmer of hope that he can escape from the beast's mouth, but if he is whipped dozens of times, he will definitely die.

In the silent mine, there were only the sound of the iron pickaxe digging and Xiao Lin's panting. After all, he was only 12 years old, and he hadn't had enough to eat for a long time, and his body was very thin. After digging for two hours, he was so angry. He stopped panting.

Seeing that there was still a thumb-sized piece of hematite in the bamboo basket, he shook his head with a wry smile. He sat on a stone beside him, took out a steamed bun, and ate it with water. In his opinion, despite mining It was hard, but at least he could eat enough, which made him feel very satisfied. If he wasn't worried about his father and sister, as long as he could complete the monthly tasks without being whipped, he would be willing to work here.

(End of this chapter)