CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Deep in the sunless mine, Xu Yunfan, dressed in tattered clothes and stained pitch-black by dust, gasped for breath. He glanced at the bloody blisters on his palms, his lips pressed into a thin line, and once again raised the Iron Pickaxe in his hands to smash it against the ore-veined wall.
Beside him, a listless-looking Zhou Feng stared at the Iron Pickaxe in his own hands and couldn't help but whisper.
"I don't want to stay here. We don't get enough to eat, our clothes aren't warm, and for all we know, the mine could collapse and bury us all alive."
CLANG!
"Zhang Li, the one who came down here with us, collapsed yesterday from exhaustion and his injuries. They dragged him off, and he hasn't been seen since."
Seeing Xu Yunfan ignore him, swinging the Iron Pickaxe with all his might, Zhou Feng continued.
"Do you want to end up like Zhang Li? Have your food stolen by Jiang Yu and work yourself to death just for a mouthful to fill your stomach? We suffered so much under him before, and now we're here still taking his abuse. I won't stand for it!
If you keep pushing yourself this hard, you won't last a month! By the time we're allowed to leave the mines, you won't even be able to walk out!"
But just then, Xu Yunfan's previously stiff movements became fluid and powerful. He settled his hips, and with every swing of the pickaxe, his bare feet gripped the ground. His thighs flexed, his waist and hips rocked as if riding a horse, and a wave of force traveled through his arms into the Iron Pickaxe, which came crashing down.
CLANG!
A clang, far louder than any before, rang out, echoing melodiously through the winding tunnels of the mine.
'Your Mining skill has reached Entry Level.'
'Mining: 0/500 (Entry)'
'Effects: Sharp Eyes and Fast Hands, Wave-like Waist Movement, Force Channeled Through Arms'
Xu Yunfan looked at the notification that appeared in his vision, and his eyes couldn't help but well up with tears.
'Three days. Do you have any idea what I've been through these past three days?'
'Other transmigrators get to live in luxury, but me? I was a corporate drone before I came here, and now I'm living a life worse than any beast of burden.'
'Miners in ancient times, especially those demoted to the lowest caste for being associated with the families of disgraced officials, were completely disposable. If you died, you died. Simple as that.'
'If it weren't for the Attribute Panel and the prompts for the Mining skill that popped up when he swung the Iron Pickaxe, he honestly might have lost all hope.'
'No joke.'
As the notification materialized in his vision, his body began to undergo a miraculous change. His once tense and stiff muscles gradually relaxed, losing their rigid tautness.
A stream of memories flowed through his mind. In them, he had been mining in this very mine for seven or eight years. He had survived countless dangers and, through sheer practice, finally mastered the use of the Iron Pickaxe.
Xu Yunfan swung his pickaxe again. This time, his waist twisted like a snake, causing the muscles in his back and shoulders to ripple in support of his arms. His thighs acted like springs, feet planted firmly on the ground, coiling and uncoiling as his waist generated power. His entire body worked in concert to produce a single, unified force.
CLANG!
The clear, almost melodious sound of metal striking stone rang out, reverberating through the winding tunnel.
He could clearly feel that his back and arms were no longer sore and weak. Instead, the motion felt invigorating, as if he could do it all day.
Zhou Feng watched in astonishment. A moment ago, he'd been sure that Xu Yunfan, by pushing himself so hard, would soon collapse from injury and die in the mine. But that last swing... it was so perfect it even made Zhou Feng doubt himself.
He watched as Xu Yunfan sat down, pulled a piece of dry, bitter hardtack made from wheat bran out from his clothes, and silently washed it down with some water.
Seeing Xu Yunfan's resigned expression, Zhou Feng cursed under his breath, strode forward, and grabbed him by the collar.
"Do you really want to just die in this mine? Don't you want to escape?"
"We were dragged into this mess because of that damn Jiang Yu. It's a miracle we weren't beheaded. Escape? Who doesn't want to escape? But tell me, who could possibly succeed?"
Xu Yunfan felt helpless. 'This body's previous owner was a servant. Now, in the Great Zhou Empire, the new Empress has seized power, and she's purging the Defender Faction—some are being won over, some suppressed, and some outright killed.'
'Jiang Yu's father was executed, the Jiang Family's estate was confiscated, the men were exiled, and the women of age were sent to the Imperial Music Bureau.'
'And I was banished to the mines along with my wicked master. Yet that Jiang Yu still struts around like he owns the place. Yesterday, he stole Zhang Li's food. Zhang Li tried to mine another cartload of ore to trade for something to eat, but he collapsed and died halfway through.'
"Don't... don't you get it? Once we were implicated with the Jiang Family and became Mining Slaves under the Mining Supervision Office, our fates were sealed. Almost no one lasts three years here. With bodies like ours, we'll be dead in less than a month. We're doomed."
He didn't doubt Zhou Feng's words. In this place, where the living conditions were beyond abysmal, you'd die from disease caused by the harsh environment even if you didn't die from exhaustion.
In the three days he'd been down in the mine, new people arrived daily, and daily, people died—from injury, illness, or from being worked to death for failing to meet their mining quota. Their bodies would be dragged away, never to be seen again.
This place was situated in the Far North of the Great Zhou Dynasty, surrounded by endless ice fields and barren mountains. As the weather grew colder, the surface was battered by howling gales and raging blizzards.
The mine was deep enough to maintain a stable temperature, but once you passed the permafrost and reached the surface without protection, anyone with a weaker Constitution would die of hypothermia within one or two Hours.
'Even if we managed to escape the mine, so what? Faced with an environment like that, what would our chances of survival be?'
Seeing Xu Yunfan's submissive attitude, Zhou Feng felt a mix of pity for his friend's plight and anger at his lack of fight. Finally, he let go of his collar and plopped down beside him, sulking in silence.
Xu Yunfan knew the man well. He and this body's previous owner had been servants together in the Jiang Family since they were children. They had grown up together, and since they worked in different departments with no conflicts of interest, their relationship was quite good.
Zhou Feng was currently plotting with a few other miners who couldn't take it anymore, planning an escape. Naturally, he wanted to recruit Xu Yunfan.
'But this world... it's not that simple.'
'Three days ago, right after I transmigrated, I was about to enter the mine when I saw a young boy refuse and try to run. The Supervisor tore him in two with a single lash of his whip. The body is still lying there as a warning.'
'Just thinking about it now sends a chill down my spine.'
'And with Zhou Feng being as soft and inexperienced as he is, trying to escape from here...'
'...is a real long shot.'
Xu Yunfan, on the other hand, had his Attribute Panel. He had just unlocked the entry-level Mining skill, which had drastically increased his chances of survival in the mines. Naturally, he wanted to get stronger first and wait for a better opportunity.
"Zhou Feng, we need to focus on surviving here first. So what if we escape the mine? There are eight hundred li of barren glaciers out there. Do you really think we can cross that?"
Zhou Feng grumbled, "As long as we can escape this pit, the world will be our oyster! Eight hundred li of wasteland? You think we can't cross it? I have a plan. Are you really not in?"
Xu Yunfan felt a wave of helplessness. According to his predecessor's memories, Zhou Feng had never once stepped foot outside of Jade Capital in his entire life. 'Does he even have a concept of what eight hundred li of wasteland is?'
Xu Yunfan said, "We don't even know the lay of the land. We need to at least scout the area before we can make any kind of plan."
Watching Xu Yunfan rest for a bit before picking up his Iron Pickaxe to mine again, Zhou Feng pointed a trembling finger at him. Finally, with an angry flick of his sleeve, he stormed off.
Xu Yunfan glanced at Zhou Feng's retreating back, sighed, and went back to his mining.