Chapter 180: Cheated? (2/2)

The old man in the middle nodded, “I shall tell you about this mission in detail. I will keep it simple, so don’t complain.

“The mission is simple; all you have to do is patrol the underground. Protection refers to surveillance. The people mining in the Spirit Stone mine are ordinary people. The mission will be completed after a month.”

That was simple; it was as good as not saying anything at all, Xiao Chen complained in his heart.

After the old man spoke, he took out a jade bottle. He said to the group, “Just relax; don’t circulate your Essence to resist!”

“Sou!”

There was a huge suction force coming from the jade bottle. Xiao Chen heard the old man’s words and did not circulate his Essence to resist. With a ‘sou’ sound, they were absorbed into the jade bottle.

This jade bottle was actually a Secret Treasure; there was a small realm inside the bottle. It seemed to be inside nothingness; it was completely pitch dark. When one stretched their hand out, one was unable to see their fingers. Xiao Chen could not see the other nine people; he did not know where they were.

Time seemed to come to a stop in the pitch dark space. Xiao Chen knew this space had a similar effect to his Universe Ring, but it worked by a different way; so Xiao Chen did not panic.

He sat cross-legged and entered a state of cultivation. He slowly started to circulate the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation to pass this boring time.

“Bang!”

It was unknown how much time had passed by the time Xiao Chen felt something solid under him. When he opened his eyes, he discovered he was in a damp stone room.

As Xiao Chen stood up, he immediately felt that the surrounding Spiritual Energy was shockingly dense. It was quite unbelievable; it was as though he could touch the ethereal Spiritual Energy by stretching his hands out.

“Is this the Spirit Mine?” Mu Xinya, who was to the side, opened her eyes wide as she looked around curiously.

The remaining eight people and the old men who transported them were nowhere to be seen; only the two of them were present. There was a stone table in the room. There were also two simple beds and all sorts of things needed for daily living.

Could it be that the two of them had to live here together for the next month? Xiao Chen felt a headache just thinking about it. On the contrary, Mu Xinya still had a smile on her face. She looked around her surroundings, occasionally fiddling with the things in the stone room.

“Shua!” A stone door in the room opened. A middle-aged man dressed in black walked in and said, “The two of you have been placed in a group together. You will live here for one month. If there are any problems, you may look for me. Let’s go; I will take you to familiarize yourself with the environment.”

We have to live together? Xiao Chen felt awkward thinking about it. He asked that person, “Senior, is this really fine?”

The middle-aged man felt it was strange and said, “What is the problem? You are already gaining the advantage, and you are complaining about it? In this place, everyone is grouped into pairs. If you wish to swap, I can do that immediately.”

“There’s no need! There’s no need!” Xiao Chen quickly gestured with his hands as he spoke. If he had to stay with another man, it would be even more unbearable.

The middle-aged man nodded and said, “Don’t call me senior; I am not that old. Addressing me as Martial Uncle Ye or Ye Wen will do. Come, let’s go quickly.”

“That’s right; wait for a while. I nearly forgot. Hold this first.”

The middle-aged man handed the both of them a map made out of beast skin. Xiao Chen received it and took a look. He discovered it was a map of tunnels that looked like a maze. The winding passages were dazzling.

The map seemed to have mentioned there were eight layers, then he also found the scale of the map. Just this layer of tunnels spanned more than a few thousand square meters; it was astonishing.

Xiao Chen found his location on the map. He discovered it was a dot that glowed faintly; he did not know the purpose of it.

Ye Wen explained, “The glowing dot corresponds with the tokens hanging on your waists. As long as you don’t lose your tokens, you don’t have to worry about getting lost. Aside from your rest time, if your tokens do not move, we will take it to mean you encountered danger. Someone will immediately come to support you.”

This probably means that they will be supervised here. With this map, someone will be completely monitoring their movements. Xiao Chen thought to himself quietly.

Ye Wen continued to point out some locations on the map. He pointed out the location of headquarters in the mines; then he also told them the black lines were dead ends, and they could not cross them.

After a long explanation, the two of them had a rough understanding of this mine. They were no longer as ignorant as they were before, but they did not know everything either.

After Ye Wen told the two of them how to use the door, he brought the both of them out to familiarize themselves with the mines. Not long after, they saw a group of ordinary people that were completely black in the dark tunnels; it was unknown how long they had not showered.

These people were using pickaxes and digging vigorously in the wide tunnels. Their expressions seemed numb; there was no anger on their faces.

A mission to mine the Spirit Stones was arduous and would be a massive undertaking. If they used the Heavenly Saber Pavilion disciples for mining, it would not be very realistic. These people were sent here after they signed a life-and-death contract with the Heavenly Saber Pavilion.

[TL note: Life-and-death contract likely is an indemnity form saying the Heavenly Saber Pavilion is not responsible for their deaths.]

They told them in advance this would be very arduous and dangerous. However, because the rewards were high, these people had the mindset of striking it rich after working here for five years.