"Yang Ling, after today I, Zhang Wei, owe you nothing."
Zhang Wei smiled, waved a hand, and turned to go.
Yang Ling watched his back:
"You screwed me twice. What I got off you cancels one at most — you still owe me one."
Zhang Wei's step faltered, then he hurried off without answering.
Back in the wooden hut.
Yang Ling went on cultivating the Mountain-Crushing Fist and the Vajra Wisdom King Art.
The next day.
The Mountain-Crushing Fist's proficiency rose another twenty-odd points.
The Vajra Wisdom King Art's experience reached 40.
Not far now from the First Glimpse at 100.
He went out toward the vein entrance to see whether it had reopened.
But he'd gone only halfway when he ran into Zhang Wei again.
"You haven't left yet?"
Yang Ling smiled: "Can't bear to leave the Fire Crystal Ore vein — want to level up here?"
"You think I want to stay?"
Zhang Wei's face was grim; he shot a glance toward the vein entrance, his eyes full of gravity and dread.
"A steward has come from the Shanhe Sect — of higher standing than Overseer Wu and Steward Niu."
Zhang Wei said in a low voice: "This steward has given the word: no miner is allowed to leave."
"What's happened?"
Yang Ling's mind stirred; he asked, feigning ignorance.
"Who the hell knows."
Zhang Wei said absently.
Yang Ling guessed he was afraid his connection to Zhang Hao would come to light.
Just then, a vein guard walked over this way.
Guilty, Zhang Wei slipped off at the sight of him.
"Yang Ling? Overseer Wu wants you to come over. Come with me."
The vein guard called out.
"Me? Is something the matter?"
Yang Ling started slightly.
The vein guard said impatiently: "Why all the questions? Just come with me."
"Yes, yes, yes."
Yang Ling nodded repeatedly and followed him toward the vein entrance.
Seeing this, Zhang Wei was a little surprised:
"They're looking for Yang Ling? What does Overseer Wu want with him?"
He couldn't make sense of it, but felt relief all the same.
As long as it wasn't him they were after.
He trusted Yang Ling wouldn't be so stupid as to expose the Mountain-Crushing Fist.
At the vein, before Cave No. 1.
Fifth Brother's crew's corpses had been dug up and laid out in a row at the cave mouth.
Dead many days now, the bodies had long begun to rot, giving off a foul stench.
Seeing this from afar, Yang Ling drew a deep breath despite himself.
Overseer Wu had called him over — had they discovered something?
"My Strength is 11 now; with the Mountain-Crushing Fist I can add 3 more, but then I can't grip the refined steel pick, so my Strength cap is only 14."
"The Vajra Wisdom King Art hasn't reached First Glimpse; I'm still nowhere near a match for Overseer Wu."
Yang Ling's thoughts raced, a trace of cold sweat gathering in his palms.
But once he walked up, he found not only Wu Que and Steward Niu present, but also Constable Chief Lin, and even Master Huineng.
A white-robed youth, the mountains-and-rivers pattern embroidered on his clothes, was chatting and laughing with Huineng — though his manner carried a hint of ingratiation.
"Overseer Wu, Yang Ling is here."
The vein guard said respectfully.
Overseer Wu gave a slight nod, his gaze falling on Yang Ling:
"Yang Ling, do you know who the bodies on the ground are?"
Fear surfaced in Yang Ling's eyes; he swept a glance over the corpses and quickly shook his head:
"I can't recognize them."
All rotted — how could anyone tell easily?
"It's Old Fifth."
Overseer Wu said mildly: "As far as I know, the only one he'd made an enemy of lately was you."
"What!? It's Fifth Brother!?"
Yang Ling backed away several steps in terror.
Huineng and the youth, who'd been observing him all along, nodded thoughtfully at the sight.
"Master Huineng, by the looks of it, these miners must all have died at the Prisoner Butcher's hand."
The youth said gravely: "The Prisoner Butcher very likely hid your temple's scripture in Cave No. 1. I'll have men dig three feet down if need be, to find that scripture."
"It would be best if it could be found. I'll trouble Benefactor Wang to give the matter his full attention."
Huineng pressed his palms together.
"You're too kind, Master."
The youth smiled: "Bitter Enlightenment Temple's business is the Shanhe Sect's business!"
With that, he looked to Overseer Wu:
"Send your most seasoned miners into Cave No. 1 and have them dig hard for half a month. If you find Bitter Enlightenment Temple's lost scripture, I'll mark it as a merit to your name!"
"Yes, Senior Brother Wang."
Overseer Wu cupped his hands and bowed at once.
"Master Huineng, once Overseer Wu and the others noticed this anomaly, they sealed the vein and have taken the matter most seriously. Leaving it in his hands, nothing will go wrong. Let's stay a while in Qingshan City and wait for word."
The youth smiled.
By now Yang Ling knew he was in no danger, so he stole a glance at the youth's attributes:
Name: Wang Jing
Class: Martial Artist
Strength: 19
Agility: 10
Spirit: 5
Martial Arts: Shanhe Saber-Draw Art (Proficient), Black Tiger Fist (Proficient), Iron Skin Art (Fluent)
Affiliation: Shanhe Sect
Three martial arts! Two at Proficient!
"So this is the difference between a Shanhe Sect disciple and Wu Que — much stronger than Wu Que indeed, though probably a notch below Huineng."
Yang Ling thought to himself.
"Benefactor Wang Jing, we can simply stay in the miners' village and wait for word. It's thirty li to Qingshan City — the back-and-forth is inconvenient."
Huineng smiled.
"The miners' village, hm... that'll do, I suppose."
Wang Jing seemed a little put off by the village's conditions, but since Huineng had spoken, he naturally couldn't object.
He gave Wu Que an order, then personally led Huineng and Constable Chief Lin away.
Fifth Brother's crew's bodies were, of course, carried off by Constable Chief Lin's men — perhaps for the coroner to examine again.
Once they'd gone, Wu Que resumed the bearing of the vein's chief.
"Yang Ling, you're already a veteran miner. You may take part in the search of Cave No. 1 this time. It'll conveniently build your experience for the coming skill contest with veterans from other veins."
Wu Que said mildly.
"Yes!"
Yang Ling nodded quickly.
This suited him perfectly!
As long as he could mine and level up, anything went!
"Steward Niu, you arrange the rest. Not too many hands, actually — keep it to forty or fifty. Don't let anyone fish in muddy waters."
Wu Que ordered.
"Rest assured, I'll see to it."
Steward Niu smiled and nodded.
He paused. "Should the vein be reopened, then?"
"Since Senior Brother Wang has come, it must be. Whether or not we find the thing this time, our Shanhe Sect's attitude has been sincere enough. I trust Bitter Enlightenment Temple won't take its anger out on us. The Fire Crystal Ore vein is our top priority."
Wu Que said.
With that, he strode off too, showing not the slightest grief over Fifth Brother's death.
Soon word of the vein's reopening spread.
Countless miners swarmed in like ravenous wolves, setting to work to earn their keep.
Yang Ling was assigned to enter Cave No. 1 with Uncle Wang and a group of other veterans.
A dozen-odd vein guards came along too, clearly to keep an eye on them.
Before they entered the cave, Steward Niu had just one thing to say:
"Do what you can."
The veterans like Uncle Wang understood the meaning, of course, and felt relief.
As long as they weren't required to actually turn up anything, killing time in Cave No. 1 and digging a bit of Fire Crystal Ore besides was easy work.