Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi-Chapter 148 - 136: Hu Weiwei

Two days later.

A floating airship, passing through layers of cloud and sea, entered the domain of Fang Continent.

Inside the airship, hundreds of Qi Refining cultivators with sealed magical power were crammed together in densely packed metal cages, making a ruckus.

"Master..."

In the corner of a metal cage, a timid young girl’s voice asked hesitantly:

"Will we die in that Suiyu Mountain?"

"I heard cultivators captured into the mining mountain never make it out alive..."

The speaking young girl had cat-like whiskers on her cheeks, a long slender tail flicking anxiously, and amber-colored eyes glowing faintly in the dark.

"Alas!"

A middle-aged man in blue robes covered with yellow fur, a sharp, monkey-like face, sighed helplessly:

"We’ll take it one step at a time; bad luck chose us."

"Hopefully, we find a chance to escape from the mining mountain..."

Upon hearing his words, the young cat girl’s furry ears drooped immediately, dejectedly huddling into a ball.

"Master..."

The few little ones crowded beside her were also quite uneasy.

Upon careful observation, they were all Demon Cultivators, each showing varying demonization traits, yet none shared the same bloodline.

The eldest among them appeared no older than twelve or thirteen; the youngest was merely seven to eight, having just begun Qi Refining.

"Master, will we be eaten? I heard that some people like to eat Demon Cultivators, saying it’s a great tonic."

"Stop talking! Master, I’m a little scared..."

"No one eats Demon Cultivators; they eat Demon Beasts!"

"Who says that? I’ve seen people eat humans in the mortal realm; if they eat humans, imagine what..."

They argued loudly, making the fur-faced middle-aged man’s head spin, only able to clumsily comfort them.

Just then, the cabin door suddenly opened, bright light pouring into the dim chamber as a burly cultivator sauntered in.

"Silence!"

He swung an electric-charged whip, his gaze sweeping around, glaring maliciously at the prisoners:

"Shut up, all of you!"

The chaotic cabin fell instantly silent.

The fur-faced middle-aged man trembled, thankfully, as the few little ones beside him fearfully huddled together, covering their mouths silently.

"I should have never risked going to the marketplace..."

In the middle-aged man’s heart lay endless regret.

Originally, the master and disciples were long hidden in rural areas of Lei Province, living among humans, until he ventured to the local marketplace to purchase supplies, leading to an accident exposing their identities, costing them everything.

"We’ve arrived near Suiyu Mountain; line up properly on the deck!"

The burly cultivator spoke after casting several spells, unlocking the metal prison doors.

The multitude of prisoner cultivators filed out, abstaining from pushing, under the watchful eyes of several monitors, arranging neatly on the airship deck.

Moments later:

"Boom!"

Amid vibrations, the airship slowed down, descending onto flat ground.

"I am Zhou Xianhe, the supervisor at Suiyu Mountain’s mine district..."

Zhou Xianhe led a dozen overseers, flying over, ascending the airship deck.

After brief pleasantries between the overseers, Zhou Xianhe escorted individuals, shepherding over a hundred new miner slaves away.

"Go! Get moving faster!"

"Count on your luck; no work required recently."

"Follow me to the left, to another mine district..."

Over a hundred miner slaves were split into two groups, each escorted by several overseers to different mine districts.

"Master!"

The young cat girl was forced to separate from the fur-faced middle-aged man, alongside a green-haired, shelled-back young fellow, assigned to the Black Jade Mine District.

The green-haired youth struggled momentarily, drawing an overseer’s whip, bleeding all over before obediently complying.

As the groups departed, the airship rose again, altering course towards the west.

"These Demon Cultivator master-disciple pairs are indeed interesting..."

Mid-air, Zhang Yao hovered, overlooking the scene below, showing intrigue towards the Demon Cultivators further below.

Ordinarily, Demon Cultivator master-disciple pairs share identical bloodlines, allowing cultivation of the same techniques.

Those managing alone, away from Demon Cultivation Clans, tend to be strong, hence, master-disciple lineages also typically boast higher bloodline levels.

Yet, these Demon Cultivator master-disciple pairs broke tradition.

"Monkey, cat, turtle, pheasant... well, not a single repetition among them."

"What’s their backstory?"

Zhang Yao stroked his chin, flying covertly, trailing the group heading left.

He maintained Invisibility Skill, Silence Skill, Breath Concealment Skill, among several spells, ensuring his cultivation realm allowed him complete discretion.

"Monitor these few; act tonight..."

......

An hour later.

In the rest area for miner slaves at the Black Jade Mine District.

The little cat girl and the turtle boy were shoved into a small shed.

The shed wasn’t big, yet it was crammed with a dozen or so miner slaves, men and women of all ages. Some were chatting idly, while others spoke in low voices.

"Get in! You’ll live here from now on!"

The overseer threw them in and turned around to leave immediately, not wanting to stay in the spiritually depleted environment even for a moment longer.

Those dozen or so miner slaves were either indifferent to their arrival, glancing at them without interest, or frowned as if thinking it was bad luck.

"More of these bastards, how disgusting."

Two burly men cursed, causing the little cat girl and the turtle boy to feel a bit unnerved.

"Hello..."

The little cat girl and the turtle boy carefully made their way through the crowd to an empty corner, offering a slight, ingratiating smile to the person next to them.

"Hello."

Wu Silei smiled kindly and reached out his hand:

"My name is Wu Silei, what are your names?"

The little cat girl hesitated for a moment, then tentatively extended her furry paw, whispering:

"I, I’m Hu Weiwei, and he’s Wang Yesan."

Wu Silei shook her hand and found her furry little paw soft and round, instinctively squeezing it a few times.

"You!"

Hu Weiwei’s face turned red instantly, yanking her hand back and glaring fiercely at him.

"Oh, I’m sorry..."

Wu Silei apologized hastily, his face flushed, stammering:

"I-I didn’t mean it, I just..."

He explained for a long time before Hu Weiwei grudgingly calmed down, but she still pouted, unwilling to talk to him again.

Wu Silei felt extremely awkward, scratched his head, and could only lay back on his patch of straw, closing his eyes to rest.

But it wasn’t long before three or four burly men from the other side of the shed suddenly got up and surrounded the little cat girl and turtle boy.

"What do you want?"

The little cat girl stood up warily, showing her claws.

"Hehehe..."

A burly man licked his lips, his eyes moving over the little cat girl with a fiery gaze, especially certain areas of her body, and chuckled:

"Damn, I’ve been a miner here for almost twenty years. I’m about to explode!"

"This little cat girl might be a bit young, but she looks pretty good. She’s perfect for relieving some tension..."

The burly men around him burst into laughter, their voices full of mockery and a trace of excitement.

The daily life of a miner is exhausting, leaving them with no energy to even lift their eyelids when they return, naturally reducing any antics.

But in recent weeks, they’ve been providing Soul Thought Aura at the edge of the mine district’s plaza, which has been so much more relaxed.

Not having to go down the mines every day, even though they can’t restore their magical power, their energy levels have soared—resulting in a surge of fights and other incidents in the rest area, catching the attention of some overseers.

"Get lost!"

Hu Weiwei roared, her short tiger teeth very noticeable, her eyes flashing with ferocity.

"Hahaha..."

The burly men weren’t scared, instead, their laughter became even more complacent, as they took steps forward.

The rest of the shed consisted of elderly cultivators and female cultivators; they frowned at the scene but said nothing to stop it. Some female cultivators showed disgust but simply turned their heads away.

After all, the targets were Demon Cultivators, not legitimate Human Race Cultivators. Wouldn’t it be a joke to stand up for a few lowly Demon Cultivators?

"Stop!"

Wu Silei shouted sternly, shoving the shrinking Wang Yesan aside and stepping protectively in front of Hu Weiwei:

"Get lost right now, or don’t blame me for being rude!"

A strange thing happened:

None of them had any magical power left. Those sturdy men combined should easily overpower a teenage boy.

Yet when the burly men saw Wu Silei step up, their faces changed abruptly. After a glance exchanged between them, they retreated silently, heading back to their own straw piles.

"Thank you..."

Hu Weiwei lowered her paw, speaking softly, a look of gratitude in her eyes.

"No need to thank me."

Wu Silei shook his head, speaking in a grave tone:

"You’ll have to be more careful from now on, this place is not friendly."

"For now, things are easier because Lord Qingxu is using us to refine treasures."

"When he’s done and we’re sent back to the mines, life will be tough. Nearly every other day, we hear of someone working themselves to death..."

As the young boy and girl talked:

In the corner of the shed, Zhang Yao, with his hands behind his back, withdrew his gaze, smiling slightly:

"This kid has a kind heart."

If the boy hadn’t stepped up just now, he would have intervened from the shadows, deliberately drawing the overseer’s attention, ensuring those male cultivators would face consequences.

After an initial assessment of these Demon Cultivators, this little cat girl Hu Weiwei possibly had the highest-level bloodline, so he had been watching her closely.

"But something is strange..."

Zhang Yao mused for a moment, a sliver of suspicion flashing through his mind:

"Why were those male cultivators afraid, or possibly wary, of a mere teenage boy?"