Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi-Chapter 158 - 144: Turmoil Aftermath (Part 2)

Wu Silei shook his head and said:

"When I was ten, my parents died and I was caught into the mines for several years. I don't know about Human Cultivators or Demon Cultivators, I've only heard some miners mention them."

"I have nowhere to go anyway, so I might as well join you..."

"I'm afraid that's not possible!"

The Hu Family Elder frowned and rejected his request.

The journey to Jing Kingdom spans over hundreds of thousands of miles, with certain dangers, and he did not wish to carry a burden.

"Uncle Seven..."

At this moment, Hu Weiwei suddenly raised her head, pleading for him.

After arguing for a while, the Hu Family Elder couldn't refuse her, and reluctantly agreed to take Wu Silei with them.

"Boom!"

The three Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Hu Family, along with Hu Weiwei and Wu Silei, drove their Escape Lights and sped away, disappearing from sight.

...

In Suiyu Mountain.

Within the ruined Mountain City, Lord Haihe, Zhang Yao, and several Foundation Establishment cultivators were stationed, presiding over the situation.

The entire mining area reverted to its high-pressure rule, with the remaining miner slaves being firmly imprisoned, and an urgent batch of personnel drawn from nearby branches to support.

Personnel everywhere in the mining area were busy, with the main task at present being a precise loss assessment.

"Association Leader."

Peng Yue Xian landed his Escape Light, cupped his hands in salute, and spoke:

"Those Demon Cultivators from the Hu Family have already left."

Lord Haihe nodded slightly and said:

"Thank you for your hard work."

"Association Leader's words are too kind. It's just part of my duty."

Peng Yue Xian acknowledged with a word, then stepped aside to assist the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators with their work.

"Association Leader, the losses have been assessed."

A moment later, Duanyu held a dossier and said solemnly:

"The rebellion did not last long, yet it caused the death of twenty-two supervisors and severely injured thirteen."

"Among the miner slaves in the two major mining areas, those in the Black Jade Mine District suffered great losses, with more than two-thirds dead, leaving fewer than two hundred surviving miner slaves."

"The losses in the Taibai Pure Gold Mine District were slightly smaller, yet nearly half the miner slaves were casualties."

"In total, only four hundred seventy-four miner slaves remain from both mining areas, including thirty-seven severely injured ones. Short-term mineral production will certainly be greatly affected."

Speaking up to this point, he paused, his tone becoming more cautious:

"When the sub-temple array was breached, those Demon Cultivator Foundation Establishment did not unleash a massacre, so the cultivators in the city were unharmed and all escaped."

"However, subsequent inspection found many array base materials in the sub-temple Mountain City were not destroyed by array power collision, but seemed to be due to direct external force damage."

"Oh?"

Lord Haihe squinted his eyes and said:

"External forces directly damaged the array base materials buried underground..."

"So, the person in charge of the array left their duty at a critical moment, or simply removed their magical power, causing the array's power to drop dramatically, allowing it to be easily breached?"

"Yes."

Duanyu nodded and said:

"From the remaining traces of the array base materials, that's exactly the case."

"Not only that, during the loss assessment, we discovered that the Mountain City's warehouse array was intact, but all the minerals inside vanished..."

Upon saying this, the expressions of several Foundation Establishment cultivators varied, and they simultaneously looked towards Zhang Yao.

Within the Haihe Association, the relationships among many Foundation Establishment masters are quite good. Zhang Yao and Li Shuixian's relationship is not particularly concealed, everyone knew.

Now, with this situation, they just need to see if Lord Qingxu will stand up for his lover.

"Qingxu, what do you think..."

Lord Haihe also cast his eyes toward Zhang Yao, showing a probing look.

"Alas..."

Zhang Yao sighed, shaking his head inwardly.

If it were just leaving his post, he could plead on her behalf, and everyone might sympathize.

But embezzling in this manner is a serious offense anywhere, impossible to justify. If not severely punished, it would break the rules.

"What a foolish woman, short-sighted..."

"Or perhaps, she has no confidence in me, doesn't believe I'd help her?"

As Zhang Yao pondered this, his expression grew indifferent and he said:

"Handle it officially."

Upon hearing these words, all Foundation Establishment masters understood and retracted their gaze.

"Then widely issue a warrant, using Commerce Association channels to spread throughout the Da Li Territory as quickly as possible!"

Lord Haihe waved his large sleeve and said solemnly:

"Bounty of ten thousand Spirit Stones, dead or alive."

"Yes."

Duanyu acknowledged and stepped back.

Just as he stepped down, a figure arrived in haste, bowed deeply in salutation, and was extremely respectful:

"Zhou Xianhe pays respects to Lord Haihe and greets all masters."

"Rise."

Lord Haihe nodded in indication, asking:

"You are one of the person in charge here, right? Coming hastily, is there anything urgent?"

"Reporting to Lord Haihe."

Zhou Xianhe took a deep breath and then spoke:

"As a supervisor of the miner slaves, I actively suppressed the rebellion immediately, I also was the first to clean up the corpses afterward."

"After cleaning all the supervisors' and miner slaves' corpses, I realized something was amiss, after meticulous investigation, I discovered someone had fled!"

"Oh?"

Lord Haihe squinted his eyes, his tone slightly cold, said solemnly:

"Who is it?"

"It's Chen Long, the production supervisor of the mining area."

Zhou Xianhe hurriedly said:

"His status is very high, his strength formidable, he shouldn't easily fall at the hands of miner slaves."

"So after failing to find his corpse during the tally, I became suspicious, and after searching for clues, a miner slave reported seeing him flee from the mine."

Zhang Yao pondered upon hearing, saying:

"So it's him..."

"Hmm?"

Lord Haihe's expression shifted, turning to Zhang Yao, asking:

"Qingxu, did you suspect already?"

"Yes."

Zhang Yao nodded, frankly saying:

"The Feng Family raiding the Black Jade Ore Vein for more than twenty years, yet no one could discover it, this truly defies explanation."

"Therefore, I suspected one among the supervisors was collaborating internally, conspiring with Feng Dujuan and others to raid the ore vein. Now it seems it should be Chen Long..."

Of the four main supervisors, only Lao Zhou and Old Chen have the capability to collude with raiders.

These two, one in charge of miner slaves, the other of mining area production, have access to the Forbidden Escape Array and ore vein details.

I had initially suspected Zhou Xianhe, unexpectedly the real traitor turned out to be the consistently honest, low-key, very inconspicuous Chen Long.

"Traitor... deserves death!"

Lord Haihe's expression turned icy as he said emphatically:

"Then issue another warrant, with a bounty of thirty thousand Spirit Stones targeting Chen Long, grant no mercy upon encounter, claim bounty!"

As he spoke, he added:

"Moreover, intercept attempts, guard against him fleeing to Du Bu Alliance territory, seeking their refuge."

"Yes."

Duanyu responded again.

He took note, afterward when back at Cangjiang Water Mansion, his subordinates would naturally arrange these matters.

Moments later, after handling basic mining area affairs, Lord Haihe looked towards Zhang Yao and said:

"Qingxu, this time you foiled their scheme, capturing the raiders, you played a great role."

"For this contribution, I'll count it as twenty thousand Contribution Points. How about that?"

Upon hearing, Zhang Yao nodded and said:

"Good, thank you Association Leader."

His actions this time were well-planned, entirely for the 'Six-sided True Blood'.

The twenty thousand Contribution Points awarded by Lord Haihe were an unexpected gain, just enough to offset prior debts owed.

"Then it's settled."

Lord Haihe said, standing up, added:

"This time the mining areas in Suiyu Mountain faced major chaos, with too heavy casualties among miner slaves, production plummeted significantly."

"At least not for several years can such a number of miner slaves be replenished, your stationed task shall be considered concluded early, join us in returning to Cangjiang Water Mansion."

"Alright."

Zhang Yao nodded in agreement, quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Even if Lord Haihe hadn't proposed it, he was prepared to suggest an early end to his stationed task, returning to the Haihe Association's main hall.

After all, only upon returning to Cangjiang Water Mansion could he proceed with the next step of collecting the 'Six-sided True Blood'.