Chapter 104: Abyss Valley (3)
A world where only blizzards, frozen ground, hard-packed snow, and sharp icicles were visible.
The carriage pulled by the prisoners was climbing the Ba-Shu Snowy Mountains before they knew it.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Everyone, including Xu Se-chi, realized.
That since they had spat out all the embezzled money, there was no need for Chui to keep them alive anymore.
Furthermore, had there not even been an unsavory incident called a rebellion not long ago?
So they all shut their mouths and pulled the carriage with all their might.
Because that was their only value of existence.
“Hmm… I like this gloomy atmosphere where only frustration and despair linger. It also goes well with the bleak scenery of the snowfield.”
Gyeon Sul was enjoying himself, holding a whip and driving the prisoners.
Watching him giggle while drinking warm tea in a thick fur coat, Namgung Yul furrowed her brows.
“Please treat the prisoners a bit better. You’ve already recovered all the hidden assets anyway. Earlier, the person named Xu Se-chi bought Golden Sore Ointment with his own money and gave it to me. Hearing his circumstances, he seemed a bit pitiful…”
As Namgung Yul shielded him, tears welled up in Xu Se-chi’s eyes.
However, Gyeon Sul shook his head with an expression that looked like he was about to vomit.
“Don’t pretend to be nice, child. Because those things are pulling the carriage, we can comfortably go up. Only then can we exert as much strength as possible when a battle breaks out later. Ugh, this is why I hate the guys of the Righteous Path. While staying at the top, they always pretend, pretend, pretend to care for the bottom, that damn pretending. If you told them to come down to the bottom, they would be absolutely horrified, yet they always pretend to care for the underlings.”
“Then I will get off the carriage and walk from now on.”
“Suit yourself. Do you think the prisoner bastards will be grateful to you for that? Do you think those things became nice just because they spat out their money? That’s a delusion~ If they were the type of guys who became nice simply by spitting out money, they wouldn’t have killed people, kidnapped children, and raped women in the first place. Most of those guys were probably hesitating whether to join the last rebellion or not, but couldn’t do it out of fear.”
Gyeon Sul sneered at Namgung Yul.
And he continued his words toward the prisoners pulling the carriage in front.
“I know all about how there are still guys among you harboring other thoughts~ I advise you, don’t do anything foolish anymore. You can’t buy life even with parigas, you know?”
“…….”
Several prisoners who were pulling the cart beside Xu Se-chi flinched and lowered their heads.
Right at that moment.
“It’s this way.”
Chui, who had ridden ahead on horseback, returned.
Gyeon Sul whistled as he saw Chui handling the horse skillfully even on the ice field.
“Pretty boy. Your skill in riding a horse on the ice is top-class, isn’t it?”
“Because I was in the military.”
“Do they teach you how to ride a horse on the ice in the military camp too?”
“The frontlines of the border are cold.”
Chui replied shortly.
Looking at such a Chui, Namgung Yul’s cheeks blushed once more.
When she was at the Ascending Heaven Academy, she had received courtships from numerous young nobles.
Those young nobles, without exception, rode large and beautiful fine horses to boast of their wealth and backing.
Namgung Yul despised that kind of bluffing and vanity in men, and accordingly, she had not taken much interest in horsemanship either.
That was until she saw Chui handling a horse just now.
‘Riding a horse well… was cooler than I thought.’
Well, anyway.
Chui led the prisoners through the blizzard-swept field.
Crossing a low peak, passing an frozen lake, and walking through a forest of withered trees, a large cave soon came into view.
At the entrance, an old signpost was broken.
Abandoned Mine.
The writing scribbled crookedly with ash.
Chui and the prisoners passed the signpost and went deep into the cave.
Whoosh—
Xu Se-chi, who was at the front, lit a torch.
Soon, the scenery of the abandoned mine was clearly revealed.
Walls where coal and iron ore were clearly exposed, rotten and collapsed retaining walls, and various discarded mining tools.
In addition, trash such as old rice bowls, blankets, books, shoes, and clothing were left abandoned under a pile of dust.
“Hieek! Why is there a sk-skeleton here!?”
Xu Se-chi gasped in horror at the corpse that had become white bones while collapsed in a corner of the shaft.
Overall, this place looked like an abandoned mine where mining had been stopped a very long time ago.
‘…Exactly as in my memory.’
Chui looked around this place, which had been abandoned for decades, lost in recollection.
Once, during the days when he was returning after completing a grueling mission, he had treated his wounds in this place he discovered by chance.
However, Gyeon Sul and Namgung Yul, who had no way of knowing that fact, looked bewildered.
“Pretty boy. How did you know about such a place and come here? No, why did we come here in the first place?”
“It is a fascinating abandoned mine. The deeper we go inside, the warmer it gets. It also feels subtly bright inside.”
But Chui did not answer their questions.
Because the doubts would be resolved soon anyway.
“Unpack the luggage here.”
Hearing those words, the prisoners’ expressions brightened.
Xu Se-chi raised both arms high and shouted.
“Uaaah! Hurrah! Has the grueling journey finally ended!?”
Tears of emotion welled up in the prisoners’ eyes.
It was only natural, since they had pulled carriages of tremendous weight all the way to this distant, freezing land.
But.
“……?”
Chui merely tilted his head at those prisoners.
“What are you talking about? Up until now, we have merely been coming toward our destination.”
Chui’s words followed in the ears of the blank-faced prisoners.
“Your real mission hasn’t even begun yet.”
* * *
The internal structure of the cave was peculiar.
Chui walked without hesitation through the shafts that were pierced windingly like an ant hill.
The prisoners following behind him soon stopped before an astonishing sight.
Bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop…
In the remote underground, high heat boiled along with brilliant light.
Deep red lava was flowing through a giant crack split in the ground.
A blinding haze of light flickered, and acrid smoke rose like clouds, drawn in through a hole in the ceiling.
…Plop!
Liquid falling from a stalactite on the ceiling fell into the lava, creating ripples.
It was a phenomenon where the stalactite itself melted mushily and fell down, rather than dew or groundwater falling.
“My goodness…”
The reactions of Gyeon Sul, Namgung Yul, and the prisoners were all the same.
Who could have known that such a tremendous hidden scenery was buried beneath the freezing frozen earth.
“This is a place where geothermal heat trapped below the strata rises. It is to the extent that even rocks melt.”
The prisoners, overwhelmed by Chui’s voice, shut their mouths and said nothing.
Soon, Chui revealed the real purpose of dragging the prisoners all the way here.
“From now on, mine the iron ore here and smelt it. There is something to make.”
Chui picked up a piece of coal and drew something on the wall.
A long rod with a sharp tip and a blunt opposite side.
At first glance, it looked like an ordinary nail or stake.
“You must make iron stakes like this.”
After that followed explanations of the tasks the prisoners had to perform.
“Mine the iron ore. And melt it in the fire of the lava. After that, pour it into a mold and solidify it using the snow of the snowy mountain.”
At Chui’s command, the prisoners were dumbfounded.
Xu Se-chi slinked in, raised his hand, and asked a question.
“Excuse me… Thousand-Head. Pardon me, but I have a question. We don’t really know about smelting iron and such… If we mine crude iron that hasn’t even been properly refined to make iron stakes, they will be crude and completely useless. It is certain that they will quickly corrode as time passes…”
“Mine roughly, melt roughly, and solidify roughly. The quality of the iron stakes doesn’t particularly need to be good.”
He was not demanding sturdy iron stakes that could be used for a long time.
It seemed to matter little even if made by a non-expert with clumsy skills.
Chui handed down his orders.
“From now on, I will divide you into five groups. Group One will mine iron ore. Group Two will gather firewood. Group Three will blow the bellows to ensure the fire does not go out. Group Four will pour the melted iron into the molds. Group Five will take out the cooled iron stakes and carry them. Execute.”
“W-wait a moment! I have just one more question!”
Xu Se-chi asked, looking restless.
“How many of those iron stakes are you planning to make?”
“About a thousand.”
A thousand iron stakes.
It was a quantity that left one speechless.
However, the prisoners did not despair to that extent.
Since he said he wouldn’t mind the quality, they could truly make them clumsily.
Although they would rust and crumble in less than a few years if driven in somewhere, that was none of the prisoners’ business.
‘Right. Damn it, does it take a thousand years or ten thousand years to make that tiny iron stake? If we stay up all night and make them swiftly, a thousand is nothing…’
Xu Se-chi sighed softly.
And he nodded.
“I-I understand. Fortunately, my former in-laws ran a blacksmith shop. I can roughly mimic the skills of my father-in-law, having learned them over his shoulder.”
At those words, the other prisoners’ expressions also brightened.
Because if there was someone who knew even roughly, the work would become much easier.
Chui nodded.
“Then you take the position of overall group leader.”
“Heh? M-me? I understand! Thank you for trusting me!”
Xu Se-chi’s expression brightened.
The dream he had when first setting out on the journey.
His hope of becoming Chui’s confidant to make the hard labor even slightly easier had just been fulfilled.
But.
“A thousand iron stakes within a week. If you can’t make them in time, I will cut off your neck first.”
“…….”
It seemed the concept of a confidant was slightly different for Chui.
One could say there were no rights whatsoever, only duties and responsibilities.
In the end, Xu Se-chi nodded with a half-resigned expression.
“I understand. A thousand iron stakes… it seems somehow possible in a week. By the way, what should the size of the iron stakes be? Since we must make the molds first.”
“It doesn’t need to be that large.”
“I see. Still, you should give us a rough estimate…”
Hearing Xu Se-chi’s words, Chui nodded.
And.
Step, step, step—
He walked a few steps to the side and stood at the edge of one wall.
“?”
The prisoners, including Xu Se-chi, wore puzzled expressions.
Soon, the mouth of Chui, who stood at the edge of the wall, opened.
“From here.”
At the same time, Chui began to walk.
Step, step, step—
He kept walking. He walked on and on to the place where the opposite wall was.
Step, step, step, step, step…
Before the eyes of all the prisoners, Chui advanced about fifty paces.
Then he stood stuck right to the opposite wall.
“To here.”
Before the blank-faced prisoners, Chui continued his reply in a calm tone.
“This is the size of a single stake.”
An iron stake of tremendous length, nearing approximately fifteen zhang.
A thousand of such things.
“…….”
The prisoners in the abandoned mine, without exception, could say nothing.
A silence as if nothing living existed.
In the midst of it, only Chui’s voice was echoing.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and make them.”
Unrivaled Spear Ghost