Fairy Tree

Going to a small river in the bamboo forest to the east, Xiao Lin washed himself inside and out, especially the iron pickaxe. He washed it three or four times. He didn't feel relieved until no trace of blood could be seen. Come.

When he returned to the hut, it was already getting slightly brighter, but Xiao Lin ignored it, fell on the bed and fell asleep.

I don't know how long it took after this sleep. When Xiao Lin woke up refreshed, he looked at the bright window with a thoughtful expression on his face.

The scene that happened in the mine was still replaying in Xiao Lin's mind. He was thinking about how to deal with Xiang Kun's group if he encountered him again. At first, he thought about whether to change the mine, but soon this idea disappeared. He pushed him back. After all, he thought, changing the mine might not prevent such a thing. At least Xiang Kun was just collecting money for passage. If he met someone who wanted the mine rather than his life, he would have to answer for it if he could not save his life. .

When he thought about it, Xiang Kun suspected that he was sure, but he also had his own advantages. After all, he was only twelve years old and was thin and weak. Even if Xiang Kun had doubts, he probably wouldn't believe that he could kill Wang Ji. .

At that time, he was making up a few random lies about Wang Ji being attacked by someone, maybe he could get over it. After thinking about it with a frown for an hour, Xiao Lin walked out of the hut with an expressionless face.

These two days are the days when the ore is paid intensively, so there are many people in the small square, most of them carrying bamboo baskets and queuing up to pay the ore.

Xiao Lin carried a bamboo basket on his back and lined up silently behind him. His bamboo basket was covered with a rag so that no one could see how much hematite he had dug.

Since the deadline for handing over the mine is tomorrow, most of the people who came to hand over the mine today have completed the task, and their faces are full of confidence. After all, completing the task means that they can survive the next month. As for How about next month? For these miners, it is not that far-term.

Soon, there were only three people in front of Xiao Lin. He stretched his neck and watched the people in front of him mincing.

The one at the front is a young man in his early twenties, with handsome features and a very well-proportioned figure. At first glance, he looks like a scholar, and he seems to have nothing to do with miners.

The young man came to the disciples who were collecting ore in Bailiantang. He grinned and opened the linen cloth covering the bamboo basket, revealing that there was more than half of the hematite ore in the bamboo basket.

"Get on the scale." The Bailiantang mining disciple shouted, and immediately someone behind him poured the hematite in the bamboo basket into a large bamboo basket next to him, while a Bailiantang disciple used a large and exaggerated Weigh to weigh.

The scale's beam was made of a solid piece of wood. It was dark red, one foot long, and as thick as an arm. In Xiao Lin's eyes, the scale beam alone weighed at least dozens of kilograms, not to mention the large iron weights and weights. There are dozens of kilograms of ore hanging up.

The arm strength of this Bailiantang disciple was at least 300 kilograms, and he could easily lift it up alone.

He glanced at the scale with a cold eye.

"One hundred and seven kilograms. If you complete the task, you will be credited once, and you will be rewarded five taels and seven dollars of tattooed silver." The Bailiantang disciple said expressionlessly.

The miners behind took a breath, all with envious expressions on their faces.

"Who is this man? He can actually dig out more than a hundred kilograms of ore?"

"Don't you know, he is Zhu Chong, Zhu Biao's nephew from the No. 7 Pit Mine."

"Zhu Biao? Is he the Zhu Biao who is known as the most cruel man in the mine?"

"Shh, keep your voice down, let Zhu Biao know. You don't even know how you died. Hey, who else could it be besides him? Otherwise, do you think his nephew Zhu Chong can dig more than a hundred kilograms of ore?"

"I heard that Mine No. 7 is almost in ruins. At least two or three people die in it every month. I think it's Zhu Biao's fault."

"There is no way around it. Before Zhu Biao came to the mine, he heard that he was a bodyguard in a bodyguard bureau and he had quite a lot of skills. Later, for some unknown reason, he ran away from the bodyguard bureau and was chased by a group of bodyguards. He was desperate. Then I came here.”

"It seems that Zhu Biao can become a disciple of Bailian Hall at any time, but he doesn't know why he always chooses to be a miner in Pit No. 7?"

"This is not simple. Zhu Biao's current power is not something that ordinary outer disciples can possess. To become an outer disciple, you have to look for mineral veins. There is no comfort in being the king and hegemon here. What's more, he doesn't need it at all now. When you go down to mine, every month is your contribution, which is enough to fulfill the mission.”

"I heard that his nephew is also highly regarded by Zhu Biao. He paid so much ore at one time. It seems that he is preparing to train him to enter Bailian Hall."

"That's for sure. Although Zhu Biao dominates the mines, it's still a dream to leave here. If his nephew can enter Bailian Hall and become an outer disciple, he can be taught superior martial arts. Even if Zhu Biao leaves by then, Once we return to Huai County, we can travel freely."

Xiao Lin looked at Zhu Chong with a surprised look on his face. Zhu Chong took the silver and casually threw it to a disciple of Bailian Hall. That disciple of Bailian Hall He caught it happily and smiled at Zhu Chong.

Except for Zhu Chong, who paid more than a hundred kilograms of hematite at once, most of the others paid fifty kilograms. A good number of three or five kilograms is already good. This gave Xiao Lin a sense of confidence. These people indeed hid all the excess ore. Otherwise, it would be such a coincidence that most of them would only dig out fifty kilograms of ore.

However, Xiao Lin saw that the disciples of Bailiantang obviously didn't care about this, and didn't want to search the mine. After thinking for a while, Xiao Lin understood that the miners here did not only eat, but also mine. It's two o'clock and one line almost every day, and there is no time to hide the hematite outside. Moreover, for them, hiding the hematite in the mine is nothing. Anyway, if they don't pay it this month, they won't pay it next month. Will hand it over.

As long as the miners don't hide the ore outside, the ore will belong to Bailiantang sooner or later. After thinking about this, Xiao Lin secretly decided that if more than fifty kilograms of ore is dug next month, he will hide it in the mine. Inside, just in case you can't complete the task in any month, you can use it to make up for it.

During the process of paying the ore, Xiao Lin specifically looked for Xiang Kun. In the mine, due to the dim light, in addition to Xiang Kun's appearance, Xiao Lin clearly remembered the appearance of several of his subordinates. He didn't pay too much attention to it. He was still worried that Xiang Kun would cause trouble for him.

After searching for a while, Xiao Lin felt relieved. It seemed that the overlord of Pit No. 3 had not come out. He was probably still in the mine. He didn't know if he was looking for the murderer.

Soon, it was Xiao Lin's turn. After weighing, he found a total of fifty-eight kilograms of hematite. He exceeded the task and was awarded eight pieces of silver. He touched the broken silver in his hand. Xiao Lin was really happy. This is the first time I have earned money in my life.

Although eight coins of silver was not much, it was a considerable amount of wealth for a child from a poor mountain village. He happily walked towards the grocery store with the silver, ready to see what good things he could buy. a little.

"You're not a bad boy. You overfulfilled the mining task and got eight coins." Four strong men suddenly surrounded them. Each of these four strong men held a shining long knife in their hands, blocking the way. Xiao Lin's path was blocked, and from the side, a slow voice came out, and a person walked from the side.

"Zhu Chong?" Seeing this man, Xiao Lin's face turned pale and his heart jumped wildly.

"In this Qingshui Lake mine, the miners don't need silver. Bring it." Zhu Chong smiled with a smile on his face and stretched out a hand. In his opinion, the little kid in front of him was not as high as his chin and not very high. Easy things to do.

As he expected, Xiao Lin obediently gave the broken silver in his hand to Zhu Chong. He took a deep look at Zhu Chong, bit his lip lightly, and said nothing.

"That's right, Wang San, go search and see if this kid has any other good stuff." Zhu Chong's words made Xiao Lin's face change, but it only returned to normal after a moment.

The big man named Wang San touched Xiao Lin all over his body and found nothing except a dagger. After whispering a few words to Zhu Chong, they left in annoyance.

Seeing Zhu Chong and the others leaving, Xiao Lin breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Fortunately, he hid the broken silver and the many daggers under the bed last night, otherwise there would really be a big problem, Xiao Lin was not worried about the few taels of silver, but worried that if Xiang Kun found out about this, he would definitely think that Wang Ji died in his own hands, which would really not end well.

With no money left, Xiao Lin no longer wanted to go to the grocery store. He returned to the house and fell asleep.

After sleeping for a whole day and night, Xiao Lin woke up refreshed. He calculated the time and found that these two days should be the time when the most people paid for monthly ore tasks. In order to avoid trouble, he went there near night. After a visit to the canteen, he received ten days' worth of food and water, and then entered the mine.

Xiao Lin, who was cautious on the road, didn't feel relieved until he entered the mine tunnel he dug. What he was most afraid of now was meeting Xiang Kun. Although he had already thought of an excuse, it was obviously best not to meet Xiang Kun. the result of.

Soon, a year passed. What surprised Xiao Lin was that he did not meet Xiang Kun again during this year. This made him a little strange. Could it be that Xiang Kun had an accident? Thinking about it, Xiao Lin thought it was impossible.

In the end, he didn't think of a result, so Xiao Lin put Xiang Kun in the back of his mind. Now Xiao Lin has grown a lot after experiencing this year's life as a miner. Although he is only thirteen years old, he is now He is already about the same height as an adult, with slightly pale skin, average appearance, and a particularly well-proportioned figure. His arms are much stronger. After all, here, despite the hard work, he can still have enough to eat.

For more than a year, he used the big-headed miner's method to complete the task without any danger every month. Not only that, he also discovered a pattern in the mining process.