Chapter 557: Approaching the Weary and Sorrowful Villagers, Let's Give Them a Hand!

Inside the gloomy Mine, Jier walked forward with light steps.

It had been a while since he had worn such light clothing; he had grown accustomed to wearing heavy armor all day long these past few days. Now, wearing only a set of light, old clothes, he felt somewhat empty.

It felt quite strange.

The old shoes from last year were comfortable and fit well on his feet, but the floor of the Mine was made of hard rock, which made walking on it feel jarring.

Moreover, due to the reflection from the surrounding rock walls, even the slightest sound in the Mine would carry clearly. Before Jier even approached the branching tunnel ahead, he heard the complaints and grievances of some Villagers from far away.

Even though they had lowered their voices, Jier could still hear them clearly.

"Woooo..."

"Stop crying. Little Bosa is already gone; you can't cry yourself sick and let your other child starve to death too. Think of the child who is still alive. Instead of sitting here crying, you should find a way to get some Mineral Ore and feed your other child."

"It's so annoying, Luoke! Let's go. We're going to the territory of those alien Beasts to find a way to dig up some Mineral Ore. But I'll say this first: if we are discovered by the aliens, no one is allowed to run. Everyone hold your Mining Pick tight and retreat slowly! Do you understand?"

After listening quietly for a while, Jier frowned. He had not expected that Villagers were already starving to death inside the Mine.

At this moment, several Villagers ahead were carefully walking toward Jier's direction. They were extremely cautious; to avoid making noise that might attract the Mao Mao in the mine tunnels, they had even carefully taken off their wooden shoes and were walking barefoot inside the hard, sharp mine tunnels.

"Are we going too deep into the aliens' territory?"

"Shut up! We just saw it—those alien Beasts brought back a huge deer. They are probably all inside eating that deer right now, which is why there's no one patrolling here. This is a good opportunity. Their mine tunnel hasn't been excavated much; we'll just grab a few Wooden Boxes of Mineral Ore and leave!"

"Yes, I saw it. Such a big deer. For those small-statured aliens, I bet every one of them will be able to eat meat."

"Gulp." There was the sound of someone swallowing saliva.

Jier couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Who's there!"

In the gloomy mine tunnel ahead, someone heard Jier's chuckle and immediately questioned him.

Jier walked forward with long strides, revealing his figure.

By the sparse lighting in the distant mine tunnel, both sides barely managed to see each other.

It was a team of four young to middle-aged male Villagers, but they all looked wretched—thin, filthy, and nervous in the face of Jier. Jier was different; he was tall, and although he wore old clothes similar to the Villagers, he was clearly far too clean.

Jier immediately recognized this point as well; he was too clean, not just his face, but his hair and arms as well.

Because the Villagers had no time or energy to wash their hair, their heads were covered in grease and grime, their hair hanging down in a messy tangle, at most tied simply with a thin string, but still greasy and dirty.

Jier was different; his hair was clean and neat. Although he had trimmed the length of his hair bit by bit with a Dagger himself, it was clearly incomparable to these Villagers who worked hard in the Mine all day.

The Villagers' faces were covered in dust, their eyes full of dullness and suspicion, mixed with fear. Jier's face was far too clean; he had bathed in the lady's dream, so his face was clean and neat, his beard had been specially groomed, and his eyes were bright and spirited. Furthermore, he was highly aggressive, and the expressions on his face were vivid and lively, very different from the Villagers.

The clothing on both sides was also different.

Unlike the Villagers Jier had observed from afar in the Jiedian, most Villagers who worked in the Mine for long periods had voluntarily removed the sleeves of their clothes and the parts of their trousers below the knees. Because it was stuffy and hot in the Mine, wearing long sleeves and trousers was inconvenient and uncomfortable. Besides, there were no small bugs or flying insects in the Mine like there were outside, so there was no need to worry about mosquito bites.

As for Jier, although he had taken out his most ragged set of clothes, it was still very different from what the Villagers were wearing. This set of clothes was the one provided to him by the Fox Tail Chamber of Commerce when he was there last year. Although it was old, it was still in the style of clothing worn by town residents.

Although Kendall City was located in a remote area, its economic life and productivity were not low; at the very least, it was much better than what the Villagers in the remote villages of the Southern Province wore.

With such a comparison from top to bottom, it was no wonder the Villagers opposite were stunned as if they had seen a Monster.

Jier gave a bitter smile; he felt that he had not done nearly enough in the infiltration aspect. The first group of people he met had already seen through him.

"You are..."

The leader of the four people opposite, who was in relatively good spirits, spoke up while his other companions were still too surprised to say anything.

Jier's hands were empty; if he said he was here to mine, no one would believe him. Moreover, Changmai Cunzi was neither big nor small, and aside from those who had died, basically everyone in the village had been captured and brought here. Jier, an outsider, was identified by the villagers at a glance.

Jier smiled and waved his hands: "Don't be nervous, I was just captured."

"Just captured?" Several Villagers looked at each other, seemingly thinking of something: "Are you from Blue Dragonfly Cunzi? You are from Blue Dragonfly Cunzi, right?"

"I suppose so." Jier shrugged.

"What do you mean 'suppose so'?" As the conversation progressed, the Villagers gradually became less nervous, and the others began to speak as well.

Jier pointed to the north: "I am from Yemei Town. I originally went to Blue Dragonfly Cunzi to find relatives and seek refuge, but before I could even enter the village, I was captured by a group of people."

He also rubbed his body: "Those guys were really excessive; they beat me several times on the road."

"Hahahaha, that's to be expected. Those damn guys, their morals and conscience have long since vanished!" the middle-aged Villager leading the four said with disdain.

After speaking, seeing that Jier was alone while they had four people, he stopped worrying about Jier. Seeing traces of Mineral Ore on the nearby cave wall, he immediately told his companions to get to work.

The other two Villagers immediately stepped forward, trying to squeeze out their remaining strength to swing their Mining Picks and dig for ore. The last young Villager, however, was in low spirits—it seemed he was the one who had lost a child earlier. He tried a few times, but eventually leaned against the cave wall in sorrow, silently shedding tears.

The leading middle-aged Villager tried to persuade him a couple of times, but seeing that the other was unmoved, he stopped caring and seized the time to dig more Mineral Ore in the alien Beasts' territory while they were eating meat, so he could take it back.

Jier did not leave. He saw that the man could not mine at all due to grief and lack of strength, and he had heard these people's words earlier, knowing that one of this young man's children had died recently due to hunger.

"Let me do it! Give me the Mining Pick, I'll help you dig the Mineral Ore!" Jier said with a firm tone.

The others looked over, but before they could react, Jier stepped forward and snatched the Mining Pick from the young man's hand.

"I'll help you this time. All the Mineral Ore dug up will be yours; go find the Soldier to trade for some food and hurry up and send it to your family."

After speaking, without waiting for the others to react, Jier set his sights on a small patch of rock wall that differed in color and texture from the rest. He held the old Mining Pick in his hand with ease and, imitating the movements of the surrounding Villagers, first smashed the main body of the ore with force, then used small, precise movements to knock the Mineral Ore down.

The young Villager, who had been grieving, was now thanking him aloud while his hands moved quickly to pick up the falling fragments of Mineral Ore.

"Heave! Ho! This isn't that hard, is it? Why are you all in such a wretched state?"

Jier even had the energy to talk while helping others work.

The others were no longer on guard against Jier, because Jier's current appearance was similar to how they were when they first arrived at this Mine—all thinking that it was just digging for ore, how hard could it be?

"Young man, don't be so confident." One Villager, after digging for a while and getting some Mineral Ore, replied to Jier while picking it up.

"Exactly. You just arrived, and you're by yourself, so you think it's not hard. But we were all brought in as families. We not only have to feed ourselves, but we also have to work hard to dig ore to feed our whole family. Even if our other family members also try hard to dig for ore, those damn Soldiers, those heartless pieces of shit, they take away most of the Mineral Ore and only give us a little bit of food."

"Day after day, night after night, after living like this for a while, we all ended up like this. Only families with many young and strong members can manage to live a bit better."

The three of them spoke one after another, all while working hard with their hands.

Jier's efficiency was more than ten times theirs. In the time it took for them to talk, a large section of the mine wall had been dug into a pitted mess by Jier. Any surface that clearly contained Mineral Ore had been knocked off by his Mining Pick.

The scattered Mineral Ore on the ground piled up, and even the young Villager who was picking up the ore found his Wooden Box full and unable to hold any more.

Only then did the group notice. They were stunned, looking at the large amount of Mineral Ore at Jier's feet in disbelief, their throats swallowing, wanting to go up and pick it up but feeling too embarrassed.

Because Jier had already said before that he was helping the young Villager who lost his child to dig these Mineral Ore.

"What are you all still standing there for? Everyone, come and pick them up, hurry and load the Mineral Ore on the ground into the Wooden Box! Time is tight; those well-fed Monsters could patrol over here at any moment."

Once Jier said this, they suddenly woke up. After obtaining Jier's permission, they immediately picked up the Mineral Ore at their own feet first, then moved quickly to pick up the various Mineral Ore at Jier's feet.

Looking at the slightly deformed, old Mining Pick in his hand, Jier returned it to that Villager, then helped the others load the scattered Mineral Ore covering the ground into their Wooden Box.

"Alright, alright, once they're full, let's leave quickly. Let's exchange these Mineral Ore on us for food first. Don't worry about the Mineral Ore on the ground here; the patrolling Monsters might not necessarily see them. Let's go first, and we can find another opportunity to come back and get what's on the ground later."

While speaking, Jier had already taken control of the decision-making for these few people, pulling and grabbing them to push the reluctant Villagers away from here.

The group walked toward the outside of the Mine. After leaving the territory of the Mao Mao, the lighting in the Mine was much better; every few dozen meters, there were Torch and small bonfires providing illumination. At the same time, other Villagers were walking around here one after another.

There were bedraggled male Villagers carrying small harvests of Mineral Ore, walking along the upward path of the Mine with a sigh at every step. There were also female Villagers walking in pairs from outside the Mine toward the inside with their heads lowered; most of them held the things in their arms tightly and were wary of every man passing by.

The starving men around were far more terrifying to them than the Soldiers who oppressed them using violence and rules, because the small amount of food they had obtained by selling their bodies in their arms could very likely be snatched away by these male Villagers.

Such things had happened before, so now the female Villagers all returned in groups, and soon their own husbands, looking ashamed, would come up to meet them.

Jier helped and supported the few Villagers carrying heavy Wooden Box along the way, but these few, who had looked exhausted just a moment ago, were now all bracing themselves, gritting their teeth, and walking quickly toward the outside of the Mine while carrying the heavy Wooden Box.

"Can you hold on? The Wooden Box feels quite heavy, doesn't it?"

Jier asked from time to time, and the accompanying Villagers shook their heads one after another, struggling to squeeze a few words out through their gritted teeth: "No problem."

"I can hold on!"

"For food!"

"For my family! I can hold on."

The middle-aged Villager leading the group was in a relatively better situation; one corner of his box was supported by Jier's hand, making it much easier. At this time, he asked: "I haven't asked your name yet? Kind young man."

"Oh, my name is Qiao-Jier. I'm from Yemei Town to the north. I was originally farming outside the town, but who knew that a group of terrifying Monsters would come along the Shanglu outside the town? The lord's family in the town demanded that all Villagers in the villages around the town abandon their Cunzi and have everyone run to gather and live outside the town, for fear that everyone would be parasitized by the Monsters and become more and more numerous."

Upon hearing this, the Villagers were stunned. They looked at each other, and someone immediately said: "This is no small matter! What happened later?"

"Oh, I had a plot of land outside the town, right? So many people from the surrounding villages poured over and gathered outside the town, and as a result, my land was occupied by everyone. I couldn't farm, so I thought about finding a job in the town; I couldn't just be idle, right? As it turned out, there were too many people, and the jobs that needed people were all filled, while the prices of things in the town were all rising. There was no other way, so I had to try heading south to Lanse-Qingting. My cousin's family is all there. I heard that the population of the villages north of Shichui Cunzi had temporarily gathered in Yemei Town, but the villages south of Shichui Cunzi were still the same as before."

"As a result, I didn't expect that I would risk my life to run to Lanse-Qingting. I wasn't caught by the legendary Monsters on the road, and I didn't have my head smashed by a Siege Fish, but just as I saw Lanse-Qingting, I was caught by a group of Soldiers who rushed out from the Shulin. Where am I supposed to go to reason this out? You tell me, am I very unlucky?"

When Jier said this, he deliberately pretended to look aggrieved, while the Villagers discussed the matter of Yemei Town that Jier had mentioned.

Everyone no longer doubted Jier's personal information, because Villagers from Lanse-Qingting had indeed been caught and brought here one after another before. Because they were all young and strong male youths, most of those people were arranged to tend to the Furnace and bellows. Unlike going down into the Mine to dig for ore, although the risks were high and the working environment was hot and tiring at the Furnace, the food given by the Soldiers each time was enough for one person to eat their fill.

Regarding the matter of smelting Metal Ingot, the Soldiers were actually willing to give a little more food.

Because, after all, the Soldier Captain Yeluba declared that he would split the money from trading the Metal Ingot equally among all the Soldiers, so the Soldiers were more attentive and generous about this.

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