Chapter 59: Never Lose Hope in This World

Zhang Tie had stumbled upon a spiritual herb by sheer luck and, after offering it to a steward of the Lei Family, was given the position of overseer in a mining crew.

He had thought that from then on he would never have to worry about making a living.

But he never expected the Hanyue Mine to be anything but paradise—it was hell!

What he encountered in the mine kept shattering his worldview, and he had thought of escaping several times, but the mine's management was extremely strict; to ensure no information leaked, everyone except blood members of the three great families—

Once you entered the mine, you could forget ever getting out again!

Zhang Tie thought he might one day take his own life, until he met Xiao Qing. Read novels at Tiantiankan Novels, 𝓽𝓽𝓴. 𝓽𝔀 super awesome

Xiao Qing looked a great deal like his deceased daughter, so the thought of escaping resurfaced in him.

By chance he overheard talk of Jiang Qin's existence, so Zhang Tie took advantage of a rest period and secretly led Xiao Qing out of the mine through a hidden passage.

After hearing Zhang Tie's account, Jiang Qin's face showed a trace of doubt:

"If you knew about this hidden passage long ago, why did you only escape now?"

Zhang Tie silently lifted his shirt, and moonlight fell on the strange blue blotches covering his abdomen.

"Everyone who stays in the mine long enough gets this sickness. The cold Qi erodes the body. If I leave the Hanyue Mine, I'll only die faster."

His organs had already been corroded, and the damage was irreversible.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Qin spoke: "Do you have any evidence? Video recordings, for instance."

Zhang Tie nodded and took out a phone.

The mine area had no signal, so a phone was no different from a brick, and they weren't watched too closely—phones were easy to obtain from the people who had been captured and brought in to mine.

The phone's gallery held many videos and photos, all taken inside the mine.

"Special Envoy, sir, there's one more piece of information, though I'm not sure if it's true."

"Mm, go on."

"When I was digging the hidden passage, I happened to overhear two supervisors chatting. According to them, every year the three great groups actually never hand over even half the ore to their superiors. Instead, they secretly skim off a tenth and sell it to the Bajier Tribe, and the corpses each year are given to a group of black-robed figures in exchange for potions."

The Bajier Tribe, located in the Dajin Kingdom neighboring Huaguo—the two countries were not on friendly terms.

When he went to the hotel to kill Zhou Cang last time, Jiang Qin had heard them mention this Bajier Tribe; now hearing Zhang Tie say the same, he could almost confirm the truth of this information.

As for this group of black-robed figures who traded potions for corpses—

Really hard to guess—who else in Huaguo would need such a massive quantity of corpses…

And if Jiang Qin's guess was right, the children who had gone missing from those orphanages in Heitu Cheng had probably been sent here.

Tonight's outing wasn't wasted—he'd gotten such useful information.

"S-Special Envoy, sir, is the information I've provided useful?"

Zhang Tie asked, his face taut with anxiety.

Hearing this, Jiang Qin pulled his thoughts back and nodded: "It's fine. I'll agree to your terms. I'll take this child with me. But… what do you plan to do afterward?"

Zhang Tie let out a breath of relief, then gave a bitter smile.

"Now that I've finally escaped, I'm planning to go seek out relatives in the south. How long I can live, I'll just leave to fate."

Then he crouched down, stroked Xiao Qing's frost-pale cheeks, and forced a smile onto his face:

"Be good, Xiao Qing. In a bit you'll go with this big brother here. He came all this way to save us. Uncle never lied to you, did he? Justice will come. So… never, ever lose hope in this world!"

Those words stung Jiang Qin's heart.

Justice would come, but far more people died before justice arrived.

"Sir, I'm entrusting her to you!"

"Mm."

Jiang Qin gave a soft reply, crouched down, and gathered the girl into his arms. After one last look at the smiling Zhang Tie—

His figure swiftly vanished into the night.

The abandoned station was left with only Zhang Tie. His smile faded. He drew a dagger from his waist and, without the slightest hesitation, drove it into his heart.

As blood poured out in great volume, his vitality ebbed away rapidly.

There had never been any relatives to begin with. After his wife and daughter died, the world had only him alone. Now that his last lingering attachment was fulfilled—

Rather than drag out a wretched existence, waiting for death to descend—

Better to give himself a clean end.

This dogshit world… never coming back in the next life!

The instant Zhang Tie's life faded, Jiang Qin's figure appeared once more.

He had not brought Xiao Qing with him.

Since Zhang Tie didn't want Xiao Qing to witness his death, he would grant him that wish.

In the silent, cold night, Jiang Qin's low, hoarse voice rang out: "Justice will come… The justice that belonged to you, you didn't live to see it. But you became that child's justice."

Once, there had been someone just like this, shielding a weak him.

At this moment, the aura around Jiang Qin solidified a fraction more, and he gained a new understanding of the path he had to walk.

A moment later.

The abandoned station was empty, save for one more grave than before.

…

Late at night.

Cao Hai was still in his office, working through the recent findings of his investigation.

As if suddenly sensing something, he looked up.

Jiang Qin's figure appeared in the office, his right hand holding the hand of a timid little girl.

"Special Envoy Jiang, what brings you here so late?"

Jiang Qin glanced at the girl he was holding: "She was entrusted to me by someone. Although it doesn't quite follow protocol, I hope you can arrange a cleaning job for her within the bureau."

"No problem." Cao Hai nodded in agreement. For him, it was just a matter of a single sentence.

Jiang Qin looked up and said, "I've already obtained enough evidence to topple the Three Great Families. How is progress on your end?"

Surprised, Cao Hai rubbed his brow.

"There are too many people. A thorough investigation will take at least another week."

After dealing with Zhou Cang, he had followed Jiang Qin's instructions and ordered his subordinates to investigate the members of the Three Great Families with full effort, not sparing even the collateral branches. Now most of the evidence had already been gathered.

Speaking of this, Cao Hai finally couldn't help voicing the doubt in his heart: "I don't understand—since you've already obtained the key evidence, why do we still need to expend so much effort investigating these people?"

Jiang Qin didn't hide anything and answered calmly:

"It's simple. I want these Three Great Families to stand completely opposed to the nation."

"Killing just these leaders is far from enough. As long as the family bloodlines can continue, those old undying ones hidden in the dark will never face the Zhenling Bureau head-on. What I need to do is force them to make a move against me."

This answer made Cao Hai turn pale with shock, and he blurted out instinctively:

"Are you insane! Not to mention the Spirit Sea Realm Martial Artists under the Three Great Families, even the three Divine Image Realm Realm experts behind them are not something we can resist. Unless we apply to headquarters for Law Enforcement Officer reinforcements, this is no different from seeking our own deaths."

"Don't worry, I've already prepared everything. Nothing will go wrong."

Jiang Qin turned and left the Bureau Chief's office.

Soon.

Very soon.

His plan was about to enter its final stage…