38: Chapter 38 Survival is Forged Through Smash

The entrance to the old elevator shaft looked like a mouth that had collapsed on one side.

The derrick leaned against the stone wall, its two pillars hollowed out by insects. Iron chains hung down from high above, covered in a thick shell of rust. There was no light at the bottom of the well, only cold wind rising up, carrying dampness and the bitter stench of rotting Ore. A broken hanging basket was stuck in the middle of the shaft wall, its wooden planks split, with a few pieces of dried animal hide still hanging from the edges.

The Speedrunner lay at the shaft opening, took one look, and immediately recoiled: "Don't sit in that hanging basket. Whoever sits in it is signing their own death warrant; its load-bearing capacity is as flimsy as paper."

The Life-Skill Player supported the Loose Cultivator Gu, with half a rope end clamped in his mouth: "Then what do we do? The bugs are almost right on our tails."

The Speedrunner raised a hand and pointed at the shaft wall: "The miners left maintenance holes years ago, one every three feet; we can climb those. There's a slope on the west side of the shaft wall; it's not a straight drop. We can climb and descend halfway down."

The Sect Protection Elder looked at the Loose Cultivator Gu.

The Loose Cultivator Gu could no longer stand steadily; the old cloth at his waist was soaked with blood, and his face was as pale as mineral ash. He gripped the derrick, his fingertips leaving bloody marks on the rusted iron.

The Sect Protection Elder said in a deep voice: "Bring him, and we'll be slow. Abandon him, and we'll be fast."

When these words fell, the Life-Skill Player stopped what he was doing, and the Speedrunner didn't make a sound.

The Loose Cultivator Gu raised his head, looked at Sect Master Di Kun, and the corner of his mouth twitched: "Sect Master, if I say right now that I can still climb, would you believe me?"

Sect Master Di Kun withdrew his gaze from the mine tunnel entrance where the pursuers were coming from and reached out to pat the cloth bag containing the account chain rubbing on the Loose Cultivator Gu's back.

"You haven't coughed up the entire account chain yet."

The area around the Loose Cultivator Gu's eyes twitched, and he didn't speak again.

Sect Master Di Kun pointed to an overturned mine cart nearby. The cart only had half its bottom board left, one iron axle was broken, and underneath it were old hemp ropes and several pieces of animal sinew. He drew his blade and cut through the iron nails stuck in the bottom board; the blade struck the iron, sparks flying, numbing his thumb web.

"Life-Skill Player, tie him up."

The Life-Skill Player spat out the rope end and lunged over to untie the animal sinew: "Understood, converting a makeshift stretcher into a sled. Extreme mine-tunnel-style rappelling."

The Speedrunner immediately squatted at the shaft opening, his fingertips quickly tracing the rusted chains, wooden beams, and maintenance holes on the shaft wall: "Don't touch the left pillar. The right crossbeam can hold the weight of three people. Don't use the hanging basket chain for leverage. Two maintenance holes are missing in the second section; we'll have to use rope to compensate."

Sect Master Di Kun listened to his directions and pressed the Loose Cultivator Gu onto the mine cart board. The Life-Skill Player used the animal sinew to lash the Loose Cultivator Gu's chest and thighs, then wrapped broken rope around both sides of the cart board. The Loose Cultivator Gu was in such pain that the veins on his forehead bulged, and he bit down on his sleeve without crying out.

At the end of the mine tunnel, torchlight turned the corner.

When the first Red Snake Sect squad appeared, the leader had a small red-scaled snake coiled around his shoulder. The snake flicked its tongue, staring towards the shaft opening, hissing sharply. Several Market Guards followed behind, standing half a zhang apart from each other, but their blade tips were all pointed towards Sect Master Di Kun's side.

"Leave the account box," the Red Snake Sect leader raised his blade, "and you can die quickly."

Sect Master Di Kun handed the sled rope buckle to the Life-Skill Player and turned to stand in front of the shaft opening.

The Sect Protection Elder stood to his left, holding a short staff horizontally across his chest. The old man's sleeve had been half-burned away by fire, revealing several bruises on his arm, yet he stood as steady as if he were nailed to the ground.

Sect Master Di Kun looked at the pursuers: "Are you listening to Iron Abacus now, or are you listening to your own sect?"

The leader's blade tip wavered by an inch.

Someone among the Market Guards immediately cursed: "Stop trying to sow discord! The gentleman said, protect the accounts, not the goods."

Sect Master Di Kun nodded: "That means whoever gets the account box can claim the reward."

This sentence struck the middle of the pursuers; several pairs of eyes simultaneously shifted towards each other's waists and weapons. The Red Snake Sect leader backhanded his blade, the spine of the sword smashing into the chest of a nearby Marketplace Guard, knocking him back half a step.

"Kill them first, then split the reward!"

He charged forward.

The blade light slashed down right by the shaft opening. Sect Master Di Kun dodged sideways, but his old shoulder wound was aggravated, and blood immediately seeped through his clothes. He didn't retreat far; he gripped his short blade with his right hand, the spine of the blade striking the opponent's wrist bone, while his left shoulder rammed into the man's chest.

A dull sound of bone.

The Red Snake Sect leader was knocked back, his rear foot slipping by half an inch, and the small red-scaled snake behind him opened its mouth to spray a wisp of foul mist. The Sect Protection Elder swept his short staff horizontally, the tip hitting the snake's neck, slamming the little snake against the stone wall, its scales scraping off a trail of sparks.

In the panoramic view, the space in front of the shaft opening was crowded with torches and blade shadows; behind them was the collapsed, tilted derrick. The Life-Skill Player was half-kneeling by the rusted chain, lowering the rope; the Speedrunner was holding onto the broken wooden crossbeam, calling out numbers; the Loose Cultivator Gu was tied to the mine cart board, sliding bit by bit into the darkness.

"Right rope slower! Left rope half a foot faster!" the Speedrunner roared, "Don't touch that rusted chain, it's about to break!"

The rusted chain swayed in the air, emitting a harsh, grating sound. The Life-Skill Player's palms were torn open by the rough rope, and blood seeped down along the strands. He gritted his teeth and wrapped it around his waist, his whole body dragged towards the shaft opening by the weight of the Loose Cultivator Gu.

A Marketplace Guard circled around Sect Master Di Kun, his blade aimed straight at the Life-Skill Player who was holding the rope. He wasn't attacking the person; he was cutting the rope.

Sect Master Di Kun saw where the blade was landing, stepped on and shattered a piece of rotten wood, and slammed his body horizontally across.

The blade tip didn't hit the rope; it sliced into Sect Master Di Kun's shoulder.

Blood splattered onto the derrick.

Sect Master Di Kun let out a muffled grunt, his elbow hitting the guard's jaw, and his short blade followed through, stabbing into the opponent's thigh. The guard screamed and fell to his knees, his blade slipping from his hand, hitting the stone edge of the shaft and bouncing into the black well.

The Life-Skill Player's eye twitched twice: "Sect Master, if you open another hole in that shoulder, you could use it as a Storage Pouch!"

"Stop talking nonsense, lower him."

Sect Master Di Kun pressed on the wound on his shoulder, and his fingers immediately grew hot. He hid his injured shoulder behind him and switched the short blade to his other hand.

The pursuers didn't swarm forward again. The Red Snake Sect leader took two steps back and waved for someone to fetch a crossbow. The Market Guards raised their shields to block the mine tunnel, cutting off any room for Sect Master Di Kun and the others to retreat.

They were no longer in a hurry to throw their lives away.

Above the derrick, the steady sound of an iron staff approached.

One step. Two steps.

The torches parted, and Iron Abacus stood on the stone steps high in the mine tunnel. The hem of his gray robe was stained with some medicinal ash, and the Iron Abacus in his hand hung by his side. He didn't go down into the shaft, nor did he approach the combat zone; he simply stood in a sufficiently safe position, his gaze crossing over the corpses and blade light, landing on the Storage Pouch at Sect Master Di Kun's waist.

"Young man, put the account box at the shaft opening, and I will let you go down."

Sect Master Di Kun forced the Red Snake Sect leader back with a swing of his blade and looked up at him: "You just said that whoever let the account box leak out would pay with their whole family's life. If you let me go down now, how are you going to record that in your accounts when you go back?"

Iron Abacus didn't smile; his fingers flicked one of the abacus beads.

The sound of the bead was crisp.

"Accounts can be altered; the dead cannot."

Sect Master Di Kun's mouth twitched: "You, this accountant, have more authority than the shopkeeper."

Iron Abacus raised a hand.

Two account servants behind him dragged over wooden barrels. When the lids were opened, the pungent smell of lamp oil immediately flooded the shaft opening. The Sect Protection Elder's expression changed; he deflected a crossbow bolt with his short staff, the arrowhead grazing the derrick and embedding itself into the wooden beam, the tail feathers vibrating with a hum.

Iron Abacus's voice suppressed the noise: "Pour."

The first barrel of lamp oil was poured down the shaft opening, the black, glossy stream of oil sliding down the shaft wall, splashing into the stone crevices as it passed the maintenance holes. The Life-Skill Player's cursing voice came from below: "What's that smell? They're pouring oil!"

The second barrel followed.

Sect Master Di Kun looked down the shaft. In the darkness, the Loose Cultivator Gu's sled had already reached halfway. The Life-Skill Player and the Speedrunner were pressed against the shaft wall, protecting him as they moved down. The lamp oil flowed down the other side of the wall; it hadn't touched them yet, but the smell of oil was sinking down.

Iron Abacus didn't pursue them down.

He intended to use smoke and fire to turn the shaft into a vertical pot.

The Sect Protection Elder stood in front of Sect Master Di Kun and whispered: "Go up and charge him; there's still a glimmer of hope."

Sect Master Di Kun stared at the shaft wall, his vision flickering with the light of the torches. His gaze scanned down from the oil stream, the maintenance holes, and the broken wooden beams, finally stopping at a faint glimmer of Spiritual Qi deep in the middle of the shaft.

That point of light was hidden behind a crack in the shaft wall; it didn't look like fire, nor did it look like insect eyes.

It looked more like the lingering glow of an old Ore vein pressed under layers of stone.

"Speedrunner!" Sect Master Di Kun shouted down the shaft, "Three zhang below you to the right, there's light on the shaft wall; can you open it?"

The Speedrunner turned his head, pressing against the stone wall; the smell of lamp oil choked him, causing him to cough twice. He reached out to touch the crack; as soon as his fingertips touched it, the stone skin fell away with a rustling sound, revealing the old, sealed wooden support inside.

"It's a branch mine tunnel!" the Speedrunner's voice changed, "It's blocked by waste stone. We can smash it open, but we have to be fast!"

Hearing this, Iron Abacus raised the fire starter in his hand.

Sect Master Di Kun stopped looking up. He grabbed the rope hanging from the shaft opening and slid down. His boot soles stepped on two maintenance holes, and his shoulder wound scraped against the stone wall, smearing a long trail of blood.

Above, the fire starter fell into the shaft opening.

The lamp oil was ignited, and blue-red tongues of flame spread fiercely along the shaft wall, the heat wave rolling down after Sect Master Di Kun's back. The derrick let out a painful creaking sound; the rusted chains expanded from the heat, and the iron skin burst with small cracking sounds.

When Sect Master Di Kun landed at the halfway point, the Speedrunner had already struck the old wooden support three times with a short pickaxe. The wooden support was severely rotted; the first one broke, and the second one got stuck in the rubble. The Life-Skill Player dragged the Loose Cultivator Gu, board and all, to the side and kicked hard.

Only one layer of rubble fell.

The smoke from the fire pressed down, burning everyone's throats until they hurt.

Sect Master Di Kun drew his blade, the tip aimed at the position where the glimmer of Spiritual Qi was located. The fire fell from above with a roar; he didn't look up, instead backhanding the spine of his blade into the junction between the old wooden support and the stone crevice.

The first strike, the wooden support cracked.

The second strike, the stone crevice widened.

The third strike, the waste stone pressed inside rolled out, smashing into the shaft wall's maintenance hole and breaking off half the stone edge.

Thin Spiritual Qi sprayed out from the crack, carrying the chill of years of being sealed, like a mouthful of cold water splashed into burning lungs. Behind the crack revealed a low, narrow branch mine tunnel. The ground was covered with grayish-white Ore slag left from years of mining, and deep within the stone walls were several intermittent Spiritual patterns that would light up and then go dark.

"Enter!"

Sect Master Di Kun pushed the Loose Cultivator Gu's sled into the crack. The Life-Skill Player crawled in to receive him, and the Speedrunner squeezed in after. The Sect Protection Elder blocked two crossbow bolts shot down from the shaft opening, his short staff cracked from the impact.

The thick smoke from the burning lamp oil poured into the shaft.

Sect Master Di Kun squeezed sideways into the old branch mine tunnel, his shoulder wound tearing open again as it scraped against the stone wall. He reached back and pulled down a piece of rotting wood support, wedged it outside the crack, and kicked down the rubble from above.

With a boom, the rubble and fire fell together. The old elevator shaft was burned into a vertical red throat, and the shouts of the pursuers were blocked behind the scorching smoke.