Chapter 7 Frontal Conflict
He discovered that in addition to some stones and crystals as associated minerals in hematite veins, wherever there is a lot of hematite, there will be a black worm. This worm is as hard as iron and is only the size of a fingernail. It likes to be adsorbed on The hematite is corroded by the corrosive liquid in its mouth, thereby absorbing the hematite.
The first time he discovered this kind of worm, Xiao Lin was really shocked. Each section of this little thing's body was actually harder than iron. He poked it with a dagger for a long time but was unable to hurt it at all. After countless times, he couldn't hurt it at all. Experimenting, he discovered that the only nemesis of this worm is fire.
There were not many worms, and Xiao Lin only caught four or five in a year, but each one was a treasure to Xiao Lin now.
Every time before mining, he would put a worm into the mine. Then the worm would start crawling and soon drill into the soil. At this time, Xiao Lin started digging where the worm had drilled. Mine, this method has been tried and tested, and it has greatly increased Xiao Lin's harvest. In the past, he could only dig out fifty or sixty kilograms of hematite in a month, but now he can easily dig up to one hundred kilograms a month. More than kilograms of hematite.
He has buried three to four hundred kilograms of hematite. He has hidden these hematite in seven or eight places. Even if he does not dig out a piece of hematite in any given month, he will not fail to complete the task.
After not worrying about the monthly ore tasks, Xiao Lin began to mine through worms for about ten days every month. He spent half of the remaining time studying the ore veins and the other half of the time setting up some traps in the mines.
He couldn't guarantee that no other miners would accidentally come to him. If the secret was discovered or the intention was to kill people and seize the mines, he would have a plan to deal with it.
A few months ago, he went to the grocery store and was pleasantly surprised to find that this grocery store actually sold a lot of strange things, including ordinary iron weapons, crossbows, ground thorns, and even some poisons. The owner of the grocery store obviously has a backend in Bailiantang. He not only sells some iron weapons, but also several weapons made of hematite. However, these weapons are expensive, each one costs more than a hundred taels of silver. .
Although Xiao Lin now feels that he is worth a lot of money, he will not buy hematite weapons blatantly. Even though the owner of the grocery store seems to abide by the rules and should not leak his information to others, there is no guarantee that he will not be Someone discovered it.
So Xiao Lin only bought some ordinary iron crossbow spikes and the like, and also bought a bottle of poison and smeared it on the surface of these iron tools. In this mine, he established a small territory of his own. Lin believed that within the scope of his own mine, even the disciples of Bailiantang would have a narrow escape from death. Even he himself had to be extremely careful every time he entered or exited, for fear of accidentally stepping on the mechanism.
What surprised Xiao Lin the most was that the grocery store actually sold secret books. Although the secret books inside were all basic martial arts skills that even the disciples of Bailiantang looked down upon, in Xiao Lin's eyes, they were definitely treasures. If If I can really learn martial arts, then at least I will have the ability to protect myself in the Qingshui Lake Mine, and I don't have to live as cautiously as I do now, for fear of being remembered.
However, what left Xiao Lin speechless was that the price of those basic martial arts secret books was astonishing. Each copy cost at least two hundred taels of silver. This was definitely a sky-high price for the miners. Although Xiao Lin wanted it in every possible way, but when he looked at it, After checking the price, I had no choice but to give up. In his opinion, maybe the grocery store owner never thought that any miner could afford these secrets.
On this day, it was time to submit the task again. Xiao Lin thought for a while and took out a hundred kilograms of ore from his own ore. After more than a year, he had enough ore to double the amount for three consecutive months. After completing the task, as long as you can pay more than 100 kilograms of ore for three consecutive months, you can become an outer disciple of Bailiantang and get rid of the fatigue of mining. Even in the eyes of many miners, becoming an outer disciple is not enough. Going out to search for mineral veins is not necessarily better than mining, and searching for mineral veins in the Tianlu Mountains is very dangerous. If you encounter a wild beast, you will lose your life.
Xiao Lin was not interested in the prospecting business, but what attracted him most was that once he became an outer disciple of Bailiantang, in addition to his monthly salary, he would also get a basic secret book of Bailiantang, which he could use Practicing martial arts in a legitimate manner is undoubtedly very attractive. After all, in Xiao Lin's view, he cannot dig mines for a lifetime. In addition, he is very worried about his father and sister. He doesn't know how they are doing now?
There are many mines leading to the outer cave. Every time Xiao Lin goes out, he will be very energetic. It can be said that this has become his habit. Every time he passes a branch cave, he has to listen carefully. Is there any movement outside?
After carefully passing through seven or eight branch holes, and just as he was about to enter the main cave, Xiao Lin suddenly had a wry smile on his face.
It turned out that three or four figures had surrounded him behind him, and a strong body was blocking the way in front of him.
"Master Xiang?" Xiao Lin forced a smile on his face, but the hand in his arms held a dagger firmly.
Xiang Kun was still full of beard, and when he saw Xiao Lin, his triangular eyes narrowed.
"Good boy, Third Master, I have been looking for you for several months, but I haven't been able to stop you every time. Huh? So many ores?" Xiang Kun looked at the ore in his eyes when he saw the ore in the bamboo basket opened by his subordinates. He showed a surprised expression. Although he had already found out that Xiao Lin could complete the tasks smoothly every month, he was so cunning and cunning that he must have hidden a lot of private goods in this situation, otherwise it would not be possible every time. Months are such a coincidence.
"Master Xiang, I know the rules. Can't I pay half of the travel money?" Xiao Lin looked at the miners behind him and said to Xiang Kun with a smile on his face.
"Hey, it won't work this time. Tell the third master, was Wang Ji killed by you?" Xiang Kun smiled widely, but there was no smile in his eyes, instead there was a cold light. .
Xiao Lin was shocked. He thought quickly and couldn't figure out why Xiang Kun insisted that Wang Ji was killed by himself.
"I was joking to the third master, how could I kill the prince? This is not a joke." Xiao Lin said while slowly moving towards the wall.
"Oh?" Xiang Kun's eyes were full of mockery: "You still want to deny it, but Third Master wants you to know clearly that when you killed Wang Ji, you didn't confirm whether he was really dead, right?"
Xiang Kun's words shocked Xiao Lin, and his heart sank to the bottom. At that time, he stabbed Wang Ji's heart with a knife. He did not check it carefully. In his opinion, he would never survive if he stabbed Wang Ji in the heart with a knife. Well, could it be that Wang Ji was not completely dead at that time, and when Xiang Kun came back he told him that he was the murderer?
"You are so cruel, you stabbed Wang Ji's heart accurately with one knife. Unfortunately, you don't know that Wang Ji was born different from ordinary people. His heart is on the right side, so he survived with a sigh of relief." Let's go back." Xiang Kun had a ferocious look on his face, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent.
Xiao Lin was silent for a moment, then raised his head and said with a smile: "Master Xiang, there is a misunderstanding. Please listen to my explanation."
"Explain..."
Before Xiang Kun could say "fart", Xiao Lin's body suddenly rose up, and with a fierce wave of his hand inserted into his chest, a piece of green smoke immediately appeared. Seeing the smoke's expression change, Xiang Kun exclaimed: "No, that's not good. It's poisonous gas."
When several miners behind Xiao Lin heard this, they hurriedly backed away, but then one of them groaned, turned over and fell down, but it was Xiao Lin who inserted a dagger into his chest.
The moment the man fell, Xiao Lin rushed from his side into the branch cave. He threw away a damp rag covering his mouth and nose and ran quickly towards the mine. .
"Chase me. If I catch him, I will be skinned and cramped." Xiao Lin heard Xiang Kun's roar behind him, followed closely by the footsteps of chasing.
While running, Xiao Lin thought quickly. With his current understanding of this mine, it is not difficult to get rid of these people behind him, but what if he gets rid of these people? If Xiang Kun sent people to guard the entrance of the cave, he would have to fall into a trap sooner or later.
Thinking of this, Xiao Lin's eyes flashed with coldness. He gritted his teeth, then slowed down and deliberately made the sound of his footsteps as loud as possible.
Sure enough, there were footsteps coming up from behind, and Xiang Kun's cursing voice could be heard from time to time.
A sneer appeared on Xiao Lin's lips. He led his pursuers and ran around in the mine. For half an hour, he ran into a side hole.
The moment he entered the side cave, he gently moved a stone on the wall, then bowed down and crawled into an inconspicuous small hole in the corner of the wall.
Soon, several miners followed the side cave. Suddenly, several screams were heard. The miners running at the front screamed and fell to the ground one after another. The cry came out, and it was even more thrilling in this dark mine.
"There are thorns here. Oh, my feet are numb. There are poisonous thorns here."
The screams didn't last long before they all died down. Xiang Kun's expression changed and he hurriedly stopped the people around him. At this time, the people next to him also brought over a kerosene lamp and looked through the light of the kerosene lamp. Under the light, they saw the dense thorns scattered on the ground. These thorns were light green, and they knew at a glance that they had been smeared with poison.
Several people gasped.
"This kid seems to be not simple. He actually set up a trap here." Xiang Kun looked at the entrance of the cave and felt timid. He was really unwilling not to catch the kid, but he rushed in rashly, even if he could escape. With these thorns in front of me, who can guarantee that the kid doesn't have any other traps?
"Third Master, let's not go in. As long as we guard the entrance of the cave, the boy will come to the door in a few days. Then we will peel off his skin and twitch his muscles to vent his hatred."
"Hmph, I'm taking advantage of this kid. Let's just let him live a few more days." Xiang Kun looked at the thorns on the ground and was frightened but chose not to take the risk.
"Ah" Just as he was about to retreat, a scream suddenly came again. A miner next to Xiang Kun was hit in the chest by a crossbow arrow. The huge force of the crossbow arrow made him take a few steps back and hit the mine directly. He turned over and fell down on the cave wall.
"Poof!" Xiang Kun was about to curse when another sound broke through the air. Another miner beside him also fell down in response. This frightened him and he directly pulled the last miner to block him. In front of him, his face was full of shock and anger.