WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Episode 10: Silver Dragon Mine (2)

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“As you can see, this is what happens. The laborers have their own order and their own world, so it’s best not to interfere needlessly.”

Even as Goe Tong explained, the violence among the laborers did not stop.

Ise spoke in a voice filled with spiritual energy.

“Stop.”

The hands clutching the laborer’s mouth and forcing it open froze in place.

The other laborers who had rushed in from all sides also shrank back at once, as if they had planned it.

“You’ve got some nerve, taking what a formal disciple gave right in front of him.”

At those words, the laborers’ knees buckled simultaneously.

They pressed their foreheads into the dirt and trembled, moving in perfect unison as though someone had ordered them to.

Ise watched for a moment, then took out all the remaining jerky from his storage pouch and tossed it down.

“Share it. Get along.”

The laborers could not immediately pick up the jerky.

They watched each other, then watched Ise. After remaining frozen for a long while, the man lying at the front cautiously picked up one piece.

Then he handed a piece to the person beside him. Then another to the next person.

Everyone kept watching Ise’s expression as they chewed carefully, wary of upsetting a cultivator.

Goe Tong smiled as though pleased by the sight.

“The compassion shown by cultivators when they first arrive here can be entertaining in its own way.”

He clapped his hands and sent the laborers back to their quarters before leading Ise in another direction.

As they walked, Ise voiced his question.

“They could’ve just eaten it when they got it. Isn’t it stupid to run away and have it all taken from them?”

“Ha ha. Do you think you’re the first cultivator to pity the laborers? That person probably doesn’t want their body hacked apart or both hands cut off after daring to open their filthy mouth in front of a formal disciple.”

“...”

Ise’s gaze turned to the scar-covered bodies of the half-naked laborers.

For a moment, he found himself worried about the character of the Great Exorcist Order’s disciples.

The quarters that were barely better than livestock pens, the casual violence, and the excessive labor were one thing. But one question still bothered him.

“Why don’t they give them enough food? They need to eat properly if they’re going to work.”

“...You’re rather unusual, Senior.”

Goe Tong tilted his head.

“Most people who come here for the first time see their wounds and ask why the violence is so severe. Once they learn what crimes these people committed, they all lose interest.”

“Ah. That’s just a personal preference.”

Goe Tong wore an unreadable expression.

“Food is the most effective way to control them. If they want to survive, they only need to meet their quota. A simple rule.”

Ise found it hard to accept, but he did not argue.

The mine entrance had been carved into the side of a small hill.

It looked like an ordinary tunnel from the outside, but with every step inside, it became wider and deeper, stretching far underground.

Torches lined the damp, musty cave walls. Beneath their light, laborers swung pickaxes.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

The sound of metal striking stone echoed without end.

Every hand gripping a pickaxe was rough and dry. They were not like human hands, but hardened and cracked like turtle shells.

Qi Condensation Realm cultivators who had been dozing against the walls beside the torches sprang to their feet when they noticed Goe Tong.

“Senior!”

“Hey. I told you not to sleep while you’re on duty.”

“...I was cultivating.”

“Cultivating, my ass. Say hello. This is the new supervisor.”

After Goe Tong’s brief introduction, the cultivator bowed to Ise, then looked back at Goe Tong.

“Senior, are you returning soon?”

“No, I still have three months left.”

“Oh. We return at the same time. How about having a cup of spirit wine when we get back? My treat.”

“Sounds good. That’s a promise.”

Goe Tong pointed at the cultivator and quietly added to Ise, “This one is a Spirit Wine Master. If you get along with Jangsaeng, you might get spirit wine now and then.”

“I’m Jangsaeng, Senior!”

Jangsaeng gave an energetic introduction.

Sounds like a name made for cultivating well.

After that pointless thought, Ise followed Goe Tong again.

They made a circuit through the deepest part of the mine, then headed toward the mountain’s peak.

Once they reached the top, the view opened in every direction. The entirety of the mine below came into sight at a glance.

Goe Tong pointed toward the slope on the other side.

“The women laborers are housed on the opposite side. There are two mines in total.”

Ise could faintly see the defensive formation surrounding the whole mountain.

“Ah, that defensive formation prevents anyone other than Great Exorcist Order disciples from entering or leaving.”

“What realm can it stop?”

“I heard it can hold even Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.”

The warding barrier spread outward from Seok Gongju’s chamber. There was likely some device there that maintained the formation.

“As you patrol, you only need to make sure the laborers and mission personnel are not slacking off. Inspect their belongings at random, and if anyone is smuggling out Spiritual Stones, make sure you catch every last one.”

Goe Tong said such things rarely happened, then continued.

“If anyone crosses into the women laborers’ area, you may execute them on the spot. Check the output every so often, and if it seems too low, tighten things up. Senior Seok Gongju checks in from time to time.”

Goe Tong took out a patrol roster and handed it to Ise.

“This is the patrol roster. You’ll have to arrange the next duty schedule yourself. The patrol watches from the peak to see whether anyone enters the warding barrier or tries to escape. Some cultivators offer bribes to get out of it, but that is what Senior Seok Gongju hates most, so never accept them.”

Goe Tong chuckled and added some gossip.

“If you get caned across the backside in front of the other cultivators, the pain is one thing. You won’t be able to show your face for a while.”

It was remarkably vivid advice, almost as if it came from personal experience.

“...I’ll remember that.”

Ise took the patrol roster and stored it in his storage pouch.

Goe Tong then tilted his head as if something had just occurred to him.

“By the way, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?”

Ise hesitated before answering. It was the first time anyone had asked his age since he became a formal disciple.

“I’m seventeen this year.”

“What? ...Ah ha ha. Then you entered headquarters this year.”

Goe Tong laughed in disbelief.

“Putting aside your absurd cultivation speed, reaching the seventh star at seventeen, you really know nothing except cultivation. You’re at a vigorous age, so be especially careful around the women laborers.”

“What exactly should I be careful about?”

“Um...”

Goe Tong considered his words for a moment, then answered with a serious face.

“You should be especially wary of beautiful laborers who whisper love they do not feel and ask you to run away with them to escape this hell.”

“...”

Ise concluded that there were more things to be wary of than he had expected.

As he fell silent to show that he understood, an aged figure slowly climbed the slope toward the peak.

The person was a fourth-star Qi Condensation Realm cultivator.

Half of Old Man Shin’s hair had gone white, and his back was slightly bent. The marks of time were deeply etched into his face, making him feel completely different from cultivators of the same realm.

“Dogshit.”

“...Old Man Shin. I told you not to call me that.”

“All right, Dogshit. Do you have any spare Longevity Pellets?”

“Do you think I do? Stop being greedy for a long life and pass on quietly.”

“If you’re not going to hold my funeral, don’t curse me, you little dogshit.”

Goe Tong pressed a hand to his forehead.

“Honestly. I can’t even beat him because I’m worried he’ll die. If you were another junior, you wouldn’t even find your bones. Do you understand?”

“Pick my bones clean or boil them, do whatever you want.”

Old Man Shin let out a dry chuckle. Without even giving Ise a glance, he passed the two of them.

Cultivator seniority meant nothing to him.

Ise watched his back for a moment.

“His realm is too low for his age, so breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm is a distant dream. Since he’ll die soon anyway, he has no fear of anything. Just let it go.”

Goe Tong added the explanation with a dismissive wave.

Ise did not argue, but something felt strange.

For someone so close to death, Old Man Shin’s eyes held a strangely strong attachment to life.

* * *

Life at Silver Dragon Mine was not too bad.

It felt less like a mission and more like his cultivation grounds had changed.

Almost nothing of note happened, and Ise could devote most of his time to cultivation.

The only incidents that occurred from time to time were fights among the mine laborers. Each time, Ise handed down an appropriate punishment.

At first, he tried to determine who was right and who was wrong. After a few days, though, he concluded that caning both sides and moving on was the most efficient method.

After Ise arrived as supervisor, Jangsaeng brought him spirit wine nearly once every three days.

At first, Ise thought it was simply a drink cultivators shared as a greeting. At some point, though, Jangsaeng’s visits stopped completely.

By then, Ise had happened to learn the truth.

The spirit wine was not a gesture of friendship, but a bribe to get out of patrol duty.

‘...What a shame.’

Spirit wine was not as good as the immortal cuisine Ise made himself, but drinking it did slightly improve cultivation speed.

He resolved to brew spirit wine with his immortal cuisine once he returned to headquarters, then threw himself back into cultivation.

Perhaps because Spiritual Stones were buried there, Silver Dragon Mine was rich in heaven-and-earth spiritual energy.

It did not compare to the cultivation areas at Great Exorcist Order headquarters, but it was denser than his residence at Cheongyu Pavilion.

While patrolling and during short breaks when he sat cross-legged, Ise steadily replenished his spiritual energy and followed the process of Cast Off Turbidity, Purify Spirit.

Little by little, Ise took another step toward the eighth star.

Exactly thirty days after he had set foot in Silver Dragon Mine, an incident occurred.

He had been deep into his dawn cultivation when he heard an urgent voice.

“Senior.”

A Qi Condensation Realm cultivator who had been on night duty was running up the slope with a torch in hand.

“I think you need to come out for a moment.”

Footnotes:

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