Blue, Red and White Dark Abyss Cauldron

Chu Xiaomu struggled to sit up, but his hands were too weak to support his body. He panted for a while and said weakly, "Where's Adou... Where's Xiaomeng... Where are they... Where are they?"

An old voice said, "Your back injury has just improved after a few days of treatment. Don't move around at this time."

Chu Xiaomu turned his head to look and found that it was the old man with a weird temper who had been in the same car with him when he came to Jinyang City.

Chu Xiaomu said: "I... I'm so hungry, I want to eat..."

The old man said: "It's a good thing that you know you're hungry. Your life is saved."

A young man with handsome eyes and a straight nose brought a bowl of still warm porridge to his mouth. Chu Xiaomu tilted his neck back and gulped it down.

He ate a bowl of porridge and rested for a while. His energy gradually recovered. Although the wound on his back was stinging, it was still bearable. He asked again: "Old man, where is this? Where are Adou and Xiaomeng? Where are they?"

The old man said, "This is the second slave shed of Jue Nu Ding. Are you talking about the two young men who were with you? I haven't seen them since we entered the mountain. They must have been assigned to other slave sheds."

Chu Xiaomu was puzzled and asked, "What...what is Ju Nu Ding Er She?"

After everyone explained it to him, he gradually understood.

It turned out that these people were sold to Jinyang City as slaves. After entering the city, they were all exiled to a remote place called Jiaoshan, about 200 miles northeast of Jinyang City, which is where everyone is now.

The people who bought the slaves were very cunning. They would send their friends, brothers, and even parents, wives, and children who were sold as slaves to several places. This was to prevent them from gathering together to cause trouble, and also to prevent the slaves from having any improper thoughts.

Since Yang Dou, Huai Xiaomeng and Chu Xiaomu knew each other, they were naturally separated into three different places.

Jiaoshan is rich in minerals, and the slaves were forced to dig tunnels and mine the minerals. It is said that they were smelting a rare metal called black iron, which was used to forge tools and swords.

According to their different division of labor, the slaves were divided into tunnel slaves, digging slaves, moving slaves, and refining slaves. The different colored strips of cloth on their foreheads indicated the different divisions of labor.

Among them, the tunnel slaves are responsible for finding mineral veins and digging tunnels, and are tied with black cloth strips; the digging slaves are responsible for mining ore in the mine and carrying the ore to the entrance of the mine, and are tied with red cloth strips; the carrying slaves are responsible for transporting various tools, transporting the ore to the smelting site, and moving away the waste soil and rocks, and are tied with green cloth strips; the refining slaves are responsible for smashing large pieces of ore and smelting and purifying them, and finally refining black iron that can be used for trading, and are tied with yellow cloth strips.

There were a large number of slaves, with six or seven hundred of them in the Ju Nu alone, divided into twenty slave houses, A1 to A4, B1 to B4, and finally E1 to E4, with about thirty people in each house. The slave house where Chu Xiaomu was located was Ju Nu Ding Er Shed, and there was a wooden sign nailed to the door with the words "Junu Ding Er Shed" written on it.

In order to prevent the slaves from causing trouble, in addition to sending their relatives and friends away, each mine, slave house, work shed, utility room, etc., was guarded by supervisors holding animal tendon whips.

Moreover, all the important roads and narrow passes were guarded by soldiers from Jinyang City armed with spears, bows and arrows, and it was said that there were also three or four military leaders from the Jindao Sect.

Rather than saying this is a mine, it is more like a huge dark prison.

The slaves have no dignity and no freedom. If they want to escape from this place, it will be impossible unless they have wings like birds.

One person said sarcastically, "Now that you're here, just accept your fate. Didn't you see those people still have crossbows in their hands? Humph, if you want to escape from Jiaoshan, you have to grow wings, and they have to be big wings. If the wings are small, you can't fly high enough and will be shot down by an arrow."

After hearing this, everyone sighed.

After Chu Xiaomu was taken to Jiaoshan, he had been unconscious for several days. Several warriors and supervisors wanted to throw him away as a dead person, saying that he would rot and stink on the mountain and might be infected with plague.

The old man in the same car with a strange temper was named Lu Quangao, who said he knew a folk remedy for treating ulcers, which could save lives with a simple treatment. Everyone begged for a few days' grace period, but the warriors and supervisors said it was impossible, because if the plague really spread, no one could bear the responsibility.

By chance, Jin Lier came over and after asking about the situation, she thought that instead of throwing it away, it would be better to let the living slaves deal with it. If they could save him, there would be one more slave worker, which could at least contribute to the mining and smelting of black iron. Besides, it was winter now, and the plague of rotten wounds was not easy to break out, so she agreed to the request of the living slaves.

Chu Xiaomu thus saved his life.

In the intervals between mining, Lu Quangao picked up some pink stones, heated them up, ground them into powder, and applied them evenly on Chu Xiaomu's wound. He changed the dressing once a day, and after a few days, Chu Xiaomu gradually healed.

Everyone was delighted and praised him repeatedly. Lu Quangao said, "This folk prescription requires four or five herbs. Calamine only has the effect of drawing out pus and toxins. It also lacks a few herbs that can remove rot, grow meat, and replenish blood. Otherwise, it would heal faster." He also said that the main reason was that the young man was in great health. If it were someone older or weaker, he would have died long ago.

Chu Xiaomu climbed down from the plank bed and wanted to bow to Lu Quangao to express his gratitude.

Lu Quangao dodged and said, "Don't thank me yet. In a few days, you will be thankful if you don't hate me for saving your life."

Chu Xiaomu didn't understand, so Lu Quangao said, "Life is miserable, but the worst thing is to be sold to Jinyang City as a miner. There is a saying in Cangmu Country, 'It is better to be a ghost under the sword than a slave on Jiaoshan Mountain.' On the way here, I was looking for death, so you gave me clothes and I didn't say thank you. Instead, I scolded you. I just thought you were meddling in my business."

After feeling sad for a while, he went on to say, "But I was born to suffer. My life is cheap but long, and I really don't know when it will end..." His voice was extremely sad.

Everyone felt sympathy for each other and was filled with sadness.

Chu Xiaomu turned around and looked at the slaves. He saw that they were all pale and skinny, with wooden and sad expressions on their faces. He thought, "I can't be a slave here for the rest of my life until my grandfather's blood feud is avenged. I must find a way to escape. These people are very pitiful. If I can rescue them all, it will be a great merit."

As they were talking, they heard the faint sound of gongs beating from a distance.

One of them stood up and blew out the oil lamp, and whispered, "The supervisor is here, everyone be careful and go to sleep."

After a rustling noise, everyone crawled back to their own beds. Apart from the occasional cough, no one made any sound. It was obvious that they were extremely afraid of the supervisor outside.

Chu Xiaomu could only lie on the hard bed board, his heart pounding due to the sound of the gong.