The miners gathered in a semicircle around their warden’s body.

No one was able to say anything. For most of them, Lil’ Lu was a one constant feature of their lives. He was there when they were first sent to the mines, and it was his heavy fist that beat out of them any thoughts of disobedience when the reality of their situation truly dawned on them.

Even so, they grew to rely on him.

The man might have been cruel, but he also provided a sense of stability and predictability.

There was no way to reconcile the face they knew so well with the terrifying mask staring at them from the ground. Terror had contorted Lil’ Lu’s thick features into a barely human caricature. Blood seeping from his eyes flowed in rivulets through the ravines of his outstretched face. His lips were parted open, revealing two rows of yellowish teeth clenched with such force they cracked.

The worst were his eyes. They were wide open, bulging and disturbingly alert. As if forever unable to tear away from the horror that took his life.

Death was far from a foreign concept to the miners, but it usually came in the form of an accident. Few batted an eye seeing a cart full of bodies after a shaft collapse. But an outright execution was rare. It brought back memories of the camps where they were first taught the severed mantra.

The most shook up out of everyone was Jin Sou.

When he looked at Lil’ Lu’s body, he could only think of how close he had gotten to sharing the same fate. Of perishing at the bottom of that dreadful ocean conjured up by the Immortal.

Cruel and selfish as it was, his own horror was inextricably mixed with a feeling of exhilaration.

I’m alive!

I’m alive!

I’m alive!

The words continued to ring out in his mind. He clung to them with all his strength, cherishing them like gems.

There was not a doubt in his mind that if he didn’t take the risk, he would’ve ended up in the same state as Lil’ Lu.

Even the Immortal herself had proclaimed that there was only a single crystal.

THUD!

The solemn atmosphere was interrupted when another Immortal came down from the ventilation shaft.

Without the soft, golden light of the unearthed treasure to counteract it, the billows of dust that rose into the air shrouded the shaft in darkness.

Everyone immediately dropped to their knees.

The last time a revered one had come, one of them ended up dead. And it was the warden himself!

“We greet the Immortal!”

The man didn’t answer. He went deeper into the shaft, where everyone surrounded Lil’ Lu’s remains. The miners laid prostrate in a semicircle around the dead body, giving an impression of cultists engaged in some profane ritual.

He glanced over the corpse, before settling his gaze on the now empty rock.

THUD! THUD!

Before he could question the miners, two other Immortals dropped down from the upper levels.

The miners didn’t move, but the blood in their veins ran cold. All they could do was try to look as small as possible and pray that the revered ones would leave them alone.

“Brother Hao, congratulations are in order,” one of the new arrivals said in an ingratiating tone. “Looks like your boys discovered a real treasure, I’m sure Elder Xi will reward you greatly for your contribution to the Sect.”

“The phenomena were felt throughout the entire mine. It should have been a connate treasure of the earth rank at the very least,” the other man added, nodding sagely. “But I cannot sense it anymore,” he frowned. “Have you already sealed it? You should allow us to check if the seals were made properly, Elder Xi would have our heads if such treasure were to be spoiled due to carelessness.”

“And what of that dead miner? Was he the one who discovered the treasure? Did he happen to displease you?”

The one they addressed as Hao frowned.

“You’re too late. This shaft was supervised by sister Xiao. By the time I arrived, she was already gone.” He looked at Lil’ Lu’s body and added, “The dead miner is her doing as well. You should be able to tell by the remnant traces. She’s the only one of us with a water aspect qi.”

Only now did the two Immortals give Lil’ Lu more than a passing glance. In a second their faces marred.

“She would be halfway towards the Elder by now.”

“Unless she decided to take a detour on the way there.”

The three men looked at each other. In the next second only the backs of their white robes were visible as they ascended the ventilation shaft, scaling several feet with each jump.

Silence returned to the mining shaft, but no one dared to move. Several minutes had to pass before the miners began to hesitatingly rise from the ground.

As for the conversation between the Immortals, they immediately purged it from their minds. Whatever was said they didn’t hear it, whoever was there, they didn’t see him.

The elevator to the upper levels was operated with a talisman on Lil’ Lu’s body. After some thought they decided to bring his body topside with them. After all, while Lil Lu was dead, Boss Lu was still there and he would want to see his brother’s remains.

Everyone huddled together on the platform and soon enough, the gate closed and the elevator began its slow ascent.

The elevator clicked and clacked as it made its way between different floors. While the mechanism that allowed it to move was magical at its core, the mechanical parts were made by mortal hands. Rusty chains pulling the platform whined under the weight they were forced to bear. Every so often the whole elevator would sway unsteadily as it brushed against the uneven walls of the shaft.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Lil’ Lu’s body was too heavy to keep it upright, so the miners let the man rest on the floor. His head lolled from side to side every time the platform quaked. Try as they could, the miners couldn’t peel their eyes away from the sight. It looked like the work of some crude puppeteer, making Lil’ Lu continuously shake his head in denial, as if he was still pleading, “No! No!”

The younger boys sniffed and secretly rubbed their eyes. Others whispered between each other in hushed voices.

Quite a few looked towards Jin, but despite curiosity burning in their eyes, not a single one dared to ask him a question.

Actually, much like they hugged the walls of the elevator, trying to avoid touching the dead body, there was a small bubble forming around Jin as well.

It wasn’t conscious, but more like an animal instinct.

Humans always avoided death.

And unbeknownst to them, this very instinct made them avoid Jin as well.

Finally, the elevator stopped and the gate opened.

A large hall opened up in front of them. The walls were formed of uneven rock growing in bulbous shapes. Stalactites of varying sizes hang from the ceiling like hairs on a giant. It was clear that this cavern wasn’t carved out by human hands but formed naturally.

A row of gates that led to different parts of the mine stood to the side, but the miner’s target, the elevator that would take them to the outside, was on the other end of the long cavern.

A gust of wind blew over. It was different from the hot and dry air they had to breathe in the lower levels. There was moisture in it and hints of something musty and stale, like rotting leaves in autumn.

The open space should have come as a relief after the claustrophobic confinement of the mining shaft, but the miners seemed to tense up instead. They stopped whispering and stared at the long hall ahead in silence.

Normally it was Lil’ Lu who gave them a push at this point, but this time they could only count on themselves.

Jin Sou stepped forward.

As if a spell was broken, the other miners stirred and moved as well. They walked in an uneven column, with those at the front following some distance behind Jin, while those at the back carried Lil’ Lu’s heavy body.

The impetus behind Jin’s action was twofold. Firstly, he didn’t want to spend any more time with Lil’ Lu’s corpse. Secondly, even after everything that happened, the qi in his meridians was still agitated. It should have calmed down long ago, but he could feel it bubbling unsteadily, hinting at another explosion.

Unless he quickly got to his quarters and entered deep meditation, he could still lose his life, even after everything that happened.

He forced himself to walk at a brisk pace. It allowed him to cross the first half of the way in short time, but as he reached the midway point, his feet began to slow down and drag.

From the corner of his eye he could see some of the shadows touching the far walls of the cavern growing longer.

Jin forced himself to ignore them. He fixed his gaze straight ahead, focusing all of his attention on the elevator gate at the end of the hall. It wasn’t far now. He could almost make it out.

“You’re almost there. Just one more step. One more step and you’ll be able to go topside. You’ll see the sky again.”

One of the shadows he could still see in the periphery of his vision splintered off from the pack. It began moving towards him.

“ One more step!”

His eyes were so scrunched up, they were almost closed. Behind him, he could hear the steady drum of footsteps of his fellow miners. The sound was magnified and repeated, as if there was a whole army of people following him, but he still could make out a foreign noise hidden in the background. It made him think of nails scraping against a rough surface.

“One!”

“More!”

“Step!”

He stopped.

There was no helping it. Even through his half closed eyes he could see the creature blocking his way.

It stood awkwardly on four slender legs that seemed to have difficulty supporting its weight. A wolf-like head hung from its torso, revealing a pair of mucous slits where the eyes should have been. The fleshy openings pulsed and trembled as the creature furiously sniffed the air around him.

Its jaws were mercifully closed, but Jin didn’t need to see the sharp teeth hidden within to recognise the monster facing him.

A fiend.

It was unknown how fiends came to be. Some believed they originated from mortal animals that wandered into the mine only to be corrupted by the spiritual energies. Others thought that they were creatures of the mine itself. Borne into being from the ambient energies seeping into the physical world from the crystals.

One thing was known without a doubt.

The creatures skulked the shafts of the mine, driven by an endless hunger for the same energies that once birthed them. And as the miners unearthed the spiritual crystals, the fiends were unfailingly attracted to them.

“ Step… One… —More STEP! ”

Jin tried to force himself to move, but there was no use. The fiend pushed its warm snout against his body, curiously sniffing every inch of his skin.

It didn’t seem aggressive, but Jin knew very well that it would take a single snap of its jaws to end his life here and there.

The Immortals sent to the mines weren’t only responsible for keeping the miners in check. Even more important was protecting the workers from getting devoured by the monsters that spawned in the abandoned shafts.

But if there was one thing that the Sect couldn’t abide, it was waste. With everything and everyone expected to contribute, the existence of fiends could only be understood as a deliberate slight.

Finally, one day, a solution was found.

The fiends were tamed.

The creatures were broken in and employed to perform one function so deeply ingrained and basic to their beings that couldn’t be untaught.

Searching for the spiritual crystals.

The miners were unable to absorb the spiritual energy from the crystals, but as everyone knows, hope is the hardest to root out. There would always be some who refused to accept the harsh truth they were given.

And what better way was there to assure that no-one tried to smuggle out the Sect’s property than have the miners inspected by the creatures whose whole existence centered around finding it.

Jin felt his scalp tingle.

The fiend studied him with unnerving interest. The warm air pushed from the creature’s open slits brushed against his skin. He did all he could to keep the agitated qi in his meridians inert. Any hint of spiritual energies could provoke the dumb beast to attack him.

He could see the other miners walk past him in silence. Their gazes were fixed straight ahead, focused solely on the elevator in front of them. He was hopelessly alone.

Finally, the fiend lost its interest. It abruptly looked at something behind Jin’s back and walked away.

A wave of relief washed over him. It was so sudden, he almost lost his footing. Bright spots began to fill his vision, but he still managed to force a single step forward.

“Stop! Don’t come any closer!”

One of the boys carrying Lil’ Lu’s body shouted weakly as two other fiends began circling around their group.

The creatures were tamed, so they wouldn’t attack a live person, but now they recognised a food they were used to receiving from their tamers.

The boys who carried Lil’ Lu’s body exchanged a terrified look before dropping the corpse to the ground and running away as fast as they could.

It was not a moment too soon.

The two fiends leaped even before the body hit the ground. Their jaws opened up, revealing rows of teeth sharp enough to bite through spiritual crystals.

No one dared to look behind, but there was no way to block out the sounds. The noises of a vigorous feast echoed in the spacious cavern and followed the miners even as the elevator’s gates closed and the platform began its slow climb towards the upper levels.

***

“Lil’ Lu is dead?” Boss Lu couldn’t help asking again.

Rou Mi, one of Lil’ Lu’s lackeys, nodded his head with an aghast face.

Boss Lu shivered imperceptibly. He and Lil’Lu - or Cheng Tiankun, as was his real name - entered the mines at the same time. Yes, the boy was an incorrigible suck-up and a bootlick, but they’ve known each other since they were twelve years old. All these years he followed Lu without question.

And now he was dead?

A measure of aptitude was required for one to be taken as a mine slave. It took years to nurture them. Even revered ones hesitated before killing, though not for the lack of better options when it came to enforcing discipline. Still, death was rare and usually only ever came if a shaft collapsed, a pocket of miasma was released or a fiend appeared before an Immortal was able to come down and protect them.

Boss Lu deliberately assigned him to shafts he knew were considered safe. And it didn’t matter.

“Where is his body?”

“His team tried to bring him up, but the sniffers, they got attracted to the body, there was nothing that could’ve been done—“

“Stop.”

There was a tinge of rage in Boss Lu’s voice.

“Walk me through everything that happened again.”

As Rou Mi narrated what he had learnt from the miners the rage in Boss Lu’s heart grew more fierce.

One of the boys in Lil’ Lu’s team ignored the call to gather. Caused an Immortal to personally come down the shaft. Angered her to the point of murder. Lil’ Lu himself did nothing wrong. But now he was dead. Left without a body by the fiends.

And the stupid, fucking shit that caused all of it…

“Call a meeting. And bring Jin Sou to me.”