PNB Chapter 422 Mutual Pleas
Chapter 422 Mutual Pleas
Sensing that things had loosened up inside, he beamed with joy, then turned to Fang Er with disdain and said, "You're not happy that I called you stupid!"
He should have picked a smarter person when he escaped, so that at least he wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble talking and doing things.
He pushed hard again and felt it loosen up even more inside. "It's open! It's open!"
He said something in a low voice and gently pushed open the door.
Wolf Overlord behind the door was ready, baring his wolf fangs with a fierce expression, his purple eyes both alluring and eerie in the darkness.
Wen Luozhi had already gone back inside and was sitting there, waiting to see which fools would dare to steal from her place.
The door was pushed halfway open but then wouldn't budge, leaving Fang Da puzzled, thinking something was stuck.
He simply squeezed in sideways, and as he turned around to greet Fang Er, he suddenly saw Lang Batian, who had been waiting for them.
Wolf Overlord's purple eyes flickered, and Fang Da was immediately terrified, screaming, "A...a monster!"
Fang Er had just poked his head in when, before he could even understand what was happening, he was pounced on by something with a gaping, blood-red mouth.
"Roar!" Wolf Overlord roared as he approached Fang Er's face. Fang Er felt a warm breath and saw those eyes, so frightened that he fainted.
Fang Da had been so frightened that he had been pressed against the door, but now, with trembling legs, he tried to sneak away, only to find a cold dagger pressed against his neck.
"Young man, please sit down for a while before you leave."
Wen Luozhi moved the dagger to his face and gently patted it. Fang Da was so frightened that he didn't dare to move.
Wolf Overlord had already dragged Fang Er inside. By the dim light of the oil lamp in Wen Luozhi's hand, he was able to see what it was.
A dog half the size of a human! And its eyes are purple—what else could it be but a monster?
Fang Er lay motionless on the ground, still terrified that Lang Batian had killed him. He hurriedly begged for mercy, "Master! I... I just went the wrong way!"
"It's dark, I went the wrong way! My brother is here to apologize, please let me go, okay?"
Wen Luozhi smiled and put away the dagger. Fang Da thought she had let him go and turned to run away.
Wen Luozhi flashed in front of him and kicked him in the waist.
Wolf Overlord strolled over slowly, and Fang Da was so frightened that he kept backing away.
"Waaaaah, you monster! You bit my brother to death, you want to eat him?!"
"I haven't showered all winter, I smell terrible."
Wolf Overlord bared his teeth in disgust upon hearing this, and Wen Luozhi said to him, "Drag him in here."
After saying that, she glanced at Fang Er on the ground and said that he wouldn't wake up for a while, so she didn't need to worry about him.
A powerful flashlight beam swept across Fang Da's face, and Fang Da shuddered and knelt down on the ground.
"Go ahead and steal it, I'll watch you steal it, old man."
Wen Luozhi said lightly, and Fang Da raised his head, glanced at her, and looked around. Lang Batian growled at him, and now he didn't even have the thought of running away.
"Kill me or torture me, do as you please! What haven't I seen and experienced? I'll accept defeat even if I lose here today!"
Wen Luozhi raised an eyebrow, but before she could even speak, Fang Da started whining and crying to himself again.
"My poor brother escaped from the mine and hadn't even had a few good days before he died like this. Heaven has no eyes!"
He looked tragic and sorrowful, but Wen Luozhi gleaned a key piece of information from his words.
The mine? Is it the mine where Helian Yu and the others are? This piqued her interest.
"If he's dead, he's dead. You're talking about the Black Mountain Mine, right?"
"As far as I know, there were hardly any innocent people among them who didn't deserve to die."
Upon hearing this, Fang Da's eyes widened immediately. "What do you know? What does their right to die have to do with us?!"
He and Fang Er were merely servants of that family; they should have been dismissed after the family was exiled there.
Those short-lived devils had to drag them, the servants, down with them. They were innocently exiled and had to serve them on the way!
"Your brother isn't dead. Tell me your story."
"If I hear you well, I'll let you go; if not..."
Wolf Overlord let out a low growl at the opportune moment, and Fang Da was so frightened that he immediately knelt up straight.
Fang Da was relieved to have someone to keep him company in this godforsaken place since Fang Er was still alive, and he started talking about their story.
Wen Luozhi listened attentively, silently sighing in her heart, "Aren't the lives of servants lives too?"
If the entire family wasn't exiled, why not release the servants? Ultimately, it's these people at the bottom of society who are the most pitiful and innocent.
But how did they escape from the heavily guarded Black Mountain mine?
Even the shadowy figures had some difficulty getting in and out; otherwise, she wouldn't have asked Wolf Overlord to send things in.
"Are you kidding me? The Black Mountain Mine holds only the most wanted criminals of the imperial court. It's always heavily guarded; it's easy to get in but hard to get out. How could you possibly escape?"
Speaking of this, Fang Da broke out in a cold sweat. When Wen Luozhi shone her flashlight on him, Fang Da shuddered, swallowed hard, and confessed everything.
It turns out that the guards at the mine can't just come out whenever they want; they can only go out for fresh air once a month, and there are restrictions on who can go out.
Oppression exists everywhere. Those who have little say are never allowed to get out and about; they are always squeezed out by the old men in the mine.
People couldn't have fun in the mine, and after a while, they couldn't stand it and had to find their own way to make a living.
There was an abandoned mine shaft that led directly to the outside exit, and those people would quietly come out from there.
Fang Da said that once he was working and accidentally discovered it, so he followed it, which almost made him laugh hysterically.
One dark and windy night, he escaped from there with Fang Er.
All of the family's servants, except for him and Fang Er, died on the way to exile.
They had nothing to help them escape; encountering even one person on the road was a blessing.
But they are also considered fugitives, so even if they encounter people, they can only hide.
When he and Fang Er were hungry, they would dig up tree roots to eat. When they were so hungry that they had no other choice, they would even swallow soil.
Later, the mine guards came looking for them, but fortunately there were only two of them. They dug a pit and buried themselves to escape.
After a difficult journey and nearly freezing to death, it took them about two months to reach the desolate town. They had narrowly escaped death, and the mine must have been sealed off by then.
I thought that once I escaped, things would be fine, but I never expected that it would be so hard to survive in the desolate town.
Almost no one from other places comes here. Every household in the town is poor, and even beggars can't get food, so they have to steal.
Things gradually got better, and at least they were able to eat two meals a day. They finally managed to catch a glimpse of a wealthy person who looked like he was from out of town, and they set their sights on him.
"The rest is what just happened."
Fang Da glanced timidly at Wen Luozhi, then, as if having made up his mind, knelt down properly and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Sir, I know you're from out of town and you have a carriage."
"Please take my brother with you when you leave the desolate town! Please!"
Fang Datou had kowtowed until his head was bleeding, and Fang Er, who was outside, staggered to his feet and ran in.
"Fang Da, what are you doing? Run for your life! There's a monster!"
He pulled Fang Da up from the ground, and before he could even stand up, he was about to run away with Fang Da in his arms.
Fang Da shook him off and pulled him to kneel down. Seeing that Wen Luozhi didn't speak, he pressed Fang Er's head down and made him kowtow.
"Please, sir, take my brother out of here! He'll pull the cart for you, but he'll have to figure out his own food!"
"Can we get out?" Fang Er's eyes flashed with an astonishing light, but after hearing Fang Da's words, he kowtowed even more vigorously than Fang Da.
"I won't leave! I won't leave! Please let my older brother out!"
The two brothers were kowtowing as if they were having a competition, and Wen Luozhi clenched her fists tightly.
"Can you two stop? If you keep dawdling, neither of you is leaving!"
"There's hope?!" The two brothers stopped and looked at Wen Luozhi ingratiatingly.
"I agree to take one of you with me, but you must answer all my questions thoroughly and completely, understand?"
Wen Luozhi crossed her legs, looking every bit the part of an old man.
She was thinking that Fang Dafang had been at the Black Mountain Mine for so long, he should know what the layout was like there, right?
Or maybe they know something about the condition of those few fragmented plots of land so she can have a general idea?
This way, when she delivers seeds to Helian Yu and the others next time, she can choose the fastest and best-growing seeds based on the soil conditions.
Fang Da and Fang Er nodded vigorously. As long as one of them could get out, all the suffering they had endured would be worth it.
Fang Da and Fang Er weren't very clear about the layout or anything like that; they could only stay where they were working unless the guards chased them away to other places.