Shen Jue did not avoid Fang Shuo's gaze. He simply pointed at the cave entrance and said calmly, “Look at that pile of rubble. It weighs at least ten thousand jin. The main support beam below has already snapped, and now it's barely being held up by that pile of debris.”
“If we move the rocks, it's highly likely to trigger a secondary collapse, causing the rescuers to be buried inside as well.”
He paused, his voice dropping a bit lower.
“All we can do now is erect a monument for those who didn't make it out, take good care of their wives and children, and then find another spot to continue mining coal.”
Fang Shuo listened in a daze, his chest heaving violently.
Suddenly, he scrambled to his feet and growled, “Coal, coal, coal! What is so great about this stupid coal? So many people have already died, and you want to keep digging?! Do you have any idea what that brother just told me? He said once he saved enough money, he was going to buy a land deed in Yecheng and send his child to study...”
“And his wife is still pregnant!”
Halfway through, his voice suddenly choked up, and tears welled up again. No matter how hard he wiped them, they wouldn't stop.
Even worse.
Because of his wiping motion, the blood on his fingers smeared all over his face, making him look incredibly filthy and wretched.
Shen Jue had long grown accustomed to life-and-death separations on the battlefield, so he remained unmoved, his expression unchanging. “The Divine Lady said that coal can benefit millions of households across the world.”
Hearing this, Fang Shuo's eyes widened instantly. He looked at Shen Jue in disbelief, then turned to look at the surrounding miners.
They were dressed in rags, covered in coal dust, their faces filled with exhaustion and grief. Yet, not a single one of them refuted Shen Jue's words, and not a single one had resentment in their eyes.
“You believe whatever the Divine Lady says?”
In the past, his own father had always called him absurd.
But at this moment.
He felt these people were far more absurd than he ever was. “If she asked you to die, would you just go and die?”
“The Divine Lady would never ask us to die!”
A young miner wiped a handful of coal dust from his face, his voice hoarse but firm.
“No one wanted this mine shaft to collapse...”
Another miner wiped away his tears. “The Divine Lady is the best deity under heaven. My son is buried in the mine, but that's only because his own fortune was shallow. It's not the Divine Lady's fault.”
Another person chimed in.
“If the Divine Lady wanted to harm us, she wouldn't have single-handedly endured the heavenly punishment to save us mortals back then.”
“People have their fortunes and misfortunes; we cannot blame the Divine Lady. She has already sacrificed so much for us.”
Sentence after sentence.
They slammed into Fang Shuo's heart like heavy stones.
“Everything the Divine Lady does is to benefit the common people. Do you have any idea how many uses this coal has?”
Shen Jue looked at Fang Shuo and said softly, “Just the fact that Daoist Master Xuan Jing discovered coal can be used for heating in the winter makes it worth digging up at all costs.”
“In winter, charcoal is more expensive than food. Common people can't afford it at all, and they can't bear to buy charcoal to burn.”
“But this coal isn't as precious as charcoal. As long as the people are willing to work, they can afford to buy and use it.”
“I don't want to hear your grand speeches.” Fang Shuo couldn't absorb a single word. “I only know that people have died, yet you are just standing by, planning to abandon them like this!”
“You don't value human life at all!”
He practically shrieked this out in hysteria.
Compared to Fang Shuo's breakdown, Shen Jue was exceptionally calm. “You are wrong. It is precisely because I value human life that I am abandoning those trapped in the shaft who have zero chance of survival.”
“I cannot gamble the lives of these remaining miners on the hope that clearing the rubble won't cause the shaft to collapse again.”
Fang Shuo glared at Shen Jue fiercely. “Fine! If you won't save them, I'll do it myself!”
He frantically began to move and dig at the stones.
His fingers were already raw and bleeding, blood mixing with the debris. Every scrape brought a sharp, agonizing pain.
Even so, he gritted his teeth and stuffed the old cloth bundle into his shirt without a word.
This old cloth bundle, filled with hard-earned money, was that brother's final entrustment. He didn't dare lose it, nor could he.
Just then.
A sudden sound of footsteps came from behind.
Fang Shuo paused and looked up.
In the next second.
he saw Shen Jue, who had just insisted on not rescuing them, silently moving rocks with an expressionless face.
“Didn't you say you were abandoning them?”
Shen Jue glanced at him and said, “I am in charge of No. 7 Mine. I cannot risk the miners' lives, but I can risk my own.”
Fang Shuo opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Before they knew it.
the miners began to walk over one by one, tacitly starting to clear the rubble at the entrance.
However, human strength had its limits.
No matter how hard they tried to move the rocks, the entrance remained tightly sealed by the heavy debris.
“Let's go. We can't save them.”
Someone sighed and shook their head.
Fang Shuo clutched the old cloth bundle against his chest. He felt an indescribable ache in both body and mind, and his tears fell uncontrollably.
“Don't you all believe in that Divine Lady? Why isn't she coming to save her own believers?”
Shen Jue frowned. “The Divine Lady is merciful, but she has countless believers. How could she manage every single one of them? Besides, she has already granted us mortals the means to make a living. How can we be so insatiable as to demand her constant protection? Do not complain about the Divine Lady again, or do not blame me for being merciless.”
“The... the Divine Lady...”
Seeing that Fang Shuo completely ignored his words and was still talking about the Divine Lady, Shen Jue's face darkened. “Since you do not sincerely revere the Divine Lady, then neither Xindu City nor Yecheng has a place for you. Go back to wherever you came from.”
Although Xindu City and Yecheng welcomed refugees from all over, there was one non-negotiable condition.
That was that they must revere the Divine Lady.
Those who disrespected the Divine Lady were unworthy of staying in Xindu City or Yecheng to enjoy everything she had bestowed upon them.
“Brother, can you let me finish?! I'm saying your Divine Lady seems to actually be here!” Fang Shuo's voice rose in panic. “If you don't believe me, look behind you!”
Hearing this, everyone turned around in a daze.
Right after.
a splash of purple entered their vision.
The Divine Lady descended from the sky, wearing a purple pleated long skirt. The skirt was sewn from three layers of light gauze, each layer embroidered with lifelike butterflies and flower vines in silver thread.
On her head, she wore a silver crown with towering silver horns like a crescent moon in the sky, engraved with ancient patterns. Silver butterfly hairpins hung from the ends of her hair, and dense silver tassels dangled from the brim of the crown, partially obscuring her eyes.
She was covered in exquisite silver ornaments that chimed softly with her movements.
Two phantom green-scaled spirit snakes coiled around her side, their scales shimmering with light. Her aura was both sacred and wild.
She walked barefoot.
With every step she took.
the silver anklets around her ankles flickered in and out of sight.
Shen Jue instinctively knelt.
The crowd of miners also prostrated themselves to worship the Divine Lady.
Only Fang Shuo remained sitting on the ground, his expression completely blank, looking like a rather dim-witted son of a wealthy landlord.
In truth, he also wanted to scramble up and kowtow to the approaching Divine Lady like the others.
But the terrible thing was, his legs had turned to jelly.
Rate on N.U.
