Translator: CinderTL
"So the disappearance of a heavy minecart, without it being on the tracks, was strange enough on its own."
"After the large-scale search and rescue efforts concluded, some families who refused to give up went back in to look for their loved ones. But instead, something else happened." Huai Yi paused. "It was a father with his two sons. His other son was one of the seven missing miners. But after they entered the mine, they never came out."
"They disappeared too?" Fatty had a bad feeling about this.
"Yes," Huai Yi nodded. "Later, this incident caused quite a stir. An elderly man in Grey Stone Town, who was nearly a hundred years old, stepped forward to speak."
"Everyone of the Old man's generation had already passed away, so it wasn't an exaggeration to call him a living fossil of Grey Stone Town."
"Upon hearing the details of what had happened in the mine, the Old man's face turned pale, his lips trembled uncontrollably, and he kept repeating, 'It's back! It's back!'"
"After the Old man calmed down, what he said left everyone present stunned." Huai Yi paused for a few seconds, his expression strange. "He said this wasn't the first time something like this had happened. The earliest incidents could be traced back decades, to when he was young."
"By that time, the gold mine here had already been discovered, though the scale of operations was much smaller than it is today. The current mine is simply an expansion of the original."
"Because the Old Man was frail, he wasn't assigned to work as a miner. Instead, he was tasked with delivering water and food to the miners. It was during this time that he first heard rumors about strange occurrences within the mine."
"One day, as he was making his usual delivery near the mine entrance, he immediately sensed something was amiss. Everyone was gathered around the opening, looking tense and uneasy."
"He soon learned that the miners who had descended deep into the mine the previous night, scheduled to emerge for their shift change, were overdue."
"The foreman on duty at the mine shaft organized a search party to investigate. But before they could enter, a strange sound echoed from within the mine."
Creak—
Swoosh—
Creak—
Swoosh—
The sounds were slow but rhythmic. Experienced miners immediately recognized the sound of the flatbed cart used to transport miners in and out of the mine shaft.
The flatbed cart was extremely old, equipped with a lever that required two miners to stand facing each other and use their arm strength to press it down to start.
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, believing the miners who had gone down into the mine had finally emerged, the scene that unfolded before their eyes left them stunned.
Screams erupted, followed by widespread panic.
The flatbed cart slowly rolled out of the mine entrance, stopping just a few meters away.
It was completely empty.
The cart was drenched in blood, as if it had just been pulled from a pool of gore.
Even more terrifying, a severed arm lay alone on the lever, the hand still gripping one end tightly.
The gruesome and eerie scene, along with the distinctive sweet, metallic scent of blood, repeatedly assaulted the nerves of everyone present.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
It seemed the previous shift of miners had been attacked by something, all killed without a trace left behind.
But what could it have been?
The mine was dark, damp, and confined. How could a large predator possibly exist there?
By this point, everyone had sensed something amiss. Given the widespread superstition of the time, the logical course of action would have been to seal the mine entrance.
No matter what strange entity lurked inside, as long as it was completely sealed within the mine, it couldn't escape.
But the Mine Owner, blinded by greed for the glittering gold, couldn't bear to abandon it.
So, he offered a hefty sum to recruit a group of miners, armed them, and prepared to investigate.
Carrying lanterns and weapons, the group cautiously followed the laid-out tracks.
Yet, even after reaching the end of the mine, they found nothing unusual.
They saw no people, not even corpses.
Still, they vaguely sensed something different about the mine compared to before—an unsettling feeling they couldn't quite articulate.
As they turned to leave, a pitch-black figure suddenly darted out from an inconspicuous corner of the mine.
Fortunately, the leader was bold. With a swift swing of his club, he knocked the creature to the ground.
The crowd gathered around to see who it was. The person was covered head to toe in a dark gray mud.
Hidden in the darkness of the mine, they would have been completely invisible if they hadn't moved.
The lighting inside was poor, so the miners roughly tied him up and carried him out of the mine.
After being identified by people outside, it turned out to be one of the missing miners.
However, the man seemed to be in a state of extreme shock. His condition was terrible, his eyes filled with a dense network of bloodshot veins.
He couldn't bear to look at anyone. Despite being a burly man, he huddled in a corner, his body trembling uncontrollably, as if he had lost his soul.
There was nothing the miners could do. They had to let the man's fellow villagers, who knew him well, take him back to town for medical treatment. The Mine Owner also sent several people to accompany him.
Officially, it was for protection, but in reality, it was surveillance, to prevent anyone from revealing what had happened in the mine.
Until this matter was resolved, the gold mine couldn't resume production. Fear gripped everyone. Rumors spread like wildfire, with some even claiming the mine had been dug too deep, accidentally breaching the Underworld.
Those people were just unlucky. They ran into a Ghost sent by King Yama and were killed.
News soon spread through the town that the man had woken up.
The Mine Owner immediately led a group to see him. Though the man's speech was still incoherent, they could roughly understand him.
To their surprise, the man's account was utterly bizarre. He claimed the incident had occurred while they were riding a flatbed cart back to the mine entrance.
The track was ordinary enough, but as they rode along, they sensed something was wrong.
The narrow tunnel suddenly widened.
And though lighting in the mine shaft was poor in those days, a distinct glow had appeared around them.
After the light faded, they stared in astonishment at what lay before them: a platform had materialized before their eyes.
The weather is too poor, and the voltage is unstable. I'll make up for the missing chapter tomorrow.
Also, I wish all my brothers a happy Mid-Autumn Festival! There will be a lottery in the group at 9 PM tomorrow night, so don't forget to join!
(End of the Chapter)
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