Chapter 183: Confessing Secrets
A full lotus leaf bundle of food, easily weighing seven or eight catties, had been compressed down to the size of a single noodle bowl. It was packed to the absolute brim with pork skin, fatty meat, vegetables, rice, and flatbread, all mixed with savory, salty vegetable broth and meat juices, allowing the few men to eat to their hearts’ content.
Shang Yue did not take a single bite. During his half-watch at the manor, he had eaten at least half a lotus leaf bundle’s worth of food, so he was truly not hungry.
However, dividing these seven or eight catties of food among the four men—Lu Bo, Wang Sheng, and the others—was like a drop of water in the ocean. Although it was a long-awaited feast, it was still far from enough to completely fill their hollow, cavernous stomachs.
When only a third of the food remained, Lu Bo was the first to stop.
“Let’s save the remaining food. Just in case we can’t dig our way out anytime soon…”
“No need,” Shang Yue said with a rare lightheartedness. While digging through the dirt mound for a long time, he had already unearthed the other accidentally misplaced lotus leaf bundle. “I have another pack right here! My benefactor gave me two massive bundles of food!”
“Heavens!” Wang Sheng sidled over, thoroughly unable to believe it. “Brother Shang, does your benefactor still take… uh, retainers, underlings, or lackeys?”
Whatever they were called made no difference, as long as a benefactor would reach out to rescue them.
Shang Yue smiled. “I wouldn’t know. Once we get out, I’ll ask my benefactor.”
Seeing that there was still another massive pack of food, Lu Bo set his mind at ease as well, and only then did he finish sharing the first bundle of food with Wang Sheng, Ke Wen, and the others.
The only pity was that the straw mat soaked in water had been buried in the dirt, and the water had mostly been absorbed away. Shang Yue moved with absolute caution, yet he could only manage to squeeze out half a bamboo tube’s worth of water. After the men took turns drinking, they still felt a bit thirsty.
But at the very least, they had eaten food and their physical strength had recovered, so the few men resumed their continuous digging. The collapsed earthwork was limited, and Shang Yue used the bamboo stalks to form structural supports, preventing the dug-out opening from collapsing all over again.
An unknown length of time slipped away, and they could finally glimpse a faint sliver of light filtering down through the opening overhead.
Old Ou let out a loud, excited shout, but his mouth was promptly covered by Lu Bo.
Lu Bo licked his lips and stated in a deep, grim voice, “Brothers, we have already shared life and death. Now that things have come to this point, it is time for me to confess my secret to everyone…”
This time, there was no Old Ou to interrupt him. Lu Bo explained his true background with absolute clarity.
Shang Yue and Wang Sheng were somewhat caught off guard. They could see that Lu Bo was distinct from the ordinary populace, but they never expected him to be the son of the Prince of Lunan. Yet at this exact moment, they were brothers.
Ke Wen was the youngest, and everyone had long since become aware of his background and experiences.
Wang Sheng followed immediately after, opening his mouth to speak: “My family was in the merchant business. I bustled about the shop counter from the time I was a child, and everyone said I was quick-witted…”
“To not hide it from my brothers, in doing business, we sometimes had to utilize certain tactics. Thus, I would occasionally blend into the traveling merchants’ caravans, feigning to be someone from the opposing party to negotiate business with my own family… but in truth, my heart was with my own household, probing out their bottom price so we could drive the price down.”
“I don’t know if doing too much of that kind of stuff brought down retribution…”
“The local magistrate in the city took a fancy to our family’s goods, claiming they wanted to present them to the Emperor as tributes. Originally, it should have been a good thing, and we even assumed we were about to leap forward to become imperial merchants. Little did we know, they intended to pay not a single wen, seizing my family’s goods for absolutely nothing.”
“Those goods were my family’s entire livelihood, and my father refused to yield them. Consequently, that night, a squad of government soldiers arrived, slaughtered my family, plundered the goods, and burned our shop to the ground in a single blaze…”
Tears welled in Wang Sheng’s eyes. “That day, I happened to be disguised and following a merchant caravan into the city, so I wasn’t at home and managed to escape the catastrophe by pure luck.”
“But in the end, the arm cannot twist the thigh. I concealed my name all the way to the capital to report the officials, assuming the grand officials in the capital would be different… Heh, turns out one is a jackal and the other is a leopard; they are all the same.”
Wang Sheng’s attempt to report the officials failed. Instead, he was given a severe beating and tossed straight to a slave trader, who sent him into the mines.
Finally, it was Shang Yue. Shang Yue recounted his experiences as well, except his story held the addition of a benefactor.
“I originally intended to follow my parents to the grave. It was my benefactor who reasoned with me, saying that since no bones were sent back, perhaps my eldest and second brothers are still alive.”
“If they return, yet what they receive is the news of my death, how grief-stricken would they be?”
“Therefore, I chose to survive.”
Shang Yue looked toward Lu Bo, Wang Sheng, and the others, his voice involuntarily growing resonant and loud: “But now, I have also encountered a crowd of brothers like you, so I must live on even better!”
Although he had obtained his benefactor’s assistance and brought back a mountain of supplies, if it weren’t for Lu Bo, Wang Sheng, Old Ou, Ke Wen, and the rest, he would likely still be buried in the dirt. His injuries could not have been resolved by relying on himself either. It wasn’t a matter of who saved whom; rather, everyone had saved everyone together.
Lastly, all that remained was Old Ou. A pity that Old Ou was completely crazed, unable to speak any coherent reason. All they could hear him shout were things like “The secrets of heaven must not be leaked… Disaster exits the mouth…” and the like.
Based on Old Ou’s mysterious, divine mutterings before the mine collapse, everyone deduced that he standardly should have been a fortune-teller, a sorcerer, or an old Taoist priest. He must have said the wrong words, resulting in being sent into this mine.
After everyone had confessed, Lu Bo invited Shang Yue and the others to join his ranks.
“My retainers and soldiers have also been scouting for talents across various locations. Originally, even if the mine shaft hadn’t collapsed yesterday, we had less than ten days left before we intended to rally the masses to rebel together.”
Lu Bo continued, “Currently, the number of government soldiers at the mine isn’t grand, and because of the warfare outside, their hearts are in a state of panic, making them easier to break through than before.”
“They merely held the advantage in terms of physical stamina and weapons, along with beasts like horses and hounds, to humiliate us at will. Now, my retainers and I have already gathered a few weapons. As long as we can get out…”
“We will definitely overthrow the dog Emperor and this corrupt, incompetent dynasty!”
Right at this moment, the earth and stone above their heads had already been dug into a hollow pit, allowing them to see the clear morning light of the sky outside. This meant they were not far from getting out.
