Chapter 640

Chapter 640: Mine Tyrant

As the lights flickered on in every home, Li Hui returned home with two market bears on his back.

The Extreme Radiance cultivator was enigmatic and powerful, and the outcome of a direct confrontation was uncertain. He came to disrupt the methods of the Departed Immortals and found that clashing head-on brought no benefits, so he blended into the lives of ordinary people.

He unlocked the door and stepped into his small dwelling, only to be greeted by uproar.

Six mischievous children were playfully fighting, and there were still two infants in cribs by the bedside, making Li Hui stare in amazement.

“Ah! Husband, you’re back!” Bai Xiaolu attempted to rise but was pulled back by the woman beside her.

“Sister-in-law, thank you for your hard work, but our Xiaolu works even harder. Don’t think that just because you brought something back, you can act like a big shot. Men should take care of home,” the woman lifted her chin, her gaze filled with scrutiny and disdain.

Li Hui thought, “Great, now I can’t even stay in my own little home!”

Bai Xiaolu quickly introduced, “This is my twelfth sister. She came to visit and is staying for the night.”

“Xiaolu, I’m determined to stand my ground against that guy. Even if he’s annoyed with me, surely he won’t let these eight kids starve, right? I’ll stay with the kids until he comes back to me,” which implied that she would remain until the situation changed, but surely wouldn’t let her nieces and nephews go hungry.

Before Bai Xiaolu could respond, her twelfth sister pointed at the room, saying, “You never listen to Dad. At the very least, you should marry someone who has a house! You’ve been to my place; three courtyards there can raise thirty kids!”

Li Hui, who was well-experienced and had seen many kinds of people, put down the market bears and said, “I’ll crash in the dormitory above the well for tonight. Xiaolu, you should rest early. I’ll head down the mine tomorrow and grab my mining gear.”

“Be careful down the mine…” Xiaolu worried about her husband and tried to send him off, only for the six rambunctious children to swarm around them.

“Little sister, brother-in-law is right. You should get some rest. I have work tomorrow, but unfortunately, the firstborn and secondborn are troublesome, only causing chaos and not helping with their younger siblings. Since you have these two days off, please take care of the kids for a bit.”

Bai Xiaolu noticed Li Hui putting on his mining gear and playfully smiled at her before turning away, feeling uneasy. She hadn’t dared to tell her twelfth sister about her month-long leave; if her sister learned about the special leave token, who knew what unreasonable demands she might make!

As a time traveler, Li Hui’s world was three hundred years ahead. To him, everything here had become history.

Finding a random spot to meditate for a night, he arrived at the mine at dawn the next day.

At this time, going down the mine was considered the early shift, allowing workers to earn a small bonus in work points, which was quite attractive for single men living atop the well.

Suddenly, he heard someone shout, “Move aside, get out of the way!”

More than twenty burly men parted the crowd, and one of them spotted Li Hui and laughed, “Hey, isn’t this the lucky guy who found three mining seedlings—the new ninth-level miner? You were lucky today, huh? From now on, you’ll be serving under Brother Wánnián. Remember, you have to present half of your ores as a tribute to the boss, got it? Once Brother Wánnián becomes the mine owner, we’ll all be living large together.”

The burliest of the men pointed at the miners with laughter, saying, “Haha, same rule as always; you guys need to pay thirty percent of your haul as tribute to Brother Wánnián.”

Li Hui knew that most mines had mine tyrants who took thirty percent of others’ ores, and since he had discovered seedlings, it was obvious they aimed to target him specifically.

Yesterday, he had thought about directly going to a mega city but found through the black market that this idea was unrealistic, as the city’s regulatory office had strict controls over household registrations. In other words, people could die freely but could not move about casually. To go to a mega city, he had to be at least a special high-tier miner of level twenty, so he could only work at this mine for now.

In that case, becoming a mine tyrant was a viable shortcut to promotion.

These burly men flaunted their power as Zhou Wan Nian enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded. He stood steadily in the cage, having been working hard recently as he approached a pivotal promotion period. Of course, besides his own efforts, he also collected a share of tributes.

The winch began to operate, and no one expected that at the moment the cage rapidly descended, a figure lunged at Zhou Wan Nian.

“Bang, bang, bang…” With a metal plate brick left from the forging of the well platform, Li Hui struck Zhou Wan Nian’s head fiercely, his eyes full of coldness, startling the two nearby burly men.

“Quick, grab this kid!” Someone reacted and was about to strike back, but this reckless kid aimed the stork beak chisel at the chain holding the cage.

With a loud clang, sparks flew as the stork beak chisel made its mark, damaging the lock ring.

“Ah! Everyone stay still, don’t move,” the one who shouted to attack first froze in shock, watching helplessly as Li Hui brought brick after brick down on their Brother Wánnián, turning him into a bloodied mess.

Li Hui was thoroughly enjoying himself; at that moment, no one cared about him, and no one cared about Brother Wánnián. Everyone looked up at the lock ring, noticing the crack slowly widening.

As the cage shook violently, three miners fainted in fear.

Li Hui knocked Brother Wánnián to the brink of death and turned to the next target, indicating that the kid who demanded half the haul needed to hand it over. Bystanders stared foolishly, their lives literally hanging by a thread—who dared to stop this madman?

When the cage finally came to a thundering halt, the chain was nearly severed, causing another three to faint.

“Quick, get into the mine!”

At this moment, what more was there to wait for?

Li Hui suddenly declared, “Wait, from today on, I’m the boss! If anyone disagrees, speak up. This cage is spacious enough; we can settle it right here.”

My goodness! Who dared to argue with this madman? He was fearless!

“Boss, you’re the boss! We’d even call you grandpa, just let us down!” The burly men’s legs turned to jelly; they didn’t want to meet their demise at the bottom of the mine.

“Alright, the usual rule: thirty percent of your haul goes to me.” Li Hui smiled at everyone; he needed a reason to rise to power, even if it was an unconventional one, at least it was reasonable.

“Of course, it goes to you!” No one dared to defy Li Hui; if they had to board the cage again, their wives would be remarrying within three months.

Li Hui nodded, and everyone felt as though they had received a pardon, hastily fleeing. When the cage was reeled back in, the noticeable crack in the chain would surely draw attention. As long as this madman didn’t seek his own demise, everyone would be fine.

After two incense sticks’ worth of time, Zhou Wan Nian and his bloodied crew returned to the surface in the cage, drawing gasps of amazement.

These two wouldn’t face death but would be punished for a time. Of course, they wouldn’t recover for at least two months, and if they dared to entertain any wicked thoughts, they would quickly fall into madness and worsen their injuries.

Thus, Li Hui became the new mine tyrant. He understood how to win hearts better than Zhou Wan Nian and quickly absorbed Zhou’s group, assigning tasks to everyone. Experienced old miners would identify the ore veins, strong young men would handle large-scale clearing, and skilled middle-aged miners would launch focused assaults, dramatically increasing efficiency and yielding much more than before.

Of course, there were plenty of backdoor deals involved, as Li Hui had an entire troop of Ghost Emperors loyal to him, and the ores flowing to the black market increased significantly.