Chapter 164: Fell Into The Pit And Died
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Su Ying had indeed overlooked this point previously. Since she intended to use these people, she wouldn’t be too harsh on them.
“There’s still some dry food up there. Come with me to take some back to temporarily deal with it.”
These people hadn’t expected Su Ying to agree so readily, and they were extremely grateful. In this godforsaken place, anyone who could give them a bite to cat was their greatest benefactor.
There was still quite a bit of dry food left from the morning, so Su Ying allowed them to take some to last them for the next two days.
These scholars were also very tactful. Although there was not a single grain of rice left at home, they did not take more when they took the dry food.
“Thank you, Madam Su. We will definitely remember your kindness.”
The more than a dozen people bowed to express their gratitude.
“Don’t worry. There will be a time for you to return the favor. However, don’t be idle when you go back. A few of you go and count the number of children aged three to six, six to nine, and so forth. Start with age three as the first stage and proceed until age sixteen. See how many children there are in these age groups. After you get the statistics, get someone to send the results to the Tiger Base.”
Of course, they agreed to such a minor task readily. “Don’t worry, Madam Su. We will definitely complete the task diligently.”
“Alright.”
At this moment, on the burnt slope, Cheng Ming was also working hard with his men. He had observed the condition of the saplings. It was best if all the saplings could be planted in the next few days. Otherwise, the survival rate would be reduced. Therefore, he got up before dawn today and immediately asked Number Two and the others to gather their men so that they could get the slope prepared as soon as possible.
“Everyone, work harder. We have to dig out all the roots in the ground. Otherwise, it will affect the growth of the saplings.”
Their tools were limited. Even though they had collected all the tools in the entire West District, it was still tough work to do the digging. Some of the tree roots were firmly entrenched in the ground, and they had to dig very deep pits to pull them out.
“Damn it! Is this a job for a human? How many roots are there on this slope? We have to dig them out with our bare hands. Isn’t that going to kill us? We only ate two coarse-grain bread for lunch. How can we have the strength to work?”
“That’s right. They clearly want us to work as slaves. When the fruit is harvested, will we get a share?”
One man threw the chisels made of polished stones into the pit and hid in the tree pit to slack off. Anyway, no one would notice them since the slope was full of people.
Cheng Ming gritted his teeth and dug out a tree root with two other men. Then, he threw the trunk aside.
“You guys continue to clean up the roots below. I’ll go and drink some water.”
Cheng Ming wiped the sweat off his face and walked to the side. He picked up the water bag and took a sip. From the corner of his eye, he immediately saw two men slacking off and sleeping in the pit.
He fastened the cover of the water bag and walked over with a frown. “What are you two doing? Get up quickly and go back to work.”
The two of them were obviously sound asleep. Cheng Ming called out a few times but they didn’t move.
Cheng Ming had no choice but to jump into the pit to give them a push. “Get up. I won’t allow you to slack off.”
The two of them suddenly woke up. Their sleepy eyes were reddish and bloodshot as they glared at Cheng Ming angrily. “Bastard, didn’t you see that I was sleeping? How dare you touch me? Are you tired of living?”
Cheng Ming frowned. “Everyone is working, yet you guys are slacking off. If you’re tired, you can rest for a while, but you’ve been hiding in this pit since morning. You haven’t even dug out a single root. The Mistress’s food isn’t meant to be wasted on people like you.”
The other party saw that the pit was deep enough and no one could see what was happening here. The two of them exchanged a look and saw an icy and evil intention in each other’s eyes.
“Who do you think you are? We’re not people that a scumbag like you can teach a lesson to. I have detested you for a long time. Today, I’ll teach you a lesson!” Before he finished speaking, he pounced on Cheng Ming.
The pit was not big to begin with, and it was already very crowded with three people standing in there. When the other party suddenly pounced over, Cheng Ming had no room to dodge at all. He was forcefully pressed into the pit.
Another person grabbed a handful of mud and stuffed it into his mouth.
Cheng Ming struggled to break free from their grasp, but he didn’t know martial arts and was no match for the two of them at all.
As the pit was relatively deep, the surrounding people were busy with their work and did not notice the abnormal happenings here.
Cheng Ming struggled and kicked one of the men’s stomach. As the other party retreated in pain, he turned around and tried to climb up. However, the mud was too slippery for him to climb up. He could only try to spit out the mud in his mouth and call for help. However, the other party didn’t give him a chance to shout at all. He grabbed the yellow mud and stuffed it into Cheng Ming’s mouth and nose…
Xiao Jin carried the shovel and went up the slope. His main job these days was to patrol the area to prevent any uncooperative people from causing trouble.
He had just come over from the fields and was about to take a look at the slope.
“Where’s Cheng Ming?” As the main person in charge of this area, Xiao Jin naturally looked for Cheng Ming the moment he arrived.
Number Two who was also patrolling looked around. He had just seen Cheng Ming digging for tree roots with someone. Why had he disappeared in the blink of an eye?
“Maybe he’s tired and went to look for a place to rest.”
Xiao Jin didn’t think too much about it. This job wasn’t easy, so it was not unusual to be tired.
“Mm-hmm.”
Xiao Jin walked past a pit and saw two men filling the pit with soil. Usually, after the roots were dug out, the soil that had been dug out previously had to be put back into the pit.
When the two of them saw Xiao Jin walking past them, they were about to let out a breath when they saw Xiao Jin stop in his tracks from the corner of their eyes.
The two of them were instantly on tenterhooks, and they shoveled the soil even faster.
Fortunately, Xiao Jin’s footsteps only paused for a moment before he left very soon.
Just as the two of them let out a breath of relief, a tall figure appeared behind them. “What are you doing?”
“Ah!”
The two of them got frightened so badly that they screamed.
They threw away the chisels in their hands and tried to run, but Xiao Jin grabbed them by the back of their necks and pulled them back.
“Speak! What did you do!”
The two of them struggled to break free from Xiao Jin’s hands, but those hands were like an unshakable iron clamp. They only felt the pulse on their necks being ruthlessly squeezed. Their temples throbbed, and their vision became more blurred.
“I’ll talk, I’ll talk…”
Xiao Jin’s dark eyes glared at them as he relaxed his grip. The two of them panted heavily and said, “That… that guy Cheng Ming fell into the pit and died. We… we are… burying him.”
Xiao Jin’s eyes widened. He kicked the two of them in the chest and immediately called people over to carefully dig up the soil in the pit.
Soon, they found Cheng Ming, who was buried in the pit and had stopped moving completely.
Xiao Jin lifted Cheng Ming up to the ground and checked his pulse. He could barely sense his pulse.
He helped Cheng Ming up and saw the yellow mud that was stuffed into his mouth and nose. He slapped his palm on Cheng Ming’s chest..