The days in the Deep Mines were abnormally long. The design of it was for you to work continuously with only your sheer desire to survive supporting you. Once you give up, only death would come, by your hands or theirs. Whenever Yan Zaizen looked off the side into the deep pit, he could feel a bit of desperation from within the pit of his stomach. There were even times where workers of the mine, those condemned to this hell, would jump off into the depths to end their misery.
Witnessing these acts, his heart suffused with a dark coldness.
"Was it truly so horrendous? Was it truly worth it?" To give up one's life to end your suffering. Why not fight? This type of naive thought that formulated was would soon be wiped from his mind.
Deep Mines, Day One:
The overseer arrived. This was an evil-looking man with malicious eyes filled with disdain and laughter. When he arrived, he informed every new arrival of their jobs and what would happen if one fails to fulfill their quota in the Deep Mines.
The situation of the Deep Mines was truly hellish. The living circumstances were barely anything. You can sleep where you want, you'll be provided with two meals a day which you can ration as you wish, even kill if you want, but all with a daily quota one must achieve. The quota will increase with each day by a certain amount. If one failed to reach it, the overseer would personally come and claim their lives. That was their duties.
They were all given a pickaxe, a spatial box to put the ore they mined, and a chance. The chance to be absolved of their crimes and be free men. When the overseer informed each of the new arrivals about their chance of freedom, and all they have to do is work their time off. He even explained that if you put in more ore into the spatial box upon delivery, more time will be taken off.
The children, the women, and even the men were filled with excitement. However, when Yan Zaizen saw Tao and the other workers who've been here for several weeks or months, they merely shook their head in silence. This confused Yan Zaizen a little. From the stipulated circumstances, it seems to be remarkably easy.
Deep Mines, Day Three:
He could see hope deep within the newly arrived crew's eyes whenever they worked. They raised their pickaxes with vigor, trying to get over their quota, and ate with gusto. They all wished to survive, to see the sun once more, and taste freedom.
"It's only day three. Don't get too caught up." Tao cautioned from the side, his eyes filled with a calm. He still held a slight smile, but that smile was filled with a unique emotion that Yan Zaizen couldn't discern. However, since Tao informed him to focus, he'll do so. He had five hundred years after all.
Deep Mines, Day Seven:
He could see the effect on the others when they lacked world essence in their bodies. Even if they can't utilize their qi, the essence in their bodies was starting to dry out. With essence energy, one could survive chaotic space, not eating for years, but now the food was starting to become incredibly crucial to survival. They were gradually turning into ordinary mortals.
As for him, he had a massive amount of lifeforce energy to feed off of. Even if he went without food for several months, it would be fine. Tao was similar, but for a different reason. It seemed the essence within his body was abnormally abundant, and thus still maintained its existence. He couldn't figure out his cultivation level due to his weakened spiritual sense, but he imagined it was profound.
Deep Mines, Day Thirty:
The first incident occurred. With the lack of essence, people started requiring food more. Especially the adults. A man stole a young boy's food for himself. This man was part of the crew that came with him, and so was the boy. At that time, Yan Zaizen was about to teach that man a lesson but was stopped by Tao. He was puzzled.
"In this world, if you can't survive yourself, you'll die sooner or later. Trust me." His eyes were solemn, and he looked towards the boy then looked away. He continued extracting the ore with his scrawny body. Yan Zaizen didn't like this. However, he didn't take action against the man. Instead, he arrived next to the crying boy and gave him his food.
In the background, Tao merely shook his head.
Deep Mines, Day Forty:
The incident of taking the boy's food kept occurring, and each time Yan Zaizen would give the boy his food. He was so close to killing the man himself, but he restrained himself under Tao's cautioning. It wasn't long before the boy went to Yan Zaizen to help him reach his quota. Surprised, Yan Zaizen thought about it. However, right when he was about to agree, Tao came up and clasped his shoulder.
His brows furrowed at this. "What do you mean by this?" His eyes contained a little fury when he saw Tao's action. However, Tao didn't stop gripping his shoulder and only gripped it tighter. His words resounded in Yan Zaizen's ears.
"If you help now, it won't stop." Those were the only words he said, and then he looked towards the others who were also looking at Yan Zaizen. The women, the kids, and even a few of the exhausted men with little hope in their eyes.
He couldn't help but gulp at this realization.
Indeed. If you help one child, why won't you help the second, and if a helpless woman were to appear in front of you, could you say no? Would you be able to help them all, and if you don't, would they take revenge out of you or the ones you're helping? Would they feel resentment? Not to mention, he realized he'll likely have to do more work and thereby expending more energy as time passed. Right now, he was fine thanks to the Unyielding Flame of Life's lifeforce energy from before, but that wouldn't last for five hundred years. Hell, it wouldn't even last six months.
He remembered how long this boy had in here: Three years or 1,095 days.
He closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he opened them with a resolve in his gaze. "You must be able to do this yourself." He remembered when he first started cultivation, and how his father looked at him with those tough eyes. When he first hurt himself and wanted to stop due to the pain, his father reminded him that path of cultivation is hard, and if you can't overcome the small struggles, when the life-and-death struggles happen your life will no longer be yours to decide.
How will you react then?
Those three years, when nearing its end, the amount of ore he'd have to put in his spatial box would be astronomical. Would he be able to help him for three years as well as himself? In this world, whether it's as a slave, a cultivator or a mortal, one must walk forward in this dark world of cultivation and overcome their own struggles.
The young boy's expression revealed his despondency. When he looked at Yan Zaizen, he revealed his disappointment. As if saying that he thought he could rely on him for everything.