He did not stop his pace, continuing forward until he was about thirty feet away, before setting down the mining basket a that he was carrying on his back, tightening his grip on the pickaxe in his hand, and taking out a moderately-sized stone from the basket, weighing it slightly.
The next moment, he ran towards the boulder, approaching it, he side-stepped while sliding, stepping on the mine tunnel's rocky wall, and using the rebounding force to dive towards the back of the boulder like a nimble cheetah.
Two figures were half-squatting behind the boulder, using it to hide their shapes, utterly unaware that someone would discover their tracks.
Hearing the noise and seeing that it was too late for Lu Ye to stand up,
Under the horrified gaze of the two, Lu Ye threw the stone in his hand, hitting one of them right on the bridge of the nose, causing him to cry out in pain instantly and fall backward to the ground, blood flowing freely from his face.
The pickaxe in Lu Ye's other hand struck again, but missed the second man, who responded well and dodged to the side.
However, Lu Ye had already rushed in front of him and kicked out, hitting the man squarely in the abdomen, causing him to double over in pain, fly out, kneel on the ground, and vomit a mouthful of acidic fluid.
Lu Ye stepped forward, grabbing the man's hair with one hand, and upon seeing his face, he sneered, "So it's you two brothers! I should have guessed."
He knew these two; they were disciples of the Liu family. After the Liu family's territory was seized by Evil Moon Valley, some of the young disciples were sent here to become mining slaves.
Strictly speaking, Lu Ye's fate was connected with these two brothers of the Liu family.
"Didn't I tell you, don't let me see you again, or else I'll slaughter you!" said Lu Ye. As he spoke, he casually picked up a stone from the ground and smashed it down fiercely.
The blow was heavy, and the second brother of the Liu family grunted just once before being knocked out cold.
Lu Ye then walked towards the first brother, Leader Liu, whom he had injured earlier.
Leader Liu's forehead was smashed open, his eyes blurred with blood, and upon vaguely seeing Lu Ye approaching, he scrambled away in terror, "Spare my life, I didn't know it was you who was coming, we thought it was someone else... Please, spare my life!"
The Liu brothers had sinisterly ambushed at the entrance of the mine tunnel, obviously with ill intentions.
Before being captured, both brothers had lived pampered lives and, even reduced to mining slaves, they were unwilling to toil. Yet, as mining slaves were held in low esteem, the people of Evil Moon Valley did not regard them as human beings, and without exchanging mined stones for contribution points, they couldn't obtain food.
Therefore, the two brothers often lay in wait at an exit of the mine tunnel to rob other mining slaves who were on their own; many had suffered at their hands, losing not only the stones they had mined through hard work each day but also being beaten to within an inch of their lives.
Last time, they had attempted to rob Lu Ye, only to find they were no match for him and were taught a lesson.
Unexpectedly, it had only been a few days, and they encountered each other again.
The same grain feeds all sorts of people; among the mining slaves were those lazy ones like the Liu brothers, and there were also dreamers like Lu Ye.
Over the past year, the contributions Lu Ye exchanged for the mined stones, aside from securing his daily sustenance, were all used to get blood Qi pills.
All in all, he had consumed no less than thirty blood Qi pills.
That had built Lu Ye's physique to be stronger than most mining slaves; although his build was not considered burly, the power concealed within his body had already surpassed that of ordinary people.
Dealing with two lazy mining slaves was naturally not a problem.
Leader Liu continued to beg for mercy, but Lu Ye acted as if he hadn't heard, grabbed his hair with one hand, lifted another stone with his other hand, and smashed it down fiercely.
Over a year of living as a mining slave, Lu Ye had witnessed too many tragedies and had already understood a principle: in this dog-eat-dog world, any kindness and sympathy were pointless.
The mining slaves were not all harmonious either; coming from different forces, it was inevitable that they couldn't unite, and over a quality piece of stone, it was common for them to fight until bloody.
Every day, people die in the mine tunnels; every few steps taken, one could see a pile of scattered bones on the ground.
There are no small number of mining slaves who starve to death after being robbed.
Leader Liu fell at the sound.
Lu Ye picked up his mining pick, shouldered his mining basket once more, and strode towards the exit. He had not killed the Liu brothers, not because he was soft-hearted, but because an injured mining slave generally wouldn't live long in this place.
He had barely taken a few steps when someone suddenly rushed into the exit in a fluster.
"Get out of the way!" the man barked, swinging a palm towards Lu Ye.
In that instant, Lu Ye felt a chill over his entire body, simply because he saw a faint blue light swirling in the man's palm.
It was the glow of spirit force; in other words, the person who struck him was a cultivator!
Only those who have opened their spiritual orifice are qualified for cultivation and to be called a cultivator.
A cultivator's spirit force is an extremely miraculous power. Lu Ye had once seen a cultivator from Evil Moon Valley take action. Although it wasn't terribly mighty, with a casual palm strike, the cultivator crushed a piece of ore. It was after witnessing that miraculous scene that Lu Ye resolved to open his own spiritual orifice and become a cultivator.
He had also secretly assessed that even the weakest cultivator of Evil Moon Valley could easily beat ten of him.
So, when he realized that the person striking him was a cultivator, Lu Ye knew he was in serious trouble.
At this life-and-death moment, he forcefully halted his steps and leaped backwards sharply.
A numbness in his chest and the sound of breaking bones followed; Lu Ye was sent flying by the blow, crashing to the ground.
The intense pain brought clarity to his mind, and once he realized he was still alive, he immediately got up.
"Eh!" the attacking cultivator expressed surprise. Although he hadn't used full strength in his palm strike, only a casual blow, it shouldn't have been something a mining slave could withstand.
By the dim light, he saw the mining slave's face clearly and blurted out, "Lu Ye?"
Lu Ye was already in the stance to turn and flee at the sound, and he was equally taken aback, "Manager Yang?"
This cultivator surnamed Yang was a minor manager on the mines, and Lu Ye often dealt with him because he exchanged for blood Qi pills through him, thus they were somewhat familiar with each other.
Manager Yang thought highly of Lu Ye, after all, a mining slave capable of enduring such hardship was rare to see.
However, as much as he thought highly of him, there wasn't any special favor. Until the day of orifice-opening, there was an insurmountable gulf between Lu Ye, an ordinary person, and the cultivators.
Having recognized Lu Ye, Manager Yang felt relieved that his palm strike hadn't killed him. Lu Ye had exchanged for quite a few blood Qi pills from him over the year, and his physical constitution was naturally stronger than that of an average mining slave. Plus, since he had struck casually without any intent to kill, it wasn't surprising that the other party had survived.
Facing Manager Yang, Lu Ye's heart was pounding.
Cultivators of Evil Moon Valley generally wouldn't care about the life and death of mining slaves. They knew that mining slaves often fought and brawled in the veins, and unless they encountered it themselves, they hardly took notice.
Lu Ye had just left the Liu brothers battered and unconscious on the ground, and then Manager Yang had struck him with a palm. In Lu Ye's view, this was clearly Manager Yang teaching him a lesson.
But soon he thought otherwise, because Manager Yang had rushed in looking flustered, not like he was taking up for the Liu brothers at all.
As he was lost in wild thoughts, Manager Yang already revealed an excited expression as if encountering Lu Ye here was a fortunate event. He closed the distance, grabbed Lu Ye's shoulder with a hand, "Come with me!"