Chapter 47: I’m Here to Save You

“Little Spirit, start stockpiling. Show me the map of this mine.”

Jiang Wan began communicating with the system through her consciousness. At the same time, she pulled out a headlamp from her space and put it on, also preparing a candle just in case.

“Okay, Master.”

The little spirit’s voice carried a hint of excitement. Moments later, Jiang Wan received the map it provided.

This little thing really was a money-grubber—every spot where gold and silver were stored had been clearly marked. Jiang Wan was quite satisfied.

Since there weren’t many people around, she directly used her ability and quickly rushed to the first mined-out cave. It seemed to be a temporary storage room, blocked by a heavy wooden door with a padlock hanging on it.

Jiang Wan skillfully broke off the lock. In the next second, her titanium-alloy eyes were almost blinded by the golden glow.

The small stone cave was packed with mined gold of varying sizes, all gleaming brightly.

Jiang Wan estimated it was several hundred kilograms of gold. No wonder Xu Wei had been so confident—clearly, the villagers of Xu Family Village hadn’t had time to split the loot yet.

With a wave of her small hand, she mercilessly swept everything into her space. She also looted another small storage room.

Unfortunately, the rest of the gold had yet to be mined. Jiang Wan felt a bit regretful.

“Little Spirit, does that mean the rest has to be left to that damned emperor?”

“If Master wants it, the system can help extract it.”

The little spirit drooled over this half-mountain of gold. Just a bit more, just a tiny bit more, and its space could be upgraded!

Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Jiang Wan steeled herself. “If we extract the gold from the mine, won’t the mountain collapse?”

“It will,” the little spirit confirmed.

Jiang Wan thought for a moment and said, “Then I’ll get the miners out of here first. Choose a place with no one around to extract the gold, and leave behind about one-tenth of the scraps.”

There was no need to leave absolutely nothing—otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to use the lack of gold to charge Xu Family Village with any crime. She had no intention of letting them off easy.

“Got it, Master.”

The little spirit responded cheerfully. Jiang Wan followed the map to an area with sounds of knocking and clanging—there were likely people still mining inside.

She put away the headlamp and lit a candle, then walked forward. As soon as her footsteps echoed, the clanging sounds inside stopped.

A wooden door appeared in her view. There was only a small hole the size of a bowl in it—probably used by the Xu villagers to pass food through.

Jiang Wan could clearly feel countless gazes scrutinizing her through the hole, likely surprised that today’s food delivery person was a woman.

“Hello, I’m not from Xu Family Village. I’m here to save you.”

She got straight to the point. Getting these people out would allow the system to extract the gold without worries.

“Really?” came a weak voice from the hole.

Jiang Wan frowned. She had a bad feeling about the people inside. The Xu villagers only cared about gold—they wouldn’t have cared whether the miners lived or died.

“It’s true. The villagers have probably been subdued by the authorities. I’ve come to take you all out.

There’s no air in here—it’s too dangerous. When the door opens, don’t crowd. We’ll leave one by one.”

With a hammer in hand, she smashed the large lock. Excited voices came from within.

“It’s true! She’s here to save us!”

“Can… can we really leave now?”

“…”

Every voice was faint and weak. Jiang Wan opened the door, and the next second, her eyes widened in shock.

Everyone inside was skin and bones, looking like walking skeletons. At a glance, there were probably twenty or thirty people.

“Follow this path to get out. There will be guards outside to receive you.”

Frowning deeply, Jiang Wan stepped to the side. These people, imprisoned for so long, somehow found a surge of strength upon hearing her confirmation and took off running.

“We can finally get out!”

“Mother, I can leave this godforsaken place!”

“…”

They ran madly, filled with hope despite their severely malnourished state.

Watching a dozen people sprint out, Jiang Wan’s nose stung with emotion. For the first time, she felt like she had done something truly good.

The Xu Family villagers were despicable. Luckily, they ran into her—this little demoness.

She didn’t consider herself a good person, but even she couldn’t do something so immoral just for money.

“Young lady, thank you.”

A voice as faint as a mosquito’s reached her ears. Jiang Wan turned to find two emaciated men standing behind her.

The candlelight was dim, and she could only vaguely make out their silhouettes. She didn’t say much, just responded:

“Don’t thank me yet. Just hurry and get out. This place is not safe.”

“Okay.”

The man nodded. Someone seemed to be supporting him as they slowly left. Soon, Jiang Wan was the only one left in the large cavern.

Carrying her candle, she walked deeper into the cave and found several dozen jin of half-mined gold. Without hesitation, she collected all of it.

She planned to explore further inside but almost threw up the next second—she had stumbled upon a pile of bleached white bones.

Quickly covering her mouth and nose, she continued forward. The deeper she went, the more spaced-out the bones became. The newest two corpses were still reeking of rot.

Urgh…

Jiang Wan ran after the others, arriving at the entrance just as they did.

“Little Spirit, begin the operation.”

Jiang Wan curled her lips into a smile, which made Song Jiuyuan’s heart skip a beat in the distance.

Every time she was about to cause trouble, she had this expression. Could it be…

Boom boom boom…

The sound of collapse echoed. The people who had just escaped death ran again in panic.

Not until they reached the foot of the mountain did they realize that the mountain had collapsed. Luckily, it wasn’t their side that had crumbled, but the other side.

Still, it was terrifying enough. Pale-faced and emaciated, they were filled with gratitude toward Jiang Wan.

“Brother Ren, these are the people the Xu villagers had imprisoned. Also…”

Jiang Wan glanced at the bound villagers from Xu Family Village and said with disdain:

“I also saw a lot of corpses inside—some already skeletal, others just starting to rot.”

Just recalling the sight gave her the chills. Shen Qian, tied up next to Xu Wei, also turned pale with fear.

She couldn’t even imagine the scene inside—those villagers were insane.

“I understand.”

Ren Bang nodded. “Thank you. I’ve already sent Xiao Deng to notify the nearest county magistrate. They’ll be here soon.”

“That’s good.”

Jiang Wan breathed a sigh of relief, feeling slightly guilty. After all, she had emptied out the mountain.

She even heard the little spirit in her space cheerfully announcing the stockpiling task was complete, and the space was upgrading…

“Officer.”

At that moment, Song Jiuchi arrived, carrying Song Jiuyuan on his back. Song Jiuyuan’s voice was very soft—only a few nearby could hear it.

“If the county magistrate asks, please help clear my wife’s name.”

With that one sentence, both Jiang Wan and Ren Bang understood what he meant.

Jiang Wan knew very well how Song Jiuyuan had gotten his criminal charge. Right now, it wasn’t wise for her to be too high-profile, lest the Dog Emperor or the Sixth Prince catch on.

So, following his lead, she said, “Whatever my husband says is what I mean, too.”