Chapter 118: Going Home 1/2

There were around one hundred and thirty laborers at the quarry.

Every now and then, a few of them would die, but because replacements were available, the number remained stable.

Among these laborers, some were sent by the county magistrate or the Lou family, like Chang Duan. Others, like Li Qingzhi, were purchased from human traffickers by the overseers. There were also farmers and fishermen caught by guards nearby.

These days, some people without land or houses would live on fishing boats, making the boat their home. Not long ago, a fishing boat carrying a young couple and two children accidentally wandered into this place and was captured by the guards.

The wife was violated, the two children were killed, and the man became one of the laborers.

Of course, by now, both the young couple were dead.

How could the man work properly after witnessing his children being murdered? He grabbed a pickaxe and fought the guards desperately, only to be killed by them.

As for the remaining woman… Her body was thrown out not long after.

Chang Duan had seen enough tragedies, and even though he knew the chances were slim, he wanted to escape.

He was afraid of this place!

In fact, the laborers here harbored deep hatred towards the overseers and guards.

Today, when Chang Duan talked to them and mentioned escaping, the laborers were excited.

They wanted to escape too!

Whether it succeeded or not, they all wanted to leave this cursed place.

These people had resigned themselves to death, but upon hearing Chang Duan’s words, a glimmer of hope inevitably arose in their hearts.

If only they could escape…

Unfortunately, their hopes were shattered not long after. After they finished their work, several guards approached them with a laborer and sneered, “Heard you guys want to escape?” The laborers turned pale with shock and were then mercilessly beaten by the guards.

The guards interrogated them, asking what Chang Duan had said and if he was planning to lead them in an escape.

The vast majority of them vehemently denied it, claiming Chang Duan hadn’t said such things. But under severe beatings, two of them confessed. The laborers hated these two men to the core, but above all, they despised the informant.

This informant, named Gao, was nicknamed Lao Gao. Seeing him standing beside the guards, smiling as he watched them being beaten, the leader of the laborers couldn’t help but ask, “Lao Gao, what have we done to deserve this from you? Why do you betray us like this?”

The overseers and guards at the quarry didn’t allow the laborers to fight each other, fearing injuries that would affect their stone-digging.

Moreover, after returning exhausted every day, there was little energy left for these laborers to fight among themselves.

Of course, they didn’t have much camaraderie either. They just lived day by day, numbly existing.

Sometimes, they even doubted if they were still alive or if they had become livestock.

And because of this, no one dared to bully Lao Gao.

Lao Gao grinned widely. “We can’t escape. Chang Duan is deceiving us! He’s living the good life himself, so why would he care about us?”

“He wants to escape, but bringing us along is just to make you guys his scapegoats!”

“We can’t escape! We can’t escape!”

…

The laborers wished they could tear Lao Gao apart.

Indeed, Chang Duan lived a better life than them, but through him, they occasionally got to eat something decent. During the winter, when they were forced to go down to the lake, Chang Duan even added ginger to their food…

Now that Lao Gao had betrayed Chang Duan, their days ahead would certainly become even more difficult.

Tears streaming down his face, the leader among the laborers said, “Sir, Chang Duan really didn’t plan to escape, nor did he say anything to us. It’s Lao Gao who wants to harm us.”

Others chimed in, “Yes, he’s deliberately harming us!”

“Sir, we really didn’t plan to escape…”

Seeing this, the guards frowned. Suddenly, shouts of killing rang out.

Though Lao Gao had snitched, the guards didn’t take him seriously. Realizing something was amiss, they shoved Lao Gao into the midst of the laborers, locked the door to their quarters, and left.

If it weren’t for the alarming shouts outside and the fear of the guards punishing them for Lao Gao’s death, these laborers would have surely killed Lao Gao.

Anxious and uneasy, they didn’t know what was happening outside. Before long, people holding torches came and led them out.

These people were dressed in military uniforms!

The soldiers had come to rescue them!

The laborers couldn’t believe it, dumbfounded one by one.

Was this… a dream?

As they pondered, a young man bearing some resemblance to Chang Duan walked over to them.

Still in a daze and filled with fear, they dared not speak until they heard Chang Duan’s voice crying out for help in the distance.

The leader among the laborers finally snapped out of it. “Chang Duan! There’s another Chang Duan!”

He exclaimed, looking at Chang Zhan excitedly. “Chang Duan said we would escape tonight, and we really did!”

As he spoke, others also came to their senses. A group of ragged, emaciated men cheered, “We’ve escaped, we’ve escaped!”

“What Chang Duan said was true!”

“We’ve really escaped!”

…

These people weren’t entirely clear about the current situation.

Rescued by the troops and seeing a youth resembling Chang Duan… They thought Chang Duan had contacted someone outside to save them.

Even Feng, the overseer, thought so. Bound and thrown aside, he incredulously asked, “How did Chang Duan manage to contact you guys? Damn it, he even poisoned us!”

Finishing his sentence, Feng let out a fart, a foul smell emanating from him.

Feng was utterly humiliated.

During their struggle with the troops earlier, he suddenly suffered from severe abdominal pain.

If not for that, even if they couldn’t win, they would have had a chance to escape.

Chang Duan had poisoned them—not with lethal poison, but something that would give them diarrhea!

Where did he get the poison, and how did he manage to contact the authorities?

Upon hearing Feng’s words, even the commander of the troops looked toward Magistrate Zhang.

This place was informed to him by Magistrate Zhang; the day of the attack was chosen by Magistrate Zhang; and Magistrate Zhang even managed to contact someone inside to poison them.

Magistrate Zhang, with his hair graying, remained silent.

He truly hadn’t contacted Chang Duan. His decision to strike here first was based on the letter from Magistrate Gou. The initial contents of the letter were about the quarry, and later it vividly described the situation here, detailing the plight of these laborers.

He chose to strike here first because if he targeted Magistrate Yan first, the people here might get wind of it and flee. So he struck here first.

Magistrate Yan and the Lou family members wouldn’t be as easy to escape.

“Sir, my brother…” Chang Zhan looked towards Magistrate Zhang.

“Go and find him,” Magistrate Zhang instructed.

Chang Zhan acknowledged this and took a few soldiers to search for his brother.

Chang Duan was not feeling well at the moment.

Perhaps because the situation hadn’t been fully investigated, the guards hadn’t beaten him, only locking him up.

But he had consumed a fair amount of the substance he had tampered with!

Chang Duan was suffering from severe stomach pains now. Unable to bear it, he had to loosen his belt and relieve himself.

So when Chang Zhan found his brother in a secluded room with a few soldiers, he also smelled something foul.

“Brother?” Chang Zhan called out.

Surprised and delighted, Chang Duan responded, “Xiao Zhan?”

The two brothers, finally meeting, almost burst into tears, but Chang Duan couldn’t hold it any longer and ran into the bushes. “I need to go to the bathroom!”

Chang Zhan, wanting to embrace his elder brother, froze.