The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 422 Ch.421 Mine
Peggy determined that Rose was the person in her divination who could bring her help or hope to the town of Inns - and Miss Snitch, who was being 'divinated' or 'predicted' for the first time, was obviously not used to it.

"Me? You don't think the Shelleys can do anything to help you, do you?"

Faced with doubt, Peggy shook her head with tears in her eyes: "…For the fortune teller, fate is always constant."

Rose folded her handkerchief irritably and threw it to Peggy, then looked around again.

Up to a certain point, Roland and Kingsley had the same goal.

They all had to first find out where and how the "white ore" came from.

And this Peggy Streeter can obviously provide them with a convenient solution.

The girl rolled her green eyes around and said, "I won't say anything else, little cinder. You have to let us see it - with our own eyes."

and so…

early morning.

Under Peggy's arrangement, the three men changed into the coarse cloth shirts and lanterns she gave them - since they did not need to dig and transport the materials themselves, they could travel lighter without the miscellaneous tools.

The clothes made Kingsley uncomfortable.

He caught a dozen fleas, some black residue, dandruff and dried blood clots left by someone unknown.

A layer of red rash was visible on the pale arms.

Rose and Roland were fine.

They sat on the hard-board cart, spit on their palms under the driver's scolding, and after holding on firmly, they moved forward with the neighing and bumping of the cart.

There were also quite a few people at the departure point. They boarded the train more skillfully than Roland, carrying buckets and pots and dry bread as hard as stones.

Everyone was squatting on the cart, lined up in an orderly manner, just lacking an iron cage to cover them, just like monkeys laughing and heading to an unknown cage.

The male monkeys huddle together to discuss national affairs, or use their arms to create space for their female monkeys and baby monkeys to move around.

The female monkeys embraced their young monkeys and sighed, as if doing so could blow away this disastrous life - the youngest ones were not so sad, they would hold a straw or some plant root in their mouths, grind it with their molars a few times, and sip the sweetness or bitterness on it with their saliva.

Wooden carts pulled the ragged monkeys and transported them to a predetermined fate.

The mines in the distance are like slow waves, pushing and pressing inwards, wave after wave.

It prevents the young from growing and the old from breathing.

When Roland and his group crossed paths with them, many people greeted Roland and Peggy.

"Hey! Heartthrob!"

They smiled like gentlemen on their way to a ball, ladies on their way to a tryst, and young masters on their way to receive a property gifted by their family - their smiles were no different from those of the men and women at a West End dance, except that their faces were a little drier, lacking moisture and real hope.

They tried to make themselves happy in the midst of suffering, imitating what Roland had sung that day, shouting, "It's been a long time since I last saw the night!"

The tune went off track, and someone had an accident, and the song ended up changing to another vulgar ballad.

'My wife's big ass, her big ass when she cooks--'

The children grinned and laughed as they listened to the men singing.

The driver whipped the horse.

Sing all the way and die all the way.

The mine is not far away, about thirty minutes away.

When they arrived at the destination, everyone got off the car in an orderly manner - they were more orderly than the participants in the dance parties Roland had seen: they knew that the men should get off first, then the men would pick up the women, and finally pick up the children from each family.

Some people would use large spoons to scoop water from buckets in front of narrow mine openings, buckets with coal slag floating in them, and drink it to feed their wives or children.

Those who have left over will fill a pot and hold it in their arms like a treasure.

Some people went to get matches and oil lamps, but they were cunning and asked for too much. The guards in charge of the mine whipped them and made them howl.

The others laughed loudly at him and took great pleasure in doing the same.

There was a huge iron cage next to the entrance of the mine: it was just as Roland had imagined - like the iron mesh cages in a lunatic asylum for people to watch. The miners would walk in one by one, pull their shoulders forward to their chests, and shrink as small as possible.

Then, the people behind will come in.

One by one, row by row.

They squatted in the cage, quietly watching the people outside come in.

These people who once laughed loudly, swore, and shouted "the heartthrob and the flower of our Inns town" in the pub have finally calmed their boiling blood and are ready to face the darkness and the cinders that penetrate their lungs.

They were quiet.

The mine became strangely quiet. Perhaps it was because Peggy had greeted him, or perhaps it was just the way it was.

Roland and the other two passed through easily and squatted in the cage like the others.

Suddenly, my nostrils were filled with the stench of sweat and sour smell.

There are a thousand or ten thousand noses here, but it seems that they can never absorb all the stench and despair that is like a bottomless sea.

Roland hugged his knees, leaning against Kingsley and Rose, quietly breathing in and out with thousands of breaths, feeling the heat at the end of winter - in this iron cage, no one complained about the cold, or shouted "My toes are going to freeze off!"

I also understand why miners only need one smock.

There are even some women or girls who don't wear pants at all - but that's another story.

When the monkeys squatted down, a guard shouted.

soon.

The iron cage slowly moved downwards while vibrating.

The sun and the earth went away, rising to a height like heaven, which they could never reach.

What followed was complete darkness.

Jagged mineral layers and a bottomless black hole.

Kingsley fiddled with the creaking oil lamp in his hand, trying to light it, but was stopped by Peggy:

“Don’t order now.”

Others also spoke in the darkness:

"I just can't understand why a rich man like you would go down into the mine with us, sir?" The man said in a hoarse voice, "Don't order now, save some time - otherwise, you'll be out of money for the whole morning."

Kingsley was silent.

He was not feeling very comfortable, but it was like he was going deep into the ground, deep into an unknown world for the first time.

A world he had never seen.

The descending cage continued to breathe.

Until five minutes have passed? Maybe ten.

A thud.

The planks under my feet hit the hard stones inside.

With two oil lamps in hand, the guard opened the cell door and released the quiet and well-behaved monkeys.

"Come down!"

they shouted.

The sound echoed in the mine, saving him from having to repeat the effort.

'Come down—come down—come down—'

Someone moved.

Roland was caught by Peggy's wrist and they left the cage together.

Divided into teams.

It seemed like everyone knew who should go with whom.

But before that, they had to pick up something - something from the big hole behind the guard.

Wire cages.

It was full of droopy-headed canaries.

The leading miners rushed forward and divided the cages, but they did not thank the guards. They just held the lit oil lamps and bowed to Peggy in an awkward manner in the swaying light and shadows.

When a person has nothing, this is the most sincere gratitude.

“This will save us from many disasters.”

Peggy picked up the oil lamp, said goodbye to them, and led the three people inside.

The canary in her arms crawled out of her clothes early and jumped onto her shoulder.

(End of this chapter)