The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

"Ouch... my lower back, and my tailbone..."

The dark figure on the ground rubbed its back while greedily sniffing the lingering aroma of braised pork in the air, like a starving wild dog.

By the flickering light of the lantern, the man appeared to be around forty years old. Although his face was covered in soot and his silk clothes were tattered and hanging in strips, his small, darting eyes revealed an undeniable shrewdness.

"Thank you so much, hero, for saving me!"

The man struggled to his feet, gave a perfunctory bow to Niu Aihua and Jiang Lin, but his eyes were glued to the pot, and his Adam's apple bobbed violently.

"My name is Jin Dafu, a merchant from Daming Prefecture. Because... because I owe gambling debts, I hid in this dry well, but who knew I couldn't get out... Um, could you please give me a sip of soup? Just one sip!"

Su Shi hid behind Jiang Lin, peeking out half his head with a look of disgust.

"You think you can hide from your debts for three years? I bet the dirt under your fingernails is pickled and flavorful. You're probably trying to scam us out of our flesh."

"Young master, you jest."

The man, who called himself Jin Dafu, smiled obsequiously, but his body uncontrollably rubbed against the pot.

"I really..."

"Alright, stop making things up."

Jiang Lin sat in the rattan chair, casually playing with the folding fan in his hand, not even glancing at him, but only raising his chin at Niu Aihua.

"Give him a bowl of meat. If he keeps getting hungry like this, the Ministry of Revenue of the Song Dynasty will lose one less 'Iron Abacus,' won't it, Lord Jin Wan?"

"Clatter".

The man's hand, which had just reached for the bowl, froze in mid-air, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, and his voice suddenly cracked.

"You...what did you say? What ten thousand taels?"

Jiang Lin tapped his forehead lightly with the handle of his fan, his tone as flat as if he were reciting a dry official report.

"Jin Wanliang was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the eighth year of the Qingli era and once served as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He was extremely skilled in mathematics and could determine the exact amount of silver in the treasury at a glance. Three years ago, he mysteriously disappeared due to a embezzlement case involving three million strings of cash from the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Justice issued arrest warrants throughout the country. Some say you absconded with the money, while others say you committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

Jiang Lin leaned forward, staring at the man covered in cold sweat with a half-smile.

"Who would have thought that instead of enjoying a carefree life, Lord Jin prefers to conduct 'geological exploration' at the bottom of a well?"

thump.

Jin Wanliang's legs went weak, and he knelt directly on the ground.

It wasn't for the sake of bowing; it was because I was so frightened by those words that my leg bones felt like they were being pulled out of my body.

He had been hiding at the bottom of the well like a rat for three years, thinking that no one in the world remembered him. But as soon as he climbed out, the young man in front of him stripped him naked.

"Are you... are you a human or a ghost?"

Jin Wanliang's teeth chattered, and his voice was barely audible.

Who I am is not important.

Jiang Lin picked up a piece of fatty meat that he had deliberately left and threw it into Jin Wanliang's chipped bowl.

"The important thing is that only I can save your life now. Eat, this meal may be your last meal, or... it may be a victory celebration."

Jin Wanliang stared intently at the meat in the bowl, tears mingling with the soot on his face, creating two deep furrows.

He didn't care that it was hot; he grabbed the meat and stuffed it into his mouth, wolfing it down while crying incoherently.

"Waaah... It's not that I wanted to hide... it's that they... they're going to turn me into fertilizer!"

"Who?"

Su Shi asked curiously.

"Zhao Liben!"

Jin Wanliang swallowed the last mouthful of broth, almost choking, a deep-seated resentment flashing in his eyes.

"This Ghost Cry Garden isn't the underworld at all; it's the 'Black Water' mine! That corrupt official Zhao Liben arrested refugees and prisoners to illegally mine for Black Water. I was investigating the accounts and ended up here when he threw me in! If I hadn't known a bit about Qimen Dunjia and found the ventilation shaft, I would have rotted into mud down there long ago!"

"Black water?"

Shen Kuo, who had been fiddling with the instruments, suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with an alarming light.

"You mean there's a lot of flammable oil down there?"

"What oily stuff? That's a monster! It eats people!"

Jin Wanliang shrank back, clearly traumatized.

"Those sounds from the bottom of the well...did you hear them? They're vengeful spirits demanding revenge!"

As if to prove his words, a gust of cold wind blew by, and a mournful "whoosh" echoed from the dry well once again.

Shen Kuo ignored Jin Wanliang's fear. He held a copper pipe that he had taken from the carriage, one end inserted into the gap at the wellhead, and the other end pressed against his ear.

"It's not a ghost."

Shen Kuo's expression became unusually serious. The calmness unique to science and engineering men made the surrounding hot air seem to drop several degrees.

"This is the echo of airflow within a narrow passage, the principle of 'an echo reverberating through an empty valley.' Based on the intervals of the echoes, the well is approximately thirty zhang deep, and the horizontal space is enormous. As for this sound..."

He handed the copper tube to Su Shi.

"Zizhan, listen."

Su Shi cautiously leaned over and listened for a while.

In just a few breaths, his face turned deathly pale, and then an uncontrollable rage surged up his face, burning his ears red.

That wasn't a ghost's cry at all.

Those were countless suppressed groans, the crisp sound of whips striking flesh, the dull thud of pickaxes hitting rocks, and those desperate, dying gasps.

"They kept slaves down there..."

Su Shi clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his flesh, and his body trembled slightly with anger.

"This is the Great Song Dynasty! Under the clear blue sky, right under the emperor's nose, someone has actually built a living hell underground!"

"This is not hell on earth."

Jiang Lin sneered, his eyes filled with icy coldness.

"This is Prefect Zhao's slush fund."

Just then, a sudden burst of gongs and drums erupted outside the courtyard wall, and torches illuminated the dark night sky as if it were daytime. The cacophony of voices instantly broke the solemn atmosphere inside the courtyard.

"Listen up, you people inside!"

Xue Gang's hoarse voice rang out again, carrying an impatient killing intent.

"By order of the Prefect! The Ghost Cry Garden is filled with demonic energy, disturbing the people! We have specially invited Master Xuanji to perform an exorcism! All unrelated persons must leave immediately, or they will be considered demons and killed without mercy!"

"You're here so quickly?"

Zhao Lingjun stood on the wall and glanced at it, his brows furrowed.

"There were arrows covered in oil, and several ballistae. The Taoist priest was chanting incantations; it seemed he planned to set the courtyard on fire so that there would be no evidence against him."

Jin Wanliang was so frightened that he covered his head and tried to crawl under the table.

"It's over! Zhao Liben is trying to silence me! He knows I'm out! I'm doomed!"

Niu Aihua silently picked up the giant sword, her red dress fluttering slightly as she looked at Jiang Lin.

"Fight our way out?"

"To break out would be tantamount to rebellion, which is exactly what we want."

Jiang Lin shook his head and turned his gaze to Shen Kuo, who was busy at the well.

"Shen Cunzhong, in your 'Project Tiangong,' is there anything that can hold its own?"

Shen Kuo was rapidly piecing together several bamboo tubes and sheepskin bags when he heard this. He looked up, a strange smile on his face that belonged to a mad scientist, appearing particularly eerie in the firelight.

"Headmaster, if you want something with all the 'sound, light, and electricity'... just give me a quarter of an hour."

"it is good."

Jiang Lin unfolded his folding fan to block the drifting coal dust, his tone languid.

"Give him half an hour. Miss Niu, anyone who dares to climb over the wall will have their legs broken and be thrown out. Su Shi, go and get a ladder, let's watch the play."

Outside the wall, a high altar was built.

A fat Taoist priest dressed in a bright yellow robe held a peach wood sword, muttered incantations, and performed the Seven Star Steps, looking as if he were dancing some kind of comical dance.

Zhao Liben, mounted on his horse, stared coldly at the tightly closed gate of Guikuyuan, as if he were looking at a tomb.

"My lord, the time has come."

Xue Gang urged him on from the side.

"If we don't act now, things might change."

Zhao Liben nodded, then waved his hand, his face trembling with menacing bulge.

"Set it on fire! Burn these monsters to death!"