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

"Black Tai Sui?"

From within the crack, Zhao Lingjun subconsciously repeated a sentence, his voice filled with confusion and fear: "What is that thing?"

Jiang Lin's brows furrowed tightly.

He could feel that as the "ghostly wails" rang out, the temperature in the entire cave seemed to drop a few degrees, and the smell of the raging oil in the air became even stronger, even carrying a hint of fishy sweetness.

The scene outside was in complete chaos. The slaves, like a flock of frightened sheep, rushed headlong into the dugouts.

The overseers, cursing as they frantically locked the dugout's iron door, had lost their earlier ferocity, replaced by a deep-seated fear.

"Whatever it is, this is an opportunity for us." Jiang Lin made a decisive decision, lowering his voice, "Let's infiltrate the middle levels amidst the chaos. Stay close to me!"

After saying that, he was the first to slip out of the crack, like a raccoon, and landed silently behind a pile of waste ore.

Niu Aihua, Shen Kuo, and Zhao Lingjun followed closely behind.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the four of them moved quickly along the cave walls toward the tunnel entrance leading to the middle level.

Along the way, they witnessed even more hellish scenes.

An elderly slave was running too slowly and was kicked to the ground by an overseer. He struggled to get up, but was trampled over by the surging crowd behind him and soon fell silent.

A woman holding a child cried and tried to put the child into the dugout first, but the overseer chopped off her arm with a knife. The child fell to the ground and let out a heart-wrenching cry.

No one cared about them. Faced with the fear of the "Black Tai Sui," all humanity vanished, leaving only the most primal instinct for survival.

Zhao Lingjun's face was as white as paper. She bit her lip hard to keep herself from making a sound, but tears still streamed down her face uncontrollably.

She grew up in the palace, studying Confucian classics and learning the art of rulership. She thought she understood the world well enough, but what she saw before her completely shattered her perception.

This is not the Song Dynasty, this is the Avici Hell.

Jiang Lin didn't turn around, but he could feel Zhao Lingjun trembling behind him. He didn't offer any words of comfort, because he knew that any words would seem pale and powerless in the face of such reality.

Some things you have to see with your own eyes to understand how heavy the burden on your shoulders really is.

They quickly found the entrance to the tunnel leading to the middle level. The guards here had become lax due to the chaos. Jiang Lin seized an opportunity and led the three of them into a side passage.

"Waaah—waaah—"

The eerie crying sounded again, this time closer, as if it were right next to their ear.

Immediately afterwards, the entire earth began to tremble slightly.

"It's resonance!" Shen Kuo adjusted his glasses and said with a solemn expression, "There is a huge energy source active deep underground, which has caused the rock strata to resonate."

"This sound isn't made by a living organism; it's airflow! It's the sound of a large amount of stale underground gas gushing out from a narrow passage and rubbing against the rock walls!"

Just as he was speaking, a black, viscous "mist" slowly rose from a huge pit in the center of the mine.

The "mist" was not real fog, but a mixture of highly concentrated flaming oil vapors and underground turbidity. Wherever it passed, the torchlight dimmed, and the air was filled with a suffocating sense of oppression.

"Run!" Jiang Lin shouted in a low voice. He knew that if this highly concentrated flammable gas came into contact with an open flame, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Zhao Liben building the mine here is practically dancing on a powder keg!

The four dared not linger any longer, quickened their pace, and ran deeper into the tunnel.

The middle tunnel was significantly more orderly than the upper one, with the walls reinforced with wood. At regular intervals, there was a ventilation opening sealed with iron bars in the wall. Waves of scorching heat emanated from these openings.

"This is the core mining area," Jiang Lin said in a low voice, referring to the map in his mind. "Jin Wanliang said that Zhao Liben's accounting office is located in the center of this area."

They proceeded cautiously, encountering more abandoned mining tools and congealed bloodstains along the way. The stench of burning oil in the air grew stronger, even becoming somewhat irritating to the eyes.

Shen Kuo appeared unusually excited. He took out his small tools and kept scraping samples from the rock wall. He also used a sheepskin bag to collect air while muttering incantations.

"This is unbelievable... The quality of the oil here is extremely high; it can be used directly as fuel with almost no refining. And these associated minerals... My God, this is sulfur, that's saltpeter... What... what is Zhao Liben planning to do?"

Shen Kuo's words made Jiang Lin and Zhao Lingjun's hearts sink.

Oil, sulfur, and saltpeter.

These three things combined point to a chilling possibility—gunpowder.

The Song Dynasty maintained extremely strict control over the manufacture and use of gunpowder, primarily for military purposes and large-scale engineering projects. Zhao Liben, a local prefect, illegally mined and stockpiled raw materials for gunpowder production; this was not merely corruption, but treason!

"It seems that what he's after isn't just money." Jiang Lin's voice turned cold.

Just then, a voice came from ahead.

The four of them immediately stopped and slipped behind a recessed rock wall.

"Damn it, this 'black scorpion' struck way too early today. I just got off my wife's belly, and I haven't even pulled my pants up properly yet," a rough voice complained.

"You should be grateful. The sooner it flares up, the sooner we can finish work." Another voice, sounding a bit shrill, said, "I heard Boss Xue Gang is in a bad mood today. Anyone who runs into his line of fire won't have a good time."

"Xue Gang? What happened to him? Who dares to mess with this living devil?"

"It's all because of those people up there. I heard that something big happened at Ghost Cry Garden tonight. The men that Lord Zhao sent were all wiped out, and even that Taoist Master Xuanji was so scared that he wet his pants. Chief Xue Gang has been ordered down to take stock of our men, preparing to go to the surface and get revenge."

"Holy crap! Really? Who's so arrogant as to dare mess with us?"

"Who knows? I heard he's some kind of headmaster from the capital academy. But so what if he's powerful? When he comes to our land, even a dragon has to coil up and a tiger has to lie low."

"Boss Xue Gang has already made it clear that if those guys dare to come down, they'll never leave alive, and they'll be a perfect snack for 'Black Tai Sui'."

The two walked past the rock face where Jiang Lin and the others were hiding, talking as they went.

Jiang Lin held his breath and, through the cracks in the rocks, saw the backs of the two men. They were dressed in matching black outfits, with knives at their waists, completely different from the overseers on the upper levels, exuding a chilling, military aura.

Jiang Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief after they had gone far away.

"Xue Gang..." he murmured the name. It seemed that Wang Kui had sent Xue Gang not just to escort them to Zhen Ding Prefecture.

"Headmaster, should we still go in?" Zhao Lingjun asked with some worry. The situation was much more complicated than they had anticipated.

"Go in, why not go in?" Jiang Lin's eyes showed no sign of backing down. "The more nervous he is, the more it means that his most feared secret is hidden here. The ledger must be inside."

He pointed to a stone chamber with lights on ahead.

"That should be their stronghold. Niu Aihua, you're in charge of guarding. Shen Kuo, you're in charge of making some noise to lure them away. Zhao Ling, you come in with me to find the account books."

Jiang Lin quickly assigned tasks.

"Make a scene?" Shen Kuo paused for a moment, then a strange smile, typical of a mad scientist, appeared on his face. "That's my specialty. Headmaster, do you want a loud noise or a strong smell?"

"...We want both." Jiang Lin's lips twitched. "The bigger the commotion, the better, but don't bury ourselves in it."

"Understood!" Shen Kuo took out two small porcelain bottles from his treasure chest and began his favorite chemistry experiment.

Jiang Lin, along with Zhao Lingjun, took advantage of the darkness and quietly made their way towards the stone chamber.

He knew that a real tough battle was about to begin.