Absolutely not to be burned at the stake

The mine was very dark, with torches every five or six meters, barely illuminating the passageway inside.

Several guards dragged themselves into the mine.

A team member carrying a hammer, walking behind Sandy, said sullenly, "Damn it, guarding the mine every day is suffocating."

"That's right... They don't even give us a rotation, it's just the few of us keeping watch." Another team member carrying a longsword also expressed his dissatisfaction.

Sandy snorted: "These mines are now a matter of secrecy. No one is leaving until things are settled here."

"Team leader... this situation is not good. We have forty miners, and several have already died or been injured in the last two days. We're sure to encounter more mine rats today. If this continues..."

The team member carrying the hammer hesitated and said, "We still don't know when we can go back."

"To be honest... we've only been in the ancient mine tunnels for two days, and we've already encountered so many mine rats, and we brothers have all been injured... If this continues, I'm afraid..."

The team member carrying the longsword looked down at his calves, which were wrapped in burlap, and a hint of fear appeared on his face: "Besides, I think I saw a strange shadow yesterday."

"A strange shadow?" The teammate carrying the spiked hammer turned back to look at his teammates in confusion. "What shadow?"

"I don't know... When I was fighting the demon rats, I felt like there was something next to me, and I was startled, so I slashed at it with my sword. But... it seems like there was nothing there," said the team member with the longsword.

Hearing the words of the team member carrying the longsword, the faces of the guards turned somewhat grim.

"Shut up."

Seeing this, the team leader Sandy said in a deep voice, "Back then, everyone came for the silver crowns the captain would reward us with. Now that things have come to this, everyone better be on your toes. If we do this well, we'll all be living the good life for the next two years."

After hearing the team leader's words, everyone's spirits lifted slightly, and they straightened their backs considerably.

Seeing that everyone was in good spirits, Sandy was satisfied and led the team forward.

The group walked along the mine shaft for more than ten minutes before entering another mine shaft.

It was obvious that this mine was different from the first one. The first mine was very rough, with sharp rocks everywhere, making it easy to bump your head if you weren't careful, and the ground was covered with stones and dust.

But once inside, the space was nearly twice as spacious and remarkably clean. The ground, the walls on both sides, and the ceiling were all perfectly flat, with almost no trace of excavation. Not to mention the rubble, even the dust was brought in by the miners, as if it were a passage directly opened by some divine power.

"How did they build this mine back then? Could it really have been opened up by the gods?" Although it wasn't his first time entering this place, the team member carrying the sword couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the mine tunnel in front of him.

"Who knows? But there must be something good in here... otherwise the mayor and the captain wouldn't have gone to such great lengths."

The group walked forward while talking, but suddenly they could vaguely hear screams coming from the mine ahead.

Sandy's expression changed, and he abruptly drew his weapon, running forward: "Quick, let's go!"

The group members frantically raised their weapons and rushed forward with their leader.

Yesterday, the demonic rats caused chaos, which all of them witnessed clearly. Several miners were killed or injured. Today, if it weren't for these people strongly pressuring them, these miners would be reluctant to go down into the mine.

If more people are killed or injured today, things will become even more complicated.

"Ah...help me..."

The miners screamed in terror and fled from the depths of the mine.

Seeing the crowd surging out in front of him, Sandy, holding his weapon, shouted, "Make way! Make way!"

Under the dim light, the faint glint of light from the sharp blade in their hands finally brought the terrified miners back to their senses and calmed them down a little.

Fortunately, the ancient mine was spacious, and the miners made way on both sides, allowing the guards to enter the depths of the mine and wipe out the terrifying demon rats.

The guards, brandishing their weapons, charged deep into the mine.

To be honest, the guards were slightly stronger than ordinary miners than those demon rats that were twice the size of ordinary rats.

However, they wouldn't be so panicked that they would accidentally fall and be bitten in the throat by the demon rats, or trampled to death by the panicked crowd.

Thanks to the efforts of the guards, a group of demon rats left behind five or six unlucky survivors before disappearing again into the crevice of the collapsed rocks.

The swordsman, panting, glanced down at his leg, which had been bitten again and was bleeding, and couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, this thing... is harder to deal with than a demon wolf."

"Exactly." The team member carrying the spiked hammer clutched his bleeding wrist, grinning angrily, "I wonder if those demon rat bites are poisonous..."

Sandy was scratching his slightly reddened wounds when he heard this. He let out a heavy breath and said angrily, "Don't talk nonsense."

After saying that, he looked around and said to one of the uninjured team members, "Go and call all the miners back to continue working."

"Yes."

The miners, who had been working anxiously all day, were only able to slowly emerge from the mine as darkness fell.

Watching the miners come out one by one, receive their food, eat, and go into the shed, Tyvis finally tilted his head back, downed the beer in his wooden cup in one gulp, let out a long sigh, and stood up.

"Vice Captain..."

Sandy walked up to Tevis and nervously raised his arm. "Vice-captain, many of our brothers have been injured by the Rat, and... the wounds are turning black. Shouldn't we... try to get someone to take a look?"

Tyvis frowned, glanced at his subordinate's arm, and said irritably, "Didn't I prepare wound medicine for you?"

"I used the medicine, but now it's incredibly itchy, and the wound is somewhat numb."

Sandy looked at Tevis and pleaded, "Vice-Captain, could you please go to the church and ask for some holy water for us?"

Looking at his subordinate's appearance and then at the wound on his arm, which was indeed somewhat black, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "Alright, I'll go and talk to the captain later and think of a solution for you."

"Oh, thank you, Vice Captain."

Seeing that Tevis nodded, Sandy finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Keep a close eye on these miners tonight, and make sure they don't get away," Tyvis sneered. "If no one's mining, you'll be in trouble."

"Don't worry, Vice Captain, we'll keep a close eye on them," Sandy quickly assured him, patting his chest.

Having given his instructions, Tyvis hoisted his massive hammer and swayed back to Shadowtown.

Seeing that the deputy captain had left, the guards gathered around and asked nervously, "Team leader, what did the deputy captain say?"

"Don't worry, the vice-captain has promised to help us figure out a solution."

Sandy said in a deep voice, "However, we must keep a close eye on those miners tonight, and we absolutely cannot let anything go wrong."

"Understood!" With the vice-captain's reply, everyone's spirits lifted slightly, and they responded in unison.

Next to the town hall, in the courtyard of the guard's camp, Tyvis ate two large pieces of roast meat and drank two glasses of ale before going to see Captain Barton with satisfaction.

"Only seven meters?" Barton frowned, staring at Tyvis with dissatisfaction.

"Captain, there's no other way. Those collapsed rocks are all very large and hard; plus, the mine is cramped, making them difficult to move..."

"Alright, alright, you guys need to keep going..." Barton waved his hand impatiently.

"Don't worry, the brothers are all doing their best," Tyvis said, straightening his chest.

Patton was slightly more satisfied: "Let the brothers work hard for a few more days. Once the mine tunnels are open, we'll celebrate their success."

Seeing that the captain's expression had softened somewhat, Tevis said, "Captain, many of the brothers have been injured by those demonic rats these past two days. The wounds... seem to have some problems. Perhaps... we could try to get some holy water for them..."

Barton raised an eyebrow, annoyed. "Holy water? Are you crazy? We're trying to avoid that Levi right now, and you want holy water from him?"

Tevis chuckled and said, "But...if we don't find a way, I'm afraid..."

"Go find old John and ask him to get some antidote." Barton thought for a moment, then reached into his pocket and took out two silver crowns, tossing them to Tyvis.

Tyvis accepted the silver crown, gave a helpless reply, and then went out to find the town's pharmacist, Old John.