DLERB -Chapter 156 The Mountain Collapsed! Even the Wang Clan Members Were Buried Alive!

Dongying Island.

Night.

Cold rain fell from the sky.

It wasn’t heavy, but it came down densely—hitting faces like needle pricks.

The Ishimi Silver Mine was brightly lit as if it were daylight.

Countless torches and whale-oil lamps illuminated the entire mining zone.

It looked like a gigantic millstone that never stopped turning.

Laborers were divided into three shifts, working in continuous rotation day and night.

Breathing.

Pickaxes striking rock.

And the shouting of overseers.

“Faster! Move it!”

“Anyone slacking off doesn’t get dinner!”

“CRACK!”

A whip cracked through the air.

A thin native laborer was slightly slow, and a bloody lash instantly appeared on his back.

He only groaned once—then worked even faster.

There were no screams here.

Because screaming wasted the little strength they had left.

Fusu’s rules were carved into everyone’s bones.

Fail to meet the daily quota, and you didn’t eat.

Fail for three consecutive days, and you would be dragged out as a warning to others.

Suddenly—

“Wuuuu…”

A deep, low sound, as if rising from the deepest part of the earth, echoed faintly.

A patrolling Qin soldier stopped in his tracks.

He felt the ground beneath his feet tremble slightly.

“What was that?”

Another soldier beside him frowned.

“Thunder?”

But there was no thunder in the sky—only rain.

“Wuu… wuu…”

The hunting dog they were holding suddenly became agitated.

The normally ferocious beast now tucked its tail between its legs and growled low in warning.

Its fur stood on end.

Not toward people.

But toward the mountain that had been hollowed out by mining.

“Damn beast, what are you barking at!”

The soldier yanked the chain hard.

But the dog planted all four paws firmly on the ground and refused to move.

Its eyes were filled with pure terror.

As if what lay ahead was not a mountain—

but a mouth about to swallow everything.

Main tunnel.

Nearly a hundred zhang underground.

The air was thick with dust and sweat.

Thousands of laborers moved like ants inside the narrow tunnels.

Mechanically swinging their pickaxes.

“Clang… clang…”

The rhythm was dense and monotonous.

This was the farthest point from the surface.

And the closest point to death.

Suddenly—

Creaaak…

A grating sound that made teeth ache came from above.

The entire tunnel shook violently.

The massive wooden supports groaned under unbearable pressure.

Gravel and soil began to fall from cracks in the rock walls.

Drip.

Drip.

Ice-cold water seeped from the ceiling, landing on a laborer’s face.

He looked up.

Under the torchlight, the newly formed crack was slowly widening.

Everyone stopped.

Silence.

Only dripping water remained in the tunnel.

And heavy breathing.

An old man with a face full of wrinkles and white hair suddenly threw down his pickaxe.

He was a Qin convict. Before exile, he had worked for decades as a miner in Shu.

His face turned deathly pale.

Staring at the widening crack, his body trembled violently.

“The earth dragon…”

“The earth dragon is turning!”

He used all his strength to scream hoarsely.

“It’s going to collapse!!”

“Run!!”

That single shout was like a boulder thrown into still water.

All the numb laborers snapped awake at once.

Instinct for survival overwhelmed everything.

“Run!”

“Run!!”

The crowd exploded into chaos.

Thousands of people surged toward the only exit like mad.

“Don’t move!”

“Anyone who moves dies!”

The overseers guarding the site rushed forward, whipping their leather lashes through the air.

“CRACK!”

The whip landed hard on the first few fleeing laborers.

“Get your asses back here!”

“Anyone who runs—kill on sight!”

But the old miner did not stop.

He pushed through the crowd, desperately trying to run outward.

He knew clearly—if he didn’t run now, he would never get another chance.

But before he could take more than a few steps—

“ROOOAR!!!”

A terrifying roar, beyond human comprehension, erupted from the deepest part of the earth.

It was not a collapse.

Not merely that.

It was the mountain itself.

The entire Ishimi Silver Mine had come alive.

Like an ancient beast that had slept for ten thousand years, now enraged by the biting of ants.

It suddenly turned over.

“BOOOOOOM!!!”

Thunderous.

Earth-shattering.

Countless tons of rock and soil came crashing down with annihilating force.

Those thick wooden support beams—once as sturdy as arms—were like fragile toothpicks.

They did not even last a breath.

Instantly—

Crushed.

Shattered.

Collapsed.

Devoured.

The entire tunnel system stretching for miles, holding thousands of people inside.

Along with every living soul within it.

Screams.

Cries.

Despair.

In just a few breaths of time—

All of it was buried alive.

On the surface.

Crown Prince Fusu’s camp.

Fusu sat at his desk, holding a red brush.

In front of him lay yesterday’s report.

“Tunnel No. 3 cleared. Ninety-eight corpses recovered. Ninety-eight units of loss recorded.”

Expressionless, he drew a circle at the end of the report.

Then tossed it aside.

Just as he was about to pick up the next production report—

The ground beneath him suddenly lifted upward.

The candle stand on the desk crashed violently to the floor.

The entire tent shook violently.

Fusu’s body swayed slightly.

He did not reach out to stabilize the table.

Instead, he suddenly stood up, threw open the tent flap, and rushed outside.

The rain—had stopped at some point.

And what he saw—

Made those eyes, which had always been as calm as an ancient still lake—

contract for the very first time.

The distant mine.

The mountain they had been excavating for months.

Was visibly shorter.

A large portion had collapsed inward.

The entrance to the main tunnel—the massive opening that once allowed ten horse carts to pass side by side—

Was gone.

Completely gone.

In its place—

A gigantic, horrifying sinkhole still collapsing inward.

Black smoke and gray dust intertwined, rushing into the sky.

Like a mushroom cloud of death.

Instantly blocking out the moonlight.

The entire world dimmed.

The air was filled with the choking smell of crushed stone.

“C-Crown Prince!”

A deputy general stumbled forward from afar.

He fell.

Got up.

Fell again.

Finally crawled on all fours to Fusu’s feet.

His face was indistinguishable—rain, sweat, and tears mixed together.

His voice trembled with terror.

“The main tunnel… the main tunnel…”

He pointed at the massive pit, lips shaking uncontrollably.

“Everything… everything has been buried!”

“Over three thousand miners… all inside!”

Fusu did not speak.

His hand rested on the hilt of his sword.

Knuckles turned white from the force.

The deputy general nearly broke down completely.

He grabbed Fusu’s robe like it was the last lifeline.

“There’s more… there’s more!”

“General Wang Ben’s nephew! The centurion in charge of escort—Wang Li!”

“He was also down there inspecting the tunnels!!!”