Chapter 169: Chapter 169 Mine Tunnel_1 The Monster Hunters at the Spiritual Mines could live worry-free for ten years with their haul, but if the Qian Family got their hands on it, they would use it to their advantage and bully them instead. Although the Spiritual Mines were important, the priority was still the mining tunnel. After all, the tunnel determined whether everyone could retreat safely. Elder Yu understood well what was more critical. Elder Yu instructed everyone to focus on digging the tunnel first. In a few days, once the tunnel was ready and there was a way to escape, the Monster Hunters could then turn around and excavate the Spiritual Mines. Elder Yu demonstrated his frugality to the extreme, strolling in the mine shaft daily when he had nothing else to do, meticulously scraping off even the slightest bit of Spiritual Mine he came across against the wall and tucking it into his Storage Bag. According to Elder Yu, everything mineable should be mined, not leaving a single penny for the Qian Family, eating everything clean—meat and soup—so that even if the Qian Family licked the bowl, they wouldn’t taste a drop of soup! Mo Hua watched in admiration. He had only intended to take extreme measures, but he hadn’t expected it to be this ruthless! Worthy of Elder Yu indeed! Mo Hua learned a great deal. The activities of Elder Yu digging the mining tunnel were also discovered by the cultivators of the Qian Family. Qian Hong, aware of Elder Yu’s plans, had sent people to watch all over Big Black Mountain early on, looking for any trace of the Monster Hunters. Mining a tunnel couldn’t possibly happen without making some noise. And indeed, the Qian Family found traces of the Monster Hunters. It was an opening of a pit, surrounded by rubble, with grass and wood used to cover it up as a disguise. Qian Hong sneered inside, “Yu Changlin, oh Yu Changlin, you burrow and scheme like a rat, but in the end, you still fall into my hands?” Qian Hong had someone keep watch, but for several days, no Monster Hunters were seen coming out. Qian Hong frowned and ordered Qian Zhuang to take a team down to check. Qian Zhuang obeyed and, with a few Qian Family cultivators, carefully entered the tunnel. The tunnel was dark and damp, surrounded by rubble; it indeed looked freshly excavated. Qian Zhuang and his men searched inside for a long time without finding anything—not a trace of the Monster Hunters, nor any other people. As Qian Zhuang was perplexed, a cultivator from the Qian Family found a section of the wall that was lighter in color. When tapped with a finger, it made a sound, indicating the wall was very thin. The Qian Family cultivators exchanged glances, their expressions brightening. This indicated that there was a hollow behind the wall, a mining tunnel, and this wall was used to divert attention. The group of Monster Hunters was hiding behind this wall! Qian Zhuang led his men to break through the wall with all their might. The wall collapsed, and dust filled the air. When the dust settled, they saw a pair of blood-colored vertical pupils, the size of a bronze bell. Qian Zhuang gasped in shock. This damned creature wasn’t a Monster Hunter; it was a mature Monster Beast in the late stage of the first rank! The beast’s eyes held a mix of confusion, anger, and a bloodthirsty glee. Confused about why there were people in its den; angry because it was woken from its rest; and overjoyed because, upon awakening, it had food delivered right to its doorstep! In the narrow tunnel, the Monster Beast hunted and fed, while the Qian Family cultivators frantically fled for their lives. When Qian Zhuang and his men finally returned to Qian Hong, looking pitiful and beyond recognition, Qian Zhuang was seriously injured, but at least he was in one piece. The others were mostly missing arms and legs, and some stayed forever in that pit, resting in the belly of the beast. Qian Hong’s expression couldn’t remain calm any longer. Despite his deep scheming, he was livid, grinding his teeth as he said: “Well played, Yu Changlin, digging a fake tunnel next to the beast to fool me! This is crossing the line!” The Qian Family disciples all bowed their heads, not daring to speak. Some time later, another Qian Family disciple arrived to report the discovery of yet another tunnel. Qian Hong’s eyelid twitched, his mind filled with uncertainty. The mining tunnel here might indeed be real, but at the same time, it might also be another Mystery Formation laid by Yu Changlin as a trap for him. But since it was discovered, it was impossible not to investigate. Qian Hong again ordered several disciples to go ahead and also reminded them to be cautious, wary of potential Monster Beasts in the pit. As Qian Hong expected, there indeed were Monster Beasts in the pit. The investigating Qian family disciples came back, yet not all of them came back. They still returned missing arms and legs, still having lost several lives. They were cautious, but in front of the Monster Beasts, their caution was meaningless. The pit connected to the Monster Beasts’ nest, was dimly lit, the terrain narrow, making it inconvenient for cultivators to advance or retreat, while the residing Monster Beasts were in their element. Monster Beasts are inherently stronger than cultivators of the same realm, and even experienced Monster Hunters hunting them usually seek out open spaces, patiently engaging in a battle of wits with the beasts, outnumbering them with several people or even more than a dozen to surround and eliminate them. Qian family cultivators, not skilled in Monster Hunting, venturing into such narrow and dark nests, were essentially delivering themselves on a platter. Their resistance was merely a prelude to the Monster Beasts’ feast. Qian Hong felt his Blood Qi rising, wishing he could curse Yu Changlin out loud, but for the sake of maintaining the Family Head’s dignity, he restrained himself, yet his mood remained unsettled for a long time. Afterwards, the Qian family discovered two more mining tunnels, but Qian Hong dared not send anyone down. He did not dare to gamble with the lives of Qian family disciples. It finally dawned on him that Yu Changlin was a Monster Hunter, having dealt with Big Black Mountain all his life, he was very familiar with everything in these mountains; if not knowing it like the back of his hand, at least much more than he did. To find his dug tunnels in these mountains was pretty much a fool’s errand. And once they made a mistake, it would cost lives, a price of trial and error he could not afford. He was indeed the Family Head of the Qian family, but it wasn’t necessary that he would always be the Family Head. Qian Hong’s expression was grave, his brows deeply furrowed. Qian Zhongxuan, standing by, couldn’t help sneering to himself, thinking, now you know how formidable that old fellow Yu Changlin is? Now, he actually hoped for Qian Hong’s misfortune. The more successful Qian Hong was in capturing the spiritual mines, the more it underscored his, Qian Zhongxuan’s, failure. Conversely, the more Qian Hong encountered setbacks, the less noticeable his own failures became. Qian Zhuang, watching Qian Zhongxuan’s expression, instantly understood his calculations. A feeling of “great minds think alike” couldn’t help but arise in his heart. “If the Family Head fails, then Elder Qian’s failure doesn’t count for much, and just as Elder Qian’s failure doesn’t count for much, then my failure doesn’t count for anything either…” “And now with both the Family Head and Elder Qian failing together, my failure becomes even less noteworthy!” Qian Zhuang’s heart suddenly felt much lighter, and the wounds bleeding on his body seemed to hurt less. Since they couldn’t find the tunnels used by the Monster Hunters to escape, couldn’t intercept them, the only thing the Qian family could do was to attack directly from the front, break the Formation, and breach the stone walls at the entrance. There were seven or eight entrances to the mining tunnels, with Qian family cultivators divided into groups, they advanced side by side, striving to breach them all. In this way, with a swarm of Qian family cultivators, the Monster Hunters, running out of medicine and food, wouldn’t be able to hold out for long. In the following days, the Qian family ceaselessly chiseled away at the wall, sparing neither day nor night. Qian Hong appeared calm on the surface, but inside, he was burning with impatience. He knew if they delayed any longer and allowed Yu Changlin to finish mining the spiritual mines and escape, his efforts would be in vain! With a loud boom, another stone wall was broken down. Behind the demolished stone wall, just as Qian Hong anticipated, there indeed was a third stone wall, with yet another third Formation! Qian Hong only felt a surge of anger rushing to his crown, secretly wishing he could tear the Formation Master who drew this Formation into pieces! But he was helpless, only able to suppress this anger, close his eyes, and wave his hand in resignation: “Continue digging!”