“Meat… I need meat… Lot’s of meat…” Gon began to drool at the thought of food. If he remembered correctly, one of the workers in the mines had a family member running a farm nearby. That way he could get his protein intake.

  Also, donkeys and mules were common in mines such as these to transport goods. A farm would be required to look after them nearby.

  Gon lost his balance, staggering to the wall as the cave shook. Yells came across the cavern, gathering everyone up.

  “We’ve unearthed a nest of Kolomodor Salamanders! Get everyone to leave until we get the Outer Disciples to clear them out, now!”

  Sweat fell from his forehead. What kind of timing is this? Right after I resurrected?

  Gon heard someone yell in the distance.

  Memories of his new body flitted past his head.

  The Kolomodor Salamanders loved living underground to hibernate during the summer season. They were a creature capable of breathing cold mists and ice crystals, with a deep blue leather skin and the size of at least a small car.

  And when interrupted from their hibernation, it was like putting a red flag in front of a mad bull.

  One of them would be fine to handle with a team of miners, but they would always be found in a group of a family, of around three to five.

  And today was the worst case scenario.

  There were six Kolomodor Salamanders who had been interrupted from their hibernation.

  Gon walked, barely able to put any pressure on his feet, to see the open view.

  Something was off.

  The light of the oil lanterns in the mines were finally in Gon’s view, alongside the largest areas in the caverns. Dozens of workers were scrambling to get to the exit, escaping the thundering sounds of the reptilian beasts.

  “Get out of my way!” A miner yelled, clawing his way past his compatriots.

  “Bastard! Stop shoving!”

  “I don’t want to die!” Another miner had curled into a ball off to the side, his body trembled in fear and terror.

  The Kolomodor Salamanders were hot on their trail as they dashed towards the group of fleeing miners, their eyes red with bloodlust. The leader of the pack opened his mouth wide, from which a blue light gathered, and with a ferocious roar, shot out a radiating light.

  The light coalesced and hardened into an arm sized icicle that shone with frigid intent, which with blinding speed collided into the top of the exit tunnel. A deep rumbling sound erupted as the ceiling shook with extreme tremors. Boulder’s began to fall and collapsed onto the fleeing miner’s, sealing their path of retreat.

  “No!”

  “We were so close…”

  The miner’s faced with a closed path in front and the salamanders behind, slumped onto the ground helpless. Life had drained from their eyes as they accepted their fate.

  Six of the beasts gathered near the hallway that led to the exit. Dozens of miners were stuck near it, now with their only hope of escape destroyed.

  And the rest of the miners around the cave had given up.

  Yet Gon had now walked towards the centre, observing the mine from top to bottom.

  He hummed, observing everything with a hand to his chin.

  He was irritated. But not at the appearance of the ghastly Kolomodor Salamanders seeking to wreak havoc and chaos.

  He saw the rotting timber wood used at supports, barely in any condition to be used as support. If anyone accidently ran into it with a minecart, it wouldn’t be surprising for the timber to collapse. In fact, it didn’t even look like they used a minecart.

  The ceilings were quite low, without even enough room for an average person to stand in some of the hallways.

  Gon smelt the stagnant air from terrible airflow and ventilation, with a chalky scent from the shattered rocks and ores. He noticed the dampness at the bottom, which meant flooding happened frequently enough as well.

  Seeing all this, and comparing it to the modern mines of his time, Gon almost began to shake in anger.

  “This mine… Is one rickety old piece of shit! Do they want everyone to be killed off before getting enough resources?! For some powerful sect, they can’t even do the bare minimum! Ethereal Life? More like the Infernal Death Sect!”

  His voice echoed throughout the mine. Every single miner had heard them, let alone the Kolomodor Salamanders.

  The cries and sobbing of the miner’s resigned to their fate stopped.

  The shuddering of the miners in the corner seeking to forget reality stopped.

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  The hungry and maddened Kolomodor Salamanders had also tilted their head towards Gon.

  Even they stopped. They all stared at Gon in shock.

  It was like watching a ghost come back to haunt them.

  “Are you crazy?! Did you just insinuate the sect is a demonic cult?! They’ll brand you as a demon and exterminate all nine of your generations!”

  “K-Kuang Gong?! I’m seeing ghosts now?! Is this my fault for not even burying you?! Heavens, please forgive this foolish servant!”

  “Wait, Kuang Gong?! Shouldn’t he be dead?!”

  “Who the hell didn’t bury him? We now have a Jiangshi walking among us?!”

  Gon held his pickaxe on his shoulder, thinking on how to deal with the situation. He observed the lanterns, getting close to getting a fantastic ide-

  New Quest! Defeat The-

  “Can you just SHUT UP!”

  His last two words almost shook the mine, echoing across every single hallway.

  All the miners were in shock, as if they were seeing a completely different man.

  “We’re finished… We managed to bring about a disaster… The Ghost of Kuang Gong came back with a punishment…”

  “Forgive me Kuang Gong. I wasn’t familiar with your game. I now realise you were a true man amongst men, a rising dragon for insulting the Young Miss of the sect.”

  “Idiot, wouldn’t he be a rising ghost instead?”

  The leader of the Kolomodor Salamanders faced Kuang Gong, having seemingly riled all of his prey with just his existence.

  It recognised this existence as the king of all miners, the one who ruled over these prey.

  And a king should always aim to kill the other king. With that, it would be easier to conquer these mines and then devour all its prey.

  All six of the Kolomodor Salamanders walked away from the exit, now gathering in the central cave to face Gon.

  Gon stared at the rotting timber wood used as supports.

  He smirked, even when faced with six of these beasts.

  Everyone’s shitting themselves. But, I’ll need their help to deal with this situation. So I’ll need to take the lead and gather morale.

  Gon pointed his pickaxe towards the king of the Kolomodor Salamanders, making a declaration to the entire mine, no, the entire world!

  “Listen up! We are the ones who build the foundations of this world! They all rely on us to build the tallest buildings, the strongest houses, and the sturdiest roads and bridges!”

  Those who had collapsed, those who were curled up, and those who had given up. They all heard those words, observing the words of the rising ghost.

  In their eyes was curiosity, for his words rang true.

  And that maybe, just maybe, there was hope in this situation.

  Gon ran away.

  Everyone had the urge to smash their head open like an ore against a pickaxe for even thinking of hope.

  The six beasts ignored everyone else, chasing Gon.

  He held the pickaxe in his left hand, aiming it outward.

  “From the tallest pagodas to the grandest floating cities, the most extravagant manors to even the most renowned prisons, we’re the ones that supply the materials needed to build them all!”

  Gon smashed through a rotting timber wood used for support on his left, running towards the next one.

  Cracks formed in the ceiling.

  Goosebumps filled his entire body as he felt the instinct to dodge to the right, and an icicle crystal whizzed right past his head.

  That was close! Good thing dodging all those stalactites in my old job built up my instinct!

  “Civilisation itself is built by our hands! We labourers are the makers of worlds, the creators of destiny, and you all want to shrivel away because of a bunch of lizard brains?! Get real!”

  Gon cleaved right through another pillar of timber, the old wood ripping a part as if he were breaking a kit kat bar in two.

  The ceiling shifted, with debris and rocks raining down upon the Kolomodor Salamanders.

  They paid it no heed, with how little damage it did.

  This is ridiculous! How much of a shithole is this mine? Gon stared at the third timber pillar, the last one he needed to aim for.

  The gap between him and the lizard beasts from the beginning had now shortened, and if he stumbled for even a second, he would be in biting range of the leader of the beasts.

  Truly lizard brains. They’ve just been interrupted during hibernation, and they’re all starved as well. Because of that I know I can pull this off!

  “Get off your asses and raise your pickaxe! Are you going to die here now without even fighting back? For someone whose damn near the only reason the Infernal Death Sect even exists, you sure are all useless!”

  Gon smashed right through the final timber, the creaks now getting louder and louder.

  The same goosebumps came back, and Gon dodged to the side.

  Freezing pain mixed with searing fire came from Gon’s hip, as a chunk of meat was ripped out from an icicle crystal he barely managed to dodge.

  Ignoring all the pain, he continued to run.

  He just needed a bit more time.

  And all the miners had now realised the crazy plan of Gon.

  Large sections of the ceiling opening up, with massive chunks of rocks falling on the beasts.

  Like a domino effect, it continued until a storm of rocks smashed and bruised the Kolomodor Salamanders, making them slow down and even a few unconscious.

  Sensing his plan succeeding, Gon stopped near a lit lantern, watching the cave-in cover the beasts.

  At the very least, with their movements stopped, he and all the miners could work together to deal with them.

  The roars of the beasts subsided as even more debris and rocks fell on them, until they were buried in a grave of the earth.

  “Stop lazing around! If all of us strike it down with our pickaxes, they’ll be dead for good!” Watching everyone slow down at the cave-in, Gon rallied them all once more.

  “Listen to the rising ghost! Either way, if we do nothing we’re dead!”

  With battle cries, every single man in the mine rose, ready for battle and to fight for their life.

  The despair of looming death now transformed into the rage of a labourer, adrenaline pumping their body as they all ran.

  Some of the smaller beasts at the back had their heads caved in, and some miners stabbed away until their pickaxe pierced their brains to ensure complete death.

  Gon sighed, giving himself a moment to relax. “Good, that’s good. The plan worked out.”

  Wiping away the sweat off his forehead, Gon took in a deep breath. Just running nonstop took everything out of him, let alone smashing those rotted timbers.

  Well, at least this was the one time in his life he could thank an absolute garbage mine for having terrible timbers for support.

  “We should at least cook these things. Honestly, as long as it’s meat, I’ll eat anything if it's cooked and spiced up.”

  Gon let go of his pickaxe.

  There was a crash of rocks and debris, with the roar of an undefeated beast resounding across the mine.

  “Watch out, Kuang Gong!” Someone yelled out to warn him.

  The leader of the Kolomodor Salamander rushed out the cave-in, running towards Gon with bloodied reptilian eyes.

  Its throat vividly glowed blue, the thorax ready to skewer Gon with dozens of icicle beams.

  Its mouth was wide open with hundreds of sharp teeth, ready to kill him in one blow.

  Every single miner had thought Gon was dead. This time completely dead.

  Though, they still weren’t sure if he was a ghost or not. Could a risen ghost die?

  But though everyone expected Gon to look in despair, they saw something else completely.

  An expression no one expected.

  “Oi lizard brain, you think that’ll be enough to kill me?”

  Gon was relaxed, even if he was completely unarmed now.

  With no weapons, or powers, or even the strength of a potential cultivator, he stood in the face of a raging beast.

  And all he had on his face was a shit eating grin.