“You incompetent fools!”

Inside the main room of the iron mine’s administration building, ten pale-faced guards kneeled on the floor, deathly silent, trembling. 

All of them had been on guard duty during the Lunar New Year celebration when Yan Chen and Shanyang escaped. 

The guards had been bored out of their minds and envious of their celebrating colleagues. So, they sneaked a few drinks, even though their captain had strictly forbidden guards from drinking alcohol while on duty. 

Because of their negligence, Yan Chen and Shanyang’s escape remained unnoticed for a whole night until an overseer realized the pair hadn’t shown up to work. 

Before the guards stood a towering man who had just shouted at them. His arms were crossed tightly across his chest, and a grim expression on his face. The giant man was their captain. He stared at the kneeling guards with anger burning in his eyes. 

Beside him was the administrator, who was a lanky man. He sat behind a desk on a wooden chair with his legs crossed. His look of indifference created a contrast with the furious guard captain.

While the administrator studied the expressions of the ten shaking guards, the captain bellowed at them. His deep voice boomed in the guards’ ears.

“First, a slave and a goat escaped while you were on duty because of your incompetence! But then, none of you could find the malnourished slave and goat! How do you think you should be punished?” 

The guards stayed silent, unable to speak because they knew they had messed up. 

After receiving no response, the captain closed his eyes, appearing to be deep in thought.

It felt like an eternity to the guards as they waited for their captain to speak again. Every minute that passed in silence caused the guards to become more and more terrified. 

Suddenly, a soft voice broke the silence. “Younger Brother.” 

The captain let out a deep sigh. He opened his eyes and looked at the administrator. He raised a hand, gesturing for the administrator to continue speaking.

“Now normally, you would all be severely punished. But because of your loyalty, your only punishment will be a deduction of the same amount of money the slave and goat were worth from your salaries.”

The guards sighed with relief from escaping the terrible punishment they had expected. But their bodies stiffened when the administrator spoke again. 

“However, if this happens again, do not expect the same leniency from me. I will make you wish you were dead.” 

The guards froze in fear, feeling that they really would regret messing up again.

“Leave,” only after the administrator said that did the guards regain control of their bodies.

They quickly scampered out of the room like mice fleeing from a vicious predator. 

After the last guard exited the room, the captain spoke to the administrator. 

“Big Brother, why did you let them off with such a minor punishment? We should have at least fired them for their ineptitude.”  

The administrator and captain referred to each other as brothers because they were actually blood-related brothers. 

The administrator sighed. “Younger brother, don’t you remember Father’s plan? We need all the manpower we can get at the iron mine. That is why I decided not to dispose of them right now, because we can’t afford to. Besides, the slave that escaped was one we kidnapped seven years ago. He’s already made us enough money to pay off the silver we spent on keeping him and the goat alive multiple times over.”

“But Big Brother, what should we do if the other slaves try to escape?” The guard captain’s question was a concern the administrator had been prepared for.

The elder brother indifferently responded by saying, “Just decapitate a slave from the upcoming batch, disfigure them, and then place their naked body outside as a warning to the other slaves.”

The captain shuddered at his elder brother’s nonchalant attitude toward killing a slave. Although the captain didn’t care too much about the slaves, he was not ruthless enough to kill one of them just to create a deterrence.

The administrator continued speaking, “Even if they still try to escape, they won’t be able to use the same method.”

He was confident because Yan Chen’s method of escape by digging a tunnel was something the other slaves were simply incapable of pulling off. 

They would first need to get tools in order to dig a tunnel large enough to fit a person, which was nigh impossible, because each tool was returned and recorded every day. Yan Chen had only obtained one because of the chaos the disaster that happened several years ago caused. 

The administrator was also planning to implement new regular inspections of the whole iron mine site that would make any slave’s attempt in digging an escape tunnel futile.

With his concerns assuaged, the guard captain left the room. 

Now all alone, the administrator took out a set of writing materials and began writing a monthly report that would be sent to his father. It was mainly about the amount of iron being produced, costs incurred, and any other miscellaneous events that occurred. He also included information about Yan Chen and Shanyang’s escape. Although the guards failed to capture them, they found out that the pair were heading to Linshan City, which was where the administrator’s clan was based in. So on the off-chance the clan encountered and recognized Yan Chen and Shanyang, they could choose to capture them.

The administrator let the ink dry before rolling it up and placing it into a small capsule. Then he removed the cloth covering a birdcage on his desk. 

Inside it was the administrator’s personal messenger pigeon. The white pigeon cocked his head and began cooing when the cloth was removed. Happy to see his master, the pigeon walked around in circles while flapping his wings.

The administrator smiled and spoke to the bird while opening the cage.“Did you sleep well?”

The pigeon hopped out of the cage and flew up to the administrator’s shoulder. He cooed and affectionately nuzzled against the man’s neck.

“I need you to send a message.”

The pigeon cooed again, delighting his master.

“What a good boy,” the administrator cooed. “Yes, you are such a good bird. The best bird in the⁠ whole wide world. Let me give you a kiss.” 

“Big Brother! So, I forgot to tell you my idea about the...” The guard captain had burst into the room right when his cold-blooded brother was giving the top of his beloved pigeon’s head a quick peck. 

The captain’s eyes widened to the size of dishes, and his jaw dropped in astonishment. 

The administrator froze, startled by his younger brother’s sudden entrance. He had been occupied with so many matters that he forgot to lock the door. 

Realizing that he had been seen kissing his pigeon, the administrator’s face turned an unsightly shade of red.

Seeing the enraged expression on his big brother’s face, the captain nervously chuckled as he inched toward the exit. “Big Brother, I didn’t see anything. I’m just going to⁠—”

The administrator let out a thunderous roar. “Get the fuck out!” 

The captain immediately ran out of the room to avoid his elder brother’s wrath. He rushed through the halls of the building, his mind trying to process what he had seen. He had never seen his older brother show affection to anyone. In fact, the captain believed that the word ‘love’ did not even exist in his elder brother’s vocabulary. 

Their dear mother would be heartbroken if she ever found out that her eldest son treated a mere bird with more love and compassion than she had ever received.

The captain burst out of the administration building. He closed his eyes as he took in a big breath of air through his mouth to calm his nerves. 

“Captain, did something happen? You don’t look so well.” A weak voice called out behind the captain. 

The voice belonged to a concerned-looking Lao Shu who had emerged from the administration building right after the captain. 

“Oh Lao Shu, I’m fine. I just wanted to exercise a bit.” The captain didn’t tell the truth because he was afraid of what his elder brother would do if rumors spread.

“Are you sure? You looked really terrified earlier.” Lao Shu asked again, appearing to have a genuine concern for the captain’s odd behavior.

The captain nodded his head and stretched his lips into a smile. “Yes, I’m really okay. You don’t have to worry about me. Thanks for asking though.” 

Noticing the captain’s unwillingness to talk about what had just happened, Lao Shu asked, “By the way, what did the administrator say about your idea?”

The captain rubbed his head and said, “I didn’t get a chance to tell elder brother, but I think he’ll definitely agree to it.”

An expression flickered across Lao Shu’s face, too fast for the captain to see. Lao Shu smiled. “That’s wonderful. I think I should get back to work now. I can’t waste any more of your time.”

The captain waved Lao Shu goodbye with a smile on his face. 

‘What a nice fellow. It’s a pity that he isn’t my sibling. Instead, I have someone like… ’ 

The captain shuddered, afraid to continue down his current line of thought. And so, he decided to keep himself occupied in order to forget about what had happened in the administration building.

Meanwhile, a snow-white pigeon flew out of a window, soaring through the clouds; his destination was Linshan City.