Du Zhong slowly woke up, feeling a splitting headache and aches all over his body. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, surprised to find himself in an unfamiliar stable.
"Where is this? How did I end up here..." Du Zhong muttered to himself, trying to recall what had happened before. He remembered that he had been punished by the sect leader to clean the stables! Later, he was knocked unconscious by Du Heng.
He rubbed his temples and cursed as he got up from the ground. Just then, a groom he had never seen before walked in, looked at Du Zhong, and said loudly, "Newcomer, what are you doing standing there? Hurry up and pick out all the horse manure in the stables! I heard that the kitchen has made crispy chicken and eight-treasure duck today. When you finish your work, we can go enjoy the delicious food together!"
Du Zhong took the shovel from the groom with a look of suspicion, wondering: How could this sect leader give away all his gold and still have such abundant financial resources to enjoy delicious food? Could he have another way to make money?
Just as he was puzzled, the groom's face lit up with pride. He smiled and explained, "Hey, you don't know, our Pavilion Master is an expert at making money! Look, he just successfully earned another 20,000 taels of gold!"
Upon hearing this, Du Zhong's face suddenly changed, and he asked in astonishment, "Wait! What did you just say? Pavilion Master? Where...where am I now?"
Before he could finish his words, he heard a clear and pleasant female voice beside him, as sweet as a yellow oriole singing in a valley: "Hey, Big Hammer! Aren't you at Dragon Bone Mountain? This is the stable of Dark Moon Pavilion!"
As soon as Du Zhong saw Ying Twelve, he couldn't help but feel a surge of anger in his heart, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably: "Eagle Twelve, Eagle Twelve! I didn't expect you to be so despicable and shameless! You took advantage of me when I was unconscious and abducted me here!" He glared at the former acquaintance in front of him, his eyes full of resentment and unwillingness.
However, Ying Twelve didn't take Du Zhong's accusations seriously. He simply glanced at him coldly and sneered, "Come on! Blame it on yourself! It was Little Hammer who sold you to our Dark Moon Pavilion to do odd jobs! Here, this is your indenture! If you know what's good for you, get to work!"
With that, Ying Twelve casually waved his hand, and a yellowed piece of paper fluttered down before Du Zhong. Du Zhong took a closer look, and sure enough, it clearly stated that he had been sold to the Dark Moon Pavilion. He trembled with anger, his teeth chattering, but he felt helpless. Faced with this situation, Du Zhong knew he had no choice but to endure it for now and look for a chance to escape.
Eagle Twelve took a few steps forward, but quickly retreated back, shouting in a calm tone, "Big Stupid! Don't even think about escaping! The entire Dragon Bone Mountain is filled with traps meticulously laid out by the Pavilion Master. If you attempt to escape, not only will you fail, you might even lose your life!"
Inside the Soul-Draining Gate, Xi Ruming concentrated on taking Xueying's pulse. After a moment, a puzzled look crossed his face. "Young Master, your pulse is steady and strong, showing no signs of poisoning. However, I find it puzzling why you are completely paralyzed and unable to move at all. I am truly at my wit's end!"
Blood Shadow's body radiated chills. He gritted his teeth and said angrily, "That sinister and cunning woman, Dark Moon Enchantress, was inferior to her opponent in skills, so she resorted to such despicable means and actually poisoned me!"
Xi Ruming stroked his beard gently and said thoughtfully, "Young Master, from what I see, it doesn't seem like poisoning! If you still can't recover by this time tomorrow, then we have no choice but to rush to Dragon Bone Mountain and demand justice from them!"
Xueying felt a surge of pent-up anger rising in his chest, making it almost impossible to breathe. He stared fiercely into the distance, gritting his teeth and saying, "Next time, I will absolutely not show her any mercy! I will capture her alive, tie her up tightly with ropes, and then give her a merciless beating to vent my hatred!"
Xi Ruming, watching from the side, was secretly surprised. His previously cloudy eyes shifted slightly, as if in deep thought. According to the Young Master's usual personality, if faced with such a situation, he would have immediately taken Dark Moon Fairy's life. However, this time, the Young Master actually said such words, which truly surprised him.
Xi Ruming gently touched the beard on his chin and advised earnestly: "Young Master, we still have more important things to do. Why bother with such a scum of the world? It will delay the important things." He knew that Xueying was impulsive and irritable, but at this moment, he had to stabilize the overall situation.
Shang Lu came in to report to Xue Ying, only to find Xue Ying's face sullen and cold, staring ahead, seemingly oblivious to Shang Lu's question. Shang Lu frowned, then raised his voice slightly and asked again, "Master, Du Zhong has been sold to the Dark Moon Pavilion by Du Heng! Should we go and rescue him?"
Hearing this, Xueying felt annoyed and couldn't help but shout angrily, "Let him fend for himself in the Dark Moon Pavilion! That nagging and stupid guy will only bring us trouble. Who knows, he might even make the Dark Moon Pavilion a mess and cause unrest!"
Du Zhong was shoveling horse manure in the spacious but slightly dim stable of Dark Moon Pavilion. Time passed by minute by minute, and before he knew it, a long time had passed. By the time he straightened up, the sun was already high overhead, and it was already lunchtime.
Hungry, Du Zhong clapped his hands, turned, and left the stable, searching for the Dark Moon Pavilion's dining room. He walked through corridor after corridor, around corner after corner, but still couldn't see the dining room. He couldn't help but wonder, "Where on earth is this Dark Moon Pavilion's dining room hidden?" After a long search, he finally found a half-open door with a tattered sign hanging above it, faintly visible as "Dining Room."
Pushing open the door, Du Zhong walked in with great anticipation, but the scene before him disappointed him greatly—there was no trace of food on the empty table, and even the rice bucket that should have been filled with food had been cleaned out. "Has everyone here already finished lunch?" Du Zhong muttered to himself.
Unwilling to give up, he went back to the kitchen, hoping to find some leftovers to fill his stomach. However, when he entered, he saw a ridiculous scene: several cooks sat around a table, happily gambling with dice, while the cooks sat leisurely nearby, cracking melon seeds and occasionally laughing. No one cared about the poor starving Du Zhong.
Du Zhong frowned and asked anxiously, "Where's the food? I've been so busy that I only have time to come over and have a meal!" As he spoke, he glanced around, hoping to find some trace of food.
At this time, a chubby cook walked over slowly, the fat on his face trembling slightly as he walked. He glanced at Du Zhong and replied lazily, "It's already past dinner time. How come you, a newcomer, don't even know this? But you can go ask Miss Twelve; she might have some leftovers." After saying this, he patted his round belly, as if to indicate that he was full.
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