Zhou Yi suffered another brutal beating, tilting his head back weakly, “Stop… hitting me…”

The slave throwing punches didn’t stop. The overseers watching from the side only spoke after they’d had their fun: “Alright, let him go into the cave.”

Only then did Chen Zhou stop. Without even blinking, he released his grip on Zhou Yi’s collar and silently returned to the line with his head lowered.

Zhou Yi staggered to his feet and followed behind him, vaguely hearing the overseers’ conversation: “…The higher-ups said as long as he doesn’t die, we can play with him however we want.”

The words “play with him however we want” put him on alert.

He sensed that his upcoming experience here wouldn’t be pleasant.

If it were just getting beaten and working daily, he could endure while waiting for his family to rescue him.

Zhou Yi wasn’t stupid. He realized his confinement here was likely ordered by Ya Sheng. The overseer had just said as long as he doesn’t die, which meant he was still useful alive.

If Ya Sheng reached an agreement with the Zhou Clan’s trading company, perhaps they would release him.

But after going this far, the hope of being released seemed extremely slim. Still, Zhou Yi felt he couldn’t give up hope, at least not yet.

Outside, there must be people who wouldn’t abandon him, who would keep searching for him.

*

Surprisingly, entering the burning cave wasn’t as hot as it was outside.

It wasn’t as dark inside as Zhou Yi had imagined, either. Burning lanterns sat on the ground, and occasional fire lines flashed across the blackened stone walls. Without the lanterns, when the fire lines flickered, the cave would have been eerily dim, then bright.

Each cave housed about thirty people. The slaves descended to the bottom using iron chain ladders. Zhou Yi looked up, estimating the cave to be over thirty feet high, making it difficult to exit without tools.

After all the slaves descended, the overseers would pull up the ladder, ensuring they couldn’t escape.

Zhou Yi rubbed his beaten face, wincing in pain. He couldn’t help looking for the man who had beaten him, the one called “Pig Slave,” but all the slaves here looked similar.

They were all similarly filthy, disheveled, making it hard to tell who was who.

Zhou Yi bent down to pick up a lantern and turned around in place. He didn’t find Pig Slave, but saw others either squatting or standing in front of the black walls, digging and scraping with their hands, leaving trails of marks.

These blackened walls were thicker and stickier than marsh mud, appearing solid but proving otherwise when touched.

The slaves’ job was to dig out what Wang Geng and the others needed from these black walls: fire-stone jade.

These were hidden in the black wall’s mud, as small as thumbnail covers, yet stunningly beautiful with clear fire-jade coloring. They were easy to spot but difficult to extract.

Zhou Yi watched them silently digging at the walls. The black mud that fell to the ground would be absorbed and disappear after a while. The entire passage was black because of the constant falling and absorption of mud, making the ground increasingly wet.

Everyone had a cloth bag at their waist specifically for storing fire-stone jade.

They showed no joy when finding fire-stone jade, just carefully placing it in their bags before continuing to dig.

Zhou Yi thought to himself that no wonder some people had black mud in their fingernails. He had previously guessed these slaves might be digging something with their hands, and he turned out to be right.

The slaves ignored each other, and no one paid attention to him. Zhou Yi carried the lantern deeper in, discovering how vast the tunnel was. He didn’t dare venture further into uninhabited areas.

Turning back, he noticed one of the wall-diggers had blood on his hands. He brought the lantern closer for a better look—it was indeed Pig Slave who had beaten him.

Zhou Yi stood beside him with the lantern, watching him silently dig at the wall. His luck seemed better than others; when a large chunk of black mud fell, he crouched down to work through it, crushing and searching until he found several glowing fire-stone jades to put in his waist bag.

Growing bold, Zhou Yi directly blocked Chen Zhou’s hand as he was storing the items, snatching a fire-stone jade.

Chen Zhou ignored him and continued digging for jade.

Zhou Yi crouched down and asked, “Not going to hit me anymore?”

His question received no response.

Zhou Yi said, “I vaguely heard that you were once a cultivator too… Last night, someone told me you weren’t always like this, that you were a good person… That’s what the bright-eyed girl with the nice voice said.”

The man still ignored him.

Zhou Yi looked down at the fire-stone jade in his hand. Its shape was irregular, yet its surface was incredibly smooth. It felt slightly cool and seemed to draw heat from his palm. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but as the temperature rose, the jade’s glow became more enticingly beautiful.

“Were you all captured just to dig these things from these strange black mud walls?”

“Just this… just this pretty little thing, what use is it? And what’s with this black mud? This pit seems like a natural formation, not man-made, but nurtured by heaven and earth. If so… then this little thing must be related to stellar meridian power.”

“Haven’t you wondered why people who enter here lose their stellar meridian power and can’t sense the stellar force?”

“…What’s your name? How long have you been captured?”

“Or at least tell me the name of that bright-eyed girl.”

“Where were you from before?”

The only response was the sound of fingernails scraping the mud wall. The echo in the cave wasn’t strong, but since no one was talking, his questions to Chen Zhou sounded very clear.

Yet no one turned to look at them.

Finding that he was being completely ignored, Zhou Yi put away the fire-stone jade and grabbed Chen Zhou’s mud-digging hand: “I can’t just take your beatings for nothing, right? Shouldn’t you at least acknowledge me and say something?”

Chen Zhou shook off his hand, but Zhou Yi wouldn’t let go. During their struggle, they both fell to the ground. When Chen Zhou tried to get up, Zhou Yi held onto his foot, saying, “You need to tell me something so we can figure out how to leave this place!”

A chuckle sounded, not from Chen Zhou, but from a slave behind them.

Zhou Yi turned to look: “What are you laughing at? Are you going to report us?”

The man shook his head and said to him, “You’re… different from us.”

Zhou Yi asked: “How am I different?”

The man just shook his head again, giving him a meaningful look before grinning: “But soon, you’ll be just like us.”

Zhou Yi: “What do you mean?”

Chen Zhou struggled free but didn’t fight back. Zhou Yi released him and went to pester the male slave who had just spoken to him. This person appeared to be about the same height and age as him, but his face was covered in scars. The part connecting to his left ear showed uneven marks from burns, looking somewhat creepy in the half-light.

“Since you’ve spoken, say more.”

Zhou Yi wanted more information, but these people stopped talking, treating him like he was invisible, ignoring him no matter how much he bothered them.

He needed more intelligence to figure out a way to escape.

Finally, Zhou Yi returned to Chen Zhou, took a deep breath, and punched him. Focused on his work, Chen Zhou was caught off guard and knocked to the ground.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you, but I thought it might get some reaction from you, make you talk to me…” Before Zhou Yi could finish, he saw Chen Zhou silently get up from the ground, not even glancing at him, and continue working.

It seemed he was determined to ignore him.

Zhou Yi thought, maybe he should throw a few more punches, return the suffering he had endured.

He thought it and did it. Chen Zhou didn’t fight back when beaten, allowing Zhou Yi to hit him, only repeating the motion of getting up from the ground to dig for fire-stone jade in the black mud wall.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yi, whose injuries hadn’t healed, lay on the ground gasping for breath after throwing just a few punches.

He looked at the fire lines flashing across the black stone ceiling and thought: What the hell kind of place is this?

*

Xian Chi Tower, sixth floor.

Wang Geng woke up, washed his face to clear his mind, and after drinking a hangover soup, he became even more lucid. Recalling what he’d said the night before, he turned to ask Shi Dang who was following behind: “What did you hear last night?”

Shi Dang smiled obsequiously: “Ya Sheng had his disciple bring a new slave.”

Wang Geng raised an eyebrow: “Just that?”

Shi Dang nodded repeatedly: “Just that.”

Of course, any mocking words about the holy pilgrim were “not heard at all.”

Wang Geng nodded with satisfaction, sat down at the table, and a maid came forward to massage his shoulders. He leaned back comfortably.

Shi Dang directed other servants to bring breakfast.

Wang Geng asked: “What’s that boy’s background?”

Shi Dang said, “Star Master Xu has checked. His name is Zhou Yi, the young master of Zhou Clan’s trading company.”

“Even important figures, sect senior brothers, and trading company young masters are being thrown at me.” Wang Geng closed his eyes and laughed coldly: “How did he offend Ya Sheng?”

“It’s probably a conflict between trading companies.” Shi Dang didn’t know much either and answered with difficulty, trying to change the subject: “Ya Sheng’s intention is just to keep him alive.”

“The meaning of those words… it seems this person still has some use to him.” Wang Geng opened his eyes, full of malicious intent. “As long as he doesn’t die, that’s easy enough. I was getting bored torturing Pig Slave anyway. Ya Sheng has sent a fresh plaything to entertain me. How considerate.”

Shi Dang agreed: “Indeed, indeed. How does the Star Master want to play this time?”

Wang Geng stroked his chin: “People, when they’re human, like to be clean and presentable, wearing the best, adorning themselves with the best, eating the best. Now that he’s become a slave in our pit, we certainly can’t let him think he’s still a ‘good person.'”

“Let’s do this: first, strip off his clothes. Our esteemed trading company’s young master needs to understand that pigs don’t need to wear clothes.”

*

In the cave, Zhou Yi couldn’t get any response from the slaves, so he studied the fire-stone jade in the black wall, digging alongside them, searching for fire-stone jade in the black mud. By the time the overseers lowered the ladder, he had only found about a dozen.

The sound of iron chains hitting the walls echoed in the cave as the overseer called from above: “Work’s done! Hurry over and deliver your goods!”

The slaves who had been busy all day stopped their work, not bothering with the piles of unabsorbed black mud on the ground, and walked barefoot on the wet surface toward the cave entrance.

They climbed up the iron chain ladder. At the exit, each needed to pour the fire-stone jade from their cloth bags into the box the overseer held out before going up.

If anyone was found to have fewer than thirty fire-stone jades, they would be kicked back down to dig more until they met the quota.

Discovering someone who couldn’t even gather thirty, the overseer cursed: “What have you been doing all day? You can’t even dig up thirty, useless! Stupid and dumb like a pig, and we still have to feed you. Get back down there and finish digging before you come up!”

After all, if the slaves under his supervision didn’t provide enough fire-stone jade, his wages would be docked.

The person kicked down from above lay motionless on the ground, unknown whether dead or unconscious.

Zhou Yi counted his fire-stone jade, which wasn’t enough either. He hesitated whether to climb up, seeing that doing so would just get him kicked back down.

While he hesitated, Chen Zhou had already gone up, leaving only the previously kicked-down, still unconscious person and Zhou Yi in the cave.

The overseer at the entrance called to him: “What are you standing there for? Hurry up!”

Zhou Yi didn’t want to be kicked, so he simply said: “I don’t have enough.”

The two overseers laughed upon hearing this: “It’s just your first day, it’s fine if you don’t have enough.”

Perhaps fearing he wouldn’t come up, they added: “If you insist on collecting the full amount before coming up, that’s fine too, but you won’t get any food by then.”

Zhou Yi was indeed hungry.

He wanted to see what kind of food they gave the slaves in this hellish place, so he climbed up.

Outside the cave, the sky was still pitch black. Lanterns hung all around the edge of the pit, burning day and night. Against the dark sky, the flickering fire lines on the pit’s surface were more visible.

The slaves came out of the fire caves and walked toward the sand river at the edge.

Long tables by the sand river were piled with steamed buns and thin pancakes. The aroma of the buns wafted through the air, causing many stomachs to growl.

The slaves stood in neat rows.

The overseer waved his club and announced loudly: “Today’s thin pancakes have meat filling!”

Many people stared at the pancakes on the table, swallowing hard.

The overseer pointed his club and shouted again: “But only some people can eat them. Anyone who can bring one piece of clothing from this new young master can exchange it for one pancake. Two pieces can be exchanged for three pancakes!”

Zhou Yi: “…”

He looked around, confirming the overseer’s club was pointing at him, cursed inwardly, and turned to run.

Though both his feet were chained, the chain’s length didn’t hinder walking or running, but it did make him slower than without chains, though all slaves were in the same condition.

Most of the slaves standing there chased after Zhou Yi. As he ran, more and more people were attracted to the pursuit. Overseers from various areas excitedly waved their weapons, cheering and encouraging.

Wang Geng stood at a high point on the edge of the pit, watching below. Zhou Yi was like a burning wooden stick, burning himself as the flames grew larger and larger.

Someone shouted to catch him, pin him down, strip him naked.

The guards on the drum towers also enjoyed the spectacle, loudly cursing at the slaves running across the fiery ground.

The person chasing Zhou Yi most closely pushed him down. They both fell onto the scorching pit floor. Nimbly avoiding a series of attacks from behind, Zhou Yi rolled to the side and swiftly got up to continue running.

There were also people coming from the front. He weaved left and right, using feints to deceive his pursuers, continuing to flee.

More and more people chased him, but the pit was large enough for him to keep running stubbornly.

Many others remained where they were, not joining the chase, just watching from afar.

Chen Zhou didn’t even look, going straight to another table, taking his daily dry biscuit, and sitting silently in a corner by the giant tree to eat.

The female slave in the crowd withdrew her gaze from him and looked toward Zhou Yi, who had run far but was now pinned down by the pursuing slaves.

The sound of tearing fabric reached Zhou Yi’s ears. He never imagined that one day these expensive clothes would be torn by bare hands. Too many people swarmed him to count. Their goal was clear: to strip every piece of clothing from his body for a pancake.

Zhou Yi had been running for a long time but was eventually caught.

Even as he fell, he didn’t stop struggling, dealing harsh blows to those who came close, using the iron chains on his feet to strangle one person’s neck.

But the person whose neck was broken suddenly came back to life after a moment and continued grabbing at his clothes.

Zhou Yi was stunned, and this moment of shock gave others an opening. The slaves grabbed his limbs, firmly pressing down his arms and knees, forcing his head to the ground. His face was burned by the scorching heat that assaulted his eyeballs, making him close his eyes involuntarily.

Wang Geng and the others watching from above laughed heartily.

Zhou Yi’s expensive, exquisite clothing was torn to pieces and taken away. The slaves ran wildly toward the sand river, only to be attacked and robbed of their clothing by other slaves wanting to exchange it for food.

The male slave with burn scars on his face asked the female slave, “Do you want some?”

The female slave shook her head.

The male slave made a dismissive sound, went to intercept one of the slaves who had grabbed some clothing, and exchanged it for a meat-filled pancake.

As the commotion among the slaves died down, the overseers’ loud laughter became more obviously grating.

Zhou Yi lay naked on the ground, blood flowing into his eyes. He raised his hand to rub his temple, and when he looked up, he could sense the gazes from all directions, of various kinds.

The first emotion that descended upon his heart was anger.

Because of his morals, etiquette, and sense of shame, what followed was embarrassment, humiliation, and disgrace.

And some newly emerging resentment.