Dugu Qianye looked around the room; it was very clean and refreshing. Although it couldn’t compare to the luxury of the other areas in the Divine Temple, it was still better than what an average family could afford. She couldn’t help but sigh, "This really is a product of the Divine Temple, even the prison cells are this advanced!"
Dugu Qianye nodded at Xiao’er to indicate that she had seen the button.
"Is your food delivered here every day, or do you go to the dining hall to eat with everyone else?" Xiao’er asked again.
"You can even have food delivered to your room?" Dugu Qianye asked. What kind of treatnt is this for a prisoner?!
"Soone like you can," which ant, given your noble status and the fact that your judgnt is still unclear, you are entitled to such treatnt.
"I’d rather go to the dining hall and eat with everyone else," Dugu Qianye said. That way, she could also see who else was detained here.
"Then I’ll go back now," Xiao’er said upon receiving Dugu Qianye’s reply.
"Alright. I’ll be in your care from now on," Dugu Qianye said. It was necessary to maintain a modest and polite front.
After Xiao’er left, Dugu Qianye walked over to the window. She pushed it open only to see the boundless ocean. Steep cliffs lood outside, and occasionally, rows of man-eating fish would surface, their teeth clacking.
Xiaohuo transford into human form and ca out, looking down at the man-eating fish with a look of disdain and said, "Such ugly fish!"
"Hehe, ugly or not, it doesn’t matter to us. They can forget about eating us in this lifeti," Dugu Qianye remarked. It seed that the Divine Temple had intentionally arranged for her to stay here, aiming to scare her off and discourage her from thinking about escaping.
Unfortunately for them, they didn’t realize that her courage wasn’t sothing that could be shattered with re intimidation.
"Sister, how long are we going to stay here?"
"Not long," Dugu Qianye answered.
After so rest, it was ti for dinner. Xiaohuo, disliking such a desolate place, returned to the Refining Demon Pot to cultivate. Dugu Qianye followed the route Xiao’er had given her and fumbled her way to the dining hall.
By then, the dining hall was already seated with about a dozen people, who all looked over at Dugu Qianye as she entered.
"Look, a new arrival," soone said.
"I just got here this afternoon," Dugu Qianye walked over, sat down with that person, and asked, "What about you all?"
"Haha, we’ve been here for quite a while," the man said with a big laugh.
"How long is a while?" Dugu Qianye naively inquired.
"A while ans, uh, I can’t rember exactly, but it’s been a long ti. Haha!" the man continued to laugh. He seed to love laughing, as even after an unknown number of years here, it hadn’t ground away his cheerful nature.
"Little one, how did you end up here?" the man asked. The subtext being, how did you offend the Divine Temple?
"I killed the junior master of Rain Hall. They wanted to kill directly, but there’s so sort of major ritual happening soon and the Divine Temple has a rule against killing anyone during this period. So, I was brought here," Dugu Qianye shrugged her shoulders with a helpless expression, "They said they’d release after the ritual."
"Haha, young brother, don’t you know that once you arrive here, you can never leave?" the man laughed heartily as if mocking Dugu Qianye’s naivete.
"Ah?! Really?" Dugu Qianye asked, aware in his heart, "If you knew what goes on here, how could you possibly be allowed to leave?"
"Of course. Co on, follow from now on. It’s better to have company here every day! It’s been a long ti since any newcor arrived, the old folks are lonely."
"Hehe, I haven’t asked senior your na yet," Dugu Qianye said.
"My na? My na, let think, my na..." The man seed to fall into recollection, repeating the phrase over and over, "My na, what is my na? Why can’t I rember my na? What is my na? Ah——"
Suddenly the man fell into madness, smashing the table to pieces and running outside.
Dugu Qianye was startled by his sudden frenzy and froze on the spot.
The other people in the dining hall burst into laughter. Soone said, "His na is Weng Yuzi, he’s been here for nearly a hundred years. Guess he’s so old he doesn’t even know his own na anymore."
Dugu Qianye regained his senses, went over to sit at another table, and asked, "Senior Weng said it’s been a long ti since any newcors arrived?"
"Yes, it’s been a long ti. Ever since I arrived, no one else has co. I used to be the newcor here, but now that you’ve arrived, the title of the newcor is yours!"
"Uh, how long have you been here, senior?" It seed he was only following the one who ca after him.
"Hmm, it’s been about ten years or so."
"Ten years?!" Dugu Qianye exclaid, saying, "Has the Divine Temple really not detained anyone else here for so long?"
"We’re talking about those who can live here," the man suddenly leaned in close to Dugu Qianye and said mysteriously, "I know the Divine Temple often brings people here, but many of them don’t get treated like us and are taken to the torture chambers instead."
"Torture chambers?"
"Yes. It’s just... young brother, you haven’t told us your na yet," the man suddenly changed the subject and asked for his na.
Dugu Qianye noticed that Xiao’er and another were carrying over a cage full of dinner als. Seeing Dugu Qianye mingling and laughing with the old man, the two said nothing, simply distributing the als to everyone.
"My na is Baili Xie. How should I address you, senior?" Dugu Qianye took the al that Xiao’er handed over and placed it in front of the man.
"I’m Liu Jilin, but others call Old Six because I’m the sixth child in my family," Liu Jilin said.
"Hehe, Brother Liu, co on, let’s eat, I still don’t know what the food tastes like here. It does look good though," Dugu Qianye said, looking at the dinner in front of him.
"The dinners here are quite good. Especially because there’s a different vegetable dish every day, they taste amazing. You should try it. It’s just a pity they don’t serve alcohol," Liu Jilin said with a tinge of regret, "Otherwise, eating a big al and drinking heartily, with so vegetable dishes on the side, tsk tsk, that would be the life!"
Dugu Qianye smiled and took a bite of the vegetable dish Liu Jilin had ntioned. It did taste good, but there seed to be an addictive substance mixed in, so after one bite, he didn’t touch that dish again.
Xiao’er and the other watched as everyone finished their als and, when they ca to collect the dishes, noticed that Dugu Qianye’s vegetable dish was nearly untouched. The two exchanged a glance and continued to clear up.
After dinner, everyone went out to the courtyard to take a walk, look at the lotus flowers, and sll the scents of the garden. Life seed carefree. But the scenery had been the sa for ten years, and everyone was tired of it, so they all went back to their rooms early.
At night, the people here were not allowed to visit each other’s rooms. If soone did leave their room, Xiao’er and the others would soon find out and quickly show up. Those who were caught would not be punished, but the next night, they would not be served their vegetable dish. Without the vegetable dish, they would feel uncomfortable all over. That’s why no one would leave their own rooms at night.
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