The Seven Mysteries Sect is located within Cangzhou. Its five mountain peaks are perennially shrouded in mist, resembling five pillars reaching the heavens.
A spring river flows from west to east through the five peaks, dividing them into North Shore and South Shore. The South Shore has two peaks, belonging to the Outer Sect of the Seven Mysteries Sect, while the North Shore has three peaks, which are the cultivation grounds for Core Disciples and Sect Seniors.
At this moment, outside the South Shore, the young man Zhou Xu, carrying the tightly shut-eyed Ji Die, galloped all the way here.
At the young man's urging, Ji Die kept his eyes tightly shut, feeling very uneasy about the unknown Seven Mysteries Sect.
After all, he was forcibly brought here by the young man, and this feeling of being insignificant and unable to control his own destiny made him very uncomfortable.
Soon, the two landed on one of the mountain peaks on the South Shore. Feeling his feet firmly on the ground, Ji Die opened his eyes.
He could see a stone tablet not far away, with two large, elegantly written characters on it.
Outer Sect!
Beside it, a path paved with bluestone led into the distance. Ancient trees towered along the roadside, and exquisite pavilions came into view, making it seem like a fairyland.
Even the air seemed fresher than in the village!
Ji Die suddenly felt that coming here might not be a bad thing after all!
Just then, the woman Song Jia also landed beside them.
"Senior Sister Song, please arrange his identity. I'll go report to the Elder first," Zhou Xu nodded slightly.
"Understood!" Song Jia nodded coolly, her light gaze sweeping over Ji Die, making him shiver involuntarily.
He had previously cursed this venomous woman and offended her; before, she had always wanted to kill him!
Now that he was here, would she take the opportunity to retaliate?
While Ji Die was feeling uneasy, the young man Zhou Xu had already galloped towards the peaks on the opposite shore, leaving Song Jia to cast a indifferent glance at him.
"Follow me."
Her voice was like the cold wind of a winter month, chilling him from head to toe.
Ji Die cautiously followed behind her, along the small path beside the stone tablet, unsure where they were going.
After telling him to follow, the malicious woman no longer paid him any attention. Ji Die couldn't help but look ahead, and happened to catch sight of two jade-like legs faintly visible beneath her white gauze skirt, which were very eye-catching.
He had to admit, although this woman was malicious, she was indeed a beauty.
Ji Die had lived for over a decade, and she was almost the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
"If you can't control your eyes, I'll gouge them out for you!" Song Jia stopped coldly.
Does this woman have eyes on the back of her head? She actually knew I was looking at her!
Ji Die felt a chill down his spine and quickly averted his gaze, keeping his eyes focused on his nose and his heart, not daring to look at her again.
Who knew if this malicious woman would actually do as she said.
Song Jia sneered and said nothing more. Soon, a pavilion appeared ahead.
A Ma Lian Nan, who had been lying on a chair, saw Song Jia walk in and quickly got up from the chair, bowing respectfully.
"Greetings, Senior Sister Song. May I ask why Senior Sister Song has graced us with your presence?" He kept his eyes straight ahead, his head bowed low, not daring to look around.
"This person is a new Outer Sect Disciple. He already has a Cultivation Technique and such. Arrange for him to go to the Beast Pen." Song Jia said lightly, then floated away.
"Yes. I will certainly take good care of the person Senior Sister Song has sent." The Ma Lian Nan's face was full of fawning as he saw her off. The fawning quickly vanished from his face, and he haughtily scrutinized the young man in front of him.
"Name!"
"Ji Die." Ji Die felt that this person's cultivation should not be as strong as that malicious woman's, but he still couldn't contend with him, so he acted very humbly.
"From now on, when you speak to me, you must say 'Reporting to the Steward', understood?" The Ma Lian Nan snorted coldly.
The Beast Pen was not an easy job. It housed the Yao Beasts of the Sect Disciples. If anything went wrong, not only would there be punishment, but there were also many risks. If one was accidentally eaten by a Yao Beast, there would be nowhere to seek justice.
Since Song Jia told him to send the person there, it meant that this young man was not only not someone important to her, but very likely had also offended her!
He naturally knew what to do!
"Reporting to the Steward, I understand." Ji Die tried his best to appear respectful.
"This is your identity token and uniform. From now on, you are an Outer Sect Disciple of my Seven Mysteries Sect." The Ma Lian Nan was very satisfied with his attitude and took out a folded set of clothes, with a black token placed on top.
He used his hand as a brush, quickly carving the characters "Ji Die" onto it, then threw it along with the clothes to Ji Die.
"You can look at these things later. I'll take you to your workplace first."
Hearing his words, Ji Die looked at the green clothes in his hand, nodded silently, and put the clothes and token together into his Storage Pouch.
He followed the Ma Lian Nan all the way to the outside of several rows of huge sheds.
Next to them were a few houses and a park, where he could see many small trees bearing white fruits.
Several young men wearing green Disciple uniforms were sitting exhausted outside the houses. Upon seeing the Ma Lian Nan, they bowed respectfully!
A few of the young men looked at Ji Die behind him with curiosity.
The Ma Lian Nan nodded faintly and pointed to a house,
"You'll live here from now on. If you're hungry, you can eat those fruits. The Disciple who was feeding Yao Beast No. 11 just left two days ago, so from now on, you'll be responsible for feeding Yao Beast No. 11. Just use the fruits next to it."
"Remember, these are all the Sect Disciples' Yao Beasts, so you must take meticulous care of them. They need to be fed three times a day, morning, noon, and night, on time. In addition, you must bathe them once every seven days and clean their enclosures once."
"Of course, this isn't for nothing. Each month, the Sect will issue three Spirit Stones to Disciples. Besides that, you are free to use your time as you wish. Of course, if the assigned tasks are not completed, or if something goes wrong, you won't have a good outcome either!"
After the Ma Lian Nan warned Ji Die and explained some details, he left the Beast Pen.
Once he was far away, the several Disciples nearby quickly gathered around, curiously scrutinizing Ji Die,
"New guy, what's your name?"
"Cough, cough, did you offend the Steward? Otherwise, why would you be assigned to the Beast Pen!"
The few of them chattered away, discussing in unison that this place was not a good one, which made Ji Die very confused.
"Isn't it just feeding animals? Is there any difficulty in that?" Ji Die asked, puzzled.
When he was little, his family even had a plow ox, so he was very familiar with this kind of work; it was like returning to his old profession...
Although the animals here were more valuable and needed to be bathed, it was at most more troublesome, but not very difficult, right?
"Good luck to you. The Disciple who was feeding Yao Beast No. 11 just left two days ago. You should go see for yourself." A handsome young man hinted, looking towards the nearby shed.
Every Disciple who came here initially thought this job was very simple, but after seeing those guys, they became speechless.
Seeing them act so mysteriously, Ji Die also felt surprised and walked into the shed, intending to see the situation.
His assignment to the Beast Pen was designated by that woman, and he had indeed offended that woman.
Could it be that the woman was seizing the opportunity for revenge?
Inside the shed were individual enclosures, which looked like cells, with number plates hanging above them. The roars of wild beasts could be heard coming from the enclosures.
When Ji Die saw what was confined within the enclosures, he froze on the spot.
What the hell!
I have to bathe these guys?!